I’m going to my mom’s in Phoenix for Thanksgiving. I could catch a flight out of Bellingham, change planes in Seattle, and then go on to PHX; but that process will take over 11 hours (plus getting through security). Or I can take a nonstop flight from Vancouver, BC for the same price but it will be a three-hour flight. Sounds like a no-brainer.
Before I book my ticket, is there anything of which I should be aware going across the border to Vancouver? I have my passport. I assume I can go to the border and…
“What’s your purpose for visiting Canada?”
“Flying out of Vancouver on America West.”
“Thank you. Have a good trip.”
Then I drive to the airport, park the car, and do the usual stuff.
Is there anything that might stop me from getting into Canada to take a flight back to the U.S. that I haven’t thought of? I could use a quick answer, as the prices are rising quickly.
Take the minimum of baggage (nothing hazardous such as guns, fireworks, or chemicals – right, to Thanksgiving, I know); bring your passport; leave yourself lots of time… although for all that you’ll probably just get waved through. I can’t imagine you’ll have any problems.
Yeah, as long as you bring your passport and don’t bring anything that either Customs agency would give you a hard time about (either on your flight to Phoenix or on the way back), you should be fine.
Just so you know what to expect, most Canadian airports have “pre-clearance” facilities for U.S. Customs, meaning that you’ll be talking to the U.S. Customs officers before your plane takes off rather than after it lands. (I haven’t been to Vancouver personally, but I would be very surprised if it didn’t have one of these facilities.) This means that once you’ve cleared U.S. Customs, they won’t let you back out into the airport at large without a damn good reason. There’s usually still a few restrooms, shops, etc. in the “pre-cleared” portion of the airport, so you won’t be bored to tears.
Just looking at Expedia, there seem to be numerous non-stop and one-stop flights direct from Seattle to Phoenix (2 hrs 40 mins) , and quite a lot of non-stop flights (38 minutes) from Bellingham to Seattle. Why do you think staying within the U.S. will take 11 hours? Traveling around Thanksgiving is always a mess, and adding foreign customs seems like one additional headache and potential source of delay.
That’s what the itenerary from BLI to PHX said at Travelocity and Alaska Airlines. There was a very long layover at SEA. Searching BLI-to-PHX, there were a handful of flights (all on Alaska, since they’re the only ones who serve BLI through their Horizon Air affiliate). The cheapest one (cost is a factor) was over 11 hours.
As for driving to Canada vs. driving to Seattle, Vancouver is 34 miles away and Seattle is 110 miles away.
My Brother-in-Law did the reverse several times (drive or bus from Vancouver to Seattle, then fly cross-country back to Canada).
Vancouver Int’l is a pretty nice airport, and you pretty much immediately go through check-in and security at most Canadian airports, getting segregated into different sections (the ‘airport at large’ is kinda boring unless you hang out at the bar in the Fairmont hotel).
Do take note that on a U.S. holiday, you may hit a very long wait going into Canada as thousands of other Americans decide to head north for a vacation. I’ve seen 3 hour waits on several occasions. In addition, if you’re a U.S. citizen, you don’t need your passport to cross the border. But you will get to go through the duty free section at the airport!
I just recently flew to Toronto from Los Angeles and customs was really easy. All you need is your passport and they ask you the usual questions and you fill out this piece of paper asking if you need to declare anything. It really wasn’t that bad. Going back to the US was a bit more difficult… well not really difficult, just much longer cause the line was really long. Better just go on a direct flight than waste 8 hours cause customs will probably take you, at the most, one hour.
Strange that the international Vancouver-Phoenix flight was cheaper. Many Canadians who live close to the US border drive to airports just inside the US rather than flying out of Canada, since it’s generally cheaper (sometimes much cheaper). It might be the stopover that’s raising the cost. Or maybe the cost of the Canadian flight is lower than usual because it’s not Thanksgiving.
Some information about crossing the border: here. I don’t know if you’d get to use the duty-free shop because you’d only be in Canada for two short periods of time.
Just be sure that while you are waiting for your delayed plane in Vancouver that they don’t shut down your arm of the terminal, turn off the lights, and go home for the night.