globalste

Myself and Mrs Globalste are flying to Seattle to burn our SAS points and managed to get 2x business class return in October.

We fly into Seattle on the 1st October and are stopping there until the 3rd when we travel to Golden, we will be staying there until the 10th and then return to Seattle for our 18:50 flight back to Copenhagen.

When we booked these SAS flights back in October, Im certain flights to Vancouver and Calgary were around $200. But now they seem to be closer to $400!

Am i booking at the wrong time or something? I am using ITA software to find flights and the best I can find so far is Seattle-Calgary and drive, or Seattle-Kelowna and drive, both with Air Alaska.

Any help would be much appreciated. I have posted this on the Air Canada board too as they may be able to help.

JPat

With oil exceeding US$105/barrel nothing is cheap. I suggest looking at taking a Horizon flight from SEA to FCA (Kalispell, MT) At least you could see Glacier National Park that way, and, weather permitting, drive north....

CZBB

Yep, your best bet is Calgary. The only choice to get into that valley is on Pacific Coastal who operate Vancouver/YVR-south terminal to Cranbrook/YXC, but the drive is about the same as driving from Calgary.

Based on the low population, and the mountains making instrument approaches awkward, there's no other options

Calgary/YYC is your best bet, and then about a 3 hr drive

bevvy5

No getting around taxes for flights in and out of Canada. That's why we drive to Seattle to fly anywhere.

NewFADad

First, Golden BC is not in Banff NP. It is a town on the Trans Canada Highway between Yoho NP and Canadian Glacier NP. So it is a good four hours east of Calgary by car and about the same time from either Cranbrook BC or Kamloops BC, the other two cities with scheduled air service.

Second, by October 1st, winter is just around the corner. You could have Indian Summer days of 65F or better, or it could just as easily be 20F with a foot of snow. So getting to Golden by car could be an exercise in Mountain Winter driving, not something for those more accustomed to warmer climates. Also, the stretch of the T-C highway near Golden is the most dangerous strech of that 5000 mile highway.

Air tickets from SEA to any of these three cities will not be cheap. Nor will a ticket on QX to Kalispell. So maybe your best option might be to rent a car at SEA and drive up. From SEA it is an easy one day drive to Kamloops. From Kamloops you will be in Golden by noon on the second day. This drive takes you thru the Rogers Pass in Glacier Park. You could return to SEA by going south down the Windemere highway, thru Cranbrook and cross the border at Kingsgate. From there it is down to Coeur D'Alene Idaho and Interstate 90. Going west on I-90 takes you thru Spokane and thence to Seattle.

One other possibility is that Horizon (QX) may have a seat sale in the October time frame to the BC interior. October is low season for both Kelowna and Kamloops since the campers are gone but skiing won't start until November. So the $200 tickets may return. But you would still need a car - these airports just get you a day closer.

I hope this helps. PM me if any questions, as I have driven this route more times than I can count.

Rad456

Though not the most popular option, you could try Amtrak Seattle to Vancouver, then Via Rail to Kamloops ($149 for Via Rail RT). then rent a car. The Via Rail trips are night trains, but you could get away without a sleeper

OK....another option is Amtrak Seattle to Spokane, Sandpoint, Libby MT or Whitefish MT the rent a car from any of those. Roughly 5 hr drive. RT Amtrak fare approx $100 PP

globalste

apologies, i wrote Banff National Park incase people didnt know which "Golden" i meant (Googlemap comes up with about 20 of them).

Golden is the place we are headed to.

I quite like the idea of grabbing a train to Canada then a car.

Many thanks for all the ideas noted down so far!

Gardyloo

If you look at a map you'll note that going Seattle - Vancouver (on the train or driving - whatever) actually is taking you away from Golden and the Rockies - Vancouver is farther west than Seattle.

When we go up to the Rockies we always route through Spokane then north through the Kootenays. It's faster and more scenic than the TCH, and in October you may well have some fabulous autumn colo(u)r. You can fly to Spokane cheaply, get a car, and from GEG it's maybe a 6 or 7 hour drive up to Yoho and Golden.

DCA-SEA

Friends and I skied Banff via Calgary a couple of winters ago, and because the snow wasn't good, after a couple of days we drove west to Kicking Horse in Golden.

As I recall, that drive was a reasonable hour and a half on a decent highway with great scenery through Banff NP. Even adding together Calgary to Banff to Golden, I'd choose that route over the others suggested, if your objective is to get to Golden most effeciently.

Rad456

Depending if you are going to the Canadian Rockies or the US Rockies

Also interesting to see the suggestions in the AC thread on the same topic.

But you are right, it does look like getting to Golden via Spokane may be best though.

Checking on Travelocity, fares SEA to GEG RT start $63 RT +tax, but that fare only goes out to August right now. SOothwest also flies outthere, so that fare should remain there down the road I would expect