Thanks so much for all the suggestions - I love the idea of going to Richmond or Lonsdale Quay (I've not been to either). The Fairmont (I'll call about a day room) or the aquarium are good if it is raining.

Of course this may all be moot if the trip is canceled (which it might have to be).

Sorry, one last
 

Tried to remember the name of the Chinese shopping mal in Richmond and I woke up with it on the brain ..... Aberdeen Centre ..... great food and very different shiopping. It's on 3 road between Captsan Way and Alderbridge.

SC

So, whatdidudo?whatdidudo?whatdidudo?
 

So frontenac551, what did you do? We did have snow!

..... SC

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I've got a few questions about transiting in YVR and what I should do on my stopover in Vancouver!

First off - this will be my first time in Vancouver and YVR at all :)

My flights...
United Flight (from Chicago) to YVR, landing at 10h23
Air Candada Flight (to Honolulu) from YVR, leaving at 18h00

Now, with 7.5 hours, I should be fine to get into town to check out a few places, some of which in this thread I'll be trying.

However, my questions are about the procedures I'll need to do when arriving from the U.S, leaving to go into Canada and then coming back (pre-screening) only to leave again to the U.S.

What do I have to do on arrival, assuming I get my bags tagged to HNL? In addition, about how early should I arrive back at the airport to pre-screen and relax (in the MLL) before the trip to HNL?

I'm planning on renting a car there for a few hours...is this a good approach?

Thanks in advance,
jeremy

You'll be arriving during a busy time of the day (international arrivals from Asia) so immigration waits could be lengthy (or not). I'd allow an hour to clear immigration and customs and get your bag back. You'll have to hang onto your bags as you can't recheck them until you go through U.S. preclearance (I'd allow at least 1/2 hour for that + security, excluding time you want to spend in the lounge + being at the gate 1/2 hour before STD). All said, it'll probably give you 4 1/2-5 hours outside the airport. Might be easier to take the Airporter bus than rent a car if it's just one of you. Parking and traffic in Vancouver is not much fun if you don't know your way around (or even if you do).

> I'm planning on renting a car there for a few hours

I would suggest you not do this, and instead simply cab into and out of downtown. By the time you rent a car & pay for parking downtown you'll pay the same if not more than you would to just take a cab.

Everything you're going to want to see you can see on foot in the downtown core.

As for your bags, I'd just put them in storage at the airport:

http://yvr.ca/guide/todo/rps_details.asp?id=10002

>how early should I arrive back at the airport

Keep in mind if your flight is at 6 you'll be in rush hour gridlock heading back to the airport, starting from around 3:45 ish.

Cheers,
Geoff in Vancouver

Thanks for the quick responses...

I didn't think it would be so difficult to transit in YVR - however coming from the US and going back to the US, it makes sense!

It will be two of us, and we'll both have a large bag (we are continuing on to AKL/SYD), plus a few carry-on bags.

I'm usually all for public transport, but with two of us (one being a small girl) and all the bags, I'd rather rent the car and just leave all of our stuff in the back. Plus, it seems that renting a car at the YVR airport seems easy, plus the airport actually looks pretty close to town.

If we do this, we could definitely head back early (around 15h30) to avoid most of the traffic (since i'll be travelling on a Thursday)...

Given these circumstances, what do you local guys think? In addition, I have a 'free day' of car rental that I'll plan on using, not that it's too critical. I'm also from Washington, so I'm used to pretty bad traffic and definitely know how to plan for it :)

Thanks again for the help thus far,
jeremy

It's not the car rental rates which are necessarily expensive but all the fees and taxes you'll have to pay (which hopefully will be negligible depending on how it's calculated). I don't know if the free day is deducated 1st so taxes are low, or deducted after fees and taxes are added. Traffic is heavy all the time. It's just a matter of degree. There are no highways, just urban streets.

On a free day with National, I'd have to pay:

Taxes, Surcharges and Fees Help Info Premium Location Fee 17.75 Pct
$7.95
Veh License Recovery 1.80/day
$1.80
Pvrt Bc 1.50/day (0.0%)
$1.50
Provincial Sales Tax Bc (7.0%)
$3.69
Ca Goods/svces Tax B.c. (5.0%)
$0.56
Subtotal
$15.50

Not too bad, $15 total (plus gas) which should be a bit less than stowing ~4 bags for the day, taking the bus in town, plus having to deal with really worrying about time.

So, with the price not bad at all (and probably better with the rental), and knowingly going into town on 'local' roads - is it acceptable to drive into town, allowing extra time to return to the airport, drop-off the car and be pre-screened for security?

-jeremy

Absolutely, but, as a local, I'd still do it by taxi, not rental car.

I'd check my luggage, grab a cab, wander downtown, then cab back to the airport.

(BTW, when you're doing your budgeting also factor in $15 or so for parking.)

Cheers,
Geoff in Vancouver