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J

JESUSrocks

Train Attendant
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
36
Hey

I just needed last minute adivce on a few things before we head off to the Canadian (We are Really Excited!!)

First off is our flight times

We have about an 1hour 20 minute connection in Los Angeles (from Atlanta on Delta) is that enough time??

Also we land at Vancouver at 2:15 pm (Air Canada) and the train departs at 5:30 with immagration is that allowing enough time???

What type of transportation is available to get to the station, are thier taxis? Do they know where the station is? How far away is the train station from Vancouver Airport? (wow im asking alot of questions)

Also what do we need to pack

We are thinking about bringing some warm stuff, a couple of nice shirts but the rest just causual things for clothes

Defiently the camra and mabey some games and the portable dvd player for the 13 year old...

What about towels?

Anything else a must have?

in JESUS

THANKS SOOO MUCH

Gavin
 
We have about an 1hour 20 minute connection in Los Angeles (from Atlanta on Delta) is that enough time??
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A 1:20 connection *should* be enough time, but with air travel, just as with Amtrak, it's hard to say what might happen.

Also we land at Vancouver at 2:15 pm (Air Canada) and the train departs at 5:30 with immagration is that allowing enough time???
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If everything works out, and you get to Vancouver on time, you should be fine. Just make sure you have your passport in order and you shouldn't have nay problems. I've never flown into/out of YVR, so I don't know the exact arrangement there.

What type of transportation is available to get to the station, are thier taxis? Do they know where the station is? How far away is the airport from Vancouver Airport?
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You can use taxis or public transportation. If you are feeling adventurous and have enough time (i.e. arrive on time), you can take public transportation, riding route 424 to "Airport Station", transferring to the 98 to downtown Vancouver, then the SkyTrain to Main St./Science World (where Pacific Central Station is located). Cost would be $3 CDN per person weekdays, $2 weekends.

If you aren't feeling as adventurous, or are short on time, or have too much junk to carry, a taxi will be the best option.

The airport is exactly at the airport! :)

The train station is just east of downtown, probably a 20- to 25-minute taxi ride, or 45-minute transit ride.
 
It's a bit late now, but I would have recommended an extra day or two in Vancouver. Not only just in case the flight is late or you miss a connection, but also because Vancouver is a city worth visiting. Heck, I stayed there for eight months over the past year, and still didn't get to do everything I wanted.
 
Yea I really want to do that but due to the 13 year olds school (he gets a 4 day weekend due to election day) it isnt gonna happen

in JESUS

gavin
 
Reading your description, it appears you are on Delta 175 ATL to LAX connecting to Air Canada 775 LAX to YVR (Vancouver). That being the case, you are making an interline connection at LAX between Delta and Air Canada.

Two things to note about this interline connection. First: Delta and Air Canada operate out of different terminals at LAX. Your Delta flight from ATL will arrive at Terminal 5. Your Air Canada flight for YVR will depart from Terminal 2. These terminals are, of course, on opposite sides of the terminal area. To get from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2 you can either walk (long) or take the free shuttle bus (the “A” shuttle) which departs from the lower level of each terminal. Look for the blue “LAX Shuttle & Airline Connections” sign. The bus runs every 10 to 15 minutes. Transferring between terminals will also necessitate you having to exit and re-clear TSA security (another potential time killer, but since you will be making this connection in late morning, security delays should not be too bad).

Second, since Delta and Air Canada are not marketing partners, the connection may not be seamless. You will probably have to check-in for your Air Canada segment at LAX and it might be necessary for you to claim any checked bags from Delta and re-check them onto Air Canada. Given all this, your connection time at LAX is not overly generous.

I suspect you are locked into your flights at this point. If your flight from ATL is on-time, you should be OK, but with very little margin for error. I would suggest that you hustle once you get off your Delta flight. If time is really tight, consider taking a cab from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2. You won’t be the most popular guy with the poor cab driver, but it may save you from missing your flight to Vancouver.

Good luck!
 
Thanks soooo much for that advice

We should have no checked baggage so that being the case can we check in at the gate with Air Canada??

in JESUS

Gavin

Wow I realised I just made a joke lol (red carefully)
 
Probably not, since they won't let you through security without a boarding pass. I don't think Air Canada has self-service check-in terminals, either. Try to get to the Air Canada check-in desks as soon as you can to beat the queues.
 
Anthony is correct. You must have your Air Canada boarding passes to get through security at LAX.

One thought: if you get to Atlanta airport with some time to spare, it would not hurt to head over to the Air Canada check-in counter and see if they can issue your Vancouver boarding passes there rather than having to wait until you get to LAX. Since you will not be checking bags, it might be possible. I’m not sure they can do that, but to save time for your LAX connection, it is worth a shot.
 
JESUSrocks said:
What about online check in does Air Canada offer that
in JESUS

gavin
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No, there's no Air Canada on-line check-in. Plus, there's no kiosk check-in at LAX. According to Air Canada website, recommend time to check-in before boarding is 2 hours and boarding will begin at 25 minutes before departure (probably for custom/immigration checkings).

I agree with PRR 60, You might want to try at ATL check-in (next to Continental) if it is possible. However, in order to reduce stress, I would recommend you to call Air Canada to see if it is possible or not.

Be sure to write a trip report, including the connections between Delta and Air Canada (plus check-in)! Have a great trip!

-gs
 
Who booked your flights? If it was a travel agent, they should have gotten you a better connection than the one you got in LA. I would bring the short connection time to the attention of your travel agent and ask if they can get you on an earlier flight to LAX.

If you booked the trip yourself, I suggest trying to stand by on an earlier flight to LAX. Airlines usually allow you to do this on the day of departure for no charge if space is available. Check Delta's website to get flight schedules to LAX so that you can see the options. I would even look into leaving the night before if you are already on the first flight form Atlanta to LAX. You really want to make a strong effort to get a longer connection time in LA.
 
Unfortunately, I know nothing about the LA or Vancouver airports so cannot help you there.

But I am interested in your trip, having just taken one myself. Could you review the trip details for us? From Vancouver you go where? Toronto? And then what?

No matter how much hassle you have with the airports, at least you can relax once you get to the station. Entering from the front center of the building, look left across the hall and you should see the person who will check you in for the Canadian, lift your ticket, make a dinner reservation, relieve you of your carry-on baggage and have it waiting for you in your room and give you a boarding pass. About 3:30 a lounge opens(as described in my earlier posts).

You mentioned towels, no I don't see why you would need any more than the railroad supplies.

One note: My two earlier posts were typed in such haste I made a lot of mistakes. I have corrected at least most of my typos and straightened out some of the sentence construciton. You might give them a once over, they might make more sense this time than when originally posted.
 
Is it too late to make any airline changes? Is everyting locked in stone? Have you checked something like expedia. com, or travelocity, etc to see about better schedules?
 
Hey

WOW I AM AN IDIOTTTT!!!! Look at the Title of this post, you guys probally already noticed. LOL

Yea these flights were self booked :(

If I remember the flight is Delta's earliest flight out and the flight I am taking from Los Angeles is basically the only one I can take unless I want to wait about another 2 hours thus risking missing the train....Well I guess life is made with aventures and we wi;; have to deal with what thrown at us...

Here is the Itenirary

Atlanta- Los Angeles Early morning, October 29

Los Angeles- Vancouver... Depart 11:40 am arrive around 2:20pm(I think) October 29

Board Train.. same day in Vancouver departs at about 5:30pm

Arrive Vancouver November 1st

Stay over night in Vancouver

Fly home the next day

Looked at the Royal York Hotel (Which is reccommended) but it was a little bit too expensive...we got a good nearby 4 star hotel for about $110 a night

in JESUS

Gavin

Thank You guys soo much for all ur help
 
First: Welcome to “Airlines Unlimited”!

Here is what I think are your existing flight details:

DL175; leave ATL 8:20am, arrive LAX 10:05am: connecting to AC775; leave LAX 11:40am, arrive YVR 2:15pm.

Your connection time in LAX is 95 minutes: plenty if it was on-line (same airline), but really tight for interline and changing terminals. We could Monday morning quarterback your flight selections, but they are what they are, so you will play the hand you’ve been dealt. For what it is worth, I’ve had tighter interline connections that worked, so, if all things work well, you should be OK.

My advice is:

1. Talk to Delta at check-in in Atlanta about your connection at LAX and see if there is anything they can do for you. One remote option would be to for Delta to re-route you direct to Vancouver through Salt Lake City. DL has a connection through SLC that leaves Atlanta at 8:15am (almost the same time as your LAX flight) and gets to Vancouver (YVR) at 12:23pm.

DL415; leave ATL 8:15a, arrive SLC 10:22a: connect to DL3969; leave SLC 11:05am, arrive YVR 12:23p

That would be perfect, but it is almost certain that your existing fares will not permit this change unless you pay more, and probably a whole lot more. But asking is free, so give it a try. You could call DL in advance to broach the subject, but even if they reject you over the phone, ask again at the airport. In the event your flight to LAX is overbooked, DL might just find it to their advantage to reroute you and get you off the LAX flight. Boy, would that solve all the problems. It is a tight connection in SLC, but it is all DL so they will ensure you get to Vancouver by hook or crook.

2. By all means, try to get your Air Canada boarding passes prior to leaving ATL. Beg, cry, bribe: do everything short of hopping over the counter and printing them yourself. The last thing you want is for your DL flight to arrive on time in Los Angeles only to then be confronted with a line out the door for AC check-in.

3. If your present DL seat assignments are not toward the front of the plane, see if you can change them to get as far forward as possible. Explain your connection problem. Closer to the door means faster out the door. You are on a 767 with nearly 300 seats and there is the same single door and jetway as a 737.

4. Have Air Canada’s reservation phone number with you. If your DL flight is late out of ATL, call AC let them know. Call by cell if you are still in the airport or still at the gate with the door open, or, if worst comes to worst, call from the air using the Airphone. The number is for AC 1-888-247-2262. If AC is informed about a problem in advance, it makes life a lot easier later. If it is obvious your LAX connection is broken, then AC can start working to fix things (see #6 below).

5. When you get to LAX, hustle over to Terminal 2. Hopefully you will already have your AC boarding passes and can go straight to security and the gate. If not, head to the AC counter and, if time is tight and they have an agent working the line, see if you can be bumped-up in line. Have your passport (or birth certificates) out and ready.

6. Hopefully, you make your flight and the rest is easy. But if, after all this, you miss the flight, then your options get more complicated. You are on AC775. The next flight to Vancouver is AC777 at 3:25pm. It does not get to Vancouver until 6:07 pm, 37 minutes after the Canadian has departed (at 5:30pm). By the time you clear customs, it will probably be too late to chase down the train by cab at an outlying station. Your best bet would be to rebook a connection on AC to Kamloops, BC (YKA). AC has a connection from LAX to Kamloops through Vancouver using the same 3:25pm flight to Vancouver and arriving Kamloops at 8:28pm.

AC777; leave LAX 3:25pm, arrive YVR 6:07pm: connect to AC8201; leave YVR 7:30pm, arrive YKA 828pm

The eastbound Canadian is due into Kamloops at 1:50am.

I really hope things work out.

Bill
 
Wow, the time you put into that post must have been a long while. Thanks you sooo much, this has made my life easier. Fortuantly we managed to get a dirt cheap first class on this flight so we are row 3 which is good. If we somehow miss the flight thier is a couple of flights leaving at 1:10pm on diffrent airlines, we might try to buy standbuy on those.

Lets say we dont get the boarding passes in Atlanta for the Canada flight and we have to check in at Los Angeles, what are our chance of making it??

About immagration, do we fill out forms in Los Angeles or do we do them when we land??

Thanks

in JESUS

Gavin
 
You fill out your Canadian form on the plane (the flight attendants distribute them).

On the way back into the States, pick up the card at the airport check-in desk. You'll need to fill it out and clear US pre-clearance before departing Vancouver. (At least this is what they do in Toronto - it's been several years since I was in YVR, so not sure if they do pre-clearance there or not)
 
Hey, I know I am too late with this. I think you are about to depart the ATl airport in ten minutes, but anyway, here is wishing you for a good trip today and that all goes well and that you are safely and enjoyably on The Canadian tongiht.

I should have wished you this last night, but thought about it on the way home, too late.
 

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