Long Weekend in Vancouver: Flights & Hotels
[Insted of doing one LONG post, I split this up into two: one focused on our flights and the hotel, and one focused on our activities in Vancouver]
Flights
To get to Vancouver, I used the Business Platinum’s 35% Airline Rebate to book a round-trip in Business on United. That is 1.54 Cents Per Point (CPP). That’s solid but not great. What is great is that I can book any flight I want with my Preferred Airline (United) and earn miles and status because United treats it as a cash booking. So it’s an easy way to get decent value from my large stash of Membership Rewards points.
Our flight from SFO to Vancouver (YVR) was operated by Air Canada, and our flight back was operated by United. Both flights were only about 2 ½ hours each.
My wife likes to get to the airport much earlier than I, so we had time to go to a club. I asked for suggestions on Reddit, and it was unanimous that the Air Canada lounge was superior to the United Club.
The Air Canada lounge wasn’t crowded, and the food was decent for breakfast. It does have an outdoor space, which was nice.
Since we had so much time before our flights, I decided to check out the Centurion Lounge. That lounge had a waitlist, so I wandered around the terminal until I got the text to check in. Note to self- use the app to get onto the waitlist when I know I’m going to want to get in. The waitlist is under “Membership”, “Find Airport Lounges”, and then select the Centurion you are trying to get into.
There was more variety of food at the Centurion lounge, and it was significantly bigger, and obviously had a lot more people. Given the wider food selection, I would choose the Centurion next time.
The flight from SFO to YVR (Vancouver) was fine. The plane was a CRJ-900, so “First Class” was 1×2, meaning there was an individual seat and 2 adjacent seats. We sat in the 2 seat section. Since the plane was so small, the “First Class” seats weren’t even as good as normal, domestic first class, but it was fine for a 2 ½ hour flight. We did get a decent meal. I had pre-ordered the vegetarian Bi Bim Bap, and it was quite good and even spicy. My wife had the teriyaki chicken, and she liked it.
On the return flight, we went to the airport early to go through US customs. After customs, we had plenty of time to visit a lounge. We ended up walking past the Plaza Premium lounge, and it was completely jammed. We could see this from the hallway- we didn’t need to go inside, so we kept on walking. Since we were flying Business class, we had access to the Air Canada lounge (again). This lounge was much bigger than the SFO one, and the food was slightly better. There was a salad bar, a soup, and a chicken stew-like dish, which was fine. Neither of the Air Canada lounges was very impressive.
The flight from YVR to SFO was on a 737-800, and only packaged snacks- pretzels, etc. were served. It was only 2 ½ hours, so it wasn’t a big deal. The Flight Attendant was friendly, and the flight was uneventful- which is a good flight!
The Hotel
We used our FHR credits from multiple American Express Platinums to stay at the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver. I will do an entire post dedicated to my experience with Amex Platinums, but I’ll be brief here. We usually book a single night with each Platinum card (Personal & Business) to maximize the $300 half-yearly FHR credit. We alternate between one of my Platinums and one of my wife’s Platinums to get the $100 Property Credit for each night, but that varies by hotel.
For this booking, I used 4 different Platinums. The first, third, and fourth were in my wife’s name, and the second was mine. I was hoping to get three $100 credits: for the first, second, and third nights. But since the third & fourth were both in my wife’s name, I wasn’t expecting it. But the representative at the hotel somehow gave us all four credits!
We did end up in an Accessible room, but that was better than having to change rooms during our stay. We had a King bed, and a view of the hotel’s garden where they grow a variety of herbs.
We had the complimentary breakfast as part of our FHR booking. This included their buffet, but also anything off the à la carte menu, including customizing any of the offerings. The buffet was B+, but with the customizable à la carte menu, we were both very satisfied. I was able to order smoked salmon and an egg white omelet off the menu. My wife was happy because there was a lot of fresh fruit available, and a variety of interesting yogurts. Definitely, a very good breakfast.
Given the location and service, we would definitely stay at the Fairmont Waterfront again.
