Vancouver to Seattle Car Service

A Vancouver to Seattle car service is a short journey with one long variable: the border. The two cities are about 230 km apart, and the highway is straightforward, but the crossing at Blaine can take five minutes or an hour, and the documents each person carries decide whether the trip goes smoothly. A private chauffeur does not make the border queue shorter. What it does is keep you in a single vehicle with your luggage from a Vancouver hotel to a Seattle hotel, the airport or a cruise terminal, with someone who has done the crossing many times.

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How much is a car from Vancouver to Seattle?

{answer}Vancouver to Seattle is about 230 km from downtown to downtown. On the LimousineCanada.ca rate card that is roughly $1,070–$1,275 in an Executive Sedan, $1,345–$1,620 in a Luxury SUV and $1,900–$2,275 in an Executive Sprinter, before tax, in Canadian dollars. The online booker returns the all-in fare for the exact addresses you enter.{/answer}

The kilometre figures are approximate, and Sea-Tac sits farther south than downtown, which adds distance. Queues at the crossing count as waiting time, which we price when you book. Gratuity is at your discretion.

Add border time to every estimate. On a quiet weekday morning, the total from downtown to downtown can be about three hours. On a long weekend or a Friday afternoon it can reach four or more.

Documents for the border: what every passenger needs

Everyone in the vehicle needs acceptable identification. For Canadian citizens entering the United States by land, the Government of Canada's travel advice says travellers aged 16 and over must present a valid passport or a Trusted Traveler Program card, such as NEXUS. For children aged 15 and under, it lists a passport, an original or copy of a birth certificate, or an original Canadian citizenship certificate. The same page warns that entry requirements are strictly enforced by U.S. authorities. See travel.gc.ca's United States page for the current rules.

Visitors from other countries need to check what applies to their nationality, including any visa or electronic authorization, before they travel. U.S. Customs and Border Protection publishes entry guidance on cbp.gov. A chauffeur cannot take a passenger across without the required documents, so check them before the pickup, not at the crossing.

Returning to Canada means another set of checks. The Canada Border Services Agency publishes guidance for returning travellers, including what you may bring back and how to declare goods, on its travel pages. If you are bringing a lot of purchases from Seattle, read it first.

The crossings: Douglas, Pacific Highway and the others

The Canada Border Services Agency publishes live wait times for the main British Columbia crossings to Washington State. Its page lists the Douglas crossing in Surrey (known on the U.S. side as Peace Arch), the Pacific Highway crossing, also in Surrey, and the Abbotsford–Huntingdon crossing. Your chauffeur picks the crossing on the day according to the posted wait times and what lane is open. See the CBSA border wait times page to check them yourself on the morning you travel.

Trusted Traveler members may be able to use NEXUS lanes when they are open, but the rules depend on who is in the vehicle. Confirm them with the border agencies, and tell us at booking if any passenger holds a card.

Vancouver to Seattle: every option compared

If you are travelling alone and your hotels sit near the stations, the train or the coach is the cheaper choice. A private car begins to make sense when you share it among three to six people, when you arrive in Vancouver on a late flight, or when you are taking a cruise from Seattle and need to arrive with luggage and certainty. Our explanation of the difference between a chauffeur and rideshare is worth a read if you are comparing fixed with variable fares.

Amtrak Cascades: the train option

Amtrak Cascades serves a corridor with eighteen stations including Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, BC. Its website says that a new federal preclearance agreement means trains no longer stop at the border for agents to board, saving about ten minutes. The Vancouver stop is Pacific Central Station. Check Amtrak Cascades for current schedules, days and fares before you plan around a train.

If you arrive on the train, a chauffeur can meet you at the Seattle station for the last leg, and the reverse works in Vancouver. We do not run a train service; we cover the door-to-door legs either side of it.

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Pickup in Vancouver: hotels, YVR, Canada Place and Pacific Central

Pickups in Vancouver follow the usual patterns. Hotels need an address and an arrival time. At Vancouver International Airport, the flight is tracked, with a free wait of 60 minutes for international arrivals and 30 for domestic. The $100–$150 meet-and-greet places the chauffeur with a name board inside the arrivals hall.

Cruise passengers leaving Canada Place to join a ship in Seattle, or arriving from one, can be met at the terminal. The Fairmont Pacific Rim sits at 1038 Canada Place, and its website lists the Waterfront SkyTrain station as the closest and the airport as 30 to 40 minutes away by car. See the Fairmont Pacific Rim page. The hotel is independent of LimousineCanada.ca. Our Vancouver limo page covers the city.

Drop-off in Seattle: downtown, Sea-Tac and the waterfront

In Seattle, the common drop-offs are downtown hotels, the cruise piers and Sea-Tac. Sea-Tac's website says its Ground Transportation Information Booth is on the third level of the airport parking garage and that limousines at the airport must be chauffeur-driven, unmetered and unmarked luxury vehicles with pre-arranged fares. That matches the way a pre-booked chauffeur works. The Port of Seattle's ground transportation page lists the other options at the airport.

Give the booker the exact hotel name or terminal and the flight or sailing time. If you are heading to a ship, the chauffeur will work back from the boarding window. If you are catching a flight at Sea-Tac, allow for the border queue and leave more margin than you think you need.

The cross-border day trip, and what to do with a long weekend

Some visitors want only a few hours in the other country: an outlet visit, a ball game or a meeting. For a round trip in a day, the hourly service is a practical choice. A Luxury SUV is $175–$210 per hour with a two-hour minimum, and the clock covers driving, border queues and waiting. Add the border waits in both directions to your plan; they can account for an hour or more on busy days.

For long weekends, border queues lengthen. The Victoria Day weekend, the August long weekend and Thanksgiving weekend are the periods when travellers should expect the longest lines. Check the CBSA page on the morning you travel, and do not count on a short crossing.

Business travel and group transfers

Teams travel between Vancouver and Seattle for meetings, shoots and trade events all year. A team of eleven travelling to a Seattle meeting is easier to manage in one Sprinter than in four taxis, and the vehicle gives you a place to prepare. See the corporate car service and the Sprinter page for details.

For regular cross-border travel, ask about an account. See our cross-border limo page for the general rules that apply to travel into the United States.

A sample timeline: Vancouver hotel to a Seattle departure

Suppose you have a 3 p.m. flight from Sea-Tac and you are staying downtown in Vancouver. Work backwards from the departure. You want to be at the airport about three hours before an international departure or two hours before a domestic one, so say 12:30 p.m. Add three hours of driving, and add a border allowance of an hour to be safe, and the pickup lands at about 8:30 a.m. In practice the border may be quick, in which case you will have time for breakfast in Seattle, which is better than the reverse.

The same rule applies to a Seattle morning meeting. Leaving Vancouver at 5 a.m. is worth the early alarm if the alternative is arriving late and flustered. If the schedule is truly fixed, travel the night before and sleep in Seattle.

Cruises, ballgames and other reasons to cross

Cruise travellers are one group who use this route. A ship that sails from Seattle after a hotel night in Vancouver needs an arrival that matches the boarding window, and our page for the Canada Place cruise terminal explains the Vancouver side of the process. Tell us the vessel name and boarding time and we will plan the pickup around it.

Other trips are shorter and more casual: a concert, a shopping day or a family visit. For those, a Luxury SUV for up to six passengers at $1,345–$1,620 each way, split among the party, can compare with the cost of tickets, parking and fuel for two cars. Work out the per-person cost before you decide, and consider the hourly option if the plan includes several stops. A weekend in Seattle also pairs with the Vancouver luxury weekend guide for planning the other half of your trip.

Luggage, passengers and the right vehicle

A couple fits an Executive Sedan, which holds three passengers with two large bags and two carry-ons. A family on the way to a cruise wants the Luxury SUV, with six seats and room for five or six large bags. A team or tour party takes an Executive Sprinter: twelve to fourteen seats and twelve or more bags. Luggage may be inspected at the border, so keep bags accessible and avoid packing food, plants or gifts you have not declared.

Car seats for children cost nothing when requested in the booking. If a child is travelling without both parents, check the Government of Canada's travel advice before the trip.

Winter, fog and the Fraser Valley

Winter fog, rain and the occasional snowfall slow the drive. The border region is flat and exposed, and traffic can build up quickly after an incident. Allow extra time in December and January, and tell us if you have a flight to catch. The Washington State Department of Transportation and DriveBC publish current road information.

Inclusions, border time and cancellation

The fare covers the chauffeur, the vehicle and flight tracking at airports. Tolls are added at cost where they apply.

Time is counted from the scheduled pickup, not from the border. A cancellation made more than 72 hours ahead is free; 10% applies at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less, and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show.

Related routes

For other cross-border and long-distance transfers, see Toronto to Buffalo airport, Vancouver to Whistler and the Vancouver airport limo page. Our routes hub gathers every intercity transfer, and the rates page has the full rate card.