CAN 2010 July - Whistler.

NoogiE

NoogiE

Likes Dirt
4 more days to go!!!

Can anyone tell me, if I were to hire a car at Vancouver airport and drive down to visit my step sister in Seattle WITH my bike/gear, and perhaps pick up a few more goodies whilst there... will I have any problems at the border either on the way in or out with duties etc?

Of course I will take anything purchased out of the box etc and rub some dirt on it so that it doesnt look new. Since a friend or two were going to come for a road trip down, I really dont want to get stuck with a few hundred dollar import duty charge.
 
Reubs

Reubs

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've only ever had one wannabe cop at the border and I've crossed it a butt-load. Don't cross at Peace Arch, go to Pacific crossing, its literally only 3 minutes drive to the east but the lines are usually a heap shorter (some times by up to 20 minutes) and the staff usually have smile rather than the usual U.S. customs ass hats.

I hope you are over 25 or there will be no rent-a-car for you.
 
I

iguanabartola

Likes Dirt
NoogiE said:
4 more days to go!!!

Can anyone tell me, if I were to hire a car at Vancouver airport and drive down to visit my step sister in Seattle WITH my bike/gear, and perhaps pick up a few more goodies whilst there... will I have any problems at the border either on the way in or out with duties etc?

Of course I will take anything purchased out of the box etc and rub some dirt on it so that it doesnt look new. Since a friend or two were going to come for a road trip down, I really dont want to get stuck with a few hundred dollar import duty charge.
Click to expand...
Did that in March last year HOWEVER, no bikes/gear. Left all the stuff at the hotel (Had a brand new bike then which got at a crazy price due to being winter) and did the drive Van to Seattle for a day only, bought few goodies, etc and it was sweet. Friendly guys at the border, even took stupid photos at the line and all good.

I guess it comes down to who will be sitting at immigration that day. Car was a rental too.
 
NoogiE

NoogiE

Likes Dirt
Wicked. Thanks for the tips Reubs and iguana. I believe I owe you a beer Reubs, you have been a wealth of information in other posts too, so thanks. Im moving over to .ca for a year or two, so the chances of that beer are probably pretty high eh? :)

Figure its best just to get the car from YVR airport and head straight down to Seattle then back to Whistler (will be interesting after an international flight...), save me the bus fare up to whistler, and the extra driving back just so I can dump my crap first. I was just going to go with an Avis one way rental - is that a good plan or does anyone have a better suggestion?

FARKING EXCITED!!!
 
Reubs

Reubs

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Granville island honey lager! :)

if Avis will let you do a one way, dump the car in little Aussie-town then pick it up when you need it, I would go for that for sure.
 
Reubs

Reubs

Likes Bikes and Dirt
"Duty" is tax. Therefor the duty you will pay on them is the taxable amount if they were purchased in whatever country you are bringing them into. In B.C. you obviously will be paying 12% HST. Back home it will be at least 10% GST. I dont know if there are any other taxes invovled there or not as certain items (alcohol for example) have more than one tax applied, I doubt this is the case here though.

The only way you will get them tax free is to go to the states in person, buy them minus tax (since you boyz aim frum 'round 'ere) and essentially smuggle (for want of a better word) them back into the country. Since Aust. customs dont really give two craps about one fork (a suitcase full on the other hand...) you wont have any problems. Be aware that it is possible to claim back the GST component (6%) of the HST on items over a certain value if you are a traveller. You do that at the airport, they have to stamp your receipt and fill out some forms. If you are here on a working visa I dont think this applies to you as you are considered a resident and hence must pay tax.
 
N

NPJ_boy

Likes Bikes
Hey guys,
Instead of making another pointless whistler thread i thought i would ask a couple questions here for 2011.
I have read some (not nearly all) reports on peoples trips to whistler but i have a question regarding accommodation.
It seems most people stay in budget to reasonable accommodation but i have been luck enough to travel with my family and never stayed in anything under 5 starts.
So is there anywhere close by that is a 5 star that will accept bikes?
As i won’t be working for the 2 or so months it will just be riding and partying so im looking to do it properly and in style.
All the hotels that my travel agent is finding are no where near where i want to be.
If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
 
Jaz

Jaz

Likes Dirt
NPJ_boy said:
It seems most people stay in budget to reasonable accommodation but i have been luck enough to travel with my family and never stayed in anything under 5 starts.
So is there anywhere close by that is a 5 star that will accept bikes?
As i won’t be working for the 2 or so months it will just be riding and partying so im looking to do it properly and in style.
All the hotels that my travel agent is finding are no where near where i want to be.
If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
The Boot sounds like it would have been right up your alley, shame it's shut down though. I'm sure you would have appreciated the weekly high culture event, Das Boot. People used to come from miles around to marvel at the amazing artistic achievements on display.

Best of luck with your search.
 
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jrewing

jrewing

Eats Squid
NPJ_boy said:
Hey guys,
Instead of making another pointless whistler thread i thought i would ask a couple questions here for 2011.
I have read some (not nearly all) reports on peoples trips to whistler but i have a question regarding accommodation.
It seems most people stay in budget to reasonable accommodation but i have been luck enough to travel with my family and never stayed in anything under 5 starts.
So is there anywhere close by that is a 5 star that will accept bikes?
As i won’t be working for the 2 or so months it will just be riding and partying so im looking to do it properly and in style.
All the hotels that my travel agent is finding are no where near where i want to be.
If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Mate i'll show you but you've gotta pay for me to come too, aye'?!
 
N

NPJ_boy

Likes Bikes
Its looking like i will be flying solo for this trip as none of my mates ride bikes.
I’m always down to ride with new people and run a muck though so if any aussies are there i will throw down some beer money.
If i can get away for 2ish months for around $35-45,000 then i will be a happy boy and the mrs cant complain.
The biggest expensive is accommodation which im budgeting around $500 a night but that just kills my budget, everything else looks to be easy.
 
A

ademb

Likes Dirt
NPJ_boy said:
Its looking like i will be flying solo for this trip as none of my mates ride bikes.
I’m always down to ride with new people and run a muck though so if any aussies are there i will throw down some beer money.
If i can get away for 2ish months for around $35-45,000 then i will be a happy boy and the mrs cant complain.
The biggest expensive is accommodation which im budgeting around $500 a night but that just kills my budget, everything else looks to be easy.
Click to expand...
Jesus christ dude, my mates been over there for 10months now and he has spent less then half your budget lol, those $500 a nite beds help you get a better nights sleep then something cheaper?

Not gonna lie, Im jealous for sure but damn
 
C

Calv

Likes Bikes
NPJ_boy said:
All the hotels that my travel agent is finding are no where near where i want to be.
If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Fire your travel agent mate. I'm not 100% sure about being bike friendly, but a few calls/emails should answer that. I think it'll be a safe bet that they will be more than accommodating given the length of your stay.

Fairmont Chateau - http://www.fairmont.com/whistler
Westin - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1199
Pan Pacific Mountainside - http://www.panpacific.com/WhistlerMountainside/Overview.html
Hilton - http://www.hiltonwhistler.com/whistler-village-hotels/index.php
Four Seasons - http://www.fourseasons.com/whistler/
 
R

Ryan

Radministrator
NPJ_boy said:
Its looking like i will be flying solo for this trip as none of my mates ride bikes.
I’m always down to ride with new people and run a muck though so if any aussies are there i will throw down some beer money.
If i can get away for 2ish months for around $35-45,000 then i will be a happy boy and the mrs cant complain.
The biggest expensive is accommodation which im budgeting around $500 a night but that just kills my budget, everything else looks to be easy.
Click to expand...
You are out of your mind. It's your money, but forking over that much for accommodation in Whistler, particularly staying in one of those hotels, seems like a massive waste of it.

There are a couple of places that do chalet-style lodging in the summer with meals, tours, guiding, bike workshops, secure storage and so on. Ticket2Ride is a good place to start, not 5 stars but you could spend literally half of what you've budgeted for AND get guided all over half of Lower Mainland BC and hit all the big bike parks by them. Then spend the other $20,000 on riding in the interior, heli's, float planes and so on. You need a new travel agent.
 
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C

Calv

Likes Bikes
Ryan said:
You are out of your mind. It's your money, but forking over that much for accommodation in Whistler, particularly staying in one of those hotels, seems like a massive waste of it.
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You summed up exactly what I was thinking but didn't say. I just provided what he asked for lol

If you have that sorta cash to spend , then definitely give a thought to the guided options that Ryan has suggested.
 
Ninja Cougar

Ninja Cougar

Likes Bikes
I think Ryan is right on in saying that there are so many other great places to go riding in BC, and if you have 2 months you can do a lot more than just Whistler. As to finding accommodation, forget the travel agent. Unless you really really like the big hotels, a lot of the best places to stay are privately owned, and use various websites for bookings. alluradirect.com is great, but there's many more, and the official Whistler tourism site has a good map of where everything is.
NPJ_boy said:
Hey guys,
Instead of making another pointless whistler thread i thought i would ask a couple questions here for 2011.
I have read some (not nearly all) reports on peoples trips to whistler but i have a question regarding accommodation.
It seems most people stay in budget to reasonable accommodation but i have been luck enough to travel with my family and never stayed in anything under 5 starts.
So is there anywhere close by that is a 5 star that will accept bikes?
As i won’t be working for the 2 or so months it will just be riding and partying so im looking to do it properly and in style.
All the hotels that my travel agent is finding are no where near where i want to be.
If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
 
jrewing

jrewing

Eats Squid
Do people think he's real.

oh i have a prob. how do i ship my Porsche Cayenne over? its the biggest baddest trailerpig out there. it has baby fur seal interior and a mirror dash board for doin' copius amounts coke between runs, that is if i don't choose to take the 2 eurotrashblonde models i normally nasally vacuum it up off over...

Pfft...
 
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