frugaltravel

I would definitely try to do something in/near Haines vs. going to Skagway. Skagway is much more commercialized. Haines is quieter, more "real" if you want to use that word, no big commercial shops, jewelry shops, etc. The Glacier Point excursion is popular. Renting a car and driving up the Haines Highway and/or to Chilkoot Lake will be very scenic and popular.

You don't say when you are going, but if later in July or Aug/Sep, you have a good chance of seeing bears as you drive to Chilkoot Lake.

Two nights at McKinley Princess is definitely at least 1 night too long. But if you stick to the cruisetour, I would take the full day in Denali and book a shuttle bus to Wonder Lake. You can always get off at Eielson and turn around to the entrance. At Eielson you can do a couple of activities with rangers - a noon hike that is about a 1,000 foot elevation gain or a 1pm much easier "stroll." Or you could just get off the bus and do your own hiking in the park.

I was not an elite with AA in Sept when they took mine a good 10 hrs early.:rolleyes:

I have been trying to find the federal rule/law that requires checked luggage to be accepted no more than 4 hours before departure and can't find it. Perhaps someone can post a link to that rule. Maybe the person who posted that it is a rule or anyone else?

I am not a fan of staying just one night in a place unless really needed. So I totally agree that 2 nights in Seattle is better than 1 night in Seattle and one night in Anchorage. I would try to book a fairly early flight from Seattle to Anchorage. If you get in by about noon, you have your car by about 1pm, and will probably want to have lunch. So now it is 2pm before you start your drive. It is a 3 hour drive without many stops from Anchorage to Seward, but you will want to stop a lot. It is a very scenic drive with lots to see/do. It would not surprise me if you left at 3pm you would not arrive in Seward until 8-9pm. Girdwood, the scenic pullouts, the Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage Glacier area, maybe Hope or Moose Pass for dinner, etc.

Then you can take the morning of the cruise and either do a Kenai Fjords 6 hour boat tour (highly recommended) or visit Exit Glacier, Sealife Center, Seavey's kennels or numerous other activities before boarding your ship.

I have to disagree that if Jet Blue can't get you there, Spirit probably can't either. If the storm is concentrated further east on the coast, it is very possible that Jet Blue will have canceled flights to/from JFK, but Spirit's non-stop flight will still operate from upstate NY to FLL.

Nothing anyone can really say, except as was mentioned to continue checking. Realize that the longer you wait to purchase another ticket, the more expensive it will become. Often buying a ticket with less than 7 days, then less than 3 days before departure will increase the cost.

I have used Spirit a couple of times. Basically you pay for everything, even carry on luggage that won't fit under the seat in front of you. If you don't print your boarding pass at home or at the kiosk at the airport, they charge you. If you want seats assigned in advance, they charge you. The list goes on. The "seat pitch" (distance between seats) is the tightest of any airline in the USA. If you are aware of all this stuff in advance, and read every single page of their website as you go through the booking process, you won't have any surprises. But most people just click through page after page without reading, then complain when they hear about all the charges at the airport (and if you want until the airport to pay, you are charged more).

So? Is that a bad thing? Personally, we booked GW for Alaska this July and I enjoyed reading these posts! I have chatted with Teresa several times on-line and can't wait to meet her and Sean! Love the great reviews and intend to post one myself upon our return!

Not bad, just suspicious as I said. All of your posts on CC are not glowing reviews of one tour operator.

I never "plan" or "intend" to post a glowing review of any tour operator before I even take a tour. They have to earn any glowing review I give.

No, not really. Yes, a nonstop is, by defintion, a direct flight, but the OP said direct flight when I'd bet the bank that he/she meant not just any old direct flight, but one that is nonstop specifically. i.e. I'll bet they were referring to travel that included no intermediary stops in between boarding and deplaning.

You can "bet" all you want but that doesnt change the definition or the fact that the OP was correct.

I think its going to be an AA plane. The flight isn't until August 2nd so I have time yet but when I looked at seats, 3/4 of them are taken already.

Most likely 3/4 of the seats are not "taken" but many are blocked for frequent flyers.

Also, you should be able to tell now who is supposed to operate the flight. Airlines are required by law to tell you if the flight is operated by an airline other than the one you bought the ticket from.

In the spirit of correctness and to avoid confusion, SW is not the IATA abbreviation for Southwest Airllines. SW is the code for Air Namibia. The code for Southwest is WN. Julia

We have been through that diversion more times than anyone cares to count. SW is commonly accepted among the general flying public (i.e. not avid flyers and not DYKWIA's) as being Southwest. Heck, you obviously realized they were talking about Southwest :D

And in the further spirit of correctness and to avoid confusion, presumably what FlaGrl4Evr is referring to is a non-stop flight, not a direct one. WN has a LOT of direct flights that are most certainly NOT non-stop.

Actually all non-stop flights are direct flights. But not all direct flights are non-stop. So technically the poster was correct even if they meant non-stop.

I took Magic Bus from Anchorage to Whittier. They picked me up at the hotel, made a couple of stops along the way and we were in Whittier in plenty of time for the Prince William Sound day tour. I am sure you could do it with the train too - check the train schedules. You need a train that arrives before noon.

Do you realize you resurrected a 3+ year old thread? Plus, your only two posts on the forum are glowing reports of Glacier Wind? Seems a bit suspicious to me.

Most of my flying is LAX to YVR or FLL. I have yet to find a cheaper price on Southwest when I need to go or even close to competitive.

Of course Southwest won't be competitive from LAX to YVR, since they don't fly that route no matter how many connections one will live with. :)

We will have only 3 full days pre- cruse in July. Renting car in Anchorage. What must we ( and can we) do to avoid kicking ourselves that we missed the greatest things ever?

If you have three full days that means you have four nights, right? That seems to be the only way to get three full days. Where does your cruise depart from and when? Suggestions could easily be different in May than in August for example. And whether you are departing from Whittier or Seward also makes a difference.

Also, telling us more of your interests is key. A "must do" for me might be fishing, but if you don't fish, who cares?

In order to really get a good look at Tracy Arm and the two Sawyer Glaciers it requires the small boat add on - the Tracy Arm Explorer - which will cost around $250.00 pp.

Exactly my thought, so why not just go to Glacier Bay?

Doing Tracy Arm without the add on means there is a possibility you won't see the glaciers. The add on makes the prices pretty close. My vote would be for Glacier Bay.

And add to that the fact that even with a small boat you might not get through Tracy Arm if it is very well iced over.

Glacier Bay is an amazing day and if you are out front on the ship before the ship enters the bay you have a great chance of seeing whales and other marine wildlife.

I think you have a very unrealistic thought in your mind about Delta SkyClubs. They are nowhere I would want to be hanging out for 8-9 hours. Very spartan with regard to food (though that might change in the future), pretty sterile area, can sometimes be loud depending on how many people and how many kids are there.

I would rather rent a car for +-$50 (the cost of one or maybe two SkyClub passes if you get them at a discount) and explore the area. This would be a much better use of your time.

I'm shooting for United or American. My actual cruise is leaving Dec. 27th and returning January 3rd. United has open their miles up, but USAir, who they're connected with, hasn't opened up their flight schedule that far yet. I can't seem to find a low mile flight on either carrier for the flight down. Talk about frustration! What is the point of earning miles, paying the credit card fee and try to book a flight, then find out you can't use your miles because of restrictions?

It is definitely possible, but you need to be vigilant in looking constantly for availability.

Don't believe USAir will be "connected" with UA after May 2014, due to merger with AA.

Actually it will be in March 2014 when USAir leaves the Star Alliance (March 22 or March 24 I believe).

Personally I wouldn't be too worried about using UA miles to book on US. If there are issues with schedule changes, UA has been very good with me in rebooking me even when the award availability no longer existed. They can force award availability on their own airline. So most likely it will mean that you would end up flying on UA flights rather than US flights if there are schedule changes that result in misconnects.

I had a flight out of JFK a few years ago after the Christmas storm. I think they had about a foot of snow. Pretty much closed the airport for at least 3 days. After that much time trying to get out, I took a train to BWI and flew out of there.

I would take EWR over JFK any day. Smaller and easier to maneuver. But it depends a lot on where your final destination is. Often I am going to somewhere closer to EWR than JFK.

Do you have two full days? Or really two nights and one day? How are you getting to Denali? Is the land tour a cruisetour or independent?

The drive along Turnagain Arm is in itself worth it. The glacier cruises from Whittier are great. You will get closer to the glaciers than you will on your cruise ship.

A much more ad-free link is this one:

http://www.destinationalaska.com/

Hi, I was just wondering has anyone been to the Steve Kroschel Wildlife Centre in Haines? My husband and I are going to Haines on 17 Sept this year on a cruise and we are thinking of going to the Wildlife Centre independently of the Cruise Ship excursion as it is cheaper, we have heard that you can get the City Bus for $2 and then walk for 1 mile or catch a shuttle which is about $16. I have been trying to contact the centre to see if we have to book a t

Tell me where you got the info "we have heard" about the transportation. Kroschel's place is +-25 miles outside Haines. I know of no shuttle bus that operates that far outside of Haines. Most likely you will need to rent a car.

Only EZAir will be able to answer that. You need to call them. Good luck with that... I'm sure they're being bombarded with calls today so your hold time may be very, very long.

I have never called EZAir, but I have called USAirways during irregular operations. Hold time was well over an hour. I can't imagine EZAir would be any worse.

Also, OP, I am not so sure contacting EZAir in the case of canceled flights due to the current weather issues is necessary. Sure you will also have a long hold time calling the airline, but on day of departure they are much more willing to assist with such weather waiver delays/cancellations on all sorts of tickets than at other times.

OP, many regulars on this forum are nuts about bashing any and all consolidator tickets, as you obviously know by now :D.

There are consolidators then there are consolidators. Most consolidators that cruise passengers use offer very restrictive tickets. However, there are a handful of consolidators that are very reliable and offer not only better prices, but often also better conditions and terms than buying directly through the airline. Unfortunately most of these more reputable consolidators only work with travel agents. They make their money on volume and can't be bothered helping individuals figure out what they really want. In essence they are order takers. If you find a consolidator that is a member of the USACA that is a great start. A few work with individuals, most don't (so you would have to find yourself a trusted travel agent who works with them).

2. As for getting you to the ship on time, no consolidator can guarantee that. Sure, you'll probably make it, but there's no guarantee. If you think there is, I have some land I'd like to sell you in Kansas that I guarantee is oceanfront. :D

The OP never said "guarantee" and in fact, even if a person bought a full fare first class ticket, the airline itself would also not offer that "guarantee." Read the Conditions of Carriage of all airlines and you will also realize that!

flying in the day of the cruise...wasn’t my idea and was beyond my control.:(

NOW, we have restricted air tickets thru EZ Air. I know if I cancel or change my flts there is a penalty plus losing the money for the original booking and having to purchase a new ticket. My question is: Can I change the flight out to an earlier date (trying to avoid weather delay) and still keep my return flight without penalties or loss? I just want to change the out bound flight. Btw, my outbound is on USAir and the return is with Amercian.

Thanks

It would help to know where you are traveling to/from and when.

But with EZAir, you already answered your own question - if you cancel or change, you have to buy a new ticket. So if you change the outbound, doesn't that qualify as a "change" and mean that you need to buy a new ticket? Maybe I don't understand your question.

If you are worried about a weather delay in the coming days, the airlines are issuing weather waivers so you should be able to change flights within the parameters of the weather waiver, even on EZAir tickets.

I agree that multiple trips is the key. I have often seen bears at very close distance from the bus. But I don't just take one shuttle bus on one day then zoom off to my next "been there, done that" destination.

:rolleyes:

 

Most people check in and print boarding passes at home. I would think that if someone saw their boarding pass said TSA Pre✓ and didn't know what it meant, they would a quick online search before their flight. I guess assuming people might like to be prepared is asking a bit much. After all, why is holding up a line because I'm too busy to educate myself a problem for me?

I have to disagree. Boarding passes often also give the "booking class" or "fare class", "seq" number, or "conf" code. Do you really expect Joe Traveler who travels once a year to investigate what all of these notations on his boarding pass mean before he gets to the airport? I think you are asking way too much. And it is not a problem for YOU or ME. It means we spend a few more seconds or minutes in the security line. If we are cutting our time before the flight that close, we have bigger issues. Fortunately most passengers are not the DYKWIA type like it appears some people are.