Flight conundrums

[Magnetchief]

Hi,

We're looking into an Alaskan trip June 18 2019.

We would like to travel North to South ending in Vancouver

aboard an RCI ship.

 

After the cruise we would like tro visit family in Portland OR then fly back to N Florida.

 

How do we go about figuring the flights? Jax is our closest real airport.

As I see it we need to fly Jax to Fairbanks Alaska, After the cruise. Vancouver to Portland, then after visiting family Portland back to Jax..

 

Seems overly complicated. Almost at the point of finding an agent.

[CruiserBruce]

You can train from Vancouver to Portland, or rent a car...I would look seriously at that. Then fly Portland to Florida. Probably buy two sets of one way tickets.

 

If you are just talking about flying...the Cruise Air board is the more relevant place to be, and lots of people with expertise.

[Hoyaheel]

Yeah, I'd look at open jaw (most airline sites call this "multi-city" when you're searching ) So it would look like this:

 

JAX-FAI June 14

PDX-JAX Jun 30 (?I have no clue what dates you want - I'm just showing that you can pick totally separate cities and dates and have it booked under one ticket. Or, if it's cheaper, you could book two one-way tickets. That often works if you switch airlines)

 

Then train or rental car in between YVR & PDX.

 

I don't find it that complicated - the booking should be pretty simple as it's pretty common to change up cities like this.

[Kellybc]

You can research using the multi-city option. Vancouver to Portland is fairly straightforward with Alaska Air. Jacksonville to either Fairbanks or Anchorage will most likely involve two connections and a long flight. You might want to also consider Orlando, could be cheaper, and more likely to only have one connection. I agree, lots of information on the Cruise Air section of Discussion Topics.

[GeezerCouple]

Here is software to use:

 

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

 

As suggested above, use the "multi city" tab (near the top).

 

I'd check it first including the Vancouver-PDX flight, and then compare with taking the train.

There is enough distance between Vancouver and SEA-TAC vs PDX that even if (that is an IF) we'd take the train to SEA-TAC, we'd fly to PDX unless we specifically wanted a change to train for one leg.

 

Priced together as open-jaw, it might not cost much extra to include the middle flight to PDX.

 

You cannot purchase tix via the matrix SW, but you can probably find the best choice and then call an airline for the ticketing.

 

GC

[johnandlinda]

We just booked our air

We used multi city as it was a cheaper option

We also opted to overnight in Seattle going so we can arrive Fairbanks mid afternoon versus after midnight

[Hoyaheel]

so we can arrive Fairbanks mid afternoon versus after midnight

 

On the other hand.....

 

In 2007 we arrived in Fairbanks late at night and saw AMAZING aurora borealis driving the rental car away from the airport :hearteyes:

[thegoaliegirl]

The drive between Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR is fairly straightforward, but it can take a LONG time. We did it a few weeks ago, on a weekday, and it took us 12 hours. We stopped for a quick lunch but were mainly in traffic. We got stuck sitting in Vancouver for over an hour due to an accident, over an hour at the border plus hit traffic everywhere possible (Everett, Seattle, Fife, Tacoma, Olympia). It made for a very long day. Pretty sure Bolt Bus does it one go from Vancouver to Portland.

[masterdrago]

On the other hand.....

 

In 2007 we arrived in Fairbanks late at night and saw AMAZING aurora borealis driving the rental car away from the airport :hearteyes:

Northern Lights not visible in June due to no dark skies https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/fairbanks

[Hoyaheel]

Northern Lights not visible in June due to no dark skies https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/fairbanks

 

OP is going in June. John&Linda, to whom I was responding (I even used quotes ;-) did not say when they are traveling.

[masterdrago]

OP is going in June. John&Linda, to whom I was responding (I even used quotes ;-) did not say when they are traveling.

Correct.

[Buckeye10640]

I dont know about the Vancouver to Portland flight. But we just returned from a southbound cruise. I booked Columbus OH to Anchorage and return flight from Vancouver each as a one way. We were willing to take a red-eye on the return and I got a super price on it. The biggest complication was having booked almost a year out the airline adjusted/cancelled flights and I had to make changes accordingly. These days I rarely book roundtrip.

 

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[reallyitsmema]

Hi,

We're looking into an Alaskan trip June 18 2019.

We would like to travel North to South ending in Vancouver

aboard an RCI ship.

 

After the cruise we would like tro visit family in Portland OR then fly back to N Florida.

 

How do we go about figuring the flights? Jax is our closest real airport.

As I see it we need to fly Jax to Fairbanks Alaska, After the cruise. Vancouver to Portland, then after visiting family Portland back to Jax..

 

Seems overly complicated. Almost at the point of finding an agent.

 

We sailed Radiance in May, Seward to Vancouver but had a cruisetour starting in Fairbanks. We originally were going to fly into Fairbanks but we decided to spend a few days on our own in Anchorage prior to the cruisetour, especially when we found we had more options flying into Anchorage. We flew BOS to DEN to ANC on United. We toured for a couple of days and then flew ANC to FAI on Alaska Airlines the day the cruisetour started. The first day of the cruisetour is really a travel day and checking into your first hotel. We flew in early in the day and ended up doing stuff on our own until the tour director met with people later in the day.

 

 

 

Are you flying into Fairbanks because of a cruisetour prior to your cruise? If you are sailing Radiance from Seward with no cruisetour prior, I would look at flying into Anchorage. Even with a cruisetour, you could do something similar to what we did. One of our biggest concerns was making sure we were on larger planes and not regional jets as I am not a good flyer. Make sure you look at what the connections are flying if you have issues with small planes like I do.

[nini]

I suggest driving to Orlando and flying in and out of there if it helps saves money and offers more variety of flights.

And yes, it can be a nightmare driving to Portland from Vancouver (I know the Northwest!). You may consider Amtrak, it goes right into downtown Portland. It may cost considerably more to rent a car with the one way drop off fee and dealing internationally.