Whittier to Anchorage with late flight

[Michele M]

We are on the NB princess cruise in May that docks in Whittier. I plan to book a late afternoon flight out of Anchorage. What is the best way to get to Anchorage considering we will have time to see some sites. Is there a private tour company that will take us to the airport after? We are a party of 4 and we have never been to Alaska. We will not be doing the land tour on this trip and have to fly home the day the cruise ends. Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

Michele

[Budget Queen]

We are on the NB princess cruise in May that docks in Whittier. I plan to book a late afternoon flight out of Anchorage. What is the best way to get to Anchorage considering we will have time to see some sites. Is there a private tour company that will take us to the airport after? We are a party of 4 and we have never been to Alaska. We will not be doing the land tour on this trip and have to fly home the day the cruise ends. Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

Michele

 

 

If possible, I would book an overnight flight and enjoy a whole day of Anchorage touring with a rental car- Avis has a costly one way available, that I recommend.

 

With that, take your time on the Arm for some fantastic sightseeing, and then tour Anchorage, http://www.anchorage.net perhaps Eagle River Nature Center and Eklutna Spirit house tour. If you have kids, the Musk Ox farm?? You are too early for Hatcher Pass, but could get to Talkeetna- IF the area is of interest for flightseeing?? Make the most of your day- if this is not an option, look at the above site for transportation options.

[sea_u_onboard]

We are a party of 4 .....

We have 4 in our party and originally we were only going to fly into Anchorage the night before (going out of Whittier) so we were going to just get transportation that day through a vendor (train, shuttle, bus....) but when you calculate how much it is - the rate is like $55 per person for the train - it was actually CHEAPER to get the car even with the one way drop off fee AVIS charges.

 

FYI - if you have a military ID there is an AVIS discount code that doesn't charge the drop off fee, and gives you UP TO 20% off. Only thing is you don't get unlimited miles and have to pay 30 cents a mile. Still a great deal because you would have to drive over 300 miles to get to that drop off fee.

 

Go to http://nonrevtours.com/veterans/index.htm to find the discount code. There is a problem with the AVIS link on the page (goes to Budget) but if you go to www.avisalaska.com and put the discount code in it does work.

[Michele M]

Thanks for the suggestions. I just did reserve a rental car; however, we are 4 adults and the largest vehicle was a full size (mini van sold out). Fitting all the luggage is near impossible in a full size. Alaska seems like it will require heavier clothing so I think more than 1 suitcase will be necessary to make the airline weight requirements. The trunks in most full size cars cannot fit more than 3 regular size suitcases and a carryon or 2.

We may still do the rental car, but are there any other options for a tour and transportation to anchorage without being too expensive per person?

 

Michele

[mytime53]

I have no idea what it would cost (because I don't know how long you're wanting to drive around), but have you considered a limosine? There is one that specifically has a Whittier - Anchorage run.

We did that once with 2 other couples when returning from a cruise to Long Beach, need to get to LAX. The cost of 6 cruise line transfers paid for the limo, and gave us a sightseeing tour. We didn't know where we wanted to go, as we'd all been to L.A. several times. We told the limo driver to take us to one of his favorite places, some place off the beaten track. He took us to the glass chapel and we loved it. None of us had even ever heard of it. There's definitely room for all your luggage!

[NancyIL]

You could take the 4-hour shuttle/tour with Alaskan Leopard: http://www.alaskanleopard.com/Tours/index.htm

[Michele M]

Thanks for the replies. I am looking into the limo tour. It sounds good.

 

Michele