Prices for 2005 Flightseeing & Dog Sled Tour

[OrangeCallaLily]

:eek: holy cow... pricey!

 

I emailed Temsco Air to get 2005 prices (we will be on our cruise the first week of July). Below is what they sent. I really wanted to do the Flightseeing and Dog Sled Tour, but for $399 per person it is a bit to much for me. Bummer. I just cannot justify spending $800 (me & my hubby) for a trip that lasts 1.5 hours.

 

Just wanted to pass along the info to all. I do realize that we are going to miss out on an amazing experience, but our pocketbook just cannot handle it.

 

Thank you for your interest in TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc.'s glacier tours. The following is information on tours we will be operating for the 2005 season. We offer the following tours from the port of Skagway from May 5th – September 29th.

 

 

Valley of the Glaciers Tour - This tour is approximately 55 minutes.

 

As you ascend above Skagway you will view the Taiya Inlet and the once bustling town of Dyea. Then you will be whisked away to the valley on the Glaciers where you will land on or at the base of a glacier. Once the helicopter lands you’ll spend approximately 25 minutes exploring the glacier with tour guides. (Price - $199)

 

(From the dock, set aside 1 hour, 30 minutes for your tour).

 

 

“Pilot's Choice” Glacier Explorer - This tour is approximately 1 hour 20

 

minutes. This exciting excursion lands twice within the ice fields surrounding Skagway. The sites visited vary from day to day, tour to tour, depending on weather, and are typically the pilot's favorite locations. (Price - $299)

 

(From the dock, set aside 2 hours for your tour).

 

 

 

The following tour is offered from May 10, 2005 to September 5th, 2005.

 

 

Flightseeing & Dog Sledding Tour - This tour is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Your estimated 30-minute flight will take you to one of Alaska’s many pristine glaciers. Once on the glacier you will spend approximately 1 hour at the dog camp, which includes 20 – 25 minutes of Dog mushing. (Price - $399)

 

(From the dock, set aside 2 hours for your tour.)

 

 

 

Our flight schedule varies from day to day. We realize that cruise ship passengers are in port for a very limited time, so we provide each ship with tours for their passengers; seats can be purchased directly from your ship’s shore excursion manager. If you are traveling on a cruise line that offers prebooking, and are interested in our “Valley of the Glaciers tour” our “Pilots Choice Tour”, and/or our “Flightseeing and Dog Sledding Tour”, you can get pricing information and make reservations through your ship’s pre-booking program, prior to your vacation.

 

 

To ensure passenger safety and comfort, passengers weighing 250 lbs or more will be reserved extra space in the helicopter. These passengers will be required to pay an additional charge of ½ of the tour price.

 

 

If you have additional questions, or need assistance with anything, or would like to make a reservation, please feel free to contact us toll free at 1-866-683-2900 or email us at skg_staff@temscoair.com.

 

If you have questions about our Juneau helicopter tours you can reach them toll free at 1-877-789-9501or e-mail them at info@temscoair.com.

 

 

Thank you,

 

From the staff at TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc.

[jrask]

Alaska sticker-shock. Hopefully your budget will allow you to take another flightseeing tour and get a landing on a glacier.

[CEWayfarer]

What is worse is that Temesco has blocked out reservations on the day we'll be in Skagway just for Carnival. It's expensive enough through Temesco, but I wonder how much Carnival will tack onto the price. I'm sure it won't be a bargain!

[stephenandrew]

When we were in Alaska last summer, we did not see a lot of bargains. As you point out, $800 is an awful lot of money, but relative to the prices charged for other excursions (e.g. horseback riding, whale watching, etc.) it is is not out of line. (You may say the whole price structure of everything in Alaska is nuts....I would probably agree!) However, for us, I figured this may be the one time we make it there, so we spent more than what I would have liked and did a few big ticket tours. Were they fun? Yes! Is a glacier helicopter tour really worth $500...not to me, but I have no regrets. Like I said, I will probably never get to walk on a glacier again. What ever you do, have fun!!

[Budget Queen]

I still always recommend to budget fully for Alaska tours. There are way TOO many regrets when not done. I do find the tours of interest to be ENTIRELY worth the costs. There are many ways to cut back, but my opinion only- it is not on the excursion end for me.

[Frontier Jeanne]

There are two other operations in Skagway offering sled dog tours at a much lower price; although the rides are on wheeled summer carts and not on the snow, they have much to offer! Try searching for Skagway sled dog tour and you can find the companies.

[StarT15]

Hi! I just returned from an Alaskan cruise last night. My husband, my brother, and I went on the helicopter/dogsled tour with Temsco. It was the highlight of the trip for all three of us. We absolutely loved it! The views from the helicopter were amazing, and dogsledding on top of a glacier . .. amazing!!! We loved every minute of it, and the pilot and dogsled guides were really friendly and interesting people. They went above and beyond in my opinion.

 

Believe me, I know that it is a lot of money for a tour. We are on a pretty tight budget as my husband is a teacher, and I am a stay at home mom. We almost didn't do it because of the expense, but then we decided that it may be a once in a lifetime chance. I am so glad that we splurged on this incredible experience. We have absolutely no regrets!

[SuzieQK]

OrangeCallaLily- I know it is a heck of a lot of money!! I too was shocked to see the cost of some of the excursions. We just came back from a southbound cruise on Carnival's Spirit. I figured we probably will never do this again, so we should do it right, I gave my family hubby, son 16 daughter 22, the choice of a glacier trek or dog mushing on the glacier and they all opted for the trek. We used Northstar Trekking, and I booked it on my own. It was $339 a piece, but it was sooooooo totally worth it!! We had a 30 minute helicopter ride and 2 hours on Mendenhall Glacier. It was amazing and Northstar was excellent!! And funny how our mastercard bill met us when we got home(thought I would have a few weeks cushion-not!! lol) Hard to swallow a $1300.oo excursion-but its only money. Our family will be talking about this excursion for years and years to come, and probably will tell thier children and grandchildren they walked on the glacier. Bite the bullet and just do it!!! You will not be disappointed! Now we want to do the dog sledding thing-people who did that instead of the glacier trek said that was the highlight of thier trip!