Questions? 11:30 am arrival at ANC airport... with a 3 pm flight

[Sandy R]

When we were in Anchorage in 2006, we rented a car and did an all day drive to Portage Glacier and back... great views and lasting impressions! But we didn't get to see downtown Anchorage.

 

Next May 15th, we'll be arriving in Whittier on the Diamond Princess. I assume will be the first cruise ship arriving in Whittier next season. We'll be taking private transportation to the airport (pick-up at 8:30 am for a 9 am tunnel drive) and should arrive the latest by 11:30... for a 3 pm flight. We'd like to spend a little time in downtown Anchorage. What are the chances we can check our bags at the airport, grab a taxi and go into town for lunch? Will we have time? How far is the airport from downtown? How much for a taxi into town and back? How much time should we allow to get through airport security at the airport and get to our gate?

 

Thanks for any input!

[Queasy Cruiser]

I don't know about the cost, but I think you'll have time do do a brief tour, unless you're traveling outside the US and need to go through customs.

 

It only took us about 15 minutes to get to the airport from downtown. :)

[AkSusan]

When we were in Anchorage in 2006, we rented a car and did an all day drive to Portage Glacier and back... great views and lasting impressions! But we didn't get to see downtown Anchorage.

 

Next May 15th, we'll be arriving in Whittier on the Diamond Princess. I assume will be the first cruise ship arriving in Whittier next season. We'll be taking private transportation to the airport (pick-up at 8:30 am for a 9 am tunnel drive) and should arrive the latest by 11:30... for a 3 pm flight. We'd like to spend a little time in downtown Anchorage. What are the chances we can check our bags at the airport, grab a taxi and go into town for lunch? Will we have time? How far is the airport from downtown? How much for a taxi into town and back? How much time should we allow to get through airport security at the airport and get to our gate?

 

Thanks for any input!

I answered this over on the Anchorage restaurant thread and saw this one, so I'm cutting and pasting here too. You basic problem would be you'd have no control over how long lunch would be some place downtown especially if you hit there during lunch time which seems to run about from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. downtown. Actually just having about 3 hours or less you may be cutting it real close.

 

It's usually 4 hours out for them to take luggage but being that close they may let you check it. So according to how long those lines are and then I'd recommend probably 45 minutes or maybe a little bit more (just being safe) to clear security when you'd come back to board your plane.

 

Taxi into town with tip is about probably $25 each way, about 6 miles from airport to downtown.

 

You may want to consider staying a little closer to the airport. There's the Fancy Moose Lounge (great patio) at the Millenium or Gwennie's a little further down Spenard Road.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)