Cheapest way from Arizona to Anchorage?

March 29, 2005 1:52 AM

I'm from Arizona, and am going to Anchorage this summer to work. What's the cheapest way to get there? An Orbitz search says the cheapest flight is $497; are there other, cheaper alternatives? I'm open to driving up to 5 hours (i.e. Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc.) if it will get me a cheaper flight, and also open to alternative methods of transportation (renting a car, train, etc.), as long as they get me there relatively quickly.
posted by joshuaconner to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

Best answer: You really have three viable options.

You can drive the Alaska-Canada highway (the ALCAN). That'll take about three to five days and goes through some really beautiful country. It's also very remote and not a drive you want to take in a car you don't want dinged or damaged, as it's mostly oiled gravel. This is how I got up here with my family. The total costs for two adults and three cats was something like $2500. It probably could be done for less if you bought The Milepost and could plan ahead. I love roadtrips, but keep in mind this is kind of the ultimate road trip. No radio for days, hundreds of miles between you and rescue should something go wrong with your car and no cell phone reception of any kind.

You can also take the Alaska Marine Highway. It can take a couple of days to get from Bellingham to Skagway, then you still have to drive to Anchorage. That costs about $200 for you, $300 for your vehicle (they charge by vehicle length, so that can vary). You would want to get the route from Bellingham to Skagway, then you have to drive from Skagway to Anchorage.

The least expensive and probably most hassle-free way to get to Anchorage is by air. The fare you mentioned is really quite reasonable (I've never made it out of Alaska for less than $500, unless I'm only going as far as Seattle). If you don't have a lot of personal belongings to transport and you already have transportation lined up (Anchorage does not have great public transportation), that's probably the way to go. From everything that you've said, this is really your best option; the only real decison you have to make in this case is your starting location.

As far as I know, there are no train routes from "Outside" (what all Alaskans call anything outside of Alaska, be it the Lower 48 or Canada). The Alaska Railroad does flag stops to some pretty remote places, but no train routes go through the Yukon Territory.

Anchorage, while a fairly large city, is still pretty darn remote, and while Alaskans want more roads inside the state, they seem to be fairly insular and would rather not make it any easier for people to get here. The cruise ships are constantly running ads to remind people that tourism is a good thing and that it brings money into small communities that can really use it, like Whittier.
posted by Elsbet at 2:59 AM on March 29, 2005

$497 round trip is really not a bad price - when I spent the summer up there in 1999, my ticket cost double that. And Anchorage is so far up north that there's really no quick way of getting there, other than flying for hours.
posted by cajo at 4:11 AM on March 29, 2005

Not sure if you can beat that price but I know that AlaskaAir is having a sale that they're not listing with the travel sites.
posted by nicwolff at 5:40 AM on March 29, 2005

That's not a bad airfare, my flights to Alaska have always cost at least that even when I was a starving grad student. I doubt if driving will save you actual money in the end, it's a large distance. Assuming you're leaving from Phoenix you're talking about ~3700 miles one way. At 30 mpg that's 123 gallons of gas. Over half of it's going to be purchased in Canada so you might end up paying on average $3.31 per gallon or $407 bucks. Add in food, a cheap motel or two, an oil change and other fluids for your car and you won't break even.

It's a wonderful road trip, I've done it a couple times (from Windsor ON Canada, not AZ), but it's not quick. I've never seen so much wildlife threatening to test my reflexes once dusk set in so if you're getting tired it's time to stop.
posted by substrate at 6:08 AM on March 29, 2005

I spent quite a bit of time there in 2000 - flew into anchorage and then used trains/busses etc to get around. I even did a little hitch-hiking and made friends along the way. Getting there is the toughest part, inter-alaskan travel is easy. That fair is not half bad.
posted by guruguy9 at 10:11 AM on March 29, 2005