Why should I plan my vacation with Alaska Vacation Store?
When is the best time to come to Alaska?
What is the weather like?
Are things more expensive in Alaska?
Are your trips more expensive than if I arrange my vacation on my own?
How does Alaska Vacation Store make your money on vacation packages?
Why doesn’t Alaska Vacation Store have more pre-packaged vacations?
How do Alaska Vacation Store’s custom trips compare in price to a competitor’s pre-packaged trip?
What is the best way to see Alaska?
What are the “don’t miss” places and attractions in Alaska?

Why should I plan my vacation with Alaska Vacation Store?

We believe that you have spent a long time planning and saving for your Alaska vacation, and deserve to have the best possible information and tools available when you put your vacation together. There are a lot of things that make planning a trip to Alaska a challenge, such as the geography, the distances between cities, towns and attractions, climate, knowledge of the concessionaires and vendors in the state, to name but a few. In addition, every summer we meet visitors to Alaska that did not plan their vacations with us who tell us that they wish they had done some aspect of their vacation differently. Our goal is to listen to you talk about your dream Alaska vacation and create the vacation that you tell us you want. So rather than presenting you with a list of tours and having you choose one, we create each vacation package from scratch. You and your family aren’t the same as everyone else, so why should you take the same vacation as everybody else? Our website lists a number of samples, as a way to give our clients an idea of what is possible. But if you don’t see it on our site, it doesn’t mean we can’t put it together for you. Just talk to us and let us know what you have in mind.

When is the best time to come to Alaska?

The summer vacation season in Alaska stretches from mid May to early September. Anytime during that period is a great time to come, but there are two times in that window that we think are particularly nice. The first is the last two weeks of June, into the first week of July. That is certainly the most popular time to come to Alaska, and the great advantage of that time of year is the maximum day length, warm temperatures, and generally dry weather. The second is right around Labor Day. The advantage to this time of year is to be in Denali around Labor Day. The fall colors are at their peak, the animals are active, and the days have shortened to the point that the skies actually get dark at night, and that gives you the opportunity to see the northern lights, if they are out.

In recent years we have found that there has been an increase in interest in visiting Alaska at other times of the year. Many of the same inns and lodges that we use in the summer offer exclusive and intimate accommodations in the winter, with the same hospitality and friendly service, but without the crowds. Many guests plan honeymoons or romantic getaways with us, as well as winter adventures that include snowmobile trips, skiing or dog mushing adventures.

If you’re coming to Alaska for a specific activity, there are definitely specific periods of the year. For example:

Bear viewing in Katmai – May through September, but Brooks Falls is best in July and again in September

Whale Watching – March through May

King Salmon fishing – late May, June, July (July for trophy Kings in the Kenai River)

Silver Salmon fishing – Late July through September

Sockeye Salmon Fishing – Mid June and again Mid July.

Trout fishing – After June 15

Northern lights viewing – After August 20, March

Iditarod Sled Dog Race – First Saturday in March, continuing for two weeks

Even if you can’t come to Alaska at those times, trips to Alaska are fantastic anytime!

What is the weather like?

Summer temperatures across Alaska (with some notable exceptions) range from the 50’s to 80’s. Sunny days are generally warmer than cloudy and rainy days, and areas farther from the water tend to be warmer than those on the coast. The North Slope and western Alaska can be considerably cooler when the prevailing wind is off the ocean. Interior and northern parts of the state are very dry, and much of this region is classified as a desert (less than 10 inches of precipitation a year). As you move south, the climate gets wetter. Areas that are protected by tall mountains, such as Anchorage, get less precipitation than comparable areas with better exposure to the moist winds of the Gulf of Alaska. Guests that visit Alaska find that the weather in most areas in the summer is quite pleasant, but without the oppressive heat of many locations in the lower 48.

Fall and spring are relatively short seasons in Alaska, with weather transitioning between summer and winter patterns fairly quickly.

Winters in Alaska range from relatively mild and wet in the southeast, to long and bitterly cold in the interior and far north. The heaviest snowfall in observed in the mountains and ice fields of south central and southeast Alaska, where dozens of feet of snow per year is typical. Interior and northern areas receive relatively little snow, but what does fall stays around for six months or more. Temperatures range from the 30’s and 40’s above in coastal areas, to 20 to 40 below, and colder in the interior and northern parts of the state.

Are things more expensive in Alaska?

Most things that one buys in Alaska are comparably priced to the same items in the larger cities of the United States. Certain items, like milk and produce are considerably more expensive. Other items are somewhat less expensive. Despite the fact that Alaska has tremendous oil reserves, gasoline and fuel oil prices are more expensive than most of the United States.

As a whole, the cost of living in Alaska is slightly higher than average, but actually less expensive than cities such as San Francisco.

Are your trips more expensive than if I arrange my vacation on my own?

Alaska Vacation Store negotiates special rates with vendors. These rates allow us to create competitively priced packages to what an individual might put together on his or her own. If you compare ten packages, about half would be marginally more expensive, and half would be less expensive.

How does Alaska Vacation Store make money on vacation packages?

Alaska Vacation Store negotiates special rates with our vendors, which are generally somewhat less than the retail price for those items. These are called 'net rates' and these are the rates that we pay to the vendors, and these include all taxes. We add a sliding percentage to our cost for the package, and this covers all of our costs and our profit on your package. The higher the cost of your package, the lower the percentage we add. On a typical package, between 20 and 28 percent of the total cost is our mark-up. When comparing the price of our packages with those of our competitors, make sure that the competitors packages include all taxes and fees; some do not include those figures in their prices. Also, remember that many of our competitors do not tell you in advance the places they will be placing you for your lodging. Our packages state the name of each vendor before you purchase the package.

Why doesn’t Alaska Vacation Store have more pre-packaged vacations?

We believe that pre-packaged vacations are for pre-packaged tourists. We also believe that you deserve better than that, and so every vacation we create is custom, from scratch, and just for you. Our website offers a number of examples of trips that we have put together for clients, but we offer those as examples of things we can do for you, and not as your only choices. Every week, guests present us with new ideas and new challenges to our vacation planning skills, and we regularly create something brand new.

How do Alaska Vacation Store’s custom trips compare in price to a competitor’s pre-packaged trip?

If Alaska Vacation Store were to put together the exact same trip (same tours, same lodging, same transportation) as one of our competitor's packages, the price would range from slightly more expensive to considerably less expensive. The differences result from the fact that our competitors negotiate different deals with vendors, and some vendors actually own the lodging, transportation or attractions included in the package. Generally we wouldn’t put together exactly the same vacation as one of our competitors, but something similar, and our package would be a better value, less expensive, or both! As an aside, we believe that one of our greatest strengths is that we do not own any of the properties that we use in the packages, and this allows us to give you the best advice and highest quality package, by suggesting the lodging and activities that are the best fit for you,  without insisting that you stay at one of our properties.

What is the best way to see Alaska?

Alaska is such a big place, geographically, that there isn’t one good answer to this question. Each possibility has its strong and weak points. Cruises offer a tremendous advantage of getting on the ship, unpacking once, and spending the rest of your vacation going from place to place, with all of your food and lodging included. Unfortunately, cruise ships are limited to the coastal areas, and thus you miss a lot of the state. If you add on a land package before or after the cruise, The advantage of staying in one place for a number of days goes away. Traveling across Alaska by rail or motor coach leaves you tied to the routes that they cover, and the timetables that they keep, and this limits the places you can go. Driving in Alaska offers tremendous flexibility in your travels, allows you to get to places that you couldn’t get to on the train on a bus, and really makes you the master of your trip. In addition, the scenery along Alaska’s highways is spectacular, and you have the option of stopping and taking in the sights, or taking short side trips that would not be otherwise possible. The downside of driving is that compared to other places in the world, the driving distances in Alaska are rather large, and you’ll spend a fair chunk of your travel days going from place to place. In recent years, the vast majority of our packages have been self-driving tours, because they offer the advantage of flexibility and quality, along with the ability to create truly unique and exciting packages that are not otherwise possible. We work very hard to arrange the itinerary to keep the driving times and distances as short as possible.

What are the “don’t miss” places and attractions in Alaska?

Denali National Park ends up on just about everybody’s must see list. People go there to see the wildlife and the spectacular scenery of the park. Depending on the time you have to spend in Alaska, you can visit there in two days (travel to and from the park impacts the amount of time you have there), but people who really want to go there do better with three, or even four days. 

One of the best ways to see Mt. McKinley is to take a flight seeing tour. These tours are available in a number of places, but the best ones are located in Talkeetna. These flights take you right up to the face of the mountain, and for a modest additional charge, you can actually land on the glaciers of the mountain.

In the last few years, some of our guests have expressed some disappointment with their visits to Denali National Park, because the park facilities have become rather crowded. We have taken to advising our guests of a number of different options, including skipping Denali for some of the other equally-impressive but less crowded destinations.

One of those alternatives is Wrangell St. Elias National Park. This is the largest National Park in the United States, but it is one of the least visited. The park is both historically significant and very scenic. Most visitors to the park travel to McCarthy and Kennicott. Kennicott Glacier comes right down into the town, and the ghost town at Kennicott has regular daily tours. Guided glacier hikes, wilderness rafting tours and flightseeing tours are just a few of the activities available there.

Kenai Fjords National Park is spectacular, with its rugged coast, fjords, glaciers and wildlife. In addition, the ease of access (by wildlife cruise in Seward) makes the park very popular.

A less known but very impressive area is Katmai National Park. Most visitors to the park come for fishing or bear viewing. Most guests have seen television programs on PBS or the Discovery Channel where bears are feeding on salmon in the rivers. This area is Brooks Falls, and trips to experience this are available in July. Getting there is a little pricey, and the conditions in the park are rather spartan. However, it is a full day trip, and people that go come back saying that it was the best part of their trip.

People that want to see glaciers (specifically, tidewater glaciers) tend to go to Prince William Sound or Glacier Bay National Park. What you do once you get to these places varies, as there are many different possibilities for glacier viewing. The most popular is to see the glaciers from ships, either a day cruise with one of the charter companies, or on a cruise ship with the major cruise companies. The downside of these trips is that you’re seeing the glaciers with hundreds of your closest friends. Some people prefer to get more “up close and personal” and choose a glacier kayaking trip. These trips aren’t for everyone, but the experience is unforgettable.

There are dozens of other places and activities that one can visit, and all of them are on someone’s “must see” list. If we didn’t list something that you’re interested in, give us a call, and we’ll add it to the list!

1-877-MY ALASKA (692-5275)

DESTINATIONS

Anchorage | Fairbanks | Juneau | Homer | Seward | Valdez | Whittier | Talkeetna

Kenai Peninsula  | Kenai Fjords National Park | Denali National Park | Wrangell St. Elias NP

ATTRACTIONS

Kayaking  |  Rafting  |  Flight Seeing  |  Sled Dog Tours  |  Glacier Tours | Fishing | Geocaching

Hiking |  Eco Tours  |  National Park Tours  |  Northern Lights Tours  |  Wildlife Tours  |  Winter Tours