Please help! Alaska itinerary for RV newbie.
RV newbie here, planning a family trip of 6 (kids aged 12 to 14) to Alaska in August. Below is our tentative itinerary. It has a couple of long drive days, but appreciate feedback if this seems reason...
Forum Discussion
Upon my last long post on this topic, I stopped short of also considering arriving in Fairbanks and returning the RV to Anchorage and flying out as I thought about that before....
A friend of mine in Fairbanks back in 1997 had worked for one of the RV rental companies as I ran into him one day in Wasilla to my surprise as he was flying to Anchorage and driving back RV's to Fairbanks when needed, so I would believe at least one of the rental companies would cater to customers picking up an RV in Fairbanks and dropping off in Anchorage or vise versa....
The reason I didn't mention the recommendation is because I do not know of today's current policies and changes that might pertain with the RV rental companies or the airlines charging more for "one way fare" tickets upon different arrival and departures these days, or if it was even worth the potential extra expense in comparison....
When I looked into expenses upon my sister's first visit to Alaska, they just planned to arrive in Fairbanks and see Denali since her husband only allowed 7 days vacation time to visit, so after comparing airline charges and wanting them to see more of Alaska in such a short timeframe, I highly recommended flying to Anchorage as I would meet them there as they could rent a car which they felt more comfortable with, brought an extra CB radio along and hooked it up in the rental car as we communicated along the way back to the Fairbanks area which was convenient....
The round trip to Anchorage was like $160 cheaper versus what they charged for Fairbanks at the time on that particular day for a group of four...and a $220 car rental expense was a pretty good offset including seeing a day in Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula that wasn't even in the plans, which included their experience driving to Fairbanks and returning the car rental to Anchorage and flying out....
Their only extra expense was staying overnight in Anchorage which I was willing to pay for them just so they can experience the southcentral and Anchorage area which my BIL paid me back later on and said it was way worth the extra expense seeing more of Alaska (I had one of four places me and my Mom could stay at on short notice upon friends in Anchorage just showing up at their doorstep)
They sure got to see a lot more in 7 days in stride than just staying in Fairbanks and seeing Denali in their original plans.
Three years later... my sister, her husband and the kids returned for their second visit to Alaska which was two weeks as they rented an RV in Anchorage, stopped by my residence for four days, seeing Denali on a better weather day than the first time, and did the road system loop seeing Valdez and taking the Glenn Highway back to Anchorage as they knew how to plan accordingly after their first visit.
If flying to Fairbanks is in comparison worth it or not much more expensive in airfares and RV rental rates, I'd say go for it as you would save an extra day from backtracking and spend that extra day doing something else.
A friend of mine in Fairbanks back in 1997 had worked for one of the RV rental companies as I ran into him one day in Wasilla to my surprise as he was flying to Anchorage and driving back RV's to Fairbanks when needed, so I would believe at least one of the rental companies would cater to customers picking up an RV in Fairbanks and dropping off in Anchorage or vise versa....
The reason I didn't mention the recommendation is because I do not know of today's current policies and changes that might pertain with the RV rental companies or the airlines charging more for "one way fare" tickets upon different arrival and departures these days, or if it was even worth the potential extra expense in comparison....
When I looked into expenses upon my sister's first visit to Alaska, they just planned to arrive in Fairbanks and see Denali since her husband only allowed 7 days vacation time to visit, so after comparing airline charges and wanting them to see more of Alaska in such a short timeframe, I highly recommended flying to Anchorage as I would meet them there as they could rent a car which they felt more comfortable with, brought an extra CB radio along and hooked it up in the rental car as we communicated along the way back to the Fairbanks area which was convenient....
The round trip to Anchorage was like $160 cheaper versus what they charged for Fairbanks at the time on that particular day for a group of four...and a $220 car rental expense was a pretty good offset including seeing a day in Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula that wasn't even in the plans, which included their experience driving to Fairbanks and returning the car rental to Anchorage and flying out....
Their only extra expense was staying overnight in Anchorage which I was willing to pay for them just so they can experience the southcentral and Anchorage area which my BIL paid me back later on and said it was way worth the extra expense seeing more of Alaska (I had one of four places me and my Mom could stay at on short notice upon friends in Anchorage just showing up at their doorstep)
They sure got to see a lot more in 7 days in stride than just staying in Fairbanks and seeing Denali in their original plans.
Three years later... my sister, her husband and the kids returned for their second visit to Alaska which was two weeks as they rented an RV in Anchorage, stopped by my residence for four days, seeing Denali on a better weather day than the first time, and did the road system loop seeing Valdez and taking the Glenn Highway back to Anchorage as they knew how to plan accordingly after their first visit.
If flying to Fairbanks is in comparison worth it or not much more expensive in airfares and RV rental rates, I'd say go for it as you would save an extra day from backtracking and spend that extra day doing something else.
