sciconf

Family of four thinking of going to Alaska this summer.
1) Which airport is better to fly in? Maybe easy to find hotels. Have Marriott/Hilton but it does not seems that they have big presence there.

2) When in School holidays it is better to travel

3) We had been to Vancouver - but wonder if there are any other ideas.

4) How long before should I book?

CPRich

There's much more to do, and places to stay, in and around Anchorage than Fairbanks - do you have any other options?

When I planned our family of four summer trip for 2012, I made most of the reservations the week of 3/2, and pickings were starting to get slim for somewhere to stay near Denali.

Questions other than flights are probably better answered in the Alaska forum - lot's of "what should I do in Alaska" questions there.

Gardyloo

Some important questions for you -

How long do you have available?
Ages of the kids?
Willing to rent a car?
Interested in seeing native villages or the arctic?
Interested in cruising?
How about fishing?
How do you stand on mosquitoes?

For your questions -

1. Anchorage to start. There's a Hilton downtown and a big Marriott, and a couple of hotels with other brands from each group in town. Except for the downtown hotels, a car will be needed.

2. There is no "best" time during the summer. It very much depends on where you are - Denali National Park is VERY different from Juneau.

3. Not sure what Vancouver has to do with it, unless you're thinking about a cruise -either one-way to/from Seward/Whittier or a round trip through the Inside Passage. Access by air to Alaska is very Seattle-centered.

4. Book as soon as you have a plan.

sciconf

Kids are starting high school.

We are not adventurous and can not stand mosquitoes either.

Plan is to be there around 4/5 days. If I use Marriott points, 4 nights redemption will give me an extra night.

If Anchorage, will we have plenty to do for 5 nights? Will we need a car in Anchorage?

Is it true, there is a day that the Sun does not set at all during the summer - when is it?

Gardyloo

Using points for Marriott is going to be very hard - hotels in Anchorage (there are 6 Marriott properties in town) are going to be in high demand during the summer tourist season. You should start trying to book someplace yesterday.

As stated, you will need a car if you stay anywhere except downtown.

With that short a period of time, I'd do some research on the Kenai Peninsula, principally Seward and the Kenai Fjords, for a couple of days, also a one-day glacier cruise from Whittier. Whittier is around 90 min. from Anchorage and Seward another hour or so longer. A car will be needed for any outings.

Mosquitoes won't be a big problem in Anchorage or Whittier/Seward. Regardless, if you can come in late summer (August, say) you won't have to worry about them.

The only places the sun doesn't set (some places just one night, others many nights) are north of the arctic circle. Anchorage is well below the arctic circle. At midsummer, however, it doesn't really get dark in Anchorage at all, just a very long twilight.

It sounds like you need to do some research, the sooner the better.

fti

I would really discourage you from "basing" yourself in Anchorage for so long just so you can use points for the hotel. The saying is, "Anchorage is just an hour's drive from Alaska." I like Anchorage, don't get me wrong, but Alaska is just too big to do multiple day trips from there, especially to places like Seward and especially Denali NP.

Chugach

You haven't mentioned which award program you plan on using. Depending on that answer, FAI can be easier to get award seats to in the summer as opposed to ANC.

sciconf

AA advantage

Chugach

In that case, if all you are looking for is saver seats to Alaska, you might have better luck with using AA miles on AS to FAI. Everybody and their dog transits ANC in the summer, so space is harder to find.