Programs: NW silver, Spirit Somebody; DL, CO, UA once gold now dirt. AA & US for magazines.
Posts: 6,001
Quote:
Originally Posted by FBKSan
I've wasted far too many hours trying to game this system when trying to get to Fairbanks. The fares to FAI are often higher, and not by trivial amounts (such as that $150 difference). There's so much more competition into Anchorage that fares get driven down. However, Alaska Airlines (and others in the summer) have the pricing finely honed. I have never once found a way to get a combination of tickets (plane, train, car) that gets me to Fairbanks for less than the round trip YYY-FAI-YYY.
That said, I have seen unusually low fares from the east coast to Fairbanks every now and then (e.g., Summer 2008 for sub-$500), so if you're somewhat flexible it might be worth waiting and watching the fares closely.
Would have to concur here. Have been going to Alaska in September since 1997 (it's one of the best-kept travel secrets anywhere). For the first time ever this year I managed to get a 25K award to somewhere other than ANC via DL/AS, and it happened to be ATL-MSP-SEA-FAI, FAI-ANC-SEA-ATL routing. Just as important, I found a tolerable rental car deal in FAI ($105 a-1 for 4 days midsize from Avis, though I had to fuss & complain to get them to take a free-day coupon even though the Avis online reservations said it was "accepted.") and a good hotel deal (Alpine Lodge). Past attempts to fly to FAI rather than ANC ran into availability problems on the award ticket (NW's seasonal MSP-FAI is very hard to book) and/or hotels/cars being a dealbreaker.
Alas, they had snow and unusual cold for some of the time I was there, and no really sunny days. But I still made a good trip of it. Maybe I'll do a trip report.
Programs: NW silver, Spirit Somebody; DL, CO, UA once gold now dirt. AA & US for magazines.
Posts: 6,001
Quote:
Originally Posted by ffmhoarder
A few observations from our trip earlier this season:
One way rental fees from Anc to Fai were a deal buster.
Flights on AS or Era were pretty cheap - sale prices!!!!
Instead of drive from Anc to Fai, we flew and used time to explore area north of FAI.
And the FAI-Sea flight made it possible to enjoy a long day in FAI and head home relatively easy.
Hope this helps.
Indeed, until this year's trip, my only trips to FAI were via car rent from ANC because of the economics. The SEA-FAI flight on AS was only around 60% full, whereas the FAI-ANC combi and ANC-SEA on the way back were near 100%.
Programs: AS MVP Gold (83K), AS BR [3 year renewal], Maika`i Card, CO
Posts: 11,089
Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyC
Would have to concur here. Have been going to Alaska in September since 1997 (it's one of the best-kept travel secrets anywhere). For the first time ever this year I managed to get a 25K award to somewhere other than ANC via DL/AS, and it happened to be ATL-MSP-SEA-FAI, FAI-ANC-SEA-ATL routing. Just as important, I found a tolerable rental car deal in FAI ($105 a-1 for 4 days midsize from Avis, though I had to fuss & complain to get them to take a free-day coupon even though the Avis online reservations said it was "accepted.") and a good hotel deal (Alpine Lodge). Past attempts to fly to FAI rather than ANC ran into availability problems on the award ticket (NW's seasonal MSP-FAI is very hard to book) and/or hotels/cars being a dealbreaker.
Alas, they had snow and unusual cold for some of the time I was there, and no really sunny days. But I still made a good trip of it. Maybe I'll do a trip report.
Guess you should have visited ANC
We've been having great weather (another sunny day in ANC today )
Glad you found saver space, especially on the SEA-FAI N/S
) 
