Alaska - Best way to get to Fairbanks

My family just got back from a Cruise to Alaska. My brother and his family liked it so much that they want to go again. Only problem is he has 3 kids so thats 5 tickets. With the price of tickets to FAI being so much, I'm wondering if it makes sense to fly to ANC and take the train. I know that the train costs like $200 but they have a childrens rate, so it might be cheaper.

that actually depends when you are traveling and what the fare is at that time. FAI one ways range from $69 to $169 on the combi on the low end with hot deals or bargains. The norm is $79 hot deals when offered and $129 for bargain. If you have an ENTIRE day to burn ride the train its pretty cool....to do once. A flight is 35 to 65 minutes depending on the wind. A train ride is 8+ hours. ERA and Frontier basically mirror the AS rate however with 3 kids it might be easier on ERA or Frontier and skip the security lines. I'd fly but thats just me. Ive been on the train once and it was fun but it would be terribly boring doing it again. It aint like an Amtrak commuter train that goes from point A to point B quickly rather its a tourist train

My family just got back from a Cruise to Alaska. My brother and his family liked it so much that they want to go again. Only problem is he has 3 kids so thats 5 tickets. With the price of tickets to FAI being so much, I'm wondering if it makes sense to fly to ANC and take the train. I know that the train costs like $200 but they have a childrens rate, so it might be cheaper.

...And the nonstop back to SEA is soo nice too (from FAI) ^

But for the tourist... the train OW would be a cool experience... (as slow as it is, I still want to try it sometime...)

I am a little confused how it would be cheaper to fly into ANC and find alternate transportation to FAI cheaper than it would be to book to FAI all the way, in terms of time and money. I think in the grand scheme of things, you will simply have the illusion that it was.

Plane: Buying a ticket from XYZ to ANC and buying a ticket from ANC to FAI will probably be more expensive than buying the ticket straight to FAI. Frontier will give you a nice TSA-less, Part 135 experience in a noisy A/C. The basket of earplugs are there for a reason.

Car: The parks highway is nice during the summer, and isn't all that bad. You could rent a car and drive to fairbanks. I drove it in july, and while there is construction in spots, the road is in excellent shape. If its winter, do not drive. If anything, those $200 plane tickets will save you from a costly rental car accident.

Train: No idea about the train. they are slow. beautiful. historic.

Snow Machine/dog sled: probably not recommended, slow, but a reasonably good trail system exists between the two locations. You would probably want someone to guide you there.

A train ride is 8+ hours.

12, actually. But it's worth it once, especially if you enjoy riding trains.

From out of state, I didn't think the actual filed fares for [out-of-state]-FAI city pairs were much more than [out-of-state]-ANC. If they are, though, a one- or two-day, one-way, rental car ANC-FAI might be a better deal than both plane and train tickets, even with high summer rental car rates.

Moving this to our Alaska regional forum where it's perhaps better suited.

Please follow at it's new home.

Thanks.
_________________________

Cholula
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Co-Moderator

I'd be surprised if the total air cost to FAI was that much more than just to ANC, but I'm sure it could be variable depending on specific dates, lower 48 origin points, stopovers if any, etc.

I don't know that the train would be the best solution for surface transport, however. It's a really long ride, and IMO pretty boring for much of the route, and 3 kids could be bouncing around by the time you're there. A car might be a more cost-effective alternative, plus it would allow you to stop in Talkeetna or Denali Park en route, or take interesting side roads, etc. Also I think there are more scenery options from a car than from the train.

But it would depend on the overall itinerary. A car would allow a circle trip - Anchorage - (Denali) - Fairbanks - Valdez - (ferry) - Whittier - Anchorage - while the train only goes on the same tracks back. One-way car rentals are very costly in Alaska however (car rental is expensive, period) so if an openjaw itinerary is anticipated - XXX-ANC//FAI-XXX - then the train might be cheaper.

Cost of food on the train! No bargains in that!

A car might be a more cost-effective alternative, plus it would allow you to stop in Talkeetna or Denali Park en route, or take interesting side roads, etc. Also I think there are more scenery options from a car than from the train.

But it would depend on the overall itinerary. A car would allow a circle trip - Anchorage - (Denali) - Fairbanks - Valdez - (ferry) - Whittier - Anchorage - while the train only goes on the same tracks back. One-way car rentals are very costly in Alaska however (car rental is expensive, period) so if an openjaw itinerary is anticipated - XXX-ANC//FAI-XXX - then the train might be cheaper.

Check the yellow pages for alternative car rental agencies. I've found in the summer that outfits like Arctic Rent A Car or even Rent A Wreck can be pretty nicely priced. Also, it sometimes pays to take advantage of the specials offered by the larger car rental companies. Out of Anchorage, the rates can sometimes be surprisingly good. Mid/Late May or later in August can also help with rates.

keep in mind that priceline isn't going to help :p

If you insist on using a rental car, id highly suggest coming back to anchorage. Open jaw inside alaska can be very costly, depending on a number of factors.

keep in mind that priceline isn't going to help :p

If you insist on using a rental car, id highly suggest coming back to anchorage. Open jaw inside alaska can be very costly, depending on a number of factors.

And depending on the company not even possible :eek:

RT would be cheaper in the long run if they want to visit ANC area and FAI ie- would they be taking a cruise up? And where are they based @? If only FAI and surrounding area (Denali works) and north to Chena Hot Springs or other areas, the nonstop is soo much nicer- and if not based in SEA (or other west coast city) NW typically has a seasonal nonstop to FAI from MSP (not sure if its every day of the week, but for those in the Midwest or on the East Coast... another viable option :cool:

It will be a flight from the New York/Philly area to Fairbanks. I thought Anchorage and the train would be cheaper because the childrens fare on the train is lower. But looking at it again, Philly-Fairbanks is $685 and Philly Anchorage is $535. So with the train it would cost more for adults and be like $75-85 less for the kids but not enough to endure the train. I recently found out that he has enough NW FF miles for 2 tickets to AK. So he may go for that and do EWR-MSP-FAI trip. I know its gonna to be difficult to find but he can go at the end of august so maybe it will work.

Thanks for the info

Jason

From out of state, I didn't think the actual filed fares for [out-of-state]-FAI city pairs were much more than [out-of-state]-ANC.

I'd be surprised if the total air cost to FAI was that much more than just to ANC, but I'm sure it could be variable depending on specific dates, lower 48 origin points, stopovers if any, etc.


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.

It will be a flight from the New York/Philly area to Fairbanks. I thought Anchorage and the train would be cheaper because the childrens fare on the train is lower. But looking at it again, Philly-Fairbanks is $685 and Philly Anchorage is $535. So with the train it would cost more for adults and be like $75-85 less for the kids but not enough to endure the train. I recently found out that he has enough NW FF miles for 2 tickets to AK. So he may go for that and do EWR-MSP-FAI trip. I know its gonna to be difficult to find but he can go at the end of august so maybe it will work.

Thanks for the info

Jason

Be watching for a systemwide fare sale for flights to/from Alaska on Alaska Airlines... They have an annual sale when the Permanent Fund Dividend comes out (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alaska-airlines-mileage-plan/995509-its-almost-most-wonderful-time-year-2009-pfd-sale-speculation-thread.html), and anyone can purchase a ticket...

12, actually. But it's worth it once, especially if you enjoy riding trains.

I agree, took it this summer and was worth doing. I spent half the time just sticking my head out the window (between the cars.) Great way to get to Denali too. Depending on the kids, they may not enjoy it as much though. There are area's to play games and do other activities.

Chances are the cheapest/fastest way is to buy the airline tickets to/from Fairbanks. 25k airline miles to Alaska is usually a good value too. $500 ticket for 25k miles is $0.02/mile. An award ticket would also let you add a stopover, so they could go to Barrow or somewhere too, well two of them could.

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.

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.

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%.

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 :D

We've been having great weather (another sunny day in ANC today ^) :D

Glad you found saver space, especially on the SEA-FAI N/S

If you have any Alaska Airline miles, you can do a one-way anywhere within the state for 7,500 miles. That is a really, really good deal!

I would recommend the train for one-way between Anchorage and Fairbanks. And you can take the regular Alaska Railway train and not the fancy tourist train and it is cheaper.

Have a great time!

I think the river cruise in Fairbanks is one of the best tourist things to do in the state.