Aurora in late March
Time to plan our next AK trip and I value the advice from y’all. Here are our thoughts and the situation.
The main purpose is to see the Aurora. If it was just the two of us, we’d probably do a mileage run / vacation to FAI and pick up lots of MQM’s. However, we’re bringing two friends who have both AK and the Aurora on their bucket lists, who’ve obviously never been to AK before and don’t know if this’ll be their only trip. Since it’s OUR trip and they’re just tagging along, our priorities come first and if we can do more for them, at a reasonable price, we’ll be more than happy to do so.
My little bit of research indicates that this should be a great winter for viewing. According to the UofA Fairbanks Geo Institute, we should have good viewing around the Spring Equinox and a new moon. Our schedule won’t allow us to leave New Orleans until after Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s / St. Joseph’s Days. We can head north from March 20th onward and are figuring a 6 or 7 day trip (including Travel) with 4 nights available for viewing. That puts us in AK at and just after the equinox on a waning moon.
The first question is where to go. My initial impulse is Fairbanks since we can also view the Ice Sculptures. If we do FAI, are there other things for our friends to do and see during the day?
Can I have some recommendations for viewing please? Should we do the outside the city tours? I see that there’s an Arctic Circle tour that we could do one night. Is it worthwhile? It would also reduce their bucket lists. Or, should we base out of Anchorage, where we know there are daytime things to do. The airfare is also $200 less per person to ANC and we stand a better chance at upgrades (My wife and I are both DL PM’s and our friends have no status but would try for companion or mileage upgrades.)
One other thought is to base at ANC and fly to FAI one afternoon, have dinner, see the ice sculptures, do the Arctic Circle Aurora tour and catch the early flight back to ANC. If it was just me, that’s what I’d do.