I haven’t written a trip report in years, but got bit by the bug again so here we go.

About 10 days ago a meeting was scheduled in Fairbanks on December 20 that necessitated my attendance. As a former Fairbanksan, I relish any chance to get back and enjoy being in the real Alaska. Plus I’d have a chance to be back in town for winter solstice (technically the day before, but close enough) and to top it off, after a relatively mild winter, the weather was forecast to drop down in to the 20’s below zero Fahrenheit.

So there you have it: subzero temps, sunrise at 10:59 AM and sunset at 2:39 PM. Rock and roll.

I was tempted to book DL, only so I could give the A220 a try on SEA-FAI but in the end I stuck with AS. 75K status is always handy, and I was able to burn a gold guest upgrade going north. I was able to route PDX-ANC-FAI going north (anytime you can avoid playing SEA Roulette is a good time), and FAI-SEA-PDX going back home. Since it is close to the Christmas holiday space was tight, but I was able to secure F on all legs.