premierstudent, I enjoyed my first visit to Alaska in 2000 very much on a Alaska Airlines VDB compensation ticket (assuming that might be what you're talking about). I used it mid-summer to go to Anchorage and visited the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward and the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage itself. (I recently enjoyed my second trip to Alaska, also to Anchorage, for a conference....) Hope you enjoy your trip to Fairbanks!

P.S. I had also been tempted to go to a destination north of the Arctic Circle, but ultimately decided against the novelty value. What was really tempting was to use my specially-endorsed VDB compensation ticket to go to Russia!