Vacation update

[camwyn]

Prices for Alaska travel still screwy. Dunno if we crossed the magic time barrier when it became May or what, but a ticket that once cost $505 before taxes & fees is now $700ish (Tuesday-to-Tuesday, first two weeks of September). Current best price is about $688 from Alaska Air's own web site, which is rather lower than anything Orbitz will admit to.

Parents have said they'll give me money for part of this trip. For the past four years my prime Christmas present has been a three-weekend course at the Culinary Institute; this past Christmas, however, they told me they'd pay for part of a trip to China. I was happy, as you know, but then came SARS - hence AK. They're still going to give me the Christmas present money, but they're also giving me $$$ for my birthday - more than they're giving me for Christmas. Insofar as my ancient addition skills can tell, I'll have enough from them alone to pay for my ticket up there and most of my hostel time.

Right now I have about half of what they propose to give me in my vacation account, and am adding $50 a week to that. I'm going to buy my plane ticket as soon as they give me the money, regardless of whether prices are scheduled to drop any time soon - I'm paranoid that some Dreadful Event will happen and prices will soar despite scheduling concerns. After that, all the $$ goes towards first towards hostels, then towards food, and then towards activities. $80 for a day trip to Chena Hot Springs, $65 for scenic rafting in Denali - that adds up right quick, you know? So I'm glad of all this, I really am.

Still wish I were going to China, but given that my family refuses to listen to such arguments as 'if mountainspeak is a silent carrier of SARS just because she's from Toronto, then keeping her from visiting the house while my sister is home won't do any good anyway, because I'll just carry the Doom Virus back with me', I will be quite happy with Alaska. And I'll keep saving $50 a week as long as I can afford it, so that someday next year or something I can visit China.

Comments

[ahmeemee.livejournal.com]

If you have extra time, I hear you can jump a series of ferries from Vancouver or Nanaimo to Alaska to do the Inside Passage without the paying exhorbitant cruise fees. Of course, that's assuming that airfare to Vancouver is cheaper.

Re:

[camwyn]

The ferry thing is true - it was recently published in Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine - but that assumes I'm after the Inside Passage trip. I want to see the Denali/Fairbanks area, which is squarely in the center of the state, about nine hours (by land) from anything else. I could theoretically combine a ferry trip with a trip into the interior, but I'd have to schedule my trip to coincide with a ferry run between Skagway (the northern terminus of the Passage run) and the Anchorage area, and those happen something like once a month. I already tried looking for train routes between Skagway and Anchorage, or Skagway and Fairbanks. no dice. *sigh*

Besides, I've just checked on one-way flights from Newark to Vancouver. The best I can expect is $330 on America West Airlines, and that's if I fly at 7;30 AM - miss the plane and my price goes up to $545 on the next flight. America West doesn't service any part of Alaska, so I'd have to take another airline home, which puts the cost back up again.

It was a thought, though. And I did look the details up in the early planning stages, as it's an appealing idea.

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

Yay Alaska! I know its not as exciting and foreign as China, but it will still be damn fine. I've always wanted to go to both places, so you can be my eyes. I look forward to your stories, and hopefully a picture or three.

Enjoy!