Bidgee

We are Australians who want to take a rental car from Vancouver to Alaska and back through the Yukon to BC, Alberta etc back to Vancouver. We can't believe that there seems to be a problem with this for Canadian rental car companies. Are there any car rental companies which would allow us to do our trip?

tomfuller

You stand a better chance taking a ferry/cruise ship out of Vancouver to an Alaskan port and renting a car there. You might have to return the car to Seattle instead of Vancouver.
It is an insurance nightmare for the Canadian rental company if a driver has an accident in the US. Add in your Australian drivers license which might not be acceptable to the rental agency and you might be stuck riding the train or the ferry.

NorthwestMale

Seattle, USA is 150 miles from Vancouver, Canada... so IF your airline tickets aren't already booked, you should look into flying into Seattle, USA and taking the trip from there.

I have driven that very path up and back... 2400 miles each way (Seattle to Anchorage) and I loved it a great deal!

(it is 800 miles from Seattle to the START of the Alaska Highway)

NorthwestMale

That last post is crazy.

You can get "unlimited mileage" and, as long as you are with one of the BIG rental companies, and have permission to drive into Canada, you can make such a trip.

I've done it myself.


(but nice try from the SPAM guy above)

Bidgee

Many thanks for your comments. We are now looking at renting from Bellingham, USA, and having an 8 weeks rental. Many do not like renting longer than 8 weeks but that should be enough. We are hoping to do day boat tours within the Inside Passage as we go. eg. from Valdez. The Alaska Marine Ferry would have been great but a bit late to do all? We understand that the Inside Passage is pretty wet during August so it may be quite misty?
See ya, Bidgee

NorthwestMale

I don't know what your logistics are, but do price the costs for airline and car rentals using "Seattle" vs. "Bellingham", just in case you can save considerably.

Of course, with gas @ $5 a gallon, you'd have to factor in perhaps a $30 round-trip between Seattle and Bellingham on the roads.

Also, let me state that, technically, the rental car companies do not authorize driving their cars on unpaved roads. The Alaska Highway, during my 2400-mile trip in each direction, may have had approximately 30 miles of unpaved surface. (this was in early April, and you can hope conditions are better later in the season, after yearly road repairs)

Otherwise, you just SLOW DOWN and try to avoid doing damage to the vehicle.

Sam_Salmon

"<i>We understand that the Inside Passage is pretty wet during August so it may be quite misty?</i>"

Fog is always a possibility but once that clears it's generally sunny.

As to unpaved roads <u>what the company doesn't know won't hurt them</u>-most rental car company employees have never seen a gravel road and wouldn't know one if they found it in their soup.

Bidgee

Thanks everyone. I just booked a rental car from Bellingham from one of the big 4 international franchises thinking that I could take a car from the USA through Canada to the USA (Alaska) to get over the Canada problem from doing so. After taking my booking I asked that the car be a 4 door one etc as I was going to Alaska. The reply was our cars are not allowed into Alaska. So I will try ringing them direct to see whether any of them (Canada or from the USA) will let their rental cars into Alaska. Never struck this problem in Europe or anywhere else? It is like you can rent their cars as long as you just poke about town !!

Bidgee

Well alls sweet. The large franchisee can supply a car to use in USA, Canada and Alaska. Good to see a sensible outcome. I am sure that we will enjoy the scenery as well as the friendliness and hospitality of the North American people.

Also thanks to all those who provided comments on our forum post.

NorthwestMale

I'm glad you overcame that hurdle.

It certainly didn't make sense that somebody from overseas couldn't rent a car in the lower 48 and do a round-trip to Alaska with it.

Other than the relatively few miles of unpaved roads, the trip to Alaska during summer isn't so taxing on the vehicle.

I suspect that to drive a similar distance around and around greater Los Angeles is more taxing on a vehicle.

HoneyIdHunny

I know this thread is a bit old but I'm wondering if Bidgee ended up being able to rent a car in the lower 48 and drive a roundtrip to Alaska and back with no issues. I'm planning on doing this for the Summer and I'm curious as I haven't been able to find any other thread on a round trip car rental drive to Alaska.

eliztravels2

Post your own question and start a new thread , honeyldhunny. Bidgee’s last post indicated the problem had been solved, but that was 6 years ago and the world of travel has changed since then.

For what it is worth, we’ve had no difficulty renting a car Whitehorse, Yukon and travelling into Alaska. All the rental companies seemed to stipulate paved roads only, but our Whitehorse relatives assured us that would not be a concern and we had little choice anyway as we were going to a wedding outside town off the main roads. Probably an insurance issue, only matters if you have an accident, but not to be taken lightly. I suggest you look into renting a truck, RV or SUV and see if the same conditions apply.