I have been bidding on the Alaska Tour Saver Coupon Book at e-bay for the past few weeks mainly because I wanted the coupon for the Kenai Fjord Cruises. Just found out that they are not valid any more on these cruises when we will be there September 9-11. Check the expiration dates now that the end of tourist season is coming.

Another question on tour books. I've never used them on previous trips. I'll be going again for 6-8 weeks in summer 2005 by myself. Are the books any good for solo travelers or are they primarily "buy one-get one free" deals?

Mostly buy one get one free, but some, free admissions- but usually the cheap ones. I don't find their lodging coupons a bargain either. B&B's are usually cheaper. There will be a listing of the coupons by the end of the year for 2005.

Several years ago I explored the possibility of buying one of those books for our month long trip within Alaska. I called places we planned to stay and asked if my toursaver coupon would be good. Invariably the answer was either that "no, they only are good upon arrival if we still have room" which of course these hotels wouldn't have in the middle of July and August, or they'd say, "I'm sorry, we've already used our allotted discount rooms for that time period.
Regarding attractions, there were a few (usually minor ones) that the coupons would have worked for, but not enough to warrant the expense of the book, and we also found nearly all those attractions had similar coupons available at desks of motels or at the tourist centers free for the taking.
Not a good deal in my opinion.

I have to disagree with Patrick, at least in part. The toursaver book is a great deal for attractions--I just wouldn't bother with it for lodging. We got our $100 investment back and saved an additional $100 on the very first coupon we used, which was for Mt. McKinley flightseeing. We saved another $75 on our ferry ticket, and another $130 after that on the Kenai Fjords cruise. That's rougly $300 in savings and I'm not even counting the little stuff. Nowhere, in all the tourist guides and local circulars we picked up, did we find deals even close to the value of these 3 toursaver coupons.

Now if you're traveling by yourself, that's a different story. BudgetQueen is right--almost all the coupons of significant value are buy-one-get-one-free.

Thanks for the info. I suspected they would be a better value for a couple or family than for someone touring solo.