My wife and I are flying into Anchorage on June 15th and plan to spend a week in Alaska, flying out on the 23rd.

Our intention is to see Seward, Homer, and Denali.

What's the best way to plan our week and what is the best means of traveling between these destinations? Car or train? Do we need to have a car once we reach any of those destinations?

Unless you are a true train fan, I'd suggest driving. Just too many interesting things along the way. If you were going to to take one, I'd say take it to Denali.

Train isn't a factor for Homer and most folks will pair it with Seward, which has a train route.

With just a week, though, you might need to pair down your expectations. And a train will slow you down because the schedules don't lend themselves to expeditious travel.

With the distances between your destinations this is the equivalent of an 7-day, 10-country European trip. Homer to Denali is about the same as driving from Sacramento to San Diego or Washington to Toronto -- without interstates.

IF you do want to see Alaska- rental car is the best option with only a week to see these areas. Train is out anyway to Homer. I have gone on the entire route of the Alaska RR and most important is time. I would suggest on arrival overnight in Anchorage, then 2 days Denali Park with the SHUTTLE bus to Fish Creek, overnight Talkeetna, 2 nights Seward, 2 nights Homer. Hopefully you have a late night flight out so to have a full touring day?

I understand that you should rent a car in Alaska to see the sights. Is an SUV important? Where are rentals cheap in Anchorage, which is where we are flying into as well? It will be a RT returning to Anchorage for about 12 days. We will be there during peak season and I know the prices will be higher. Thanks.

SUVs are rarely needed by summer visitors, especially folks who are hitting the highlights.

If you want to save money, steer away from the national chains. (Now someone probably will post a horror story about problems with a a local company, but there are plenty of bad tales about the big guys out there.)

No you don't need a SUV, try Priceline for rentals. There are several independents, which are long standing companies, but most no longer will airport shuttle, and some offices close early- if you have a late flight. Keep an eye on Alamo, they sometimes run weekly specials that I have gotten. In the airport,- look at Dollar, Payless, Thrifty, National, Alamo etc. compare who has the best deal, expect taxes in the 25%+++ range.

We are taking our first trip to Alaska in July.
I have spent a great deal of time trying to find a good deal on a rental car. For our dates, Priceline didn't work out...they are suggesting we bid abour $84/day!!!
Have also tried every type of discount we could think of....AARP, Sam's, Costco, mileage club, etc....no luck.

Tried to rent at a downtown office instead of the airport, but we are arriving on a Sat night. The non-airport offices don't have much in the way of weekend hours, so that idea went down the tubes too.

Looked into one of the lesser-known chains, didn't know anything about them. The Anchorage Better Business Bureau had an unsatisfactory rating on them; we would have saved about $200 but I wasn't sure it was worth it if others have had problems.

I agree with you repete, I'm sure there are horror stories about every rental company, (just like the airlines).

I found discount codes on rentalcodes.com. We were able to find a code there for National Car Rental, it was about $75 cheaper than Alamo or any of the others.

I have been watching for several months and have never seen Alamo for $149/week. Maybe it depends on when you are going, we are in peak-season so maybe not many discounts.

It makes me sick to pay so much for a rental car but we also want to have it be dependable and not spoil the rest of our vacation. So we finally just booked it; if I find a better price I will still grab it. Watch out for those fees and taxes, they are very high at the ANC airport.

Hope all of this ramblin will help someone out.

Sandi,
So what rate did you get for r/t Anc car? We were there last Aug and Sep and found the $149 Alamo rate. We chose a larger car and I think it was about $169 for a week plus taxes. We had gotten earlier quotes higher and canc to get better rate.

jq
We are paying $308/week, or $616 for 2 weeks. With taxes etc it comes to $822 for an intermediate car at National.

We were hoping for a $149 deal or something similar, haven't found it yet. If we found a price like that we would jump on it.

Have fun in AK.

If you are 2 people you don't need more than a compact, but you are correct, when you go makes a big difference, with July- peak. It is already late for a car booking then. But you don't need the car the first late Sat. night and you may have more availability if you pick up on Sunday? Try adjusting your times/dates and see what you come up with. Keep checking Priceline- you are too early with them for the better rates.

Budget Queen
Sorry about that last message, my fingers were faster than my brain.

I appreciate your suggestion. We have tried adjusting our dates without luck but we will keep trying. Will also continue to keep looking for better rates, both at Priceline and others.

Maybe I jumped the gun, I was beginning to get worried, our trip is 2 mos away so I thought I better get a car lined up.

Thanks