Do you think it is worth bringing your cell phone along on a land tour of Alaska? We land in Anchorage and will meet up with our other travel party to take off on an interior drive trip to Copper Landing, Denali, Seward and of course Anchorage. Would the phone be helpful in case of car trouble along the major highways or is it not really necessary. My provider (Cingular) said that they provide coverage only in the major populated areas.

What are your thoughts on this? We generally seldom use our phone but it is nice to have when we need it.

I have Verizon and have service in most of Alaska including Denali Park. I always bring my phone. It can come in handy, you just never know.

Hi, We just got back from Alaska this morning. Our cell phones (Sprint) only worked in Anchorage. Sprint offers a $5.00 per month rate that allows you to roam on other carriers and use your own minutes (I'm sure that Cingular offers something similiar). Have a great trip!!

I have Cellular One and never had any trouble with service.

I was just up there and I sure was glad to have my phone on those long stretches of road that I was all alone! My phone has always worked up there. I have ATT/Cingular.

I can tell you for a fact that Cingular works in both Seward and Cooper Landing. My parents are there now and have called me every couple days with their pre-paid Cingular phone. They were worried it wouldn't work, but I could here them fine!

Have fun...I know my folks are!

Thanks for all of your replies. I am going to put the cellphone in the travel bag just in case -- just upgraded my service plan to include nationwide which includes the Forget - me - not state.

We were just there and Sprint (without roaming) only worked in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Alacom, which is used by most Alaskans and covers most of the state, is now owned by AT&T/Cingular, and all those companies definitely work in most of Alaska. The man seated behind us on the Denali shuttle used Cingular to call the lower 48 from the Fish Creek area with no problem.

Enjoy! Alaska is not to be missed!