Kentucky

I would really appreciate recommendations on the best flightseeing opportunties for Mt. McKinley and Denali. My reading seems to point to Talkeetna as a starting point, however, there are so many different companies. How do you know which offers the best and safest service?

I also was hoping not to tie myself down to a specific date early because of weather and other variables. Can you get last minute reservations?

Noted that someone posted that they decided not to do this after a plane accident when they were there????

BudgetQueen

My vote is also with Talkeetna. You have to make a selection of flight. A summit VIEW is vastly different than a summit flight- over the top - my clear preference- Talkeetna Aero is the leader here. If you do want a summit view with a glacier ski plane landing then also look at Talkeetna Aero, K2, Talkeetna Air Taxi. All well established well run companies that I have flown with (although Talkeetna Aero the most). You take a risk late booking since the prior passengers will have chosen the route and flight (several different options in the view flights). And Talkeetna Aero's summit flights are most always fully booked in advance, but I have been able to get a fight a few days ahead, in peak season, I wouldn't count on a lot of walk up availability.

RuthMc

We took a cruise to Alaska in the last week of June several years ago which included a ground extension to Denali. We went to the airport right near the park the day we arrived and got a flight around Denali at the last minute, which we shared with only two people who arrived after us. It was a beautiful clear day and the flight was an experience of a lifetime. Got magnificent pictures.

SB_Travlr

We flew from Talkeetna last September with K2. We were on the land tour part of our Princess cruise, and had very disappointing weather while at the Talkeetna Princess lodge. Cloudy, quite a bit of rain (we had better luck elsewhere on the trip). No summit views or flights, which was very disappointing -- though unavoidable. But as we drove into Talkeetna to get the train to Anchorage, the skies started to lift. On the off-chance, we went into the Princess office in town. He made a few calls, found that K2 had just decided to fly. We walked right over, boarded a little red Cessna and took off. What a thrill! Even though we did not see the Great One in full glory, we saw enough in the fly-round to awe and impress us. Lots of photo ops, and a very informative pilot (who used to be with the California Highway Patrol). We felt in good, safe hands (though it does give you a moment of pause when they describe the emergency procedures and equipment!)

I defer to Budget Queen's expertise, but we had a great experience on the spur of the moment. Travel serendipity! And we'd do it again in a moment.

world_traveler

I would recommend Talkeetna Aero Services out of Talkeetna.

We had a great trip - and i believe there are the only one that offer over the summit flights.

Typically peak season you need to book in advance. If you are not going in the peak july season then you have the luxury of waiting to check the weather forecast before making reservations - which is what we ended up doing.

One of the advantages of Talkeetna Aero is because they fly at 20000 feet, many a time even when it is cloudy near Talkeetna you could still have a great sighting of Mckinley.

smgapp

Hi! We did the summit flight with K-2 in Talkeetna. We knew it was a good day for the flight since we could see Mt. McKinley from Talkeetna. Since you fly so high in an unpressurized plane on the summit flight, you are required to wear an oxygen mask for about 15 minutes of the flight- this adds to the excitement of the trip. IT was awesome!