twoaussies

Some thoughts on renting an RV in Alaska
My husband and I rented an RV for 15 days at the end of August, beginning September, 2008. It was a wonderful experience and we would do it again.
I thought some would appreciate my comments.
We rented from Great Alaska Holidays with the unlimited mileage option. After much comparison, we felt they included much more in their price than other companies. We picked the 22 foot for pricing and as there were two of us. The bed over the cab is good for a 6’2 man as the pull out couch was much too short. We put our luggage up there with hubby and I used the pull out. The dinette could also have made into a bed, albeit a short one.
Our long flight from Orlando arrived at 6.15p.m. and by the time we collected luggage it was too late for the company pick up. They should accommodate the later arrivals, as the taxi cost $25. We chose to pay to sleep in the motor home the first night, so we could check it over well. After such a long flight, we wanted a hot shower – but there was no soap…..we used hair shampoo. For that reason, and the fact that a good night’s sleep is nice after traveling, next time we would go to a hotel.
There was no list available to do an inventory – there were several items missing from our RV. such as a broom and dustpan and cooking utensils. Minor, but annoying.
Checkout took well over an hour, as people were checking in and checking out with only two employees on duty.
First one sits through a 20 minute video that shows everything one can do wrong while driving an RV. I think that is to encourage you to take the CDW insurance, which we did for an unexpected expense of $239. I must add that we have owned motor homes for twenty years, the largest 26 feet, so driving was no worry.
We had to pay $5 for two weeks rental on a toaster we had just bought for home for $6.
We also paid $22.50 for an inverter for the laptop.
Our first stop was Fred Meyer supermarket – and were directed by the employee to one that was totally in the wrong direction from our southward travel. Fortunately we were re-directed by an incoming camper to one closer.
Shopping, what an experience in Alaska. I knew food would be more expensive, but WOW. We had to buy 4 lbs. of sugar to use 15 teaspoons for tea; 1,000 matches in order to use perhaps a dozen; paper towels, toilet paper (one roll was with the RV); and the smallest dish detergent would last a month. So, the moral is to bring whatever you can from home in small quantities.
Being seniors, we were able to use the Golden Age Pass in the National Parks – so they cost $9.00. There were no facilities, but we were very self sufficient in the motor home. Otherwise we paid between $25 and $38 for camp grounds.
When we checked the motor home in at the end of our trip we gave all our left overs to a departing camper – who was very grateful.
This is absolutely the way to see Alaska, we traveled 1500 miles in fourteen days, from Anchorage south to Seward and Homer, and north to Fairbanks (where we did a tour north of the Arctic Circle). I hope this has helped some travelers.

Kristinesonja

Thanks for some great insight.

I was in Alaska in 20007 but plan a return trip in 2010 with my husband and 2 kids with a RV rental.

Kristine

patandhank

Great input twoaussies. My husband and I have talked about doing this type of trip. How did you find the availability of campgrounds/camping? Full? Did you have to reserve in advance? Would also like to read your itinerary if you don't mind.

hikrchick

this is very helpful, thanks! I just posted the other day a question about RV'ing in Alaska. Your advice definitely adds to my research.

padams421

We spent 2 weeks touring Alaska in a RV in summer 2007. We had no difficulty finding campgrounds. IMHO there are more places to park a RV than there are hotels and motels, particularly outside Anchorage. We only encountered a couple of campgrounds that were full. They were both commerical campgrounds (as opposed to state park and national park campgrounds) that had big ads in the Outpost. We did not make reservations in advance. We found that we much preferred the state and national park campgrounds over the commerical campgrounds because the park campgrounds were usually far more scenic and spacious. Some of the commerical campgrounds (because of course, they are in the business to make money) pack in as many RVs on their lots as they can.We preferred having some trees and space between our RV and the ones next to us. Campgrounds on the Kenai peninsula were a bit more crowded (we were there in late July/early Aug) than the ones we encountered in the rest of Alaska (we drove down to Whittier, Seward and Homer, and then back up to Denali, Fairbanks and looped back to Anchorage).

patandhank

Thanks Padams421 - I saw the other thread too and learned from that one about the books out there devoted to this topic. Will be doing some library looking when we get to the definite planning stage!

twoaussies

Something I forgot to mention. My husband is 6'2". The passenger seat in the 22 ft. RV was worse than cattle class in Merpati airlines. His knees hit the dashboard and the seat could not go back at all. So, check the configuration of the motor home. The wall of the couch was right behind the passenger seat in ours. I imagine there are some RVs where the passenger seat is in front of the side door, and would move back. Be aware if a passenger is tall. Jean

twoaussies

Thanks for the comments. As we were in Alaska late in the tourist season we had no trouble finding campgrounds, both the USFS and commercial ones were nearly empty. We did book for Labor Day weekend in Homer – a mistake as the campground was the worst we had used, in the parking lot of a hotel. We would rather have stayed on Homer Spit. We also booked in Denali for three nights, the first night at Riley Creek so we could be at the Wilderness Access Center early for the shuttle. The other two nights were at Savage River campground, fifteen miles into the Park.
The itinerary – The first day we only drove 47 miles, with stops at Alyeska Resort and lunch at the top of the tram ride; Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and lots of stops for photographs. Night at Williwaw USFS campground looking onto a glacier.
I would suggest you get the Toursaver book (bought ours used on this website). Two for one tickets got us the Portage Glacier boat trip for $29. Drove 79 miles to Seward where we stayed at the Stoney Creek Campground for two nights, six miles out of town. They had a shuttle to the Fjord trip wharf. Glad we did not stay at the campground along the foreshore, it looked a bit crowded and close quarters. While in Seward visited the Sea Life Aquarium (two for one ticket), drove to and walked Exit Glacier, and saw the salmon on Bear Creek Road.
Spent three hours on an excellent float trip out of Cooper Landing and drove to Homer. Two nights in Homer, the day was spent in the motor home in torrential rain. That was o.k. as we schedule a ‘down’ day each week to catch up on journals and download photos to the laptop.
Drove from Homer to Wasilla in the rain, stopping in Anchorage to visit the Alaska Zoo. Stayed at the almost empty Bear Creek campground in Wasilla.
Took the detour to Talkeetna, an interesting little tourist town, with the idea of a flight over Mt. McKinley, but it was still raining a little.
Three nights were spent in Denali – the highlight of our trip.
Then on to Fairbanks, where we stayed at River’s Edge campground prior to a tour to Coldfoot, north of the Arctic Circle. One cannot take rental vehicles on the Dalton Highway, so have to take a tour. I am not a fan of being stuffed with nine wide beamed folk into a ten passenger van for an eight hour trip…….but that is another story.
Fairbanks to Anchorage was a two day trip though the most beautiful autumn scenery and passed glaciers. We visited the reindeer farm near Palmer.
One night in Anchorage.
This was a great way to get a short overview of Alaska. We drove 1500 miles.

twoaussies

What to do with a day in Anchorage.....we had to turn the motor home in before 10 a.m. but our flight did not leave until 5 p.m. So we took the free shuttle to the airport, put our luggage into storage (quite expensive at $22) and got the 'people mover' bus into Anchorage. The normal fare is $1.25, but seniors pay 50cents and Wednesdays it is free. Raining again, so we walked the empty streets, had smoked salmon chowder for lunch and saw a movie for free at the Visitors' Center. Bus back to the airport.
Another alternative is to leave your luggage at the RV company, bus into town (short distance), return for luggage and take their shuttle to airport. Jean

bigtyke

We rented from Great Alaskan in July 2002. We had no problem finding campground spaces, although we did get the last space in a commercial campground in Fairbanks on July 3 & 4.