By hearsay, we all know that Alaska is not one of the cheapest destinations and that both the flight and the overnight stay and activities on-site can be a little expensive for many pockets. This is partly the truth, also due to the rigid climate that reduces the tourist season almost exclusively to the summer months, but also and above all it is down to the vastness of the territory and the scarcity of connections, that makes the cost of moving around much higher.
At the same time, there are two factors to take into consideration in order to cut costs and enjoy your vacation to the full. The first is that, on a trip of less than two weeks, it is more logical to concentrate on one or two regions in the state, and not try to visit it all: the long journeys waste a lot of time and definitely affect your budget. The second is that, as in many other destinations, in order to save a little money, you could opt for a slightly lower standard of overnight stay a little, such as a lower cost motel.
In this article we will try to give you an idea of how much a trip to Alaska for two people costs, taking into consideration a stay of 2 weeks.
Contents
- Flights to Alaska, how to save money
- Ferries to Alaska: when is it better to take them and how much they cost
- Car rental: where it is worthwhile and how much does it cost
- Hotels in Alaska: how much you will spend for accommodation
- Food Cost in Alaska
- National parks, activities and organized tours
- Price trip Alaska: How much does it cost in all?
Flights to Alaska, how to save money
If you have already read our article on how to plan a trip to Alaska, you will have realized that, depending on which area you choose to visit, you may find one airport more convenient than another. In this paragraph I will always refer to Anchorage as the destination airport, as it is the main and most frequented airport in the state and is centrally located for transferring to almost any Alaskan region. The biggest exception is the Inside Passage, for which I suggest you look for flights to Juneau or flights to Seattle or Vancouver, depending on which port you intend to board your ferry from.
Alaska is vast and domestic flights can vary in cost, depending on which airports you consider. On a two-week vacation, you’re likely to take an internal flight to get from one region to another. The most likely is the one that connects Anchorage to the Inside Passage, so I will refer to the Anchorage-Juneau route. The direct flight is operated by Alaska Airways and has a return cost of almost 325 dollars. I will not dwell in this article on the costs of other internal flights, as there are many small airports and airplanes are one the main means to move around in Alaska over long distances. If you plan only one airplane trip, the price will still be similar for another destination.
Flight + hotel
One way to save money is to take advantage of the discounted flight+hotel rate for Alaska. Considering the duration of the flight, even if Anchorage is not the most beautiful Alaskan resort, it is almost a must to spend at least one night there. If you book the hotel together with the flight, you get a discount on the final price or even one or more free nights. The only restriction: the outward and return flight must be in the same city (for example: outward Chicago – Anchorage, return Anchorage – Chicago). The fact that most of your stay will not be in Anchorage, however, does not affect the offer.
Compared to a tour of other parts of the USA, where it’s easy to land in one city and leave from another to create an itinerant trip, this solution lends itself well to a trip to Alaska, where you are almost certain to arrive and leave from Anchorage
Offers flight + hotel in Alaska
Ferries to Alaska: when is it better to take them and how much they cost
For some areas of Alaska such as the Inside Passage, Prince William Sound, or the Aleutian Islands, ships are the best way to get around. The Alaska Marine Highway System offers a very extensive ferry service along the entire southern coast, even reaching Washington State with some stops along the Canadian coast. Prices obviously vary depending on the route.
Let’s take a look at some examples, using the basic prices, without adding on the surcharge for cars, bikes or other means of transport. For short trips: the route from Valdez to Whittier is about 75 dollars, while the journey from Homer to Kodiak is 81 dollars. If we wanted to make a very long trip of more than 4 days of navigation from Bellingham (the port north of Seattle) to Whittier, the cost is 665 dollars.
For a two-week trip with Anchorage as a starting point, we can consider the return ferry trip to Kodiak Island or a circular road itinerary in Prince William Sound. In this case the car in tow would increase the price, but the route would be unique. To provide an average for the final approximate bill, we could budget 163 dollars.
Car rental: where it is worthwhile and how much does it cost
Hiring a car is a great way to visit the central part of Alaska. On this page we have suggested some road loop itineraries starting from Anchorage. Moreover, the car is an absolute necessity to undertake the adventurous Dalton Highway, but in this case both the car and the driver must be well prepared. If your intent is to drive the Dalton, also bear in mind that many car rentals prohibit venturing there, so pay close attention to the contract stipulations. Also, in this case Fairbanks is the recommended place for renting your car.
For everything else, the best thing is to rent a car in Anchorage. Contrary to what happens in many other cities, rental prices at the airport are on average higher than those in the city center: for this reason, since you will need the car very little in the city, I suggest you to use public transport to reach your hotel after landing and only rent the car on the day you have to leave Anchorage. In August, the rental of an average car (I exclude the smallest ones, not suitable for many Alaskan roads) for a week costs between 545 and 760 dollars. For an SUV it costs 1200 dollars.
Our guide on how to rent a car for the USA
Hotels in Alaska: how much you will spend for accommodation
Hotels in Alaska are not cheap when compared to other US states. What makes the difference, besides the logistic issues that lead Alaska to have prices higher than the US average in almost every service, is also the fact that there is very little competition in some cities. It is therefore necessary to accept the fact of spending a considerable amount of money, or sometimes adapt to more spartan solutions, such as camping.
It is very difficult to calculate how much it can cost to spend two weeks in Alaska, because the price varies greatly depending on the city. Two weeks in Anchorage in August, in good hotels of at least 3 stars, do not cost less than 1800 dollars per couple. In other locations where there are fewer alternatives, the same amount per couple won’t suffice. Considering an itinerant trip, always sleeping in hotels, I suggest you budget at least 2000 dollars per couple. If instead, you want to opt for camping or other particular solutions, the cost can go down a lot and changes from case to case.
Food Cost in Alaska
Even for meals, Alaska is not the cheapest place in the world. Making a comparison with the rest of the United States, the price of the big fast-food chains can be up to 30% higher. To understand how much you end up spending on food, you have to know what you want to eat. In a fast-food restaurant you can have lunch for 10 dollars, but consider that three courses in an average restaurant will cost you about 38 dollars. Obviously, in top-class restaurants, prices are considerably higher, like everywhere else.
Speaking of a mostly road trip, I would consider spending a moderate amount for lunch, focusing mainly on a sandwich, a fast-food meal or a quick and cheap solution, leaving the restaurants for just dinner. You also have to add on breakfast, when it is not included in the hotel. In this way, we calculate an average of 50 dollars per person per day, without taking into consideration meals in expensive restaurants.
Many hotels are equipped with small kitchens in the rooms, and it is quite easy to find apartments that are more functional than a normal hotel, and with the possibility of cooking independently and thus saving considerably on the cost of food. My suggestion, especially if you are staying for several days, is to take advantage of this option at least or a part of your stay and thus reduce the expense. Using an adequate mix of self-catering and restaurants, you should calculate a cost of 550 dollars per couple for two weeks.
National parks, activities and organized tours
Most of the national parks in Alaska do not charge entrance fees, so it is not worthwhile here to have a park card as it is in other US states. One of the most visited, the Denali National Park, has an entrance fee of 15$. To this you have to add a shuttle, if you are not limited to the first part of the park, which varies from a minimum of about 32 dollars to a maximum of 60 dollars, depending on the route. For the purpose of calculation, I will consider the shuttle to the Eielson Visitor Center, which, in addition to being one of the most used, has an average cost of 40.80 dollars. We can say that the visit to Denali therefore costs about 56 dollars.
In general, most of the natural areas of the state can be visited almost exclusively via guided tours. If we exclude the most expensive tours, most of the most popular activities, such as whale or bear watching, start at about 140-1750 dollars. Others, such as helicopter tours, start at around 325 dollars. If you don’t go to Denali, you’re likely to join a guided tour in another park or rent a kayak or participate in similar activities.
I would budget 380 dollars each for this type of activity, considering doing two or more low to mid-cost activities.
Price trip Alaska: How much does it cost in all?
Finally, here’s how much a trip to Alaska costs, for a couple for two weeks (Note: all costs are calculated for two people in summer. The flight to Alaska is excluded, because the amount can vary a lot depending on the starting point).
- Internal flight to / from : 650 dollars
- Ferry to/from Alaska: 325 dollars
- Car rental for 7 days: 1100 dollars
- Hotel: 1400 dollars
- Meals : 550 dollars
- National parks, wildlife watching or other activities: 760 €
Total cost of the trip to Alaska: 5385 dollars approximately (2700 dollars per person). The result here is not the exact sum total of the previous items, because it is difficult to opt for the internal flight, ferry and car rental at the same time.
To better organize your trip to this beautiful state you can refer to our Alaska section, where you will find in-depth articles on which destinations to choose and tips on organizing an itinerary.
