Flying to Fairbanks in May

We (2) are taking the Princess cruisetour in May, starting with the
land portion in Fairbanks. I am having a devil of a time finding air
reservations at a decent price and schedule. Note that we have some
flexibilty on when we must arrive in FAI, since the actual tour does
not start until the day after we arrive (eg fly on May 14, start tour
on May 15).

We would fly from either BOS, BDL or PVD, to FAI.
Since the cruise docks in Vancouver, we would be returning home from
there.

The cruise line gave me a price of over $1100 pp, and I am hoping to
find something with a decent schedule and a better rate.

BTW: By "decent" I mean a flight that gets in early enough on the 15th
so we can get some rest before the land portion starts on the 16th at
8 am.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks much in advance
Scott

wrote:
We (2) are taking the Princess cruisetour in May, starting with the
land portion in Fairbanks. I am having a devil of a time finding air
reservations at a decent price and schedule. Note that we have some
flexibilty on when we must arrive in FAI, since the actual tour does
not start until the day after we arrive (eg fly on May 14, start tour
on May 15).

We would fly from either BOS, BDL or PVD, to FAI.
Since the cruise docks in Vancouver, we would be returning home from
there.

The cruise line gave me a price of over $1100 pp, and I am hoping to
find something with a decent schedule and a better rate.

BTW: By "decent" I mean a flight that gets in early enough on the 15th
so we can get some rest before the land portion starts on the 16th at
8 am.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks much in advance
Scott
Dear Scott,
Be prepared for some real experiences in
getting low fares out of Vancouver. That is why
lots of people fly into Seattle and rent a car or
take the bus up to Vancouver and vice versa.
You'll note that the air service to Fairbanks is
rather restricted and lots of people want to fly
there. Hence no low prices.
I also believe that the cruise lines often
charter flights to Fairbanks.
Whatever you do, make sure you either take
the cruise line air or give yourself at least 24
hours pad in case of bad weather or lost luggage.
Have a great trip,
Cheers,
John in LALALand (On the Left Coast)

wrote:
We (2) are taking the Princess cruisetour in May, starting with the
land portion in Fairbanks. I am having a devil of a time finding air
reservations at a decent price and schedule. Note that we have some
flexibilty on when we must arrive in FAI, since the actual tour does
not start until the day after we arrive (eg fly on May 14, start tour
on May 15).

We would fly from either BOS, BDL or PVD, to FAI.
Since the cruise docks in Vancouver, we would be returning home from
there.

The cruise line gave me a price of over $1100 pp, and I am hoping to
find something with a decent schedule and a better rate.

BTW: By "decent" I mean a flight that gets in early enough on the 15th
so we can get some rest before the land portion starts on the 16th at
8 am.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks much in advance
Scott

My wife works for Alaska Airlines and said that for some reason the
computer gives a better price if you fly one way from Boston to
Fairbanks (about $435) and then one way from Vancouver back to
Boston(about $307). If you are flexible, you can sometimes get a little
better fair by clicking on their +/- one day button. Of course, if you
do that you could end up adding on additional night at a hotel and eat
up your savings.

Just my $.02

--
Ray Contreras
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
http://www.coltri-usa.com
http://www.rayzplace.com

On Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:53:52 -0800 (PST) in rec.travel.cruises,
" wrote:

I am having a devil of a time finding air
reservations at a decent price and schedule.

welcome to the alaska airlines de facto monopoly. we alaskans
live with it all the time, especially in southeastern alaska.

================================================== ===========
If you want to see the real Alaska, don't come on a
cruise ship! See the cruise industry rogue's gallery
at http://www.cruisejunkie.com/#Environmental_Issues

Dennis P. Harris

On Jan 13, 2:53*pm, RayC wrote:
wrote:
We (2) are taking the Princess cruisetour in May, starting with the
land portion in Fairbanks. *I am having a devil of a time finding *air
reservations at a decent price and schedule. Note that we have some
flexibilty on when we must arrive in FAI, since the actual tour does
not start until the day after we arrive (eg fly on May 14, start tour
on May 15).

We would fly from either BOS, BDL or PVD, to FAI.
Since the cruise docks in Vancouver, we would be returning home from
there.

The cruise line gave me a price of over $1100 pp, and I am hoping to
find something with a decent schedule and a better rate.

BTW: By "decent" I mean a flight that gets in early enough on the 15th
so we can get some rest before the land portion starts on the 16th at
8 am.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks much in advance
Scott

My wife works for Alaska Airlines and said that for some reason the
computer gives a better price if you fly one way from Boston to
Fairbanks (about $435) and then one way from Vancouver back to
Boston(about $307). *If you are flexible, you can sometimes get a little
better fair by clicking on their +/- one day button. *Of course, if you
do that you could end up adding on additional night at a hotel and eat
up your savings.

Just my $.02

--
Ray Contreras
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-http://www.coltri-usa.comhttp://www.rayzplace.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

HI Ray
I remember your previous post on this subject and understand that it
could be, but again couldn't figure out the wacky air fares to FAI out
of BOS as you point out.
We decided to use points to go EWRSEAFAI, then YVREWR IN June

Smooth Sailing,
Mark
MonmouthCounty NJ

On Jan 13, 2:53 pm, RayC wrote:
wrote:
We (2) are taking the Princess cruisetour in May, starting with the
land portion in Fairbanks. I am having a devil of a time finding air
reservations at a decent price and schedule. Note that we have some
flexibilty on when we must arrive in FAI, since the actual tour does
not start until the day after we arrive (eg fly on May 14, start tour
on May 15).

We would fly from either BOS, BDL or PVD, to FAI.
Since the cruise docks in Vancouver, we would be returning home from
there.

The cruise line gave me a price of over $1100 pp, and I am hoping to
find something with a decent schedule and a better rate.

BTW: By "decent" I mean a flight that gets in early enough on the 15th
so we can get some rest before the land portion starts on the 16th at
8 am.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks much in advance
Scott

My wife works for Alaska Airlines and said that for some reason the
computer gives a better price if you fly one way from Boston to
Fairbanks (about $435) and then one way from Vancouver back to
Boston(about $307). If you are flexible, you can sometimes get a little
better fair by clicking on their +/- one day button. Of course, if you
do that you could end up adding on additional night at a hotel and eat
up your savings.

Just my $.02

--
Ray Contreras
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-http://www.coltri-usa.comhttp://www.rayzplace.com

Well, I've faced this problem before, on other vacations -- in order
to save money on air fare, I've had to spend more money on additional
nites in a hotel. My thought is -- I'd rather spend the extra money
on another day seeing a new city and eating out, than sitting on an
airplane.

-- Scott

On Jan 11, 8:14 pm, "rieker" wrote:
You didn't mention how many days your cruisetour takes, so I plugged in 14. MHT was a little cheaper, but here is what I got out of BOS. (usewww.itasoftware.com)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

$737.90 average cost per passenger in US Dollars
$1475.80 total for all passengers
2 adults @ $737.90 each
Show booking details

This ticket is non-refundable.
Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.
There is a change of airports at the destination.
Airport legend:
BOS: Boston Logan
ORD: Chicago O'Hare
ANC: Anchorage Int'l
FAI: Fairbanks Int'l
YVR: Vancouver Int'l
SEA: Seattle/Tacoma Sea/Tac

Boston, MA to Fairbanks, AK: 3959 miles12 hrs 1 min

Alaska Airlines Flight AS1142 on a MD-80 (jet) in coach class
(operated by American Airlines as Flight AA1521)
(food for purchase)
Departs Boston, MA (BOS)Wed, May 144:50p 2 hrs 45 min
Arrives Chicago, IL (ORD)6:35p
Layover in Chicago50 min
Alaska Airlines Flight AS131 on a Boeing 737 (jet) in coach class
(food for purchase)
Departs Chicago, IL (ORD)Wed, May 147:25p 6 hrs 30 min
Arrives Anchorage, AK (ANC)10:55p
Layover in Anchorage1 hr 0 min
Alaska Airlines Flight AS133 on a Boeing 737 (jet) in coach class
Departs Anchorage, AK (ANC)Wed, May 1411:55p 56 min
Arrives Fairbanks, AK (FAI)Thur, May 1512:51a
Note: The layover in Chicago (ORD) has relatively little room for delays, and for this route a missed connection would likely be very inconvenient.

Vancouver, Canada to Boston, MA: 2613 miles12 hrs 39 min

Northwest Airlines Flight NW2317 on a De Havilland Dash-8 (prop plane) in coach class
(operated by Horizon Air, also Alaska Airlines Flight AS2317)
Departs Vancouver, Canada (YVR)Wed, May 282:45p 55 min
Arrives Seattle, WA (SEA)3:40p
Layover in Seattle6 hrs 35 min
JetBlue Airlines Flight B6 498 on an Airbus A320 (jet) in coach class
Departs Seattle, WA (SEA)Wed, May 2810:15p 5 hrs 9 min
Arrives Boston, MA (BOS)Thur, May 296:24a
Note: The flight from Seattle (SEA) to Boston (BOS) is overnight.

As it turned out, I had enough FF miles to book on Delta, whoi booked
us thru their partners,. So, I am actually flying CO from BDL
(Hartford, CT) - SEA; then an overnite in SEA; then AS from SEA-ANC-
FAI; and for our return trip home, YVR to BDL. Not sure what the
equivalent fare would have been, but it looked toi be around $900 pp
RT.

Thanks for checking on those flights.

-- Scott