Planning a trip to Alaska can be a bit more complicated than getting ready to travel in the rest of the United States. Aside from the vast distances and range of climatic conditions, the best places book up quickly for the high summer season. This section provides general orientation information, when to go, and how much it will cost. It then covers how to plan a trip to Alaska, including passport and visa information for international visitors, modes of travel, insurance, safety, and issues to watch out for. I will also point you to the best outdoor activities and places and the businesses to get you there. I've included primers on fishing and shopping for Alaska Native art as well.
For Coupon Clippers -- A coupon book called The Great Alaskan Tour Saver (tel. 907/278-7600; www.toursaver.com), which costs $100, is well worth the price if you plan on traveling as a couple, especially in the Southcentral region. The150 coupons are freebies or two-for-one deals on some of the best activities, tours, train rides, flightseeing, and lodgings, valuable enough to pay for the book with just a couple of uses. Readers tell me they've saved a lot.
Using the Internet on the Road -- If you decide to bring your laptop, you'll find that many hotels and even B&Bs have wireless Internet access for guests, usually for free, and there are numerous other free hotspots all over the state. For a site that lists dozens of free hotspots in Alaska, with maps to get to them, check out www.toursaver.com/alaska-wireless.php. Getting online through dial-up is difficult for visitors to Alaska; national Internet service providers have access numbers only in the largest cities and dialing up long distance is slow and unreliable from many Alaska communities with antiquated phone connections.
If you leave the computer at home, you can stop in at an Internet cafe or the public library when you want to log on. Alaskans use the Internet heavily, even in tiny villages where people live largely by hunting and gathering, so you can always count on finding a way of getting online with a little effort.
Coverage for wireless Internet technology, such as your BlackBerry or other Internet PDA, spread beyond Alaska's two or three largest cities only in 2006. The main provider is an Alaskan firm called ACS (check on roaming with your own provider). Voice cellular coverage has spread to smaller communities, but even that remains spotty or nonexistent beyond city limits.
