car rentals from Whittier drop off Anchorage options

I just booked a Princess cruise that arrives Whittier on June 2, 2018. I plan to pick up a rental car in Whittier, self drive tour for a week, and drop off the car at Anchorage airport before flying home. I know you have to plan for a rental car well in advance.

Is Avis Alaska the only car rental company that has the one way rentals or are there others? When do they accept rentals for the summer cruise season? If I put 2018 dates into the reservation system noting comes up. It looks like most everything for 2017 is already booked so I'm having trouble trying for figure out the cost.

Would I be better off disembarking the cruise and going back to Anchorage to rent the car? That would use up most of a day though and I'd like to hit the road as soon as we get off the ship.

Sigh...

I just went through this scenario but in reverse.

We are arriving in Anchorage June 3, 2017 and are touring the Kenai Peninsula for a week prior to joining the Star Princess in Whittier on the 10th.

My original plan was a 6 day one way rental from Anchorage to Whittier. The only way I could schedule this was by calling Avis Alaska directly ( there are two offices, one by the airport and one downtown...google the phone number)

Problem was that it came out to $1300!! I was told that perhaps waiting until January of this year would be helpful because they would "open up" the reservation system.

So I reserved a 6-day round-trip rental from Anchorage downtown to Anchorage downtown for about $300 and waited until January.

On January 2nd I was able to go online and the price for a one-way 6-day rental dropped to about $900, which I still feel is too much.

We are keeping our Anchorage to Anchorage rental for $300 and hired a private limo to transfer the four of us to Whittier for $240.

Incidentally a one-day one-way rental from Anchorage to Whittier came out to about $385, so that is another option

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

AVIS is the only vendor in whittier, and Hertz is the only vendor in Seward.

One way rentals are quite high. Many people choose to take a transfer from Whittier to Anc where they pick up a r/t rental car. Like this company which leaves whittier around 8:45am, arrives Anc 10:30am.

https://alaskacruisetransfer.com

Look at trip reports for other transfer vendors, or your cruiseline, or Park Connection Bus, or Seward Buslines. The train is another option.

AVIS is the only vendor in whittier, and Hertz is the only vendor in Seward.

 

One way rentals are quite high. Many people choose to take a transfer from Whittier to Anc where they pick up a r/t rental car. Like this company which leaves whittier around 8:45am, arrives Anc 10:30am.

https://alaskacruisetransfer.com

Look at trip reports for other transfer vendors, or your cruiseline, or Park Connection Bus, or Seward Buslines. The train is another option.

My first stop from Whittier will be Seward for 2 nights. Is there a bus or train between this 2 cities.? After visiting there I could get a transfer or train to ANC to get the rental car for driving to Denali and back. Maybe that makes more sense.

There is no direct transportation between Whittier and Seward that I'm aware of, other than a taxi, car service or rental car. PJ's Taxi in Seward does this run.

Seward Buslines goes Seward to Whittier but not vv. Call them to verify.

If you want to travel Whittier, Seward, Denali, you may need to do the one-way car rental. Or flip your itinerary and do Whittier, Denali, Seward.

There is no direct transportation between Whittier and Seward that I'm aware of, other than a taxi, car service or rental car. PJ's Taxi in Seward does this run.

 

Seward Buslines goes Seward to Whittier but not vv. Call them to verify.

 

If you want to travel Whittier, Seward, Denali, you may need to do the one-way car rental. Or flip your itinerary and do Whittier, Denali, Seward.

So it makes more sense to transfer Whittier to ANC, rent car, drive to Denali, drive back through Anchorage to Seward , then back to ANC for flight home? I should have 7 or 8 days post cruise to do the driving tour.

So it makes more sense to transfer Whittier to ANC, rent car, drive to Denali, drive back through Anchorage to Seward , then back to ANC for flight home? I should have 7 or 8 days post cruise to do the driving tour.

you'll need to consider what else you're doing/stops you're making, to see which direction works best for you.

( some folks like being closer to ANC for the final leg, especially if they have an early afternoon flight)

I'm using Alaska Cruise Transportation from Anchorage to Seward in July. $180 plus tax for 4. Believe they went up 1/1/17. They do have a pick up in Whittier for Princess. Have to be inside the cruise terminal with luggage no later than 8:45 a.m. I don't have the cost. And since I haven't actually used them yet, I can't say they are good or bad. Throwing it out there as an option to get to Anchorage Airport.

So it makes more sense to transfer Whittier to ANC, rent car, drive to Denali, drive back through Anchorage to Seward , then back to ANC for flight home? I should have 7 or 8 days post cruise to do the driving tour.

We arrive in Whittier on June 10 and are taking Alaska Cruise Transportation to Anchorage to rent a car for a week. After picking up the car, we are going to Seward first as it is quite a bit closer than the Denali area to Anchorage. From Seward we will go to the Denali area spreading the drive over two days.

We arrive in Whittier on June 10 and are taking Alaska Cruise Transportation to Anchorage to rent a car for a week. After picking up the car, we are going to Seward first as it is quite a bit closer than the Denali area to Anchorage. From Seward we will go to the Denali area spreading the drive over two days.

Walleyetim: do you have a driving itinerary already planned out? Could you share it with me? Where will you spend the nights, in what towns?

My tentative plan will be the same as yours: disembark Star Princess in Whittier, head to Anchorage to pick up rental car, drive to Seward and Kenai Peninsula, back through Anchorage and out to Denali, then back to ANC to drop off car and fly home. I will have 7 or 8 days to do this road trip depending on the flights I book.

Thanks in advance, Susie

Walleyetim: do you have a driving itinerary already planned out? Could you share it with me? Where will you spend the nights, in what towns?

I have posted our itinerary here.(Post #411)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=766053&page=21

We are staying at B&B's. After pricing motels I started research B&B's and found them to be a much better deal. I read a whole bunch of reviews before making reservations. After three nights in Seward we probably could have driven past Anchorage but i found a B&B in Anchorage that appealed to me and was able to reserve it both nights we will be in Anchorage. I would also like to explore Chugach State Park some.

I have posted our itinerary here.(Post #411)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=766053&page=21

 

We are staying at B&B's. After pricing motels I started research B&B's and found them to be a much better deal. I read a whole bunch of reviews before making reservations. After three nights in Seward we probably could have driven past Anchorage but i found a B&B in Anchorage that appealed to me and was able to reserve it both nights we will be in Anchorage. I would also like to explore Chugach State Park some.

Thanks, Tim. I had looked at that thread before. I have printed out your itinerary to help in my planning. Looks like you will be doing your trip a year before me as I won't be going until May/June2018. Please write e review when you return to help those of us visiting Alaska next year.

I have rescheduled my Star Princess cruise to go from Whittier to Vancouver on Aug. 25, 2018. The plan now is to fly into Anchorage a week prior to the cruise, rent a car and drive around, then cruise to Vancouver.

Is it possible to pick up the car at the airport and drop it off at the city location which is closer to the train not Whittier? Or would it be best to drop off back at the airport and somehow makes our way from the airport to the Princess cruise dock?