3 Important Things to Know about Renting a Car in Alaska in 2023

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The first thing to know is that Alaska is huge! It is 1/5th of the size of the United States, about 2 ½ times the size of Texas, so driving times are going to be longer than you think to get from one place to another. A great tool for people planning to drive themselves around Alaska is a book/magazine called “The Milepost.” It comes out new every year around this time. It has maps of every road in and around Alaska and gives you driving times as well as mile by mile details along the way… including information on gas stations, hotels, attraction, parks and camp groups as well as a brief history of the small towns that you will pass through along the way. It is the Alaskan bible! It is so in demand that sometimes they run out of them in the stores up here by midsummer.

The second thing that you need to know is that Alaska has historically had a limited inventory of rental cars available, even before the pandemic. If you know your travel dates and you haven’t rented a car yet, you really need to do that today! I already have tour clients calling me to change their dates around because they couldn’t get a rental car for a portion of their trip.

And the third thing is that rental cars in Alaska are just more expensive than rental cars everywhere else… so plan on a moment of sticker shock. Due to that limited inventory, the rental companies have no incentive to offer deep deals, so the best price that you are going to get on a car is today! You are better off to rent a car and lock in a price now (and cancel it later if you have to) than run the risk not having a car available to you at any price.

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Pre-order your Milepost Magazine here!

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