PHL-ANC seasonal service!

[Dog Wonder]

Sarah Palin did not say that.

Tina Fey did, in a SNL skit.

Palin said it first. Give credit were credit is due.

 

[surfnfly]

Great news. Bring your fishing pole and waders and you can catch king and silver salmon in Ship Creek right in town during the summer. Humpey's is a great local ale house.

 

[N903AW]

Great news. Bring your fishing pole and waders and you can catch king and silver salmon in Ship Creek right in town during the summer. Humpey's is a great local ale house.

For a great breakfast or brunch, go to the Snow City Cafe a couple of blocks away from the hotel. It is very popular with the locals so be prepared to wait for a table (worth the wait, though)! Make sure to try the reindeer sausage!!

 

[etops1]

For a great breakfast or brunch, go to the Snow City Cafe a couple of blocks away from the hotel. It is very popular with the locals so be prepared to wait for a table (worth the wait, though)! Make sure to try the reindeer sausage!!

..I don't know about reindeer sausage ... :huh:

 

[nycbusdriver]

Palin said it first. Give credit were credit is due.

I can't stand Sarah Palin, but I don't think she ever said that. She did invite the barb from Tina Fey when she bragged about how Alaska is so involved in international politics because it sits between "two foreign countries." Technically, that's true. But the governor of Alaska does not have an ambassador, nor sovereign authority over its own domestic matters when foreign governments are involved. She was acting "too big for her britches," and Fey totally and effectively called her out on it.

 

[Travelpro72]

So how long of a flight is it anyway? I'm guessing around 8 hours.

 

[FutureUScapt]

So how long of a flight is it anyway? I'm guessing around 8 hours.

4 hr time difference, so it looks like its 7hr 40min westbound and 7hr eastbound.

I wonder what the inflight service will be like on this flight. I would imagine that westbound they might mirror CLT-HNL and offer one meal in Y and then BOB later on. Eastbound is a little bit trickier though as it doesn't really fall into a mealtime.

 

[YVINTERN]

I might be the village idiot but ANC is a great town...go to Gwennies for breakfast, good reindeer sausage and downtown walking is very simple and easy...If possible go to Flat Top near Chugach for a great view of Anchorage and the inlet!

Now that US announced PHL-ANC...I might use up some miles for this I guess 😉

 

[SS255]

As usual, US Airways is a day late and a dollar short on getting this service going. Should have been done years ago. Simply put, the Alaska tourism industry has suffered a big hit with SEVEN cruise ships pulling out next year. Three of those ships required PAX flying into ANC to catch them. Three ships with 2,000 PAX avg weekly over 5 months - do the math. Oh, and let's not forget WHY the ships pulled out -- a huge head tax on those travelers. Watch out seasonal airlines you could be next on the state's head tax hunt.

Later,
THE Eye in the sky 🙂

Most of the cruise ships are either roundtrip Seattle-Seattle or roundtrip Vancouver-Vancouver. Some of them start in ANC (Seward, actually), and work their way down to either Vancouver or Seattle -- or the other way around. So technically US would not capture a whole lot of additional revenue from the cruise ship industry, with the exception of those pax who are taking one-way cruises and who would otherwise be unable to book on US because they need an open jaw flight with ANC as one of the cities.

Oh, and my Spidey Sense tells me that there will be no IFE on this flight.

 

[Toothy Grin]

Hey great news!

You will LOVE IT! Rent a car and explore - drive to the glacier, but make sure you have a full tank of gas because there aren't any gas stations for miles sometimes. Also, I have to recommend going to the zoo, simply because I like zoos and this one is interesting because it has animals that require cold climates like snow leopards and dromedary camels so most animal and bird lovers would not normally get to see these species at the typical zoo.

Dining out and shopping is alot of fun. Just caddy corner to the hotel is a small but very interesting antiques store. The area in the front is pretty much run of the mill stuff, the back half which is usually closed has the good stuff, like civil war guns, uniforms and oddball things. I have to suggest like the others that you rent a car - Man, it's just crazy watching all the moose tromping through the water at sunset(ish). The leaves in the fall are ablaze with gold.

DELETED BY MODERATORl is beautiful, enough said but during the winter the hallways are FREEZING.

Anchorage at any time of year is a great trip. I hope they add winter layovers too. If they do, don't let the cold weather keep you from going, the scenery is awesome.

====And now, the pax:

The folks who fly to anchorage, non tourists are an interesting lot. They are sometimes called carnies. The women are the kind that say 'give me scotch' and slam it on the table - so are the men.

There's a bit of the grifter/drifter crowd FOR SURE. Before the start of the summer, many men and women would come up from the carolinas looking for fishing and canning jobs. This year, I don't know what to expect.

I hope someone will share your experience with all of us.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Most of the cruise ships are either roundtrip Seattle-Seattle or roundtrip Vancouver-Vancouver. Some of them start in ANC (Seward, actually), and work their way down to either Vancouver or Seattle -- or the other way around. So technically US would not capture a whole lot of additional revenue from the cruise ship industry, with the exception of those pax who are taking one-way cruises and who would otherwise be unable to book on US because they need an open jaw flight with ANC as one of the cities.

Oh, and my Spidey Sense tells me that there will be no IFE on this flight.

You are correct that the majority of cruises to Alaska (aka Inside Passage voyages) are r/t from Seattle and Vancouver. Next year, four ships that used to ply Alaska's waters from those destinations will cease doing so in 2010 and 2011. Three ships that use Whittier, Seward will also cease Alaska cruises. Alaska cruising is going down from a high of 33 ships (28 large, 5 small) to just 21 for next season. At its peak, the cruise industry brought roughly 1 million passengers to Alaska each year. That will now fall down to 860,000 cruise passengers in 2010. Let's not forget the other fallout -- 1,800 tourism-related jobs, and a loss of (at least) $100 million in annual payroll. Lastly, 140,000 less visitors also means less spending in port. More ships will be pulling out if the head tax is not repealed. Alaska is a mess right now and their only hope is to make a trip to the state more affordable. I suspect US Airways Vacations will be putting together some enticing packages in that area. Otherwise, the plane is going to go with a lot of seats open.

Later,
Eye

 

[HPearlyretiree]

A few years back, I non reved up there and was able to fly on ERA Classic Airlines fully restored DC-3 sightseeing flight.

Wonderful, and was able to do it at 50% off. Plane was beautiful, all done up in 1940s motif, complete with magazines of the era, stewardess dressed up in 40's clothing etc.

You do want to rent a car! Seward is a good short trip, also in the summer stop up at the rivers and watch the fishermen pulling out giant salmon. Portage glacier and Talkeetna are really nice too.

Humpty's is a good bar with summer night salmon bakes, mmmmm.

 

[etops1]

Thank you for posting the name of the hotel...now please delete it before we have grifter/drifters following us back there after a day of moose watching.

Oh relax Quick , he was being nice in letting us know what to expect from ANC.

 

[Coach Cabin]

I have heard WONDERFUL things about this layover from the PHX crews. With the sun up most of the time, there is a lot of day light to enjoy this beautiful state...and you TOO will be able to see Russia from your house...well hotel. lol

Our crew hotel is the nicest in town. I hope you guys end up there (unlike the seperate hotel situation that is apparently happening in HNL). Lot's to do in ANC, it's an awesome layover. On these long layovers it would be great to actually hang out with you guys once in a while, instead of just the awkward silence we usually experience in the crew vans.

FYI, the Grey Line Tours on 4th Avenue (1 block from the hotel) offers a 50% discount on tours to US Airways employees, including Alaska Railroad, glacier tours, whale watching, etc.

 

[nycbusdriver]

On these long layovers it would be great to actually hang out with you guys once in a while, instead of just the awkward silence we usually experience in the crew vans.

Why an awkward silence among the flight attendants? The pilots, I can understand. For them it would be more a silent seething.

Why are the F/As at odds?