Alaska: Day 0 - Preparing the trip...

Late, I paid attention to the holiday schedule and noticed one coming up by the end of May... cool opportunity for a long weekend trip. I've been thinking about traveling to Alaska for a few years now, and this time I'll stop postponing it and just do it.  The weather should be pretty good at this time of year.


As usual, I like to prepare my own tour and learn about the place before going. The reference material I'm using is the following:

Books:

• Alaska for Dummies , Wiley : Very good source trip planning. Not only gives it a lot information about Alaska, but the author takes the assumption that Anchorage is used as a base for traveling to other places, which is exactly what I was planning to do. 
• Alaska Ports of Call , Fodors: This book is mostly for Cruise travelers, but has a good and useful brief description from each town and short activities that can be done.
• Alaska , Lonely Planet : Nice book, also good size for taking it on a trip. It includes a lot of good information for trip planning, but also a few pages with Alaska history and some other information. I'll take this book on my trip.

DVD:

• Alaska, Spirit of the Wild : Mostly about nature. Not very for trip planning but good to understand the majesty of this place.
• Alaska, Globe Trekker: More useful for adventure travels. Shows different towns, that I won't be able to visit due to lack of time. But still informative to get an idea of how Alaska is.

Alaska Travel information Web sites:

• Alaska.org :  Very informational, with up to date schedule and prices. 
• Fjord Tours from Seward:  (I've ready very good reviews for both companies bellow, so it's seems that the choice is related to what the traveler wants to do)
• Kenai Fjords Tours
• Major Maritime Tours
• Look inside alaska.org pages, where full information of the tour companies is provided.
• Look inside those two web site, under the 'deals' pages. Some of them could be pretty good if they match your travel plans.
• Fligthseeing Tours from Talkeetna:
• Hudson Air Service
• K2 Aviation
• Talkeetna Aero Services
• Talkeetna Air Taxi

Alaska Coupon and Discounts:

• Alaska.org deals : This page contains many discounts that are free to use.
• Alaska Tour Saver :  This is a book with coupons that can be purchased. Check the coupons before ordering, as they provide full information online. Some coupons are valid during certain days only, or are restricted.  They could help saving hundred of dollars, if they match the plans of the traveler. The book sales for $99. It can be returned if unused.
• The Northern Lights Coupon Book : Another coupon and discounts book available for purchase.
• Look inside the deals of the tour companies. There are many good offers inside the pages from the Fjord and Flight seeing tours.