The Alaska Railroad: Adventure Class vs. Gold Star Class

On our most recent trip to Alaska, also known as The Last Frontier, we decided to do our traveling while on land by train.  After flying into Fairbanks and landing around 1am, we got a few hours of sleep before getting on the morning train from Fairbanks to Denali.  Then, after a few days in Denali, we took an 8-hour train ride from Denali to Anchorage.  We stayed in a nice hotel in Anchorage before heading back to the train station for a train ride from Anchorage to Seward, which was our final destination before getting on the ship.  When traveling on the Alaskan railroad, you can choose between Adventure class and Gold Star class.  We were Adventure class during the leg from Fairbanks to Denali and Gold Star class for the other two train rides.

This is the domed glass car that you have temporary access to as a part of Adventure Class.

What’s the difference between Adventure Class and Gold Star Class?  Adventure class gives you a seat with bus sized window to peer out.  You will have access to the snack and drink car where you can order alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as snacks ranging from trail mix to little sandwiches.  You can also order a meal but we did not feel the need to do that as we had eaten breakfast at our hotel before heading out.  Everything there seemed reasonably priced.  You also have the ability to go up to a glass domed car where you can sit for a short time and take photos of your beautiful surroundings.  Our train was not very crowded at all so we had plenty of space to move around and we could have spent as much time as we wanted up in the dome car.  As the season progresses, I am sure that this changes and the domed car gets very crowded and you might have to wait your turn to gain access.  Seeing as this was a 4-hour ride and we had already eaten breakfast, we thought that Adventure class was more than acceptable.

For our 8-hour train ride from Denali to Anchorage, we were excited to be able to try out Gold Star Class.  We had really good seats on what was once again a not very crowded train ride.  In Gold Star, you are seated in a domed glass car and you have access to an open air area.  And, for this ride, since it was so long, you received both lunch and dinner down below in the dining car.  We had a dining captain who came around before each meal to see how many people would be in our dining party.  Then, because the car wasn’t super crowded we were all seated right away.  For each meal, we had three or four choices to choose from and a couple of desserts.  You also get two alcoholic drinks with your ticket.  We discovered that they were very loose in how they counted these two drinks, and so we ended up enjoying more than just two.  We enjoyed both of our meals and found the drinks that they offered to add to our overall enjoyment of the ride, which once again had gorgeous views.

For the final train ride from Anchorage to Seward, we also were in Gold Star Class and it was a much more crowded train. Since there is no major airport in Seward, most people are flying into Anchorage and either taking a motor coach or the train down to Seward to get on a cruise ship.  I can definitely see the value of being in Star Class for this leg since it was more crowded.  For this leg, they seated just the first 9 rows for breakfast and then after we had all eaten, they seated the remaining 9 rows.   The views for this leg were also beautiful and varied from our previous rides.  Once again it was a very enjoyable way to get to our destination.

When considering cost, the cost at publication of a motor coach ride from Anchorage to Seward is about $75, the cost of the Adventure Class train ride is about $50 more than that and the Gold Star Class is generally double the cost of Adventure Class for each leg.  The duration of the motor coach ride from Anchorage to Seward is an hour shorter than the train ride and has the option of 7AM or 3PM.  The train leaves every morning at 6:45AM only, so a bit more restrictive in the times you have to choose from.  When considering whether or not you would like to splurge for the Gold Star Class, you might want to consider how many beverages you might be purchasing and where or not you would want a meal or snacks.  Also, the more excellent views available in Gold Star are definitely something to be considered.

Traveling by train in Alaska was a really fun and unique experience for us.  We really enjoyed all three of our train rides, whether in Adventure Class or Gold Star.  If I were to only book one leg as Gold Star Class, then it would be the longer one from Denali to Anchorage.  For the longest ride (almost double the other two), it definitely was nice to have more space, beautiful views from our seats, delicious meals and drinks.  If on a tighter budget, Adventure Class would be more than acceptable, and riding in a motor coach for the shorter rides would as well still provide a comfortable ride with nice views.

The bottom line is that, during the land portion of our trip to Alaska, riding on the train was just as much a part of the adventure as it was a means of transportation. And, I would love to help others make traveling on the Alaska Railroad part of their next trip to The Last Frontier.