Trying to get to Ketchikan in winter taught me a hard lesson about ferries vs planes

My partner and I planned a trip from Juneau down to Ketchikan in early February. We booked the state ferry for the 90 dollar fare, thinking we'd see the Inside Passage. A huge storm rolled in and they canceled the sailing for three straight days, stranding us. We ended up having to buy last minute plane tickets for over 400 each just to make our work commitment. The extra cost hurt, but the plane got us there in an hour, not a day and a half. Has anyone else had a winter ferry plan completely fall apart like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

tylergrant2mo ago

Oof, that's rough but totally familiar. It feels like the cheaper, slower option always ends up having hidden costs, doesn't it? I've seen it with shipping stuff for my business, where the budget truck rental gets delayed by weather and suddenly you're paying for storage. That extra time you think you're buying just turns into risk.

faith_palmer512mo ago

So @tylergrant, how do you even start to price that kind of hidden risk into a plan?

willow_ellis26d ago

Gosh, that's such a tricky question! I remember trying to plan a road trip with my cousin and we picked the cheapest route through some mountain passes. Ended up getting stuck behind a rockslide and had to pay for an extra night at a random motel that was basically a truck stop. The whole "hidden risk" thing is why I'm so paranoid about reading the fine print now, even for silly stuff like rental movies or food delivery.