The quick answer
The currency is the US dollar and cards work almost everywhere a card works in the rest of the country. The thing to plan for is not currency, it is cost: Alaska is materially more expensive than the contiguous United States, and the further from the road system you go, the wider that gap becomes.
Why it costs more
Almost everything arrives by barge, ferry or aircraft. Fuel, groceries, building materials and staff all cost more, and in the smaller communities the difference is not marginal. A remote lodge is expensive because flying food and fuel to it is expensive, not because it is gouging you.
The categories that surprise visitors most are groceries in small towns, fuel off the main highways, internal flights, and any activity involving an aircraft or a boat. Cruise fares can look like good value against a land itinerary for exactly this reason: the ship carries its own supply chain.
Sales tax, which works backwards from most states
Alaska has no statewide sales tax. It does have local ones: many boroughs and municipalities levy their own, some seasonally and some with caps, and some communities levy none at all. The upshot is that the tax on the same purchase differs between towns on the same road, and neither the presence nor the absence of tax on a price tag is a reliable expectation. The rates are set locally and change, so none are published here.
Cards and cash
Cards are fine in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, the cruise ports and anywhere with a highway running through it. Carry cash for small communities, roadside stands, some charters, tips for guides and crew, and anywhere the mobile signal is poor enough that a card terminal will not clear. ATMs exist in towns and thin out sharply beyond them, and remote-lodge machines carry heavy fees where they exist at all.
Tipping
US norms apply, and Alaska adds two categories most visitors are not used to budgeting for:
- Guides. Fishing, rafting, flightseeing, bear viewing and hiking guides are customarily tipped, and a full-day guided activity is a meaningful amount.
- Ship and lodge crew. Cruise lines apply automatic daily gratuities. Read what your fare already includes before adding to it, and ask what the arrangement is at a lodge.
Restaurants and bars work as they do elsewhere in the United States.
Where the money goes on a typical trip
The large costs are usually the flight in, the accommodation, and the activities. Activities are where Alaska budgets break: flightseeing, glacier landings, bear viewing by float plane, day charters and rail journeys are each substantial, and it is easy to assemble a list that costs more than the flights. Pick two or three that matter and do them properly rather than five in a hurry.
Practical habits
- Tell your bank you are traveling, even domestically; remote transactions do trigger blocks.
- Fill the tank when you can rather than when you need to, and expect a jump in price off the main roads.
- Carry small notes for tips and for places that round.
- Book the headline activities before you arrive. The good operators sell out and last-minute is not cheaper here.
Planning with LABUSA Travel
We are straightforward about what an Alaskan itinerary costs and where the money is going, and we will tell you when an activity is not worth its price on your particular route.
Sources
- State of Alaska: state services, residency and the public information a visitor needs. Accessed 11 August 2026.
- Travel Alaska, State of Alaska tourism office: the official state visitor information, including regional guides and seasonal planning. Accessed 11 August 2026.