Behind the Scenes at Great Alaskan Holidays: What It Takes to Prepare an Alaska RV Adventure
Behind the Scenes, at Great Alaskan Holidays
When you picture your Alaska RV vacation, you're probably not thinking about technicians, reservation systems or maintenance schedules.
You're thinking about Denali appearing on the horizon. A quiet campsite outside Seward. Salmon fishing near Soldotna. A family dinner overlooking Kachemak Bay. Maybe it's sitting beside your motorhome late in the evening, wondering how it can possibly still be light outside.
And that's exactly how it should be.
But before a Great Alaskan Holidays motorhome ever leaves Anchorage, there's an entire team working behind the scenes to help make moments like those possible.
Since 1985, Great Alaskan Holidays has helped travelers from around the world experience Alaska from the freedom of a motorhome. Today, more than 300,000 customers from over 100 different countries around the world have traveled with the company.
So, what actually happens behind the scenes?
Quite a lot.
Behind Every Motorhome Is a Team Getting It Ready for Alaska
An Alaska RV rental doesn't live an easy life.
During the summer, motorhomes travel thousands of miles through changing weather and across some of the most spectacular—and sometimes demanding—roads in North America. One family might take a coach south through the Kenai Peninsula to Seward and Homer. The next may head north toward Talkeetna and Denali, or east along the Glenn Highway toward Valdez.
That makes fleet maintenance much more than an occasional oil change.
Between adventures, the Great Alaskan Holidays team works to prepare motorhomes for the families arriving next. Mechanical and RV systems must work properly. Interiors need attention. Appliances, plumbing, electrical systems, heating and other coach components all contribute to the experience guests have once they're on the road.
And many of the people responsible for that work will never meet the travelers who benefit from it.
That's the nature of working behind the scenes.
When everything works the way it's supposed to, guests can spend less time thinking about the motorhome and more time thinking about Alaska.
Experienced RV Technicians Matter More Than You Might Think
A motorhome isn't simply a bigger rental car.
It combines an automotive chassis with plumbing, electrical systems, batteries, appliances, heating, propane and all the components necessary to create a home on wheels.
That's why technical expertise matters.
Great Alaskan Holidays operates its own Parts and Service Department in Anchorage, staffed with Certified RV Technicians with over 200 years of combined experience. The facility also operates as an ‘exclusive-to-Alaska’ Winnebago and Ford fleet warranty station.
For rental customers, having that expertise within the company is important.
Experienced technicians can identify potential problems before a motorhome heads onto the road. They understand how RV systems operate together, and they can help troubleshoot issues when a traveler has a question hundreds of miles from Anchorage.
Great Alaskan Holidays has also invested in continuing technical education and training for its RV technicians.
That's something most guests will never see.
But when you're parked near Denali, Valdez or Homer and everything in your motorhome is working exactly as expected, the work performed back in Anchorage suddenly matters quite a bit.
Taking Care of Employees Helps Them Take Care of Guests
There is another side to the Great Alaskan Holidays story that travelers rarely see: the investment made in the people who make the company work.
During Alaska's busy travel season, preparing and supporting a large motorhome rental fleet requires employees across reservations, housekeeping, maintenance, service, parts, accounting, human resources and other departments.
Training is a formal part of that culture.
Great Alaskan Holidays describes training as key to both employee and company success, with employees trained for their individual duties with an emphasis on safety, employee satisfaction and company performance. The company also holds frequent employee-recognition programs, company-sponsored luncheons, and seasonal safety and wellness bonus opportunities among its employee programs.
Why should that matter to someone planning an Alaska vacation?
Because experienced, well-trained employees build institutional knowledge. And TRUST.
A reservation specialist who understands the questions first-time RV travelers ask can make planning less intimidating. A technician who knows the fleet can diagnose problems faster. A housekeeping or production employee who pays attention to the small things can influence a guest's first impression the moment the motorhome door opens.
Taking care of customers begins with having people who care about the work they're doing. And the team at Great Alaskan Holidays is taking care of customers well before they even know they’re being cared for. THAT is the unanticipated component few ever hear about.
Your Customer Experience Actually Begins Before You Arrive in Alaska
For many Great Alaskan Holidays customers, the relationship begins months before their airplane ever touches down in Anchorage.
And that's important, because plenty of guests have never rented a motorhome before.
Questions are normal.
Which floorplan should we choose? How much mileage will we need to plan for? What's included? How does the RV work? What should we bring? What happens when we arrive?
Great Alaskan Holidays' reservation system allows travelers to check real-time rates and availability online 24 hours a day, while reservation staff are available for customers who prefer to talk through their trip.
The company also provides floorplans, photos, frequently asked questions, online orientation resources, pickup-and-return information and RV operation orientation videos before guests arrive.
That's an important part of the behind-the-scenes story, too.
A good Alaska RV vacation shouldn't require becoming an RV expert before leaving home.
More Than 40 Years of Reputation—One Vacation at a Time
A reputation isn't really created by advertising.
It's created one customer at a time.
Great Alaskan Holidays started in 1985 with just five motorhomes and eventually grew into Alaska's largest RV rental, sales and service operation, with a 27,000-square-foot Anchorage facility situated on eight acres.
More than four decades later, travelers researching the company have something previous generations didn't have: immediate access to hundreds of online customer experiences.
Both Google and Tripadvisor currently rate Great Alaskan Holidays 4.4 out of 5 from over 1,300 combined online customer reviews, and Tripadvisor awarded the company its Travelers' Choice designation for 2026. Recent reviews frequently mention clean motorhomes, helpful employees, easy pickup and return procedures and responsive customer service.
No business serving hundreds of thousands of customers will have identical experiences every time. But a large body of reviews, decades of operation and repeat customers give prospective travelers something particularly valuable when planning a major Alaska vacation:
Confidence.
And Support Doesn't Stop When You Drive Away
There comes a wonderful moment during an Alaska RV trip when Anchorage disappears in the rearview mirror and the vacation suddenly feels real.
You're on your own.
But you aren't entirely on your own.
Great Alaskan Holidays provides 24/7 emergency assistance for its rental customers.
That's especially reassuring in Alaska, where a vacation might take you hundreds of miles from the company's Anchorage facility.
Sometimes a question that seems complicated on the road can be solved with knowledgeable troubleshooting. Having experienced people available back at home base provides an extra layer of support while still allowing travelers to enjoy one of the greatest reasons to explore Alaska by RV in the first place:
Independence.
You choose the road. You choose the stops. You choose how long to stay.
More Than 40 Years of Learning What Alaska Travelers Need
Perhaps the most important thing happening behind the scenes at Great Alaskan Holidays isn't any single inspection, training program or reservation system.
It's experience.
More than 40 years means thousands upon thousands of rental departures and returns. It means decades of customer questions, maintenance challenges, changing RV technology and lessons about what travelers really need when exploring Alaska.
Those lessons become part of how a company operates.
And that's difficult to duplicate.
When you're planning the Alaska trip you've dreamed about for years, you're not simply choosing a motorhome.
You're choosing the people and organization standing behind it.
Your Alaska Adventure May Begin Months Before the Keys Are in Your Hand
Eventually, all that behind-the-scenes work fades into the background.
That's where it belongs.
Instead, you'll remember waking up somewhere on the Kenai Peninsula. Spotting a moose alongside the road. Seeing Denali on a clear afternoon. Pulling into a campground with mountains in every direction. Or sitting outside your motorhome beneath one of Alaska's seemingly endless summer evenings.
Those are the moments a Great Alaskan Holiday is really about.
But before those moments happen, technicians, reservation specialists, service professionals, housekeeping teams and many others have already been doing their part.
Because when Alaska is the trip you've been dreaming about, it's reassuring to know there's an experienced team working behind the scenes to help you make the most of every mile.
