What forms absolutely must be included with my wish assist request?  

We require the Wish Assist Form and the Alaska Additional Pages. These forms must be completed in their entirety and included in the submission of the wish into Salesforce.  

Where can I get more information about each region and what it offers?  

We have dedicated tabs on this website that include information about every region of Alaska we send kids to! This will provide more information about each region and what activities the region offers. If you would like additional information about this, you can also refer to our Alaska Fact Sheet which can be found on the DailyWish. 

If a wish is accepted does that mean dates are confirmed?  

Our Vice President of Wishes accepts the Salesforce record and then assigns the coordinator. Once an Alaska coordinator has been assigned, they will review the Salesforce file and confirm which travel dates work best for the wish. Please do not tell your family their dates are confirmed until you get this message from the Alaska coordinator.   

When am I approved to book flights?  

A wish note will be added letting you know when flights can be booked and what airport to fly the family into. Do not book flights prior to receiving this note.    

When do you make reservations for the family? 

We do not book anything for the family until we receive flights from the originating chapter. Once we receive flights, we will start making reservations for the wish. We do this in case dates need to shift due to unavailable flights. 

When will I get my family’s itinerary?   

You will get the family’s itinerary at least 14 days prior to the family’s arrival.  

My family can’t do any activities on Saturday, what should I do? 

If there are any special circumstances that prevent your family from doing an activity on a specific day or time, please make the coordinator aware upon submission of the wish.   

Can I get confirmations and/or dates of activities so I can pass them along to the wish family for non-comp participants?  

We are happy to provide activity information such as the date, time and vendor to you once everything has been arranged if the chapter asks.  

Are there any dates you recommend the family avoid? 

We will not be accepting wish dates that start, end, or overlap from December 23rd – January 2nd and July 2nd – 8th.

Are families allowed to extend their trip?  

We do not recommend trip extensions as we have found out the hard way that sometimes families do not book additional lodging or rental car until closer to the wish and as a result, are unable to book those due to limited resources and find themselves without lodging or transportation. 

 My child is considering a wish to go to Alaska. Can I connect with you prior to submitting the wish to Salesforce to get more information? 

Yes, it is fine to email us to get more information about an Alaska wish prior to submitting to Salesforce. However, we ask that in this email include as many details about the wish and what the child is thinking of be included so we can provide the best recommendation of what the wish could look like. We also recommend taking a look at the region tabs on this website prior to reaching out as it is a great planning tool to get a better idea about what we can provide with an Alaska wish.  

Do you respond to wish assist questions in Teams?  

We prefer to not use Teams for wish assist matters. Please submit any questions about a submitted wish assist to the child’s Salesforce record. If it is a question about a wish child who is thinking about visiting Alaska, please email us those questions.  

How would you prefer to receive wish requests? 

All wish requests need to be submitted into Salesforce.  

How will I know when activities have been confirmed?  

Once activities have been confirmed with your coordinator, you can assume that they will be booked. If there are any issues with bookings, you will hear from the coordinator at that point in time. If you would like confirmation prior to receipt of the itinerary, please send a note to the coordinator on the child’s Salesforce record.  

How and when should I share the family’s flight information?   

Once you have received the approval for the family’s wish dates by your coordinator and flights are booked, please add the details in the travel tab of the wish assist record. Enter each leg of a multi-stop flight individually. As a reminder, we do not book anything for a family until flights are received.  

What type of transportation should the family have? 

Due to the size of Alaska and limited vehicles for hire, we strongly urge families to have a rental car.  

What if my family doesn’t have a driver’s license? 

We can arrange transportation to and from activities in Anchorage and Fairbanks only. If they are hoping to visit an area outside of these locations, please check with your coordinator to see the feasibility.  

What if my family needs a wheelchair van?  

Wheelchair van rentals are incredibly limited as we have one company that rents wheelchair vans in Anchorage. If the family is able to transport the wheelchair user in and out of a rental car, we recommend that to allow more options for the family.  

Does Alaska have Uber/Lyft?  

Only Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau have ride-share services. Taxis are also available in these cities as well as some independently run taxi services in smaller cities.  

Why are Alaska Avis locations different? 

Alaska locations of Avis car rentals are licensee owned. Due to this, Alaska Avis locations do not have to follow our National discount. Luckily, they do follow by our National discount rate for most rental car options. However, the ALI and LDW insurances are not included on Alaska Avis reservations and need to be added on for every wish family.  

Why haven’t we received a child’s bill on our Avis statement? 

Alaska locations of Avis car rentals are licensee owned and they are not linked to the main Avis computer system. Due to this, our Avis locations send rental billing information to the main Avis group, who then inputs the billing into the computer manually. Processing times vary based on when the individual Avis locations send the information and when it’s input, but please expect to not see a billing on your Avis direct bill for this wish child for up to 3 months. If you have further questions about your bill, please contact Avis directly.

Can I request a specific lodging accommodation?  

Yes. However, requests must be indicated at the time the wish assist request is submitted. Availability and discounts cannot be guaranteed.  

Why do you use Airbnb/VRBO?  

Due to limited traditional accommodations in Alaska, we have found that Airbnb or VRBO have been a great option for our wish families and allows for more requested travel dates to be met.  

How do you book an Airbnb/VRBO? 

We ask that the originating chapter book an Airbnb/VRBO for our wish families, however we request that three-four options be send to us prior to booking so we can look them over and let you know which would be best to move forward with booking. If you have never booked an Airbnb/VRBO before, Make-A-Wish America has put together a great toolkit about booking Airbnb’s which can be found on the DailyWish.  

My family has requested accommodations that includes kitchen facilities.  Can that be met?  

Yes, in circumstances where a kitchen is needed, please confirm in the initial note that a kitchen is required and not a preference – this determines what properties the family can stay at and possibly impacts the region. Please note that this may limit if an accommodation can be accessible as well.  

My family has requested ADA accommodations.  Can that be met?  

Yes, in circumstances an ADA room is needed, please verify if this is required or if it is a preference in the initial note – this determines what properties the family can stay in. Please note that this may limit the area of Alaska the family travels to.  

How many activities are planned for each wish again?  

We book a maximum of three activities for each wish. We’ll work to try to book the child’s top three choices, but if any aren’t available, we will recommend other activity choices.  

Which activities have age restrictions?   

Per national policy, activities involving motorized watercraft or ATVs are restricted to participants age 16 and older, which applies to all participants regardless of if they are driving or not.  This means any ATV tours, UTV tours, and Jet Skiing may not be booked if any participant is under the age of 16.   

Some activities that fall outside the above policy that have age restrictions include, but are not limited to: ziplining, entering the hot springs at Chena Hot Springs, and some animal encounters. If an activity has an age restriction, that will be noted in the additional information about an activity.  

Which activities require participant heights and weights?  

Participants heights and weights are required for dog sledding, ziplining, horseback riding. Minimum and maximum height/weight varies per vendor and may not accommodate the family if those requirements are not met. If an activity outside of these requires heights and weights, that will be noted in the additional information about an activity. 

  What other activities have requirements that families should be aware of?  

Many Alaska activities are only offered at a certain time of year or in a certain region. Please refer to activity descriptions for that information.  

How do I know what to budget?   

For more specific details, please explore this planning website to review budget guidance for rental cars, lodging and activities and more. Please note that these are only estimates and may change.  

Where can I learn more about what an activity includes?   

Details on a specific activity can be found by clicking on an activity which will expand on details about that activity including what time of year the activity can happen, a brief description of the activity, any requirements or restrictions, as well as budget information.  

Should families provide tips for their activities? 

We recommend that activities that involve a guide of any kind include funds for tipping said guide. Common activities that involve guides are fishing, hiking, dog sledding, kayaking, etc. We recommend that you include $20 per person per guided activity to tip the guides.  

Can you see the Northern Lights in the summertime? 

Unfortunately, the Northern Lights cannot be viewed in the summertime in Alaska due to there not being enough hours of darkness to see them during the summer months. The best time of year to see the Northern Lights is in September, October, February and March.  

Does Alaska have snow year-round?  

Alaska does not have snow year-round. Depending on what part of the state you are visiting, there can be snow from October – May but most of the time there is only snow from November – March. 

 Does Alaska have penguins?  

Unfortunately, there are no penguins that live in Alaska nor do we have any at our zoo.  

Is Alaska an island near Hawaii?

While almost all maps depict Alaska and Hawaii as insets to the lower left of the map, just off the western coast of Mexico, Alaska is actually shares a border with Canada!

Can you go ocean fishing in Interior Alaska?

Unfortunately, Interior Alaska is completely landlocked and does not have any access to oceans. If you have a child who would like to go ocean fishing, they would need to visit either Southcentral Alaska or Southeast Alaska.

Can you do a day trip to Fairbanks from Anchorage?

Due to the size of Alaska, we ask that families stick to one region of Alaska due to the amount of driving it takes to get in between regions. As you can see in the picture below, Alaska is a very large state so we try to reduce driving time as much as possible.

I found cheaper airfare on different dates. Can I change the dates of the trip?  

Once the request has been accepted and dates confirmed, changes may only be made to travel/activity dates for medical reasons.  

Can we get a different rental car (e.g. Jeep, Suburban)?   

Rental car inventory in Alaska is limited. Therefore, special requests for vehicles are unlikely to be accommodated. With that said, if a special request is included on the initial Wish Assist request form, we will try to accommodate that request to the best of our ability.  

The wish kid changed their mind about activities. Can we cancel X activity and book Y activity instead?  

Changes may be considered if activities have not yet been booked. However, once an activity is booked, changes may only be made for medical reasons (e.g. the child’s health status has changed and the medical team no longer thinks a previously booked activity is medically appropriate).   

The family made some plans of their own while in Alaska, and we just found out about them. Can we move a scheduled activity to a different day?  

Once the request has been accepted and dates confirmed, changes may only be made for medical reasons. 

Why haven’t we received a child’s bill on our Avis statement? 

Alaska locations of Avis car rentals are licensee owned and they are not linked to the main Avis computer system. Due to this, our Avis locations send rental billing information to the main Avis group, who then inputs the billing into the computer manually. Processing times vary based on when the individual Avis locations send the information and when it’s input, but please expect to not see a billing on your Avis direct bill for this wish child for up to 3 months. If you have further questions about your bill, please contact Avis directly.

Where is my invoice/in-kind?  

Invoices and in-kind reports are generated by a ticket in Jira. Once the ticket is created, emails are generated automatically and are sent from a finance email address.  

I’ve looked and I didn’t get the email with the invoice and in-kind.  Can you help me figure out the issue?  

The Jira system is maintained by the National Office. Please submit a help desk ticket.  

I got the invoice but not the in-kind (or vice versa).  Where can I find the other info?  

Invoices and in-kind reports are included in the same Jira ticket and email.  You should find them both together.  

Where can I find itemized invoice details? 

Itemized invoices are now available as Intercompany Journal Entries (IJE) on Netsuite/Accounts Payable.  

How can I pay my invoice? Can I use a credit card?  

Invoices can be paid through ACH (not wire transfer), by check or by credit card.  

Who can I reach out to with other invoice or in-kind questions?   

For any other invoice or in-kind questions, please contact [email protected].