October windfall

WASILLA — The check took a 50 percent cut, but the options for this year’s Permanent Fund Dividend are far from reduced as Alaskans contemplate what to do with the $1,022 payout, which hit bank accounts via electronic deposit Thursday. More than 643,000 eligible Alaskans will receive a check in 2016.

Businesses around the Valley have been gearing up for the rite of fall, with many offering discounts and specialty packages.

Many residents will pay bills or tuck the check into savings, but for those looking to buy a big-ticket item, electronics and travel remain traditionally solid sellers.

While Alaska Airlines (which now flies to Cuba) and other air carriers have their own PFD specials, a buzz in the Alaska travel industry this year involves packages to the Cook Islands, located almost due south of Hawaii near New Zealand.

ABC Traveltime owner Cindy Bettine said that while the Cook Islands are not a new destination, the region’s tourism council has made a more concerted effort recently to reach out to Alaskans, which is a natural market. ABC was chosen as an exclusive vendor for packages to the Cooks, she said.

“Their biggest market share comes from Australia and New Zealand, but they were looking for some off-season business and Alaska fits the bill,” Bettine said. “January through March is typically their off season down there.”

Bettine said the islands are a little more low-key.

“It’s not Honolulu,” she said.

Bettine said October is usually “when the flood lights come on” with regard to bookings, with the calls starting as soon as the checks hit the bank — if not earlier. She added ABC often sees families planning more educational trips.

“It is a time when we see parents deciding to do something educational with the kids, like a trip to Washington, D.C.,” Bettine said. “A lot of the home-school families choose this time to schedule those trips.”

Across Wasilla at Image Audio and Home Furnishings, sales manager Aaron Klun said the days of smaller retailers being able to offer showroom after showroom of the latest electronics are gone.

“Amazon and the online market has taken care of that,” Klun said. “Smaller retailers like us have had to adjust and adapt and expand into other areas.”

While Image still offers a range of high-definition televisions, car audio and home entertainment centers, Klun said a recent expansion by the business has added a full range of furniture and home furnishing options.

“We have gone more in the direction of furniture and furnishings,” he said. “Everything from dining sets to bedroom packages. The businesses that have stayed exclusively with electronics are disappearing.”

A few of the online advertised PFD offerings include:

• Alaska Airlines is featuring one-way deals starting at $77 to Fairbanks, $239 to Honolulu, $299 to Cabo San Lucas and $99 to Seattle. Tickets have to be purchased by Oct. 10.

• Ravn Alaska PFD specials include $77 one-way between Anchorage and Fairbanks and $99 one way between Anchorage and Unalakleet, Bethel, Cordova or Kodiak .Tickets have to be purchased by Oct. 10..

• Mat Valley Meats annual PFD special includes a 200-pound beef cattle pack for $1,049, a 400-pound whole beef cattle pack for $1,999 and a 150-pound whole hog pack for $499. A 75-pound half-hog pack is $269.

• Sportsman’s Warehouse is featuring PFD deals on assorted firearms, optics, smokers, a meat grinder and generators.

• Wolfe Eye Center’s two-day PFD sale ends Friday, Oct. 7, with 15 percent off lenses and frames.

• Big Bubba’s Trailer and Auto Sales in Wasilla is offering PFD discounts on utility trailers.

And for those who would like for their favorite nonprofit group to see a little of the PFD bounty, visit the Pick.Click.Give website at www.pickclickgive.org/index.cfm/pfdorgs.orgs/ for a list of statewide organizations.