I should figure out a way how to get to a viewing area without having to pay too much. She said it's a 25 min drive from their bldg. LOL!
I haven't been there, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing special about the place - apart from that they have some facilities there, so you're not alone in the dark in some forest, but get a 'tourist treatment' instead. When there are auroras, you're just as likely to get a good view of them anywhere in the area, there's nothing special about their place in that regard.
Give it a thought. If you do end up in any nothern location, and there are auroras, just get yourself somewhere where there's not too much light pollution, and that's it. There are no special "viewing sites" where you'd be more likely to see them than anywhere else, you can see the stars or anything else in the sky just as well, right?
That being said, if I had never seen auroras and were travelling on a more or less "once in a lifetime" trip to somewhere where the auroras happened to be visible at the time, I might happily chuck up the money instead of trying to find my way to an unobstructed dark sky site, at night, in a foreign country, fighting the clock to find a good spot while the auroras last. Their price is a bit steep, still. Maybe try to get a contact in the area before you go, a local astronomy club, if there is one, might be a good start. Or just ask around here or on some other photo forum. That's what I would do
