It's exactly the other way around actually, continental US would include Alaska since it's still on the North American continent whereas contiguous US excludes both Hawaii and Alaska. Contiguous US refers to the lower 48 states.
replyContinental "could" include Alaska (it's even in the official U.S. Board on Geographic Names definition), but in practice when "continental US" are casually mentioned, it's rarely implied as included. Most use it as interchangeable with contiguous.
reply>where-as Alaska is contiguous with the United States, but requires crossing through parts of Canada to reach by land.
replyContiguous means the 48 connected (contiguous) states. It never includes Alaska.
And even though definitionally/officially continental could include it (it's in the same continent), in common use "continental US" is not meant to include Alaska either.