Travel across America on Amtrak

[altoid]

I always wanted to do a cross country of America and there are so many ways of doing it : driving, motorcycling, fly or take trains. Today I found out about the Amtrak USA rail pass :

http://www.amtrak.com/take-the-trains-a ... -rail-pass

It looks like a great way to do it,and I probably will not have enough time for the 30 days pass, so I am looking at the 15 days/8 segment pass for $469.

So the question is : how do I design the route? I got a bit ambitious and designed the following :

SFO- Chicago--New York-- New Orleans--LAX-SFO

This will cover most of the land mass in the US, and hit all these coasts. But after checking the time needed for all the route, it seems to be really brutal.. The train hours is almost 160 ! that is a lot over a 15 days vacation ..

So here is the question: which part of USA is particularly interesting to see on train? I am open to do a smaller lope as well, sth like California-Wyoming-Utah- New Mexico-Arizona-CA. I have only been to Miami once before and it was by airplane. Are there a lot to see in the midwest of US, what about the east coast ?

Below is a route map of Amtrak,

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/948/674/Sys ... 1web,0.pdf

Any suggestions?

[jacob]

For those who want to do it in Europe: http://www.interrail.eu/

We've driven across the US four times (for relocation) and while we never "saw" anything (other than motels and gas stations), the experience of the journey was quite unique: first and foremost that the US is a friggin' HUGE country. That's an experience that isn't easily had by flying somewhere and seeing stuff. Hence, for that alone, just spending the time on the train and looking out the window to see the different terrains, etc. might be worthwhile.

(As for Europe, you can go top to bottom in less than 24 hours.)

[henrik]

Houlton, ME to San Diego, CA is 5425 km
Nuorgam, Finland to Tarifa, Spain is 5436 km (both according to Google maps)

Sorry, couldn't resist:) I only included the EU to avoid conflicting definitions of Europe.

I agree that actually having the experience of covering the distance to somewhere far away makes the experience of being there different. One of many reasons I like road and rail trips.

Interrail is great, especially if you're under 26 (that seems to be the agreed upon definition of "young" in the EU)

[jacob]

@henrik - Ha! I don't think most interrailers start in northern Finland :O) WRT interrail, tickets are (were?) sold in zones (i.e. groups of countries) so you pick a zone (or several) when you buy the ticket.

I once had an interrail ticket because I was going to several conferences within one month and this was the cheapest option. Yeah, I didn't pay for it with my own money I agree that young=26 for interrail in Europe. I spent the night on an 1960s style train car together with six other people (most of them backpackers) sleeping _very_ upright. Doing overnight trains is a popular way to save on hostel costs and that train was packed. But it was fun to be able to just hop on ANY train during the month it lasted.

[altoid]

@Jacob, while you were driving across US, did you take the I-80? Starting from where, the scenery becomes nothing but corn field?

My biggest concern is how to spend the night on a coach car. During my college years in China, it was always a battle during spring festival to get home by train. I got so tired and sleepy at night, and a few times went under the seat to lie down, surrounded by other people's shoes... Imagine the train was filled with people..

Is it possible to lie down in coach train if it is not filled? I have never taken Amtrak before, how friendly the train staff will be when you try to convert a three person coach seat into a sleeper?

[altoid]

I have also done some research on train ride across Asia/Europe. Starting from Beijing, then Moscow, there on to the rest of Europe. Just looking at the map, the distance from Beijing to Paris is probably longer than from US coast to coast ? If anyone interested in the trans-Serbian train, I will be more than happy to provide more info.

[GandK]

first and foremost that the US is a friggin' HUGE country.

I read somewhere once that the difference between a European and an American is that a European thinks a hundred miles is a long way, and an American thinks a hundred years is a long time.

[dot_com_vet]

There are dedicated amtrak forums, that would give better answers. I think it depends on what kind of scenery you like. Do you want to stopover in big cities along the way?

If nobody is in coach next to you, you can take up both (two) seats. I can't imagine spending a lot of days sleeping in coach. Coach is often at full capacity. I'd spring for a roomette if I had the funds.

SFO - Chicago should be very scenic, that's a lot of different land area, mountains, prairie, etc.

California Surfliner looks amazing if you like the ocean.

Empire Builder if you like the wilderness.

Lake Shore Limited was beautiful in the Fall. Also lots of gnarly factories in the rust belt.

[Dragline]

California Zephyr through the Rockies, Coast Starlight and Western half of Empire Builder are the most scenic, I think.

Most things East of the Mississippi River probably not so much.

Look for routes that go through mountainous areas. Avoid heavily populated areas.

[Scott 2]

The way to do Amtrak, IMO, is to play the credit card rewards game for upgraded travel. I've used the signing bonuses from the Amtrak and Starwood credit cards to get lots of amtrak tickets.

Currently working on the Chase Sapphire Visa. 40,000 points for $3k spend in 3 months. They can be converted to Amtrak points. Another 5k in points is available if you add a second card to the account.

45k in points is enough to take a roomette for 3 zones, plus coach for 3 zones. That's a lot of train travel - across the whole country.

I got like 30k in points from the Starwood card last year. Put those two together, and you can do the entire trip in a roomette for darn near free.

I did Chicago to LA, round trip, in a roomette, with my wife. Two 45 hour train rides, on either end of a week in LA. If I had it to do again, I would have traveled coach or business class (great when available) and planned to sleep in hotels / motels along the way. I also would have flown home, or taken a different route back.

Most of the fun on the train ride is seeing all the terrain as you travel. It's amazing how big the country is, and how much of it is just empty.

Train food is terrible. It's included with the roomette. You're better off bringing your own.

[altoid]

@Scott2, thank you for your info. I have a SPG card, and got 30k points now, thinking to use them on hotels when I am in Asia next time (3000 points for a night stay ), but good to know that they can be converted into amtrak points too. With credit card points these days, there are so many ways to redeem them, have to find the most attractive option: dollar saved per point..

Also, does Amtrak ticket price stay constant ? I am aware of the 10% discount, but does it fluctuate like plane ticket ?

Totally agree that train food sucks, and expensive. We will need figure out something that is easy to preserve and tasty.

On your trip from LA to Chicago, which part of journey is your favorite?

[Scott 2]

Not sure about price over time, most of my travel is between Chicago and Milwaukee. That price is constant, but it's also a subsidized route.

For my travel in the US, I've found priceline's "name your price" feature to make redemption of Starwood points for hotel rooms about equal in value to redemption for amtrak tickets. Of course that varies by location. I have no experience with international travel.

I really enjoyed a few things on my trip:

1. Gong right through the mountains. It was the first time I'd really been in or near mountains before, and I later learned, a much lower stress option than driving through similar terrain.

2. Going through the broad, empty western states. Having spent my entire life in the suburbs of a major city, learning how vast and empty the US is blew my mind.

3. At night, passing through areas with no light pollution, I was amazed how many stars were visible.

[theanimal]

I recently learned about the US rail pass. The terms have changed slightly since the OP. The current offering is 10 segments within 30 days for $499. It seems like a no brainer for anyone looking to travel around to multiple places in a month.

It's probably worth including that ERE Fest/Quail Haven is not far away from an Amtrak stop (Barstow, CA). In fact, there are a lot of people on here close to a stop, it might be a cost efficient way to visit a lot of ERErs over the course of a month.

[AxelHeyst]

..barstow Amtrak stop is close, but bus connections to QH are tricky. A much more convenient stop is Bakersfield Barstow - two quick and cheap buses through scenic mountains will get you to within 4mi of QH, if you line them up.

I just took the Amtrak from Bakersfield to Denver (San Joaquin to Sacramento, Zephyr to Denver), round trip. Beautiful. ~$280 round trip iirc.

[theanimal]

I had some other points to add to my post above about rail travel that the forum ate.

Coach class on Amtrak is nothing like coach class on a plane or bus. There is a ton of legroom and the seats can recline about halfway back. I took a 42 hr ride (two nights) from Chicago to Seattle once and found the seats in coach more than adequate for sleeping. During the day, you can walk through the cars, go to the viewing car (which has glass ceilings), and/or get off when the train stops for a few minutes at a time to stretch your legs and get some sunshine.

There are a couple other tips with regards to sleeping:
- The viewing car completely empties out at night since everything is dark and there is not much to see outside. I've heard of others who've found out of the way seats in the viewing car to lie flat and get better sleep. I'm not sure what Amtrak's official policy on this is, it may be crew/conductor dependent.
-The main benefit of booking a room is to have a private, more comfortable area to sleep at night. There is little to no benefit of that same room during the day. If you are going to book a room, you can save a ton by booking multiple tickets for your route and only booking a room at night. Round trip, this will save you at least $600 on longer stretches.

Using Chicago to Bakersfield as an example. Say the train leaves Chicago at 2 pm. Book a coach ticket for Chicago to Kansas City. The train gets to KC at 10 pm and you've booked a room, head to your room and stay there until morning, switching back to coach sometime in New Mexico and staying there for the remaining portion of the trip.

[theanimal]

..barstow Amtrak stop is close, but bus connections to QH are tricky. A much more convenient stop is Bakersfield Barstow - two quick and cheap buses through scenic mountains will get you to within 4mi of QH, if you line them up.

I just took the Amtrak from Bakersfield to Denver (San Joaquin to Sacramento, Zephyr to Denver), round trip. Beautiful. ~$280 round trip iirc.

It's a different line though so it adds a lot more travel time for people coming from anywhere east of the Mississippi. For example, Chicago to Barstow is one line, direct, 38 hrs. Chicago to Bakersfield is 72 hrs and then requires a bus transfer to Bakersfield. The price is about the same.

Once Quail Haven has regular pedicab routes to Barstow and Bakersfield, none of this will be a problem.

[mountainFrugal]

There was a guy who did this from North Carolina to Southern Oregon for the bike classes. The train was delayed at some point in Denver and he got his return trip fully paid for/reimbursed. He did not do the sleeper car which is substantially more expensive.

[Laura Ingalls]

DH bought the month long pass.
He ended up traveling 3 weeks and using 6-7 of the segments.

Iowa to Sacramento to Emeryville to LA to Tucson to San Antonio
I joined him in San Antonio we rode together to Austin and flew home.

I had live text messages reports the whole time and I would love a train journey. No way you are getting me to do more than one night in a row on the train.

[AxelHeyst]

There was a guy who did this from North Carolina to Southern Oregon for the bike classes. The train was delayed at some point in Denver and he got his return trip fully paid for/reimbursed.

Amtrak is often delayed for one reason or another, but they take care of you. My outgoing train stopped in Grand Junction because rockslides blocked the line. They sent out a fleet of buses to pick us up. My return train was late and I missed my connection to Bakersfield. They hooked me up with a taxivan, and me and family of 3 hurtled down the 5 at what had to be an average mph of 90 and we arrived only a half hour after the train was due to.

- The viewing car completely empties out at night since everything is dark and there is not much to see outside. I've heard of others who've found out of the way seats in the viewing car to lie flat and get better sleep. I'm not sure what Amtrak's official policy on this is, it may be crew/conductor dependent.

Pro-tip: act a bit unhinged. Not so unhinged they kick off you, just enough to make them not want to deal with you. The lady in front of me got away with sleeping in the middle of the aisle for an hour. People just stepped over her.

[AxelHeyst]

It's a different line though so it adds a lot more travel time for people coming from anywhere east of the Mississippi. For example, Chicago to Barstow is one line, direct, 38 hrs. Chicago to Bakersfield is 72 hrs and then requires a bus transfer to Bakersfield. The price is about the same.

Once Quail Haven has regular pedicab routes to Barstow and Bakersfield, none of this will be a problem.

True. If you're coming from Chicago (and you can't wrangle a ride from Barstow), the move is to go all the way to Union station in LA, then get a Flixbus to the Bakersfield Amtrak station.