I've found that the train stations are usually in a rough part of town, so if your train arrives in the middle of the night, you may want to consider getting a cab or Uber to your hotel instead of walking there. People pulling luggage at 3:00 a.m. are easy targets for the bad guys.
From the ones that I've been to: Chicago and New York are fine for a few blocks. Denver is busy, but I'm not walking more than a couple of blocks. LA and DC are iffy. King Station can be sketchy. Portland has a wonderful station, but the area close to the station is very sketchy. The MAX is ok during the day, but call an Uber if it's late. The rest of so isolated and industrial that there is nothing around
Chicago Union Station is a decent station for Amtrak because it connects to Metra trains. When you order your food, just take your food back to the Amtrak room area because if you sitting in the food court the bums would harassed you every 5 to 10 mins begging for money in the food court areas.
@@mholtebeck I like NYC Amtrak station but it's bigger. I also like Cleveland Amtrak station, Detroit Amtrak station, Ann Arbor Amtrak station, I like Milwaukee station including the Central Illinois Amtrak station.
Also, when they say "No Smoking", they mean it. I was on the City of New Orleans several years ago when a guy got caught smoking. They warned him not to do that, but he did it again, and got put off the train at the next stop - which was one of those tiny Mississippi backwaters. I have no idea how he managed to get where he was going, but it wasn't on the train!
Definitely one of the best pieces of advice y'all have always given is to avoid creating a time bind for yourself. I was on the Sunset Limited when it collided with a semi-truck near Houston around mid-day; we didn't get to New Orleans until 8:30 the next morning, approximately 11 hours late. I had to cancel a hotel reservation. Fortunately, the sleeping car attendant on the City of New Orleans, the next leg of my trip, was so super nice that she made me an Amtrak believer again!
The fun/frustrating part of train travel is unpredictability. Two times I went to sleep and woke up in the exact same spot we'd been in when I'd gone to sleep. One was simply stalled by other trains, and the other train was stopped by tornadoes all around us. You never know. That's part of the fun unless you have to be somewhere at a particular time.
We were once about 5 hours late getting into New Orleans. I helped a traveller who did not speak much English select a hotel because their hostel was closed for checkin by that time (after midnight).
When we did the Zephyr we met a couple who'd been booked on the previous day's train. They'd had trouble getting an Uber so in a panic called in favours from friends and made it to Emeryville on time. They then relaxed, had a coffee and... missed their train!
I have heard you give the same advice about tight connections multiple times, and after watching this video it finally went through my thick head. Going cross country this August, riding the Cardinal from New York to Chicago, then the Southwest Chief from Chicago to LA. Instead of stressing about the 6 hour window to get off the Cardinal and board the Southwest Chief I opted to change my travel dates a little bit and get off the Cardinal enjoy two days in Chicago then board the Southwest Chief. The slight increase in cost of the hotel stay far out weights the chaos of missing my train out west. Thank you for your insight and advice!
Definitely a good idea and you get to enjoy Chicago. I took trolley tours to see a city getting such a chance. About 15 -20 years ago I rode all the AMTRAK routes west of St. Louis to see the West taking five weekend to weekend trips. There were two connections I barely made even thinking of padding about 6 hours between connections for short distance runs to Chicago and Kansas City. After a long distance trip I would always book a hotel and take the next day's train. AMTRAK shares rail with freight trains and can cause long delays. I was lucky but would take that chance for a short run. Sounds like a great trip. for you.
True... even on the Acela, which almost ALWAYS on time, we had a 6-hour delay because a tree fell on the electrical wires that run the train, caught fire, and broke the wires, and fell and blocked the tracks. They had to cut the power, call the fire department to make sure the fire was out, repair the broken electrical wire, repair the tracks, then re-inspect the tracks and have the fire marshal inspect and approve the work as completed. We got to Boston at 3:30 AM and lost a whole day of vacation.
I just rode Amtrak from Norfolk, VA to Providence, RI and those conductors were NOT playing. I was in the Quiet Car and no, if ands or buts...they made sure there was QUIET in that car. Really appreciated. Also, "One ticket, One seat"...announcements!! And I had no seat partner the entire trip! Don't know how that happened, but it was great!
Thank you for posting this helpful information! I've watched a lot of your videos, however this one makes me not excited about train travel. Perhaps, I am not understanding. So if my train is scheduled to pick me up let's say at 3:30 p.m. I should plan on it being late, perhaps by several hours. As well, during travel I should plan on a longer ride as well. However, the train does not wait a single minute for any passengers running late, which makes sense I guess since the train is already late. The passengers better not dilly dally getting on or off between trains or they'll be left behind or stuck on the train they no longer need to be on. This sounds like a lot of anxiety. Remind me of going to the doctor's office where we are required to be there on time if not early and then we sit around and wait an hour plus to be seen by the doctor.
On Alaska RR u can Literally get Off and On Anywhere along the Track! If u stand next to track in middle of Nowhere the Train will Stop for you and you can tell them where u want to get off? There are trucks, atv or snowmobile along the tracks So peep get to/from town to cabin in wilderness?
When taking the Pere Marquette from Grand Rapids to Chicago I was lucky enough to have no seat mate! I dozed most of the trip sitting sideways on both seats, but I made sure to move and leave the seat free at every stop so that someone could sit there. But no one ever did 😊.
I’m going to D.C and The Hyatt House/The Wharf is pretty cheap. close to downtown and the main attractions. A cheap price (about $750 for 4 nights). About 10-15 mins from union.
I knew all of these tips, but that's because I've watched all of your videos and followed your advice. To newbies to train travel- my advice is to follow their advice.
A Baltimore friend and I had a concert to go to in DC today. Instead of driving, she took Amtrak from Baltimore to DC and I picked her up at Union Station and then dropped her off after the concert was done. The worst part was the traffic in front of the station!
As an avid amtrak rider, this is great. But I’ll add a few more. -Some people think that food on long distance trains are free for everyone. They’re not. Unless you have sleeping accommodations, expect to pay for everything. -Amtrak takes the Quiet Car rules seriously. Break them and you’ll find yourself moved to another part of the train. -Assume there is ventilation on the train. There is no AC or heating elements on the train. -Get to the station when the train is supposed to depart. I recommend getting there 30-45 minutes prior, at least.
Re: ventilation, they don't necessarily do even that very well. I carry a CO2 monitor around...on Amfleets or Acela, the ventilation can't keep up when the Railcar gets above ~~ half full
Over the Christmas holidays I was taking the Coast Starlight from Oakland to Seattle. When I got to the station I told the station agent that I have limited mobility and would need some help. He said he would help me. Usually they give me a ride in the baggage cart. The only help I got from the station agent is he carried some of my luggage. My car was at the very end of the train and I had to walk the whole distance. I wasn’t sure I would make it, but I did but needed to sit down to recuperate.
A&R: Thank you for your suggestions. We didn’t listen and played Amtrak Roulette last week. In December (?) Amtrak had a Roomette BOGO deal and it inspired us to attempt Amtrak Across America Adventure last week. We too didn’t make it. Indianapolis - Chicago - Los Angeles - Emeryville - Chicago - Indianapolis. Delays and broken equipment the entire adventure. We made it 90% then Amtrak suggested we de-train at Galesburg IL for a 4 hour bus ride to INDY. Amtrak did deliver us home safely. The Western Amtrak Equipment does struggle to perform, the on-board Amtrak Staff and corporate communications via personal calls, emails and texting was excellent. Your advice is sound regarding Amtrak. Thanks and keep those great videos coming!
It’s not stressful. You just have to understand and pay attention when your stop is. I sat behind a woman who was told by the conductor that her stop was coming up. The name of the station was written prominently on the wall of the station visible through the window. She sat through the fifteen minute stop the train left with her not getting off. I don’t know if she expected an invited escort. It was weird.
Bringing an outlet strip should be a #1 priority whenever you travel. Even at the airport, you will be very popular if you share your plug-ins with other travelers who need to charge up or run a laptop.
Agreed about having an outlet strip or a multi-port charger. When airports started sporting places where you could plug in directly with a USB or Lightning cable, it seemed very convenient, but it is possible for data hijacking to occur if someone tampered with the station. But if you are connected directly to line power, one avenue for data hijacking is eliminated.
100% When friends ask me about train travel the main things I tell them are to bring a power strip, not expect to arrive anywhere near to on time and to get a sleeper for overnight rides
Years ago - when the Northbound Crescent rolled into Charlotte - the train would have a 20 minute slot to re-fuel, but often either Charlotte/Mecklenburg Police or Amtrak Police would run a K-9 through the train. It would arrive between midnight and 1am. It was a “smoke stop” but often kind of panicky folks would be exiting the coaches as we were trying to get on. It wasn’t unusual to start then stop the train for somebody who had gotten off and suddenly realized the train was leaving..
I rode the Cardinal back in 2021 right when Amtrak eliminated capacity limits. They kept saying that every seat would be needed, but i never got a seatmate. I would absolutely not rely on this, however, as I've had a seatmate more often than not
Having traveled in Europe the past few summers and extensively used the rail system there, one becomes quickly used to moving with purpose, the train crews are quite used to older people moving slower; the train work diligently at maintaining the schedule, and other passengers are used to the "un-trained" Americans not being familiar with "train courtesy" and tolerate us.
Another thing is to not call ahead to a pharmacy if "you" are taking certain prescriptions (that can be a pain in the posterior, waiting for the prescription and the train has left the station!)
I got on a NE regional originating in DC. Can’t remember if it was a weekday or a weekend. But the to board was loonnggg, and yep, once we were boarding they announced that it was full full full, there would be zero empty seats for people to spread out into.
A lot of good advice here. I will say, the San Joaquins line was actually a pretty nice trip the time I got stuck taking it instead of the Coast Starlight like I had planned. I overslept in San Diego so I wasn't going to make it LA in time to at the Coast Starlight but the ticket person in SD was great and got me booked on the San Joaquins. The bus from LA to Bakersfield was comfortable and only about half-full. Got to Bakersfield with enough time to grab lunch in town without rushing. The San Joaquins had some of the friendliest staff and one of the better cafe cars I've experienced on Amtrak (it had a slightly more expansive menu and the prices were a little cheaper than typical). Got to see some scenery of inland California that I never would have seen otherwise and arrived in Oakland before the CS I was supposed to take. Not a bad day considering how I woke up in a panic. I can't imagine the day turning out as well as it did if I had missed a flight instead of an Amtrak.
My advice is to take the Surfliner to SLO and then the bus to San Jose or Emeryville. You get the best part of the route of the Coast Starlight. The Starlight is better, but Surfliner has wifi.
I took the San Joaquin’s to Yosemite and the staff was marvelous. We had concerns about our luggage and the extremely busy conductor solved it while carrying out her other duties. The views were lovely and an interesting part of California. The train was very full though.
That's true I was coming into Union Station(Washington D.C.) waiting for it to transform into electric went downstairs to the food court almost missed the 🚆 coming never again too close of a 📞. Smh.
I was going from Reno, Nevada, to Los Angeles. The first option would have gotten me there in 17 hours, but it included a bus from Reno, as well as two more buses and one short train ride. Instead, I took the train from Reno, spent the night in Martinez, and then went to Los Angeles from there. Much more comfortable! Also, it’s important to plan to get places early even on a plane. Several years ago, my friend and I were meeting in Seattle on a Friday so we could be sure to make our Saturday 3 p.m. prepaid ferry to Victoria. While I took the train, she was flying in from New Jersey Friday afternoon. We found out a couple of hours before her plane left that it was canceled. Fortunately, she was able to book an early Saturday plane, which got her there just in time for us to have lunch and then catch our ferry.
I was in Denver waiting for California Zephyr the train doesn’t back in all the way so you can see the train They do not make announcements in the station Spook to conductor boarding the the train told him I had been there for 4 hours and he said I probably didn’t have push notifications on Still can’t believe they didn’t have a PA system
If one, or both , can't climb up to the upper berth in a roomette, consider two roomettes, on opposite sides of the train. More individual room, different views. I enjoy your travels.
I wish Security would have been a little more serious last time I took the Crescent. There was a man sitting directly behind me who raved, cussed and ranted mostly the whole way. His offensive speech (some of it to ppl on his cellphone) continued until the little girl, sitting with her Mom behind *him* (who began the trip giggling and playing with her toys) finally dissolved into tears. I gave her some candy, at one point, that I had, in an effort to convince her that we others aboard the train, weren't all monsters! The Steward came by several times on her busy duties back and forth, and would try to shush him, to no avail. As soon as she left our immediate area, he'd crank right back up. I spoke to the Conductor later about this, and he said if he had been made aware, the man would have been put off the train at the next stop. From the, "If you see something, say something" Dept.! (I was thinking the Steward would let him know.) BTW this was many years ago. Due to the increase in incidents since then, Security has probably been tightened.
Im going to Whitefish, MT from New York in August. Im staying in the Chicago area overnight both ways for the exact reasons. I did the same thing last year going from NY to Colorado.
Hi, love your broadcasts. You mentioned a list of the best hotels closest to train stations, but I don't see a link for that list. Can you please add it? It would be most helpful to me. Thank you, and happy trails.
I appreciate you often telling people to sign up for Amtrak Guest Rewards. I have a limited budget and don't get to travel much. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area and travel via coach or roomette to Reno or Winnemucca, or down to Los Angeles, once up to Seattle. I just barely earn enough points before they expire to get a free roomette each time. It has been nice. Oh! My last trip, I got myself a free roomette for one leg of a trip and on my return I got a coach seat. I then experimented with the new BidUp system and scored a roomette for much lower than usual. So I scored big that trip.
I was trying to get down to where my parents live in Florida, but I would’ve had to take the bus back up from Tampa I believe that was a silver star in the silver meteor or something
While it certainly is wise to assume a train will be late, that is, to build in delay time for connections or whatever, I think saying Amtrak is "often six to eight hours late" is way off. I expect I haven't ridden Amtrak as much as you have, but I've logged by conservative estimate over 50,000 miles and I've had delays that long precisely four times, only one of them unexplained - the others being due to UP refusing to clear the line, a medical emergency in the Nevada desert, and a tornado. If it's a case of "get there or get left," such as a cruise, yeah, plan for the next day. But "often six to eight hours late" is way over the top. On another point, the overhead storage area is significantly better than you indicated. Heck, in the image you showed, you could have easily fit another of the larger bags in simply by turning the one there. And you should have at least mentioned that the Superliner cars have baggage storage on the lower level.
At about 10:00 in your video, you were discussing about being at the right place because. If you are supposed to be in coach, only that door may be open. At an unmanned station, there is no one to ask. How do you know where to stand so that the train doesn’t leave you?
2:02 The San Joaquins is a very nice journey through the San Joaquin Valley. You get see the Delta region that you cant see from the road. Also the train goes along south bank of the Suisun Bay. The coolest thing I saw on that trip was the tide racing up the Sacramento River.
That outlet situation in coach is sooo aggravating. Not only do u have to have a conversation with the window seat occupant about charging, then there's the CORD stretched over said window passenger. Ugh
You mentioned traveling by Amtrak to catch a cruise, this is how we get to the majority of our cruises is by Amtrak. We have learned that to make sure we get to our cruise on time that when taking Amtrak we try to head to the port city at least 3 days in advance and even then it has been cut close due to train shutdowns. We prefer traveling by train but even with a 3 day gap we have had to switch to a plane to get to our destination. I will say that we live in Minnesota so it is rare we have a straight route to our port with the exception of using the Empire Builder to Seattle and even that you cannot count on nowdays.
My favorite view on the Lakeshore Limited is Sandusky Bay at night. There is invariably someone on board who wants to know what ocean that is. I guess a Great Lake really is a Great Lake!
Thanks. I should have watched this before. I am taking The City of New Orleans to New Orleans. I get in at 3:50 PM. I'm seeing the Eagles at the Smoothy Center, essentially across the street from the Amtrak Station 🚉. The concert starts at 7:00 with Steele Dan opening up. My hotel is about a ten minute walk from the Station. If I'm late, maybe I'll have to get a locker at the station, go see the concert, and then double back to the Station and grab my bag, and then head to my hotel. My concert is insured by Alliance, as is the Amtrak sojourn. I always bring the extra power 🔋 source for my phone 📱. I have a Roomette on The City of New Orleans. I embark in St. Paul and I have a coach seat 💺 on The Empire Builder. I end up flying back to MSP via Delta a few days later.
Fun to watch again...finally my wife is going on a trip with me...the Zephyr, just to Colorado from Michigan/Chicago. Good tips, good refresher. Power strip vs your adapter, is my recommendation along with double sided tape/or velco to secure it mid window at the base. Easier to plug multiple things. Looking into more trips (sleeper trips). kind of cool...Just Still expensive. Hopefully I'll learn more about getting deals/specials, utilizing CC an/or points etc. Did the Deal of 40K points special...nice, maybe a Sleeper car one ways worth?. Wish there was a direct route form Chicago to Florida...Ughh.
How do you keep your credit cards and rewards programs organized? It certainly makes sense to optimize rewards and I might forget what I have and when to use what. Thanks.
I guess it goes without saying that the absolute worst thing you could do on Amtrak is push someone off a moving train... That said, getting caught smoking in the bathroom or trying to have sex in adjoining coach seats sounds pretty bad too. Good advice about getting yourself caught in a time bind. Every single Amtrak trip I've ever taken -- all Coast Starlight -- has been delayed, sometimes by many hours, by something. My list includes truck drivers getting stuck at crossings, one guy who decided to kill himself on the tracks, mechanical failure, and, most commonly, yielding the right-of-way to freight trains. Oh, and one blizzard in the Northwest where the train stopped running for days. It's a good thing I like train travel so much.
Thanks guys for a good video about Amtrak. The rewards program though what happens if your coming in from overseas do you think it's worthwhile as it could be a one off and it's not like you can use the points when you go back home where there is no Amtrak.
I think you've done it before, and nothings is definite but a Tips and Tricks and expectations/How often, times of the year, days of the week for specials etc. would be great...again.
For some reason there's always someone on the train when I travel through Connecticut to New York that can seem to get off a the right stop. At least on that line there are multiple trains a day.
I took amtrak from philadelphia to pittsburgh. It took 12 hours. I think it was supposed to be 2-3 hours. Backed up more times than we went forward. Fortunately I was just visiting friends.
I have a question: I will be on the Silver Meteor in April. We board the train at 6:35 PM , will we still be able to eat dinner? We are trying to plan our trip, and we need to know if we need to eat before boarding. But I would like to have dinner on the train, because we are just riding to New York, and will arrive at 11:18 AM, so we will only be on for dinner and breakfast, so I would like to take advantage of the dinner service. Any information would be appreciated. thank you
Maybe you could tell me: do the bus operators get to make their own rules? The last one I encountered insisted that I stow my backpack under the bus (small backpack, and the bus was only 1/3 full), causing me all kinds of separation anxiety, and toss my coffee, causing me such dysphoria that I was in tears for some of the trip. I have put in a complaint to Amtrak about it but am still waiting for resolution. I already knew the bus would be a big compromise, but that was downright inhumane.
I'm wanting to book a train expedition from OKC, to Ft.Worth, then onto Chicago, take the northern route to Seattle, then South to Los Angeles, then to Ft. Worth, and back to OKC. I cannot seem to be able to book those routes from the website. Am I doing something wrong?
So.... I made reservations from Boston to Chicago, Chicago to Portland Oregon and then from Portland Oregon to Dunsmuir, CA... what happens if I miss my connections because the trains are late? There is only one option, one connection that is available for these routes where I have to change. And I booked a sleeper for them all... This is making me really nervous. I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, I'm just going to visit family, but really? I could lose my sleepers because the trains cannot guarantee that? This is a very expensive trip :(
If you missed your connection to another trip and have 1 combined ticket and no other way to travel Amtrak will pay for an hotel ( a cheap one I bet) and put you on the next days train. But if you brought the tickets son 3 segments you will be on the hook for the hotel for the 1 night.
@@chrisdobrowolski2783 thank you. I could be in trouble, because I wanted to use points for some of my travel and pay for the other parts. I booked in different segments... guess I'll pray for now right? Oh boy...
Cud I take Cal Zeph Denver to SF back to Denver? Since it wud be the Same train it wud not matter how late it was? How long does it spend in SF before heading back to Denver?
What about connector trains? We are staking the coastal starlight to LA and then connecting to annaheim. If the train is late for our connection, does Amtrak get you on a subsequent train?
You are showing all great reasons why you should take an airplane. I love trains and have gone Boston to Oakland and Seattle to Boston. Great ride though we were stupid and took coach from Boston to Chicago and back. Big mistake. The train is the Lake Shore Ltd, otherwise known as the Late For Sure Ltd. The boarding nonsense, the lack of knowing who wants to board or get off, the lack of control is ridiculous in today’s world. It is bad enough that the speed is so slow! For a great country, train service is just awful.
Having just taken my first train trip from Washington state to Montana, I'd disagree. It was organized, my car attendant was great with communication and we had no delays. Also the station was nothing like an airport, it was nowhere near as chaotic and people were kind.
Thanks for the tips. Also if the departing and arriving stations allow you to check your luggage why wouldn't you? We see many people juggling luggage in Coach and in the Sleepers. Also you get two bags per person each up to 50 pounds, especially at Christmas this is way cheaper than shipping presents or the airlines bag restrictions!!
As big as Amtrack is, why is it so poorly run? I have an elderly mother and am reconsidering taking her to see her great grandchildren. Three minutes? Ridiculous.
@DA-dt1lt 0 seconds ago Traveling from NYC to FL during Covid, the breathing breaks were a welcome relief from masks. I had my teen with me and insisted she get off the train with me every time i did. I thought the announcement was for another smoke break. My daughter and i exited behind a couple, and the train started to pull away! I began to chase the train, and the attendant called to the engineer and stopped the train for us. I was NOT aware that some stops are exit only.
16:40 Its too bad that Amtrak wont let single riders purchase 2 coach seats so you can have that extra room. I was told by an Amtrak reservation agent that its not that Amtrak wants the extra fare, they want the available seat for a passenger. Great video guys, very informative.
Great advice. Always build an overnight stay into a cruise connection, coming by train or plane. With Amtrak - it’s delays, with air, it’s delayed luggage.
Your comment about security was good to hear. I always wondered about that. And the thinking you are on a train for 12 hours, but in reality a person booked a mixed use & 10 of those hours is on a bus is so wrong.
