# Roomette Benefits?



## Katherine (May 17, 2021)

I have to take a trip soon and am wondering about the safest way to do it. Amtrak supposedly has a good ventilation system in place, but I was wondering: is there any real benefit to booking a roomette vs a coach seat (from the perspective of safety, not comfort)? Would being in a private room that's nonetheless part of a public train limit your exposure to airborne virus that much? I'd appreciate any opinions, tia!


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## Cal (May 17, 2021)

I would think it would be safer than coach where you might be around dozens of other people for many hours whereas in a roomette there are walls around you that would block a lot of the air from other passengers from getting in. This is just my unscientific opinion, however.


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## Qapla (May 17, 2021)

Riding in coach others can "directly" breath on you and, due to the number of people that can occupy a coach car there is much more air that needs to be moved/cleaned - much of that air can reach you before it is processed by the air filtration system.

Riding in a roomette the the air that reaches your room has already passed through the filtration system and turned several "corners" thus reducing the amount of contaminates that are still in the air. Of course, to get the best benefit of the filtration system yo would need to keep you door closed.

At least this makes sense to me when it comes to the ventilation system on the train


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## zephyr17 (May 18, 2021)

A vaccination and the filtered airflow of a roomette would probably be the safest combination.


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## caravanman (May 18, 2021)

The coach passengers are not allowed into the sleeper part of the train, so your "exposure" to fellow train train passengers will be less. I doubt if the filtering of the air on any train is very efficient, but that is just my non scientific opinion. From a safety perspective, I would go for a roomette over a coach seat myself.


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## Katherine (May 18, 2021)

thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone, that's what I'm leaning toward too.


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## Mailliw (Jun 3, 2021)

On a non-pandemic note there's the benefit of being able to sleep at night in a bed behind a locked door with your luggage.


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## me_little_me (Jun 3, 2021)

Mailliw said:


> On a non-pandemic note there's the benefit of being able to sleep at night in a bed behind a locked door with your luggage.


Depends who is in your luggage!


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## Sandwalker (Jun 4, 2021)

With everyone required to wear masks regardless, I don't see much benefit in paying several times more for a roomette. As long as you're vaccinated and wearing a mask, it seems safe to me. 

Just another note on safety - Amtrak says they do a 100% "air exchange" from the outside about every 5 minutes. That sounds pretty good.

As far as other benefits, privacy is good and a bit more comfort but then maybe miss out on a bit of socializing and meeting fellow travelers? Just my opinion, which is why I booked coach for my first long haul trip. We'll see if that changes after I return


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## Dustyroad (Jun 4, 2021)

Sandwalker said:


> With everyone required to wear masks regardless, I don't see much benefit in paying several times more for a roomette. As long as you're vaccinated and wearing a mask, it seems safe to me.
> 
> As far as other benefits, privacy is good and a bit more comfort but then maybe miss out on a bit of socializing and meeting fellow travelers? Just my opinion, which is why I booked coach for my first long haul trip. We'll see if that changes after I return


I totally understand why some go with the coach option for traveling. But when you are my age, with my body, a roomette with a bed to lay down on with peace and quiet is the only way to go.


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