A question about our layover in Chicago on our cross-country trip

billosborn · Jul 2, 2022

I and a friend are traveling from New York City to Sacramento California at the end of August. We will arrive on the LSL on the 27th (scheduled 10am), and depart the next day at 2pm on the CZ. We have roomettes on both legs. I know that Union Station has checked bag service and says they have storage. We will check our bags on the LSL. So, my question(s) are these:

Since our hotel is near the station, it would be great if we could leave our big bags at the station and only take an overnight one to the hotel.

But it is over 24 hours between trains, so it doesn't appear that I can simply claim and re-check the big bags when we arrive in Chicago, or can I?
Or can I pay a fee for the baggage room to keep them until we recheck them the next day?

Would it be possible to check them all the way through from the beginning? My guess is no, since the two trips are on different reservation numbers..

Anyone have any information/tips/ideas on the best way to do this?

zephyr17 · Jul 2, 2022

While there have been reports recently of at least some agents requiring bags travel on the same train you are, I have always been able to check bags through to my final destination even if I am laying over enroute. Note that Amtrak's checked baggage system is entirely manual, it really isn't linked to reservation system in any way, all the agent has to do is put a SAC tag on it. All you should have to do is show both reservations' boarding passes to the baggage agent. I would at least try that at NYP.

If they make you check it to CHI, you should try recheck it. My bet is they'll accept it, although if they do there is a good chance it'll go out on that day's Zephyr and arrive a day ahead of you. I don't know how they do baggage claim in Sacramento (the methods vary wildly across the system, from airport style carousels to an agent handing it to you off a cart outside the station), but whatever the method, it may not come off your train and you may have to ask the baggage room for it. If it arrives early, they'll securely store it in the baggage room for free.

Note that like most things Amtrak, it is wildly inconsistent and much depends on the individual agent. But I'd say your odds are at least fair of your bags being accepted at NYP for SAC and pretty good of them being accepted at Chicago. You are working with a system much looser and far less standardized than any airline.

StanJazz · Jul 2, 2022

I recently took The Cardinal to DC and my checked bag was in the baggage room, not on the carousel with the Cardinals baggage. I also did not see it on the baggage cart as it was going from the train at DC. It obviously went on the Capitol Limited, not The Cardinal. So, it doesn't have to travel on the same train as you.

Clevelander · Jul 2, 2022

"You are working with a system much looser and far less standardized than any airline."
How true. And beware.

In my opinion, being separated from your bags sounds like a recipe for disaster. Take your bags with you to the hotel and enjoy peace of mind.

Or leave them overnight in the station or on a train with Amtrak. What could go wrong? Right?

zephyr17 · Jul 2, 2022

Clevelander said:
"You are working with a system much looser and far less standardized than any airline."
How true. And beware.

In my opinion, being separated from your bags sounds like a recipe for disaster. Take your bags with you to the hotel and enjoy peace of mind.

Or leave them overnight in the station or on a train with Amtrak. What could go wrong... right?

I've found Amtrak's checked baggage service quite reliable once the bags are accepted, more so than the airlines' far more rigorous systems. The variability is in the agents' interpretation of, or creation of, rules, which is endemic to almost all aspects of Amtrak's customer service.