Amtrak Passes Help

[Kieran]

Hello Again! I used this forum last year when I was looking for help on traveling from New York City to Los Angeles and couldn't thank everyone enough!!!!

So this year Im planning another trip. Im looking to land in Los Angeles on the 21st June and leaving 15th August (Hopefully) Ive had a little read about the Rail Passes but just want more information from you guys.

So ideally Id like to travel from LA as far east as NYC and back. Ideally on the way to nyc and back id like to stop of (eg Gallup, Flagstaff, Winslow) Im just wondering how many segments it will take and if its actually possible to use a Rail Pass for this kind of trip?

eg

LAX to Flagstaff

Flagstaff to NYC

NYC to Winslow

Winslow to Gallup

Gallup to LAX

Id like to stay 2 nights in each town Ideally

I hope all this makes sense

 

[Bob Dylan]

Amtrak Rail Passes come in 3 Versions,have to be purchased in advance and are Good for Coach which must be reserved in Advance there are a Limited # of Seats available for pass holders on each train)

15 Days/8 Segments $459

30 Days/12 Segments $689

45 Days/18 Segments $899

Your time frame exceeds the Rail Pass dates available!

You can upgrade to a Sleeper by paying the Room charge ( includes meals in the Diner)for the segments you want.

It may be cheaper to book each segment by itself as Rail Fares and Room charges vary daily. (Supply and demand)The LD Trains on the routes you want to travel are very popular and usually have High Bucket Fares during the Summer.

You don't mention why you want to spend 3 different periods in New Mexico/Arizona (Flagstaff is the Grand Canyon,got it), but Winslow and,Gallup??? Lots better places to visit here!

I suggest you consider taking the Southwest Chief from LA-Flagstaff, then to Chicago which is a great place to visit.

Then take The Cardinal(#50) to NYC. (It only runs 3 days a week.)

After that, instead of the Lake Shore Ltd. out of NYC to Chi, take a Regional to Washington and ride the Capitol Ltd to CHI.

Then take the California Zephyr to Glennwood Springs, Colorado, a great Mountain town.

After that hop on the Zephyr and head for the Bay Area and spend time there, much better than LA!

Fly out of there or take the Coast Starlight to LA from Emeryville or Oakland.

If you've been in the Bay Area and on the Zephyr, hen look at the 3 times a week Texas Eagle/Sunset Ltd.#421 from Chicago to LA through Texas. (More Train time!)

 

[Kieran]

Thanks for the reply Bob.

Yeah I hope to be in the United States for that period but looking to spend some time on the train. Ive had a look at the passes and the 45 Day sounds ideal. Im a photographer from England and looking at photographing small towns in America as well as gathering stories of those riding the train! I took the Southwest Chief last year and wished Id have time to get off at the places mentioned! and being from England I want to see some sun for a change!!!

heres a little itinerary I drew up earlier.

21 June
LA (6.10pm) to Winslow (5.35am 22 June) Seg 1 DAY 1

22 June
Winslow (ONE NIGHT)

23 June
Winslow (5.35am) to Gallup (8.21am 23 June) Seg 2 DAY 3

23
Gallup (ONE NIGHT)

24
Gallup (8.21am) to Las Vegas (3.03pm 24 June) Seg 3 DAY 4

24
Las Vegas (ONE NIGTH)

25
Las Vegas (3.03pm) to Raton (4.50pm 25 June) Seg 4 DAY 5

25/26 (TWO NIGHT)
Raton

27
Raton (10.56am) to Albuquerque (3.55pm 28 June) Seg 5 DAY 7

27
Albuquerque (ONE NIGHT)

28
Albuquerque (3.55pm) to Los Angeles (8.15am 29 June) Seg 6 DAY 8

---------------

If I took the southwest and lake shore to NYC fro LA im I right in thinking thats classed as 2 segments

 

[the_traveler]

Your planned stops in Arizona and New Mexico are basically 1 or 2 stops apart. They still require a "segment" if you use a pass. It is possible that if you price the cost of all your individual gripes, it may actually be less than a pass!

 

[the_traveler]

A "segment" on the pass is boarding a new train or bus to a destination. As such, Chicago to LA (~2,000 miles) is 1 segment, as is Winslow to Gallup (<100 miles)!

 

[caravanman]

As mentioned above, each time you change trains, that is a segment, so yes, New York to Chicago is one, and the second segment is Chicago to L.A. Amtrak bus connections count as a segment too.

I assume as you mention small towns, that you know the Las Vegas you mention above is not the BIG Las Vegas, which is in Nevada.

I second the suggestion to price up those rides as single tickets, which will allow a bit more flexibility with stopovers too.

There is a non Amtrak train (Railrunner) between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I thought Santa Fe a great place on my own visit.

I would look into Greyhound coach connections too, as some of those early train times are not very nice!

Although I love trains, and love spending time in America, a self drive car is such a big help for getting to "small town usa".

Ed.

 

[Kieran]

Thanks All!!!!

Man this gonna take some planning. Ive had a glance at going to the Grand Canyon from william az. Does the southwest chief and grand canyon railway operate at different stations?

 

[CCC1007]

Yep, completely separate.

 

[the_traveler]

Separate stations but Amtrak stops at Williams Junction, but you (all passengers) are shuttled to the Grand Canyon Railroad hotel - which is right next to the station used by GCRR.

 

[KmH]

Yep. The SWC stops at Williams Junction where a shuttle from the Grand Canyon Railroad Hotel picks ups train passengers and drives them the 4 miles or so (on a dirt road) to the hotel and Grand Canyon Railroad Station.

The shuttle takes SWC passengers having finished their stay back to Williams Junction to catch the train.

Amtrak keeps the GCR hotel informed as to when the SWC will arrive at Williams Junction in case the SWC is not on time.

Williams Junction is just a platform, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, not a "station".

Here on Google Maps the yellow line outlines the platform and you can see the dirt road on the near side of the tracks that goes (to the left) to the GCR Hotel in Williams.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2425682,-112.1317498,142m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[tomfuller]

See if this plan works for you. Can you drive a rental car?

Pay cash for Los Angeles to Albuquerque on the SWC. Rent the car in ABQ and go back for Gallup, Flagstaff, Winslow and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Return the car in Albuquerque and start your 45 day USA Railpass. SWC from ABQ to Chicago (segment 1) Lake Shore Limited CHI to NYP (segment 2). Leave NYP on one of many NE Regionals to Washington DC (Segment 3). Leave WAS on either the Capitol Limited or the Cardinal back to Chicago (segment 4). California Zephyr from Chicago to Glenwood Springs (segment 5). Glenwood Springs to Emeryville (segment 6). Coast Starlight from Emeryville to Santa Barbara (segment 7) Santa Barbara back to Los Angeles on a Pacific Surfliner (segment 8). See if you can fit that within the 45 day time limit.

Skip Las Vegas unless you can fly there to start.

 

[Kieran]

So Im thinking about getting a 15 day pass and wanted feed back if this is doable and if so how do I go about booking as Im in the UK at the moment

Thank you

9 september

Albuquerque to Gallup

11 september

Gallup to New York City

15 september

New York City to San Francisco

21 september

San Francisco to Los Angeles

Theres a couple of long trips there but Id like it like that to prolong my time in the states

 

[the_traveler]

Depending on your routing, here is the MINIMUM number of segments to be used. (A segment on the pass is each time you board a train or bus.)

ABQ to Gallup = 1 segment

Gallup to NYC = 2 segments

NYC to SF = 3 segments

SF to LA = 2 segments

So the MINIMUM number of segments would be 8 segments. Since ABQ to Gallup is only 1 stop away, I would consider buying a ticket for that trip.

 

[dogbert617]

Depending on your routing, here is the MINIMUM number of segments to be used. (A segment on the pass is each time you board a train or bus.)

ABQ to Gallup = 1 segment

Gallup to NYC = 2 segments

NYC to SF = 3 segments

SF to LA = 2 segments

So the MINIMUM number of segments would be 8 segments. Since ABQ to Gallup is only 1 stop away, I would consider buying a ticket for that trip.

I agree with that suggestion, for shorter trips like ABQ to Gallup to buy a ticket for that trip outside of the USA Rail Pass. If you do that, you'd save a segment on your USA Rail Pass you could use for something else.

Once you get to Emeryville, you also theoretically could take BART(subway) into San Francisco and save another travel segment on your rail pass you could use for another trip, that way. FYI, it'd probably be best to try to buy any Amtrak tickets where the fare for going between 2 places is less than $58, outside of the rail pass and paying for those such trips separately.