Chicago: Layover with a coach seat

[Austruck]

Hi! I hope to book my cross-country trip as early as tomorrow (for early May).

To save money for later, longer legs (so I can upgrade to a Bedroom from a Roomette), I thought I'd do coach seats from PGH to CHI (midnight to about 8 a.m.) and then onward from CHI to KCY (3 p.m. to about 10 p.m., same day). I'll then be staying with a friend for two days and can sleep better there. (Plus, I won't be able to sleep that first night, leaving home at midnight!)

SO, I'll be spending most of the day (8 a.m. to about 3 p.m.) at the station in Chicago. Without having a sleeper ticket, that means no fancy lounge. I'm usually fine with sitting in waiting rooms and lounges and airport gates and never get bored (Kindle, tiny laptop...).

Will I at least be semi-comfortable if I decide to lollygag around and just kill time in the station without having access to the lounge? I've seen pictures but always appreciate reading about people's actual experiences and tips.

Linda

 

[penguinflies]

You can grab lunch within the station ,starbucks, 2 corner bakeries, mcds and others. Or if you want sunlight, within a block of the station, starbucks is on the corner of clinton and adams or go to willis tower where there are two floors open to the publc with dunkin, corner bakery, starbucks, a buffet that charges by the weight and public restrooms on floor 2. walk around to the franklin street entrance to avoids steps at the wacker entrance.

Also checkout chicago architectural foundation, they do tours of union station @10:00 for a nominal cost, might be on the day and times of your layover.

https://www.architecture.org/experience-caf/tours/detail/union-station-icon-of-a-great-age/

Legacy club is also per visit admission @ $20.00.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

I would recommend if possible to have your bags checked from Pittsburgh to Kansas City so you aren't bogged down in Chicago with your baggage.

 

[PVD]

If the weather cooperates and the train is not terribly late, Chicago has a great deal to offer in striking distance of the station. If the weather isn't that nice, the food court in the station is ok, but outside is preferable. If you are traveling alone, not sure the roomette to bedroom (depending on the price difference) is necessarily worth it, but that is an individual opinion, I'm sure others will have a different opinion

 

[dlagrua]

There are many things to do in Chicago during a 7 hour layover. If you are up to walking 5 blocks West on Jackson street you can leave the station and go to Greektown where there are many restaurants, a CVS store, Mariano's Market, Starbucks etc.. Walk to the side of the station that is on Jackson street. Look down the street you will see a building with a large clock tower. Walk in that direction until you are at So. Halsted street.

You could also take a cab to one of many fine Chicago museums or pay the $20 daily fee and hang out in the Legacy Lounge.

 

[PerRock]

I would recommend if possible to have your bags checked from Pittsburgh to Kansas City so you aren't bogged down in Chicago with your baggage.

If it is not possible Chicago does have lockers you can rent in the Baggage Claim area.

You can wander downtown; last year when in Chicago for a few hours layover I took a nice walk along the Riverwalk, got lunch at a restaurant then walked back. With close to 7hrs in Chicago there really is quite a lot of things you can get done. The Sears-err-Willis Tower is only a few blocks away, there are various riverboat tours that you could do (the Architecture one is quite good), the Art Institute (museum) is on the other side of the loop (you probably won't be able to see all of it, but could get a good chunk in), there might be some event to see over at Millennium/Grant Parks, Navy Pier is doable in that time frame. Lots to do in 7hrs (although technically less as you may be late & want to be back before your train departs.)

The Legacy Club (mentioned by penguinflies) is open to everyone for a $20 fee at the door. It offers a slightly better lounge experience then the standard Amtrak waiting room.

peter

 

[Austruck]

Wow, it seems I have more options than I would have thought (partly based on that layover time, assuming all goes well). I hadn't considered the baggage thing. (I'll likely have a 50L backpack, a laptop-type bag, and a large-ish purse/tote.)

My stepdaughter and her husband live in Chicago but they will likely be at work all day. They would, though, be another resource for things to do just outside the station. I've been to downtown Chicago twice but that was many years ago (in the 1990s). Visited stepdaughter in 2009 but she was living outside the city so we didn't do much downtown.

I'm suddenly glad I have a few months till the trip so I can think about all these sorts of things.

 

[jebr]

The station seating itself isn't great but will do the job.

If you have baggage that you can't check, I would either use the Legacy Lounge or the lockers (or day check if they allow it at the ticket counter) and explore the surrounding area. There's a lot of interesting items, better food stores, and a quick bus ride or taxi ride can bring you to even more sites (such as Navy Pier or a museum.) If the weather is terrible and you're not wanting to leave the station there's a few options within the station, though I would suggest getting a lounge pass in that case ($20 for seven hours in a nice lounge would be worth it to me, especially since it includes pop and coffee, but may not to everyone.)

 

[Austruck]

Twenty bucks for that option on a bad-weather day would totally be worth it to me, too. I'm guessing I will be somewhat sleep-deprived and a tad cranky.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Excellent plan to ride Coach between PGH and CHI and CHI-KCY to save $$$ for upgrades to Roomettes ( traveling alone in a Bedroom is not necessary unless the price difference is close (High Bucket Roomette/Low Bucket Bedroom).

There's a Million things to do in Chicago as others have mentioned. If the weathers nice I'd think about riding the rails around Chicago on the "L" to sightsee.

If it's bad,the $20 Lounge pass is a great idea, as is Checking your Luggage thru PGH-KCY and only carrying on what you need aboard and during the layover in CHI.

 

[Austruck]

So, the more "public" bathroom options with a roomette don't bother most people? (They don't necessarily bother me -- I've been camping enough to know what sharing a more public women's bathhouse is like.)

That's my thinking on an upgrade later in the trip (during the 35+ hour stretches on the same train) ... not necessarily more room in the room. It's more about the bathroom/shower situation.

 

[Bob Dylan]

There are four toilets (1 upstairs and 3 Downstairs) and a Shower on a Superliner Sleeping Car.

They are usually kept clean with needed supplies if you have a good SCA, (there is an occasional easy rider that doesn't do anything) The Coaches usually have Bathrooms ( No Shower) that get funky fast since people can be such pigs as we all know!

The Combo Toilet and Shower in the Bedrooms are Very Small, most of us prefer to use the Shower downstairs even if we use the Toilet in the room. YMMV, but Spending Several Hundred Dollars more on a Bedroom is not worth it IMO when traveling by yourself.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

H Mart (Asian Supermarket) is now open a few blocks from Union if that tickles you, or anyone elses, fancy.

 

[Shortline]

Isn't there also a new "pay to play" executive type lounge in Chicago, in addition to the new met lounge? (sorry, I've been out of the loop for a year of so, haven't been to CHI on a layover in some time. Will be there later this month, and have time to kill before the SW Chief departs though. Thought I'd pop on and see what the scoop on the new lounge situation was.

 

[jebr]

Isn't there also a new "pay to play" executive type lounge in Chicago, in addition to the new met lounge? (sorry, I've been out of the loop for a year of so, haven't been to CHI on a layover in some time. Will be there later this month, and have time to kill before the SW Chief departs though. Thought I'd pop on and see what the scoop on the new lounge situation was.

Yeah, there's the new Legacy Lounge there (that's the "$20/person lounge" that I was referring to earlier.)

Austruck, I've went both roomette and coach and never felt the need, from a bathroom perspective, to get a bedroom solely for the shower/bathroom privacy. Coach bathrooms are sometimes not quite as clean near the end of a trip but I've never had that issue with a sleeper car bathroom.

 

[Maglev]

So, the more "public" bathroom options with a roomette don't bother most people? (They don't necessarily bother me -- I've been camping enough to know what sharing a more public women's bathhouse is like.)

That's my thinking on an upgrade later in the trip (during the 35+ hour stretches on the same train) ... not necessarily more room in the room. It's more about the bathroom/shower situation.

When I have a bedroom, I usually use the shower downstairs because it is more spacious and it doesn't get the toilet all wet. On my next trip, I am traveling alone and have booked a Family Room for one leg as a special upgrade. I like the extra space, wider berth, and windows on both sides (although the windows are small and a have a lower-level view).

Both the Bedroom and the Family Room have a couch that is the best seat on the train in the daytime!

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

In addition to others comments, I recommend you pay the $20 and use the Legacy Lounge as you would the Metropolitan Lounge with sleeper accomodations. If you are not aware, Chicago Union Station has begun a "check-in" process for coach passengers who do not qualify for priority boarding(seniors, handicap, etc.) meaning you will have to report somewhat early to get a boarding position assignment since they do board coach from the Great Hall by groups similar to Southwest Airlines boarding process. If you are in the Legacy Lounge, you will have priority boarding and do not have to do the regular coach checkin and boarding process. By the way, the Legacy Lounge is located off of the Great Hall.

 

[Austruck]

Good thinking and great information I would not have known otherwise. I will probably play it by ear that day (I might not be feeling very adventurous that early in my very first train trip on too-little sleep!), but one of my newbie fears is missing a train somewhere along the line because I don't know the ropes.

My husband and I love taking cruises and after a half-dozen or so we've learned how things generally work before, during, and after a cruise. But that first time was a bit of a learning curve in figuring out where to be, how to get there, and what to avoid along the way. I'm kind of in that same situation now with this upcoming train trip... and I'll be navigating everything on my own. (Hubby is a great cushion between me and the big, bad world. Ha!)

Then again, I planned and executed a 10-day trip to England with my teen daughter back in 2008, and we didn't do much of anything wrong, even though we cobbled everything together on our own without the aid of a travel guide or anything. So maybe I do have the skill set not to get myself in too big a jam, even on that first day.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

Don't be too concerned. I travel solo 99.9% of the time and travel through Chicago often since I live in Nashville with no Amtrak service and fly to some originating point and travel through Chicago most every time I travel Amtrak. I find that people especially the people who live and work in various cities are very polite and almost always willing to help this 75 year old basically able bodied person whenever I need help. In the Great Hall there will always be Amtrak uniformed persons who will happily answer all your questions and help you find your way.

 

[Deni]

I second the Riverwalk suggestion if the weather is nice. Since it's most recent expansion you don't even have to walk very far to get to the beginning of it at Lake St. There are some really nice spots to sit and have food, beer, wine and watch boats, bikes and people go by.

 

[PVD]

The viewliner 1 (not superliner) roomettes have an in room toilet, and when surveys and focus groups were conducted to determine whether to continue that into viewliner 2, the majority wanted the toilet out. So the ext round of VL sleepers will have 1 less roomette and 2 toilet modules.

 

[Skyline]

One of my favorite places to hang out during a long daytime CHI layover is Water Tower Place. Though there isn't a multi-screen theatre there as back in the day (replaced with live theatre but I don't think during the day), there are a couple of interactive gaming venues, over a dozen places to eat including two full-service restaurants, and LOTS of shopping (most stores will ship purchases home for you, or you could just window-shop if you don't want to carry purchases during your journey). It is a quick 2-mi. or so cab ride to/from Union Station unless you, like me, prefer to walk 45-60 mins.

 

[Austruck]

I'm starting to think I will have too many options! Yay!