Coach over Roomette's

[Ispolkom]

The comfort factor of the Coach is highly related to just how many folks are in the car and how well they are behaving. A half full Coach of reasonably quiet travelers is very tolerable, even for an overnight. But add in screaming puking babies, obnoxious drunks and cell phones and the comfort level goes downhill FAST!

Quoted for truth. Mrs Ispolkom and I will take coach overnight from St. Paul to Minot in the off season, since we'd both rather be in a coach seat than in the cramped upper berth of a Superliner roomette. If we think the train will be crowded, though, we'll spring for the roomette, as much for the quiet and privacy as for the flat bunks.

 

[railiner]

I do prefer the coach seats vs. the roomette daytime seating. They recline more, you have the footrest, and you don't have the two sets of legs facing each other. Naturally, sleeping is better when horizontal, and having access to a shower is a significant benefit.

I echo these sentiments.

I am one of those fortunate enough to sleep soundly in a coach seat, but like others have stated, the privacy the room affords when you want it, is the best reason to prefer a room over coach.

 

[TransitGeek]

Sleeper is almost universally preferable- free food, showers, privacy, a place to lay down... I can't imagine, all things being equal, preferring coach. But all things are not equal, and on a grad student's salary, I have the choice between a week's trip this summer in sleeper and a month's trip in coach. I'll take the month away, thanks.

 

[had8ley]

Just wondering out-loud...this seems to be a "sleeper" oriented forum, are there many contributors to this forum who prefer coach over sleeper???

On what planet?

Amen, brother...

 

[Everydaymatters]

I have gone round trip Chi to Lax, Chi to Kingman, Chi to Sea (twice), Chi to WAS (about 8 times) all in coach. When I was younger!

Now, being limited by Social Security income, I'm relying on AGR points to get a room once in a while. If I'm out of points I'll gladly go coach rather than not go at all.

As someone else stated, the coach seats are a lot more comfortable and the people I have met in coach are fantastic. It seems there's a much greater opportunity to meet people in coach.

 

[Ryan]

Just wondering out-loud...this seems to be a "sleeper" oriented forum, are there many contributors to this forum who prefer coach over sleeper???

On what planet?

Amen, brother...

Indeed. I don't think that there's much question that sleepers are a more comfortable way to travel, and I don't think that you'll find anyone that would prefer the less comfortable option. Does anyone thing that presented with a "first class or coach?" option on an airplane that someone would say, "You know, those first class seats are nice and all, but I'd rather ride back in coach."?

That said, if I've got to go in coach because of price/availability, I'll gladly go in coach.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The comfort factor of the Coach is highly related to just how many folks are in the car and how well they are behaving. A half full Coach of reasonably quiet travelers is very tolerable, even for an overnight. But add in screaming puking babies, obnoxious drunks and cell phones and the comfort level goes downhill FAST!

Quoted for truth. Mrs Ispolkom and I will take coach overnight from St. Paul to Minot in the off season, since we'd both rather be in a coach seat than in the cramped upper berth of a Superliner roomette. If we think the train will be crowded, though, we'll spring for the roomette, as much for the quiet and privacy as for the flat bunks.

This. Amtrak's inexplicable and steadfast refusal to provide so much as a tiny armrest between complete strangers sleeping together also hinders my potential enjoyment of coach travel. Seriously, WTF Amtrak?

 

[jis]

In my student days I rode cross country at least half a dozen times, mostly by Coach, and it was fine. The only splurging I did was an occasional ride on a Slumbercoach. But it was by coach that I rode most of the now non-existent trains like the Pioneer, the Desert Wind and the Lone Star. I even rode the pre-Superlinet Pioneer, which was a Salt Lake City to Seattle train with a cross platform change from the San Francisco Zephyr at Ogden.

So I have no problem riding Coach long distances. But given the available means, I prefer the Sleeper, and I do so even on day runs, since I like to spread out my stuff in the room, something I cannot really do in Coach.

 

[had8ley]

I have gone round trip Chi to Lax, Chi to Kingman, Chi to Sea (twice), Chi to WAS (about 8 times) all in coach. When I was younger!

Now, being limited by Social Security income, I'm relying on AGR points to get a room once in a while. If I'm out of points I'll gladly go coach rather than not go at all.

As someone else stated, the coach seats are a lot more comfortable and the people I have met in coach are fantastic. It seems there's a much greater opportunity to meet people in coach.

Send some of those nice people down here Betty. The Sunset is getting retro-freaky lately. I don't mind the drug dogs getting on in Lake Charles but it's the savory characters they de-train I don't care for !!!

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Although I live in the UK, I have travelled many thousands of Amtrak miles in both coach and roomette. I am now 59, and spent my 59th birthday a few weeks back on board a silver service train, in coach, from Washington to Orlando. It was fine.

The longest coach ride I did was 2 years ago, from Sacramento to Chicago, and strait on to New York the same evening. Once again it was a great experience.

I believe it all depends what you want from travel... for myself, there is an element of adventure and a large degree of "local flavor" in coach, and I have met some great characters:

A cage fighter, a woman just out of prison, a keen hunter, a gambler, an Amish gent who talked to me for ages about his understanding of the world, all human life is there.

It's real folk, travelling from A to B for a reason, not a rail cruise for train fans...

I like the big seats, and being 6 foot 2 tall, it is nice if I can get the two seats to myself at night, not something that might happen often in the future, given the rise in ridership.

Roomettes are excellent, but often cost a lot more, and it is great to sleep flat out too. One has privacy in a roomette, and one can choose to be sociable in the lounge car if desired.

It all comes down to why you are on the train? You pay your money and make your choice, but I feel that coach travel gets a worse reputation than it deserves, here on A.U...

Cheers,

Ed

 

[had8ley]

Hi,

Although I live in the UK, I have travelled many thousands of Amtrak miles in both coach and roomette. I am now 59, and spent my 59th birthday a few weeks back on board a silver service train, in coach, from Washington to Orlando. It was fine.

The longest coach ride I did was 2 years ago, from Sacramento to Chicago, and strait on to New York the same evening. Once again it was a great experience.

I believe it all depends what you want from travel... for myself, there is an element of adventure and a large degree of "local flavor" in coach, and I have met some great characters:

A cage fighter, a woman just out of prison, a keen hunter, a gambler, an Amish gent who talked to me for ages about his understanding of the world, all human life is there.

It's real folk, travelling from A to B for a reason, not a rail cruise for train fans...

I like the big seats, and being 6 foot 2 tall, it is nice if I can get the two seats to myself at night, not something that might happen often in the future, given the rise in ridership.

Roomettes are excellent, but often cost a lot more, and it is great to sleep flat out too. One has privacy in a roomette, and one can choose to be sociable in the lounge car if desired.

It all comes down to why you are on the train? You pay your money and make your choice, but I feel that coach travel gets a worse reputation than it deserves, here on A.U...

Cheers,

Ed

Ed...across the pond we Yanks call it "You're preaching to the choir". I rode coach for many years since I was too young to remember...some trains didn't have sleepers so you were stuck. I've ridden coach, pulled them around as an engineer and switched them but at no time can I remember them being as full, save for holidays, and carry such a diverse segment of our population. Yes, the LD trains have their characters but I guess age is catching up on me where I feel more comfortable on a "land cruise."

 

[nferr]

No coach for me except for Northest corridor travel. Sleeper is a different world entirely IMO.

 

[Oldsmoboi]

I don't do coach unless it's the only option (meaning no sleepers ever on the train). On the Pennsylvanian I buy business class because I prefer the quiet over the rabble that usually get on the coach section.

I'll adjust my travel days before I'll take coach on an overnight.

 

[eagle628]

Coach, absolutely. I've traveled in both, and while sleeper is undeniably more comfortable, it's not worth it. Part of it's price. Got from New York to Florida in coach roundtrip for less than what a one-way sleeper would have cost. And coach is comfortable enough that it's absolutely impossible to justify that kind of cost difference. Part of it's also the atmosphere. I've never had a problem with strange people in coach; on the contrary, I've met some very nice people. I echo what caravanman said about the people you meet in the two. My family is very much working class, so the difference in the people you meet is striking. In sleeper you're with the old retired people who are like "well, I had a wonderful life as a senior executive at <insert name of big bank here> and now I can afford to take the train across the country every month" or some railfan nut who talks the whole trip about how how they're on this round the country land cruise and how many AGR points they have it's all free and I just want to throw them off the train because that's something I can only dream of. I was on the LSL once (a year and a half ago, I think?) and I ended up sitting next to someone just out of college who was going to work in Chicago and took the train for no other reason than it was cheap and we ended up having a great conversation for most of the trip, and it was nice to have someone who's so much closer to the position me and my family is in to talk to. It's part of why I get so annoyed on some of these forums (especially railroad.net) with everyone who seems to have this sense of entitlement and priviledge about them and their holy sleepers and thinks of coach class as something only the poor people take.

 

[GG-1]

I prefer the quiet over the rabble that usually get on the coach section.

Aloha

I must disagree with judging someone because they choose cheaper accommodations. By and large most that I have encountered in coach have been great traveling companions

 

[Oldsmoboi]

I prefer the quiet over the rabble that usually get on the coach section.

Aloha

I must disagree with judging someone because they choose cheaper accommodations. By and large most that I have encountered in coach have been great traveling companions

I'm not judging them based on what they buy. I'm judging them based on their actions... and in general, from my observations, there is a large contingent of misbehaving people who get on Coach when leaving Pittsburgh station. The corrolation is that the people who misbehave buy coach but not the people who buy coach misbehave.

 

[user 683]

I prefer sleeper over coach on LD trips, but coach is Ok too. BC is a good compromise if roomettes are not available, or if I think roomettes are too expensive for the trip and I don't want to splurge. I wish there was additional BC and sleeper availability.

Advantages of roomette:

- as others have stated, more privacy and space to spread out

- its far easier to sleep in horizontal position

- can close the door, which my fellow passengers probably appreciate since there are times when I snore while sleeping

- having meals included is a definite plus!

Regardless of sleeper availability - I'll go coach/BC if I expect to be on the train less than 8-12 hours. There has been one or two times where I have regretted that decision due to loud/disruptive passengers. Once there was a crying toddler. Though mom did her very best to appease her little girl - there was only so much mom could do. One of her toys played nursery rhymes...I had to escape to the snack car after hearing the same song over and over again for more than 30 minutes.

 

[TraneMan]

I've done coach LD in the mid 90's when I was 24 and seems like I only get cat naps here and there. This year will be my first LD with the roomette. Our trip last year to CHI we had coach, and it wasn't too loud. I'm fine with couch for the short (Under 10 hours) trip.

 

[rick]

Coach vs. sleeper..it's the price and nothing more. I prefer sleepers,but I also just love riding Amtrak. If I have enough money for a sleeper, I'll go for it, otherwise coach is fine. When I was younger I would ride coach for three days and three nights across the country. I still travel to Florida from NY every winter,and I ride coach,because the price of a sleeper is outrageous and is just not worth it for one night. As other posters have mentioned there are some great deals in sleepers,especially on the City of New Orleans,and if there are two people traveling, the price can be very attractive.

For day travel,and maybe an overnight..coach. Anything else..sleeper,depending on the cost.

 

[user 1215]

For me for this last trip I took, I only paid $270 for my Guest Rewards to get sleeper, so I took advantage of it. I would have paid that for just one leg on the Silver Meteor because I had to be at work 20 minutes after arriving in Savannah. The shower and the ability to sleep is invaluable. As much as I chose to take the train over flying for pleasure, it was also my responsibility to show up to work (yeah, I could have taken vacation time if the train was late).

I was jilted out of a sleeper on the Texas Eagle because they were sold out. It was also the longest leg of my journey. Coach was pretty rough for that long of a time, but meeting folks was a pleasure. I did put in my reservation for dinner as soon as I got on board to secure a spot.

But I couldn't sleep. I can almost never sleep on transportation. I enjoy it too much to waste it sleeping. Even on a 17 hour transpacific flight, I can only garner an our nap or so. I am really not so ADHD in regular life, but on a train, I can't stay put for very long. Always getting up, going to the lounge, talking to people, going to the cafe for a snack, talking to people, lounging, talking to people... Even in the middle of a moonless night, I like to sit in the lounge and watch the lights of a small town that used to host a passenger train a century ago whip by with flashing red lights in between my window and that brick pizza place across the street...

Even when I'm in a sleeper, I don't sleep much. Maybe an hour or two at a time, but I try to stay awake in the middle of the night to see big towns I normally don't see like Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

On my Meteor leg, though, I was exhausted. Boarded the train at 7, had dinner at 7:30 and was in bed by 9. Slept like a baby until my SCA pounded on my door at 6 AM when I got my shower, grabbed breakfast to go, and went off to work.

Coach is great. Sleepers are greater. But the Diner and the Lounge are the BEST!