Cost Effective Roomette for a trip

[me_little_me]

Yes. Even while sleeping in coach. They've thrown passengers off the train that refuse to comply with this. Given the train goes through pandemic hotspots and can be a vector for transmission, this is absolutely reasonable.

The secret is finding a mask you're comfortable with and getting used to wearing it.

So, do you wear it over or under the CPAP mask (which, for mine, does not stop or even slow down exhaled breath).

Do they throw your CPAP machine off with you or down the track if the train is still moving?

 

[caravanman]

It stopped on each and every train at the time garbage dining was implemented and has nothing to do with the virus IMHO but is the virus made its justification easier than Amtrak saying they wanted to get people used to not having dining staff so Amtrak could save money.
As soon as garbage dining was introduced last year, Amtrak kicked out the coach passengers on those trains. They through away the opportunity of making money off coach passengers who were desperate enough to buy the junk, not even allowing them to purchase it for at-seat consumption, a sign that getting rid of meals is more important than just cutting back expenses.

It is NOT "for the moment" unless one assumes the moment started nearly a year ago and there is no guarantee that it won't last as the new standard. Bad assumption.

I was simply trying to spell out the situation at present for a potential new rail user in clear terms.
Thank you so much for your "input".

 

[tricia]

Amtrak has in the past few months run at least two roomette sales: Book a roomette for yourself, and your companion rides along free. (The most recent one, which ended a few days ago, covered trips to be taken through the end of September.) I'd suggest that you a) sign up for Amtrak Guest Rewards (it's free), and b) opt in to promotional emails from Amtrak, to learn about future sales.

 

[20th Century Rider]

We would totally be willing to de train, especially for savings. We are both pretty adaptable and looking for an adventure! I’m not sure what you mean by between a coach and roomette? My understanding was the order was coach, roomette and Private bedroom, so maybe you could help me understand a bit more, sorry!

as far as an overnight yes we would be open to
It , but ultimately since our budget is relatively low, $500-$700, I’m not sure it would work

Thank you for the helpful information!!

Be sure you look into a rail pass which allows for travel by segment and for a specified duration... on the Amtrak website. A good deal but has many restrictions. Best to book it with an agent. You go in a coach seat and no meals are included. But you can upgrade along the way or use both the pass and book some coach seating and some roomettes. Due to the scale back of food the sleepers are not such a great deal; but everything depends on your budget. Good luck!

 

[Barb Stout]

I also *strongly* recommend taking one of the Western Trains for the views. The Sunset Limited, Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, Coast Starlight and Empire Builder are all amazing trains to take for the views.

Which sections of the Sunset Limited are the prettiest? That WAS going to be the next train I took before the pandemic hit. In fact, we were planning on going to New Orleans.

 

[Barb Stout]

So, do you wear it over or under the CPAP mask (which, for mine, does not stop or even slow down exhaled breath).

Do they throw your CPAP machine off with you or down the track if the train is still moving?

Good point!

 

[jiml]

Which sections of the Sunset Limited are the prettiest? That WAS going to be the next train I took before the pandemic hit. In fact, we were planning on going to New Orleans.

If you like "desert-scape" the last full day westbound and first day eastbound are pretty cool.

 

[Asher]

Which sections of the Sunset Limited are the prettiest? That WAS going to be the next train I took before the pandemic hit. In fact, we were planning on going to New Orleans.

Not sure I can say the route is pretty, I find the change of terrain very interesting though. I've only traveled
East bound.

 

[niemi24s]

IMHO, your best chance of really finding out what there is to see out the train window on any route (and deciding for yourself if you'd want to see it in person) is to scour YouTube hoping to find one of reasonable quality. But I find most of them quite uninformative and of dreadful quality. The best I've found are taken from the front window of the locomotive - probably by the engineer and with no audio. The good ones are, however, few and far between.

Second best is follow along the route with any of these which allow you to see for yourself what can be seen out the train window :
• The imagery of Google Earth
• Scrollable topographic maps found here: MyTopo Free Online Topo Maps
• Any of the various map types here (which highlight the route): https://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/ This one is especially helpful in urban areas to sort out the route of the train from the maze of railroad tracks.

Lastly, rely on the recommendations of others who have no idea what you yourself would like to see out the train window. What thrills them may well bore you to tears.

 

[Dakota 400]

Not sure I can say the route is pretty, I find the change of terrain very interesting though. I've only traveled
East bound.

My response to the poster who asked about that would be much the same as yours. Not only is the change of terrain interesting to view, but there were other sights that I didn't expect to see during my trip from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Two specifically memorable that I saw was the fence separating Mexico and the United States with a large Mexican flag flying on the other side of the fence. Then, as the train rolled through New Mexico and Arizona, seeing Border Patrol cars parked near the tracks.

 

[tgstubbs1]

It's always handy to travel someplace where you have kin and you can stay with them.

 

[me_little_me]

I loved the weird places in west Texas - like the Prada store in the middle of nowhere near Marfa.

Prada Marfa - Wikipedia

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Which sections of the Sunset Limited are the prettiest? That WAS going to be the next train I took before the pandemic hit. In fact, we were planning on going to New Orleans.

Some of the more interesting sections are passed in the dark but I've generally enjoyed the areas between Deming, NM and Del Rio, TX. I think it looks prettiest a day or two after a good downpour but out in the desert that's a rare and unpredictable event. East of San Antonio is rather dull in my view. Then again I'm guessing you're already familiar with this kind of scenery so maybe flip my script and try it that way.

 

[niemi24s]

Another source of information about each route used to be little pamphlets called Route Guides. Once upon a time these could be found in stations and on the trains, but the astronomical cost of reproducing and distributing them became too much for Amtrak to bear and they are no longer found in printed form. Luckily, they can still be found on the interweb: Route Guides | About Amtrak | AmtrakConnect

 

[tgstubbs1]

Some of the more interesting sections are passed in the dark but I've generally enjoyed the areas between Deming, NM and Del Rio, TX. I think it looks prettiest a day or two after a good downpour but out in the desert that's a rare and unpredictable event. East of San Antonio is rather dull in my view. Then again I'm guessing you're already familiar with this kind of scenery so maybe flip my script and try it that way.

I guess a person could take a trip via coach to Deming and stay there a night or two. That ought to be pretty economical. Nice and warm in November, too.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I guess a person could take a trip via coach to Deming and stay there a night or two. That ought to be pretty economical. Nice and warm in November, too.

Tucson or Alpine( ) would be better!

 

[bratkinson]

Although I haven't checked the prices, I think a 'triangle' type of trip based on the Crescent to WAS, #66 WAS-BOS (overnight ride), #449 BOS-CHI (Berkshire Mtns in western MA + Mohawk River (after dark), and finally #59 CHI-NOL would offer decent scenery and only require one night in a hotel in NOL or a pre-dawn drive to get there. I haven't a clue about parking there, however.

A slightly longer trip would be in the reverse direction, but going from CHI-CVS (Charlottesville) on #50 to get the best scenery on that route (the New River Gorge) then the Crescent back to NOL. But that would be an evening arrival at NOL and put you on the road to Florida after 10PM give or take. Alternatively, take the Cardinal to WAS and catch #66 to BOS there, #449 to CHI and then back to NOL on the Crescent. The only duplication would be the Crescent. That routing would be zero nights in a hotel and put you on the road from NOL during daylight hours.

As mentioned by others, personal hygiene would be a concern given 6 consecutive days & 5 nights riding. Taking a roomette for one night would be a good solution.

As far as cost goes, I'd suggest asking for 'companion coupons' in the Amtrak Guest Rewards sub forum of this website. That cuts your ticket cost in half. AGR is reasonably generous with providing coupons to their members, and many are not able to use them prior to their expiration date (usually 1 year from issue). They can be transferred to anyone via a private email that contains the unique coupon code. Once you've decided on specific travel dates, make a request for companion coupons (1 per segment (train)), then book your tickets providing the code for each to the agent on the phone.

Lastly, it's no secret that the sun rises later and sets earlier every day until 12/21. The earlier you travel the more scenery you'll see.
Have a great trip!

 

[MARC Rider]

Does food service come with the room?

I should really read the rest of the thread to see how other people replied to this.
Sleeper service includes food, but for now, all the food being served is "Contemporary Flex Dining". If you search through some of the other comment threads on this forum regarding the topic of food service changes that have been implemented over the last couple of years, you will find that many (most?) do not believe that the flex dining concept should be considered "food." I myself don't go quite that far, but definitely the culinary part of the long-distance train experience has been diminished because of this business decision on the part of Amtrak's management.

There is one exception, the Auto Train, which is an overnight service between Sanford, FL and Lorton, VA (just south of Washington DC). They still have a traditional dining car, at least for the sleeper passengers. Why they still have it and nobody else is a mystery to me. The only thing about the Auto Train is that you have to bring your car along, so the fare will be more expensive than just a train ride for yourselves. However, you could modify your travel plans to have a little road trip in the Mid-Atlantic between the two train trips. If you don't want to visit our Nation's capital because of the truly horrible traffic and crazy expensive hotel prices, I might suggest a road trip through through the northern Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley, which is very scenic and also has a number of interesting cultural and historic sites.

 

[niemi24s]

Be advised that starting in October, avoiding hotel stays between trains is going to get tricky because by the end of October, all of the daily LD trains (except the Auto Train) will not be running every day but mostly three times a week.

One trip just a little above the top of your budget would be round trip between Birmingham and Charlottesville with a low bucket Roomette one way and Coach Saver fares the other way at about $710 with a 14 hour layover in Charlottesville. But that's only a 3 day jaunt .

A 3 day jaunt out West might be a round trip between New Orleans and either Alpine or El Paso, Coach one way and a Roomette the other way for about $657 or $747. But you'd have to get to either on a Thursday to avoid a hotel stay as this train runs only three times a week.

 

[Barb Stout]

Some of the more interesting sections are passed in the dark but I've generally enjoyed the areas between Deming, NM and Del Rio, TX. I think it looks prettiest a day or two after a good downpour but out in the desert that's a rare and unpredictable event. East of San Antonio is rather dull in my view. Then again I'm guessing you're already familiar with this kind of scenery so maybe flip my script and try it that way.

That's good to know because the closest SL station is Deming and we would probably be going east as our other sister lives in the East (in Ohio). But it might be nice to head to California on a separate trip also sometime after a Covid19 vaccine or good treatments are available.

 

[John Santos]

No one seems to have mentioned that, traditionally at least, Thanksgiving week is the busiest (maybe 2nd to Christmas) time of the year for Amtrak. (This year might be different, but since capacity is also much lower, maybe not.) This means trains are most crowded and often completely booked up, and, if you are on a budget, tickets are most expensive. If you wait a week, as long as you are starting on or after the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov 30 or later), things should be much better.

 

[joelkfla]

No one seems to have mentioned that, traditionally at least, Thanksgiving week is the busiest (maybe 2nd to Christmas) time of the year for Amtrak. (This year might be different, but since capacity is also much lower, maybe not.) This means trains are most crowded and often completely booked up, and, if you are on a budget, tickets are most expensive. If you wait a week, as long as you are starting on or after the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov 30 or later), things should be much better.

As someone said above, OP definitely should check AmSnag Verson 2.02 , checking fares for the max of 30 days before making a final decision.

 

[Ronbo]

Also, experiment on your own using AMSNAG:

https://biketrain.net/amsnag2.0/amSnag.php

I have been trying to use Amsnag for the last couple of days, and it seems to not be functioning currently. Anyone else having the same experience?

 

[caravanman]

I tried it just now without any luck. Maybe the altered Amtrak non-daily new timetables has thrown a spanner in the works...

 

[1976steve]

I have been trying to use Amsnag for the last couple of days, and it seems to not be functioning currently. Anyone else having the same experience?

Don't mean to hijack thread but I haven't been able to fare results on Amsnag for 2 days either