EMY to San Francisco?

[SarahZ]

We're planning our CZ trip to San Francisco this summer, and I have a couple questions:

I noticed there is a Thruway bus from EMY to the city. Is it easy to locate the bus at the station?

Also, would we be better off, as far as time is concerned, using BART/MUNI? I haven't checked the maps yet, so forgive my ignorance if BART/MUNI don't cover that stretch.

We have not reserved a hotel yet, as we just started our planning last night and haven't even narrowed down dates yet. Currently, we're thinking about the week before/after Fourth of July. We're aiming to stay in the city, near the Bay, if possible, as we would prefer to use public transit instead of renting a car. If there are any areas we should avoid, I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks!

 

[greatcats]

The bus connection leaves from out in front of the Eneryville station. They could have done a better job pointing out where the next bus was leaving, but other than that, it was well run and another occasion when I tipped a bus driver. I would think it preferable to hauling bags on BART. When I did this I got off at the stop near Market St. and then hopped on the F streetcar to where I was staying at Market and Church.

 

[greatcats]

Eneryville. Hard to correct on IPhone.

 

[roadman3313]

The bus is just in front of the station and very easy to locate. It also has multiple stops in the city so you find lodging near one of them. They generally will let you off at any of the scheduled SF stops regardless of where you are booked in SF.

I find it easy to use BART and MUNI as well. Standard Safety Rules and common sense for riding public transit apply. I wouldn't call BART or MUNI unsafe and they are pretty well used but crime does happen. As long as you aren't waiving around a phone or music player or what not you will generally be fine. Lots of tourists ride BART and more so on MUNI as it often costs far less than renting a car and parking! Parking in San Francisco can be a pain and garages can be expensive so transit it the way to go IMO.

MUNI also offers a 1, 3, and 7 day passport offering unlimited rides on MUNI buses, trains, and cable cars which can be a good deal. Also you can look up a San Francisco City Pass. That includes a MUNI passport (last I checked) as well as tickets to a bunch of the attractions around the city. Take a look as it can often be a great savings!

I live here, use transit often, and work in the public transit industry in the Bay Area so feel free to message if you have any specific questions I can help with.

Enjoy your trip

 

[BCL]

Having been to the Emeryville station just the other day, having seen the thruway buses at the station, and having once worked practically across the tracks, you will have zero problem finding the bus. There's a passenger loading area in the front of the station for passenger pick-up/drop-off, cabs, and buses. The buses will be very obvious - they're marked with "Amtrak California" in big letters on the side. Here's one at the Emeryville station.

Here is the station on Google Maps. If it's a proper satellite image, you should see the ground markings for the bus loading area.

http://maps.google.c...le, CA&t=h&z=20

Another option would be to take the Emery-Go-Round to the Macarthur BART station and BART to San Francisco.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Take the AmBus for sure, they Load right out the front Doors of the station! Its a Guaranteed Connection/Short Hop across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco from EMY and the Busses are New, the Drivers are Friendly and Competent! Wandering around BART Stations in the East Bay isnt a Good idea anytime, especially in the Oakland Area! (The Richmond stop where you could catch BART to the City has been Discontinued!)The only problem Ive observed is that there are lots of Busses coming and Going from this Station and Announcments dont make it clear which Bus is which, you have to ask the Drivers! And the Agents behind the Bullet Proof Glass arent the Most helpfu or Friendly Around!

I like the Ferry Terminal Stop myself, its an Old SP Station where the ferries used to Bring in Trains from Oakland and is a Real Train Station except there are No Trains! (The Busses Load/Unload on the Street in Front of the Building!)

As to Hotels, Google is your Friend, you can find Good Deals in the Bay Area if you're flexible, but be careful with Oakland, its a Very dangerous Place, even jack London Square, where the Train Station and Ferry Doicks are, have had lots of Violence!

 

[BCL]

Wandering around BART Stations in the East Bay isnt a Good idea anytime, especially in the Oakland Area! (The Richmond stop where you could catch BART to the City has been Discontinued!)

I was under the impression that Richmond will be removed as a stop on the Coast Starlight on January 13, 2013. However, it's still a stop on the California Zephyr. I tried booking CHI-RIC or RIC-CHI on Jan 19, and it's still showing a straight shot on 5 or 6.

Still - Emeryville might be a better option since they have baggage handlers if checking in luggage.

 

[SarahZ]

Wow, thanks everyone. That bus really is hard to miss. :giggle:

We have friends in Boulder Creek, so we'll be dividing our time between SF, Napa, and Boulder Creek. I'm definitely going to look at the City Pass since that often has lots of great "tourist" things to do. I always recommend the one for Chicago, along with the transit passes. It sounds like SF and Chicago are very similar in terms of day passes and City Passes. We're comfortable on public transit, and I have a couple apps on my phone to assist (Google is actually pretty great at providing directions using transit, but the actual transit apps are good for advising about delays and re-routes (*cough*CTA*cough*)).

I'm really looking forward to this! We've never been on the CZ, so our first decision is "roomette vs. bedroom". We both want a bedroom since it's a three-day trip, but a roomette might win out price-wise. On the other hand, I miiiiiight be willing to cough up the extra money since B got kind of antsy being cooped up in the roomette from CHI to ABQ. It would also be nice to have our own bathroom and shower, not to mention the extra space. I think having a leisurely, comfortable trip would be worth having to work a few days of overtime.

 

[calwatch]

You can always go to the lounge car. I rarely spend more than a few hours a day in the roomette, with people or no.

 

[cirdan]

The easiest think at Emeryville is to follow the crowd as virtually everybody is going into SF.

The Amtrak bus stops are quite easy to find and normally you won't be the only one boarding there so just join the crowd.

We stayed at the Radisson on Fisherman's Wharf. That was thanks to advice from somebody on this forum. Unfortunately I can't find the mail and I forgot who it was but if you're reading this, I would liken to express my warmest gratitude as that really was good advice. The Amtrak bus stops more or less outside the hotel.

 

[SarahZ]

We stayed at the Radisson on Fisherman's Wharf. That was thanks to advice from somebody on this forum. Unfortunately I can't find the mail and I forgot who it was but if you're reading this, I would liken to express my warmest gratitude as that really was good advice. The Amtrak bus stops more or less outside the hotel.

Thanks for the recommendation! We'll check that out.

 

[BCL]

Wow, thanks everyone. That bus really is hard to miss. :giggle:

We have friends in Boulder Creek, so we'll be dividing our time between SF, Napa, and Boulder Creek. I'm definitely going to look at the City Pass since that often has lots of great "tourist" things to do. I always recommend the one for Chicago, along with the transit passes. It sounds like SF and Chicago are very similar in terms of day passes and City Passes. We're comfortable on public transit, and I have a couple apps on my phone to assist (Google is actually pretty great at providing directions using transit, but the actual transit apps are good for advising about delays and re-routes (*cough*CTA*cough*)).

I'm really looking forward to this! We've never been on the CZ, so our first decision is "roomette vs. bedroom". We both want a bedroom since it's a three-day trip, but a roomette might win out price-wise. On the other hand, I miiiiiight be willing to cough up the extra money since B got kind of antsy being cooped up in the roomette from CHI to ABQ. It would also be nice to have our own bathroom and shower, not to mention the extra space. I think having a leisurely, comfortable trip would be worth having to work a few days of overtime.

Boulder Creek? If you're not too "trained out" you might try going to Roaring Camp in Felton. I'm thinking of taking the train to Santa Cruz.

http://www.roaringcamp.com

 

[SarahZ]

Boulder Creek? If you're not to "trained out" you might try going to Roaring Camp in Felton. I'm thinking of taking the train to Santa Cruz.

http://www.roaringcamp.com

OMG I want to ride on that! Thank you! :hi:

 

[AKA]

The Radisson at the wharf offers an Amtrak discount. At least do a fake on line booking to find how much. Just type Amtrak into the promo box. Also the bus makes a stop at pier 39. About a block from the Radisson. Easy walk and no problem at night if you are late.

If you book the Radisson ask for a room away from traffic.

 

[BCL]

As for Roaring Camp, they have a couple of Lima steam locomotives. Their oldest is an 1890 Baldwin that use to haul sugar on a plantation in Oahu.

I'm not sure what they use for the Beach Train these days after they sold off several of their diesel locomotives. The used to use big GE locomotives but I suppose they're using smaller ones these days.

 

[SarahZ]

The Radisson at the wharf offers an Amtrak discount. At least do a fake on line booking to find how much. Just type Amtrak into the promo box. Also the bus makes a stop at pier 39. About a block from the Radisson. Easy walk and no problem at night if you are late.

If you book the Radisson ask for a room away from traffic.

Thanks for the tip. I get a discount at several other hotels through my job, so I'll make a list and compare discounts this evening. We've moved the trip to the end of July, so I hope that means we won't be paying as much as we would have over Fourth of July week.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'm really looking forward to this! We've never been on the CZ, so our first decision is "roomette vs. bedroom". We both want a bedroom since it's a three-day trip, but a roomette might win out price-wise. On the other hand, I miiiiiight be willing to cough up the extra money since B got kind of antsy being cooped up in the roomette from CHI to ABQ. It would also be nice to have our own bathroom and shower, not to mention the extra space. I think having a leisurely, comfortable trip would be worth having to work a few days of overtime.

Sorcha: Ill be the first to admit that a Bedroom is better than a Roomette on a Superliner, but the Cost in the Summer, especially on "Tourist" Trains like the Zephyr is Mucho Dinero!!!! If you use AGR Points it doesnt matter what it Costs of Course , but a 2 Zone Roomette Award is 20,000 (minus 5% if you have the AGR MC) verses 40,000 (minus the 5%) for a Bedroom! If you pay the difference is like $685 for a Roomette vs. $1200 for a Bedroom! (Guestimates, YMMV!) Of course if you can afford it, Go for it, State Farm must pay well, they've been getting my $$$ for over 50 years! :giggle:

 

[SarahZ]

We'd be buying points to pay for it, so we'll probably get a roomette. It'll be cheaper to use the points for our CZ trip and then pay cash for our trip to ABQ in December.

I about croaked when I saw the cost of a bedroom in July. Hooooooly cow. The only way we could do that is if my software programmer boyfriend pays for most of it. I can't complain about my salary, but I have a Coach salary, not a Bedroom salary.

 

[AlanB]

Let me toss out one other thought here, depending on just how many points you have and what you wish to spend. But you could consider buying a roomette CHI-DEN, then using an AGR award DEN-EMY/San Fran. That way you'd have the biggest space for the bulk of your trip. The first day isn't very exciting and you don't really need too much space, since you sleep half way to Denver and don't board till 2 PM.

 

[SarahZ]

Let me toss out one other thought here, depending on just how many points you have and what you wish to spend. But you could consider buying a roomette CHI-DEN, then using an AGR award DEN-EMY/San Fran. That way you'd have the biggest space for the bulk of your trip. The first day isn't very exciting and you don't really need too much space, since you sleep half way to Denver and don't board till 2 PM.

I thought of that, but I wasn't sure how much of a pain it would be to book it that way. Would the AGR rep be able to take a CC for the first portion and then apply the points for the second, or do they have to do it as two separate trips?

 

[PRR 60]

Let me toss out one other thought here, depending on just how many points you have and what you wish to spend. But you could consider buying a roomette CHI-DEN, then using an AGR award DEN-EMY/San Fran. That way you'd have the biggest space for the bulk of your trip. The first day isn't very exciting and you don't really need too much space, since you sleep half way to Denver and don't board till 2 PM.

I thought of that, but I wasn't sure how much of a pain it would be to book it that way. Would the AGR rep be able to take a CC for the first portion and then apply the points for the second, or do they have to do it as two separate trips?

The AGR reps can book both paid and award trips. It will be two separate trips, but that is more a bookkeeping issue than a practical problem.

 

[gswager]

I use that bus few days ago. As others posted it, it's a dedicated Amtrak bus service. It crossed over one of bay bridges which it's a pretty neat view, in contrast to BART beneath the bay at high rate of speed. I believe you'll get 100 AGR points for that! It's confirmed that I just got earned it! It's a best value for $2 fare on bus ride!

As for MUNI passport, the price for a day is $14 for any MUNI, including both antique and modern streetcars ($2 fare), cable cars ($6), or buses ($2). Riding on antique streetcars is a heaven for rail foamers! I boarded on a car which was originally used in Milan, Italy. Cable cars is pretty neat, too! Interesting fact that cable cars has wooden shoes as a brake over the rail!

 

[SarahZ]

Let me toss out one other thought here, depending on just how many points you have and what you wish to spend. But you could consider buying a roomette CHI-DEN, then using an AGR award DEN-EMY/San Fran. That way you'd have the biggest space for the bulk of your trip. The first day isn't very exciting and you don't really need too much space, since you sleep half way to Denver and don't board till 2 PM.

Well, we've given this some thought. We both have around 2500 points. I'm sure I'll earn another 2500 or so through the shopping portal, and we do have a couple trips to Chicago and Detroit coming up. Bottom line: we're still both going to have to purchase 15,000 points when AGR has their 50% points sale (assuming they have one soon - I recall they had one in February last year).

B is a fan of purchasing a roomette (with points) for the entire trip instead of paying for one and then switching to a bedroom halfway. He said he'd rather be a bit cramped and save money, since we can then put that extra money toward our hotel stay. I, personally, do not mind a roomette. I was really comfortable on our last trip, and I walked along the length of the train when I needed to stretch out. We don't like sitting in the SSL because it's usually so crowded and noisy during the day, but I might make an exception for this trip since it's so scenic. That's what earbuds are for.

I think it's amusing that we used to ride in Coach, and now we consider a roomette "cramped". I think it's because we miss reclining, so I'm going to show him how to recline his seat next time. We're both short enough that we won't miss the leg room. I do like when they put the bunks down because then we can spread out on the bottom bunk like a couch, so I may tip the SCA an extra $10 and ask if they wouldn't mind putting the room in night mode while we're at dinner.

One thing I learned from our last trip: bring a power strip. We had to take turns charging our phones because I thought the room had two outlets, not one. :blush:

 

[AlanB]

AGR has only ever once had a 50% sale, and it was late in the fall of 2011. The spring sales have always been 30% sales.

 

[SarahZ]

AGR has only ever once had a 50% sale, and it was late in the fall of 2011. The spring sales have always been 30% sales.

Ugh. You're right. A quick review of my account shows I bought 13,000 points and then earned the other 2000 through trips and the shopping portal.

Rats.

I might just pay for the roomette round-trip and then use the purchased points + our current balance for our annual trip to ABQ (one zone). Otherwise, we're going to have to ask some friends to purchase and transfer some for us, and the cost savings will be negligible.

Back to the math worksheet. :unsure: I should make B do this. I can DO math; I just don't LIKE it. :angry: