Help/Advice -- OKC/NYP Trip

[EKG]

Hello, all! My wife and I are planning our third Amtrak trip in May (following a trip on the southbound Auto Train in 2016, and an OKC-LAX round-trip journey last year), and I'd love some advice from the community once more.

This year's vacation will be OKC-NYP, round-trip. On the way to New York, we'll stop off in Chicago for a couple of days; on the way back, we'll just head straight home. We have 37,000 points to play around with.

Normally, the route there would be a Thruway bus from OKC to Newton, the Southwest Chief from NEW-CHI, and then various options from CHI-NYC (we'd probably do the Lake Shore Limited).

However, we're thinking about driving ourselves from OKC to Newton -- the drive would be an hour shorter than the Thruway bus (2.5 vs 3.5 hours), and we wouldn't have to worry about any potential bus delays. We'd then leave our car in Newton's long-term parking for the ten or so days of the trip, and then drive back from Newton to OKC. Thoughts?

From NEW-CHI (and from CHI-NEW on the way back), there's currently a $164 Saver fare. From all I've read, it seems like the best plan may be to pay cash for that Saver fare, and save our points for the CHI-NYP leg. (Our 37,000 points would pay for CHI-NYP *and* NYP-CHI, both with a roomette.) Thoughts?

Finally, of course, the Saver fare would be for coach. The longest trip we've done in coach is the four hours of the Heartland Flyer from OKC-FTW. By contrast, NEW-CHI would be 12 hours (2:59 AM - 3:15 PM). My thought is that since that leg starts so early/late (depending on your point of view), it may not be worth the extra price for a roomette.

My main worry with going coach on that leg isn't the length -- I think we could survive 12 hours, since we'd be at our Chicago hotel by mid-afternoon (barring delays). Rather, my nightmare is getting on the Southwest Chief in the middle of the night, only to have major trouble finding two coach seats together. Is this a legitimate concern, or should we be okay? (We'd be getting on the train at 2:59 AM, Sunday, May 13.)

(Similar thoughts/concerns apply on the return trip from CHI-NEW; the scheduled run is from 3:00 PM to 2:45 AM, probably on Wednesday, May 23. Would 12 hours in coach "feel" any different starting in the afternoon and going to the middle of the night? And any thoughts on whether finding two coach seats together would be better/worse/the same in the middle of the afternoon, rather than the middle of the night?)

Sorry for the length of this message -- thanks in advance for your help if you're inclined to read it all!

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

My experience with the SWC is that they usually assign passengers seats so they will make sure that you and your wife will have a seat together, that should not be an issue. It doesn't happen on every LD train but I've been on the Chief three times and I remember they did each time. I'm not too familiar with boarding from Newton but if there are a lot of people getting off there then there should be at least one pair of open seats available. When you board from Chicago they will ask you where you are going and they will assign you a car and a pair of seats in the specific car. This is done mainly to keep pairs like you and your wife together.

 

[Eric S]

I've ridden to/from Newton a number of times. There have typically been at least 10-20 passengers getting off and a similar number getting on, and I think that seats have always been assigned at the door as passengers board the train. There is always the possibility that most of the passengers getting off in Newton that day are singles, leaving mostly single seats free for boarding passengers; or the possibility that you are boarding with a number of parent-with-child duos, who would typically be given priority for pairs of seats over two-adult duos. But for the most part, I think it's *likely* that you would be given two seats together.

 

[the_traveler]

If you are going to New York City, be sure to book to NYP. A few times, you wrote NEW - which is Newark, NJ (also named Penn Station).

 

[Bob Dylan]

You're plan is,a good one, I say go for Coach between Newton and Chicago but instead of riding the Lake Shore, take the Cardinal in a,Roomette on one of the 3 days a week it runs CHI-NYP, or the Cap Ltd. CHI-WAS, ( usually cheaper Roomettes) then either a Regional( Biz Class) or Acela ( First Class is a treat) if you have the points up the NEC to NYC.

 

[tomfuller]

If you wanted to save some points, you could take the Capitol Limited in roomette to Pittsburgh and then take the Pennsylvanian east from PGH to NYP in coach.

Last year my wife and I took the Cap Limited from Chicago to Erie in Business Class (paid cash). We got triple AGR points both ways.

 

[the_traveler]

Last year my wife and I took the Cap Limited from Chicago to Erie in Business Class

You must have some connections! Erie is not served by the CL, only by the LSL.

 

[Eric S]

If you are going to New York City, be sure to book to NYP. A few times, you wrote NEW - which is Newark, NJ (also named Penn Station).

NEW = Newton (KS), where they may board the Southwest Chief.

 

[the_traveler]

My apologies!

 

[Lonestar648]

Getting two coach seats together on the SWC in Newton should not be a problem since seats are assigned and there are many getting off. Advantage to the LSL is its late departure in case you want more time and a good dinner in Chicago.