How do you describe a train trip to someone used to flying??

[RSG]

When I try to convey the uniqueness I stay positive until I sometimes get the retort, "Wow, I can fly for less than that." Then I know it's a lost cause.

LOL

When it got to that juncture, I would most likely say something like "Well, the bus is even cheaper; what's your point?!"

 

[crabby_appleton1950]

"How do you describe a train trip to someone used to flying??"

One is on the ground, and one is in the air?

 

[NW cannonball]

Like most of us on this forum, I easily prefer to take the train vs flying so long as I'm not in a big hurry to get there, and even THEN, that's up for debate....

I talk about taking the train enough to friends that a lot of them are actually starting to ask serious questions to me about train travel beyond commuter trains and subways.....I try to tell them a long distance train isn't just a way to get there....It's a way to enjoy the journey...and it beats the snot out of driving.

What do you all say when you're asked about your train adventures?

It all depends -- on

A) who's asking and what do they need?

B) where are they planning to go (and when)

C) what travel experiences have they had, what modes?

D) what they personally like (or hate) about particular trips

In any case I don't try to sell anybody on Amtrak. No proselytizing. Waste of time. As others have posted.

For example, a co-worker who already knew that Amtrak from MSP to Wolf Point would be way cheaper than flying and way less stressful than driving . And could sleep on the way in coach after a 12 hour shift. I looked up the on-time performance and showed it to him,

Or, the bus driver (Mohammed) who was amazed that there is a train from MSP to Seattle. For him, it all depends on cost, and maybe with free or half-fare dependents, it might work, he's gotta balance the cost of the fare against taking an extra day off work.

Or, my daughter, who took the EB (and the LSL) several times, but now, with serious college and all, needs the cheapest fastest way to visit her friends in Seattle (from MSP)

In general, for the western LD trains, I say

It's a lot slower, the seating is great, the scenery (and the history and natural history is worth a trip sometime), the roomettes are sometimes cheap, depends what you want.

It just all depends on individual needs, wants.

So, if friends or acquaintances ask, I try to grok what they are looking for. If I think they might enjoy a LD train ride, then maybe we get into the details.

Again YMMV

 

[Tumbleweed]

I tell them it's like traveling in a big RV being driven by someone else.

Excellent analogy! :hi:

 

[jis]

I tell them it's like traveling in a big RV being driven by someone else.

Excellent analogy! :hi:

Except you have zero control over the schedule or where it stops on the way etc. Someone else sets the rules, and if your agenda fits those then great, go for it. If not, find another way. Get a real RV perhaps?

 

[neroden]

Given where I live, I'm generally discussing routes shorter than the transcontinentals. Lake Shore Limited mostly!

 

[jis]

While I understand the point you're trying to make, I'm sure you also know there's a method to the madness of installing improvements like lie-flat seats. (In fact, there's a psychological term for it which I can't think of at the moment.)

The reason that lie flat seats are going into planes that will be used in domestic flights is to improve aircraft utilization. For United using the international 757s on tag on domestic routes have worked so well that they are merely extending that practice to other aircraft types that can potentially be used for intercontinental service. So these aircraft can be used in both international and tag on domestic routes. So I guess I wear a different tinfoil hat than yours and I am not sure what you are getting at.

Since you made a specific claim about seat pitch mentioning First Class specifically, I pointed out that you were wrong. I was not claiming anything further about it. It is unlikely that they will downgrade domestic F soft product, which already is not much to write home anyway. Since the big three are all trying to get people to actually pay for F rather than get there by comp upgrade, they cannot really afford to downgrade the soft product further.

[Edited for clarity.]

I am not sure what you were getting at in the second para of your message since there is no Ryanair here in the US. But anyway....

 

[reppin_the_847]

It has been relatively easy getting family & friends from my old stomping grounds of the Chicago area to come visit me in the Metro Detroit area by taking a corridor Wolverine train over. I typically pick them up in Ann Arbor.

I think Corridor trains & Long Distance trains are really two different categories. Like the Northeast Corridor, we're talking about competing with either driving or a business shuttle flight (or a Megabus / Greyhound for the truly brave & budget conscious).

 

[neroden]

I think Corridor trains & Long Distance trains are really two different categories. Like the Northeast Corridor, we're talking about competing with either driving or a business shuttle flight (or a Megabus / Greyhound for the truly brave & budget conscious).

I'm going to make my usual assertion that the eastern "long distance" trains, even the single-overnight ones, are not in the same category as the two-night transcontinentals. Chicago-Buffalo does technically have plane flights, but really most people drive rather than fly; Amtrak is competing with driving here too.

Actually I think Amtrak is almost always competing with driving.

 

[chakk]

Tell them it's like taxiing on the runway for three straight days, but with the seat belt signs always off.

 

[jis]

Actually I think Amtrak is almost always competing with driving.

This is true of short to medium distance flying too. Let's face it, Driving is the primary mode of transportation in the US. The airlines get to skim off those that are traveling far enough to make driving inconvenient. Short hop hub to spoke flights exist mostly to bring people to connections to longer hops from the hubs and typically not for O/D.

Amtrak LD plays the role of hub (big city) to spoke within reasonable distance, more than small town to small town. In that role it primarily competes with driving. Where it genuinely competes with airlines on long distance it is truly a niche player when you compare the relative numbers.

Corridor service is a different matter, and indeed many of the eastern LDs play at as much as a corridor service in multiple corridors as it does as an LD service.

 

[Bill]

If in a roomette..sit back,relax,drink a beer,look out the window and enjoy and fall asleep.

 

[MiniMax]

American adventure.

 

[Skyline]

When I start talking about trains, many of my friends leave the room. They've already heard it all and are over it.

Seriously, I just say something clever like, "The journey is the destination." If they don't get it, that's my queue to proselytize.

 

[chakk]

And that's when you tell them, "there's something about a train that's magic."

 

[FormerOBS]

Tell them it's like taxiing on the runway for three straight days, but with the seat belt signs always off.

At the beginning of a trip, passengers would sometimes ask me "What time do we take off?"

I would answer, "We don't. We taxi all the way."

Tom

 

[chakk]

And some folks don't understand the speed of travel, either. A fellow passenger in my sleeper I met on the SWC while boarding in Los Angeles last January thought this train would get to Chicago in 5 hours, where he would then transfer to the LSL to Albany, NY.

 

[Paul CHI]

Different things interest different people. I personally find the leisurely trip through eastern Montana on the EB beautiful. These are blackbirds by the thousands.