How to ride Amtrak for free

[PaulM]

The claim, frequently heard here and elsewhere, that Amtrak is not for business travel prompts this post. The following is a list of business trips I have made, including who paid for it.

DC - NY 2 round trips (TRW Systems)

Boston to Albany section of the LSL, transfer to slumber coach to Chicago, bicycle to Milwaukee (Factory Mutual Research and Engineering)

Boston to Albany section of the LSL, transfer to slumber coach to Toledo (U. of Toledo)

Airline StL to Denver, Desert Wind to LA (McDonnell Douglas)

SWC Pasadena to KC, Ann Rutledge KC to StL - 3 or 4 times- (McDonnell Douglas)

Phoenix - St. Louis, SL/TE - McDonnell Douglas

Bus Mobile to NO, SL to LA (prior to extension to Florida), SWC to Chicago, Metra to western suburb, Metra to Chi Union Station, Ann Rutledge to StL (McDonnell Douglas)

Bicycle StL to Bloomington, Illinois Service to Chi, Illinois Service to St. Louis (McDonnell Douglas)

St. Louis - Vancouver: combined vacation with business meeting in Vancouver: Auto to Malta, MT, EB to Everett, Bus to Vancouver (before the days of the Cascade), ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island, bus to Victoria, Bus to Sidney, ferry to Anacortes, WA, taxi to Mt. Vernon, WA, bus to Everett, EB to Malta, auto to StL (U Mo StL)

River Cities St. Louis to New Orleans and return - Portable Sanitation International.

St. Louis - San Antonio: TE round trip (U Mo StL)

Illinois Service to Chi, International to Toronto; return same way (U Mo StL)

Airline StL to Montreal, Ocean Limited to Halifax; return same way (U Mo StL)

KC Mule StL to KC, bicycle to Lincoln, NE, return via CZ to Chi and Illinois Service to StL (U Mo StL)

EB Seattle to Chi, IZ to Quincy (Quincy College)

IZ Quincy - Chi, bicycle to Merrillville, IN. Return: auto to Gary, South Shore to Chi, IZ to Quincy (American Production & Inventory Control Society)

My favorite was the LA to StL trips for McDonnell Douglas. Meetings at the Long Beach plant would always end on Thursdays so one could get up at the crack of dawn on Friday to catch the 7:00AM flight back to StL, which arrived just about quitting time. Rather than do this, I would go bicycling on the beach or hiking in the Los Angeles National Forest and then catch the SWC in Pasadena after sneaking a swim in a nearby motel (before the days of sleeping car showers). Enjoying a steak dinner as we cruised down the middle of the Foothills Expressway overlooking the city lights below and then relaxing in the lounge car sure beat any other alternative. The accountants never batted an eyelash; besides if I felt like it, I could get a lot of work done with my laptop.

Only downside to all this is that if you are married, the spouse has to agree to be left behind or you have to pay, but of course only for the rail fare, not the sleeping car accommodations. Unfortunately, the gravy train (no pun intended), but not my train travel, ended when I retired. Among other trips are

IZ Quincy to Chi, CL to Connelsvile, bike to Morganton, WV, car to Cumberland, MD, bike to DC, Owl to Boston, MBTA Red Line to Milton and return, LSL to Chi, IZ to Quincy.

Pioneer Denver - Pocatello, bus to W Yellowstone, MT, bicycle to West Glacier, EB to Chicago, IZ to Quincy

Auto Quincy to Burlington, IA, CZ/Pioneer to Seattle, bicycle to Portland, CS to Davis, CZ to Burlington, Burlington Trailways bus to Quincy

IZ Quincy to Chi, CL to Pittsburgh, bicycle to DC, CL to Chi, IZ to Quincy

CZ Galesburg to Davis, CS to Oxnard, PSL Ventura to LA, SWC to Galesburg

IZ Quincy to Chi, EB to Sea (1st westbound over the CP after the flood), bike to Everett via Port Angeles, WA, Cowichan Lake, BC, San Juan Islands, and Whidbey Island, EB to Chi, IZ to Quincy

 

[Cascadia]

Those were a bunch of great business trips on the train! You should come back to the Northwest now that we do have the Cascades service and it is being expanded this fall.

I met a guy out here who was from D.C. and was an aide to an Alaskan senator. He didn't fly, and would travel to Alaska by taking the train to Bellingham, and then the Alaska Ferry.

 

[PaulM]

You should come back to the Northwest now that we do have the Cascades service and it is being expanded this fall.

In fact I just returned from a trip to the Northwest. Unfortunately I had to pay for it since I'm retired.

Trip report at http://marlinpg.home.comcast.net/WA/

 

[Cascadia]

You should come back to the Northwest now that we do have the Cascades service and it is being expanded this fall.

In fact I just returned from a trip to the Northwest. Unfortunately I had to pay for it since I'm retired.

Trip report at http://marlinpg.home.comcast.net/WA/

NICE TRIP! You went to a lot of spectacular places and the weather was superb! It's pouring today but I'm glad cause we really need it.

I will save that link and look at it at my boyfriend's in Vancouver where the pictures will load a little faster, I'm on dialup here. That first photo of the alpine meadow - NICE!

Thanks for posting, so glad you got to take that great trip to a great part of the world!

 

[Everydaymatters]

My free trips were from around 2000 to 2004. The U.S. Government paid for my Amtrak trips from Chicago to Washington D.C. The government also provided meals and lodging for the 4 to 10 days I was there each time.

I was a research patient at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. As a result of these trips, which were made by myself and 70 or so others, a common protein was discovered in people with an incurable lung disease. Hopefully, this will lead to further research and a cure for pulmonary fibrosis.

Your tax dollars at work making this a better world. I'm glad I was able to be a small part of it.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

If you were in a Slumbercoach that musta been a while back.

 

[inspiration100]

Blast man, what kind of job do you have? I take it your an engineer? Congrats on all those trips, my mouth is watering.

 

[PaulM]

Blast man, what kind of job do you have? I take it your an engineer? Congrats on all those trips, my mouth is watering.

For a minute I thought you meant an engineer, as in train driver. Actually, I am long since retired. In those days I moved around a lot, before it was fashionable or necessary. I was a computer programmer, statistician, manufacturing systems analyst, and college professor.

Realistically, it wasn't the kind of job I had, rather the life style choices I made. As I said in the original post, my colleges got up at the crack of dawn on Friday to get that early flight back to St. Louis. I chose to enjoy myself in the LA area and then take the train back on Friday evening.

One nice side effect is that since I turned business trips into mini vacations, I didn't need to spend a lot on expensive vacations. Thus I could step up my train riding since I retired.

If you were in a Slumbercoach that musta been a while back.

Yep. It was '78 and '79.

 

[Ispolkom]

If you were in a Slumbercoach that musta been a while back.

Yep. It was '78 and '79.

But the slumbercoaches were used up through the mid 90s at least, which hardly counts as a while back in my book. I remember a couple of trips from Washington to Atlanta in them. I loved them, except for that whole sitting facing the toilet thing.

 

[PaulM]

But the slumber coaches were used up through the mid 90s at least, which hardly counts as a while back in my book.

That's right. I do remember a trip in 1994 that went from Quincy, IL to Mobile via the Illinois Zephyr, Cardinal, Crescent, and the dearly departed Gulf Breeze. The Crescent still had slumber coaches. Unfortunately, only the QCY - CHI was paid for by someone else.

 

[inspiration100]

For a minute I thought you meant an engineer, as in train driver

Well... that is one way to get free train travel with your job

 

[Zevzec]

Business trips taken on Amtrak:

PGH-NYP roundtrip

PGH-WAS 4 or 5 roundtrips

PGH-BAL 3 or 4 times via CL & NEC (several times, due to family schedule, I have taken Amtrak eastbound and then returned via air)

PGH-MSP roundtrip

PGH-PHL roundtrip and another PGH-NYP roundtrip coming soon.

 

[transit54]

Just booked my first business trip on Amtrak on Monday. Fort Lauderdale (FTL) - Rutland, VT (RUD) via the Silver Meteor and the Ethan Allen. Have a roomette on the former. I don't get to travel all that much for work, but there's a conference down in Fort Lauderdale in February. When I was asked if I'd like to go, the train immediately came to mind. I'm flying down, namely because I'd have to take a vacation day if I wanted to take the train, but the conference ends on a Friday, so I can use the weekend to get back to Burlington. Still haven't quite figured out how I'm getting between Rutland and Burlington, though - the Ethan Allen can't get extended soon enough!

But I'd suspect that more people take Amtrak LD for business than you think. If you have the time, I can't think of a better way to get around. One thing I wish Amtrak would do, though, is allow for a reservation to be split between multiple credit cards. I did this routinely for people when I worked at JetBlue, and I'm willing to bet most other carriers do it too. That way, if one was to bring someone else along, the second rail fare could get billed to a personal credit card and your rail fare/accommodation charge could get billed to the company card. Sure, one could charge it all to their own card and seek reimbursement, but it would just be so much easier to split the charge (at least as far as my employer does things). I ran into this because I wanted to pay for the Ethan Allen ticket separately, since including it in the charge to the company would make the trip significantly more than airfare. I ended up just booking two separate reservations and I'm going to have Amtrak link them for a guaranteed connection.

 

[John Bredin]

I've taken several business trips on Amtrak at my employers' expense, including long-distance trains the entire length of the route.

*Several round-trips Chicago-Washington DC on the Capitol Limited, leaving CHI Thursday and returning from WAS Saturday, for semi-annual two-day (Fri. afternoon & Sat. morning) conferences.

*Chicago-New Orleans for a convention. Alas, I flew back after the convention and regretted it.

For these trips, my employer paid for coach tickets and I upgraded to sleeper on the train at my expense.

*Three round-trips Chicago-Galesburg for a case at the Knox County Courthouse. Very glad for the ability to go round-trip since the Carl Sandburg was added in 2006, although on one trip court ended earlier than expected and I came back on one of the California trains (don't recall if it was the Chief or Zephyr).

Did anyone notice PaulM's loooong bicycle rides in the initial posting? Someone said their mouth was watering from all those trips, but my tukkus was aching from reading it.

 

[AlanB]

One thing I wish Amtrak would do, though, is allow for a reservation to be split between multiple credit cards. I did this routinely for people when I worked at JetBlue, and I'm willing to bet most other carriers do it too. That way, if one was to bring someone else along, the second rail fare could get billed to a personal credit card and your rail fare/accommodation charge could get billed to the company card. Sure, one could charge it all to their own card and seek reimbursement, but it would just be so much easier to split the charge (at least as far as my employer does things). I ran into this because I wanted to pay for the Ethan Allen ticket separately, since including it in the charge to the company would make the trip significantly more than airfare. I ended up just booking two separate reservations and I'm going to have Amtrak link them for a guaranteed connection.

I believe that an agent can split the costs between payment methods, but it cannot be done via the online booking system. And I hope it didn't cost you too much extra by making two seperate reservations. Ordinarily you should have gotten at least a sligh discount by booking the Ethan as a connecting train.

 

[saxman]

I've met a few people that take Amtrak long distance for business. It seems like its mostly guys that are self-employed or own a small business where they can go wherever they please on their own schedule. My friend travels a lot for his photography business and does pretty well. He doesn't really take the train though, but he certainly could based on his schedule. He works mostly on weekends doing weddings. I'd love that kind of schedule. Spend the entire week on trains going to different locations for the weekend.

 

[transit54]

I believe that an agent can split the costs between payment methods, but it cannot be done via the online booking system. And I hope it didn't cost you too much extra by making two seperate reservations. Ordinarily you should have gotten at least a sligh discount by booking the Ethan as a connecting train.

Before I booked, I called Amtrak and asked and they had told me they couldn't. Of course, I know the general rule is that if you don't get the answer you want, call, call again. I didn't try asking another agent because it wasn't that big a deal. I checked the prices and if there was a discount, it was too small for me to notice. But it would be nice to know if they did have this capability.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Like Saxman most of the business travelers Ive met on the LD trains were self employed or on the way to conferences/conventions. Did meet a couple of professional photographers also, guess theres something about trains and pics as we all know! As has been mentioned before I used to ride the old metroliners and the Acelas on the NEC instead of the dreaded NE Shuttle whenever I could and my fellow employees didnt get it! Of course I rode the Red Line to work for years, still think WAS has a first rate metro system, compares with any in the world IMHO!! And the NEC is first rate transportation, closest thing to crack trains in the rest of the world, we need more like it!

 

[wayman]

Business trips taken on Amtrak:

Right now I live just outside West Philadelphia (on the R3, which is south of the Keystone line) and work in Norristown (on the R6, which is north of the Keystone line; also on the old P&W). So by rail, my commute home is R6 into Philly, R3 out.

Having just met a co-worker who drives home in a direction that takes her past Paoli, I hit upon the following new plan: get a ride with her from Norristown to Paoli, then take the Keystone into Philly, R3 out. If this works in practice, I'll be able to ride PAO-PHL several days a week as part of my daily commute

I won't get re-imbursed for it from work, but it'll still be pretty nice.

But I very nearly got work to pay for a trip PHL-PGH and back last week, for me and the candidate -- for a few scheduling reasons it didn't work out, but I think this may happen on a trip sometime in early 2010.

 

[Tim_Metra]

I take Amtrak for business travel all the time: Chicago-Omaha, Chicago-Hammond LA, Chicago-Harrisburg, Chicago - Wilimington, and Chicago - Dallas. Wireless Internet has changed everthing! The time on the train is not wasted time. Flying has become expensive and real "pain-in-the-butt".

 

[PaulM]

Did anyone notice PaulM's loooong bicycle rides in the initial posting? Someone said their mouth was watering from all those trips, but my tukkus was aching from reading it.

Some people drive a car to a fitness center to toughen up parts of their body. Others ride a bicycle to toughen up another part of the anatomy.

 

[transit54]

I take Amtrak for business travel all the time: Chicago-Omaha, Chicago-Hammond LA, Chicago-Harrisburg, Chicago - Wilimington, and Chicago - Dallas. Wireless Internet has changed everthing! The time on the train is not wasted time. Flying has become expensive and real "pain-in-the-butt".

Yeah, I just picked up a USB cellular modem myself. It does make a huge difference. Just got off a Metro-North train and spent the entire 80 minute ride getting things done. Of course, Amtrak just really needs to start offering wi-fi on board.

 

[jmbgeg]

I take Amtrak for business travel all the time: Chicago-Omaha, Chicago-Hammond LA, Chicago-Harrisburg, Chicago - Wilimington, and Chicago - Dallas. Wireless Internet has changed everthing! The time on the train is not wasted time. Flying has become expensive and real "pain-in-the-butt".

Travel from my market is all long distance. Still, I have been able to take every business trip since 2006 on Amtrak. Granted, I am a (minor) partner in our company, but that elevates my need for justification of travel costs and time off.

I use a combination of weekend days and vacation to cover the time in excess of what plane travel would require. I personally pay for all costs above the price for coach airfare. Glad to.