Illini and Saluki Questions

[Tennessee Traveler]

Since I live in Nashville, TN, I am thinking of driving to Carbondale, IL, and doing a day trip from Carbondale to Chicago as a points run. If you have ridden these trains, I would like to know if business class is that much of an upgrade over coach class. It is much more expensive. $28.90 senior coach vs over $100 for business depending on the day.

This will be my first time visiting Carbondale. I plan to park in long term parking at the station. Is this safe and do you need to register your car with the Amtrak station personnel?

Other than Pacific Surfliners, my travel has been mainly on LD Western Superliner routes.

 

[Gumby]

There is a parking lot for long term parking there. Arrive plenty early so you can fill out the slip of paper and register your car for parking.

There is a jimmy john's, DQ, and a pizza place within a block or two of the station. Otherwise, all the other "major's" (McD's, BK, Arby's etc) are a short drive east on HWY 13

 

[lstone19]

Since I live in Nashville, TN, I am thinking of driving to Carbondale, IL, and doing a day trip from Carbondale to Chicago as a points run. If you have ridden these trains, I would like to know if business class is that much of an upgrade over coach class. It is much more expensive. $28.90 senior coach vs over $100 for business depending on the day.

For a few dollars, probably worth it. For that much, no way. You'd have to drink a lot of sodas or coffee to get your money's worth. Yes, the seat is a little nicer and it's a more private atmosphere but it's not that much nicer.

 

[PaulM]

I'm not exactly sure how Illinois service's BC works; but it sounds like you are comparing low bucket coach with high(er) bucket coach plus BC supplement. Checking amsnag, I see that low bucket coach is $34; high(er) bucket on 9/14 is $88, and BC is fixed at $26. So if you add coach and the BC supplement, you get $60 and $114, respectively.

My rule on the IZ/CS route is that the $22 supplement is worth it if the BC car isn't right behind the engine.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

Paul M, you are correct. The only difference for me is that I do get a senior discount off off the coach fare. Also, apparently on the particular trips I wanted BC was only available with the higher bucket. I went ahead today and booked the BC since this is my first time on this route from Carbondale to Chicago and return.

Thanks for all the responses. They are helpful.

 

[Steve4031]

In my experience booking bc the supplement is always paired to the higher bucket coach fare. This makes bc expensive for what you get. The seats are significantly better than in coach.

Once the bilevels come out I'm done with bc unless the fares come down.

 

[Larry H.]

I take the Saluki a few times a year. They used to charge around 35.00 for business. When I went the last trip four or so months ago it was 100.00 as mentioned. Frankly the pricing structure is getting totally out of control. It turned out it was a week end when the college was on a break, the return the cafe attendant who services the BC as well said that the price on some runs is 50.00 range, so the day or business is also a factor. I liked it better when the rail roads posted a fare and every one paid the same.. The car is right behind the engine on some runs, on others it has been toward the rear. Having less people to contend with is a plus if you value some privacy.

 

[MARC Rider]

In my experience booking bc the supplement is always paired to the higher bucket coach fare. This makes bc expensive for what you get. The seats are significantly better than in coach.

Once the bilevels come out I'm done with bc unless the fares come down.

That's interesting, because on the NEC (Northeast regionals), the BC charge is more or less constant, and the total price depends on the coach fare available at the time you book the reservation.

 

[Steve4031]

This has happened with the App and phone reservations.

 

[PaulM]

In my experience booking bc the supplement is always paired to the higher bucket coach fare. This makes bc expensive for what you get. The seats are significantly better than in coach.

Not necessarily true. When I spotted the $34 coach fare with amsnag mentioned above, I clicked through to amtrak.com, selected BC, added it to the cart, and the total was $60.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

In my experience booking bc the supplement is always paired to the higher bucket coach fare. This makes bc expensive for what you get. The seats are significantly better than in coach.

Not necessarily true. When I spotted the $34 coach fare with amsnag mentioned above, I clicked through to amtrak.com, selected BC, added it to the cart, and the total was $60.

That only works lately for the afternoon departure from Carbondale and the morning departure from Chicago. For some reason the morning departure from Carbondale and the afternoon departure from Chicago(the ones I will travel on) are $100+. Of course this is much cheaper than spending a night in a downtown Chicago hotel.