New York to San Fran - Multiple stops?

[Patrick]

Hey, I am heading to New York in November and planning on travelling across America mostly by rail. I will be doing this over 4-6 weeks I have found Amtrak tickets that do this route, but I would like to pick and choose where I want to stop along the way and perhaps stay in the town for a week or so if I like that place.

Is there a flexible ticket that allows for this? Or do I have to buy each leg of my trip separately?

Any help would be fantastic! And if anyone has any recommendations on where to go, or the most scenic train routes please let me know.

Regards Patrick

 

[Bob Dylan]

Hey, I am heading to New York in November and planning on travelling across America mostly by rail. I will be doing this over 4-6 weeks I have found Amtrak tickets that do this route, but I would like to pick and choose where I want to stop along the way and perhaps stay in the town for a week or so if I like that place.
Is there a flexible ticket that allows for this? Or do I have to buy each leg of my trip separately?

Any help would be fantastic! And if anyone has any recommendations on where to go, or the most scenic train routes please let me know.

Regards Patrick

:hi: Welcome to AU, please consider joining this Forum as a Member, it's Free and has all kind of Good Bennies!

What you want to do is Purchase a 30 Day/12 Segment or 45 Day Rail Pass from Amtrak which must be used within Six Months of Purchase and is good for 45 Days of Coach Travel with 18 Segments of Travel allowed! (every Train or Amtrak Thruway Bus you take is One Segment, ie New York to New Orleans(Train), Emeryville to San Francisco(Bus) etc.)) You must make your Reservations for each Segment of Travel in Advance and Upgrades to Sleepers or business Class are allowed when you Pay the Applicable Upgrade Charge!

If you would give us an idea of your Interests and which Cities and Sights you most have in mind to Visit we can better give you Suggested Routes, Places to Stay, Visit etc.

 

[jld]

recently did that route in reverse by connecting to the California Zephyr for the smaller triweekly Cardinal in Chicago. stayed over in Glenwood Springs, CO and it was a very nice town with lots of outdoor activities, including a famous hot springs, and is the home of doc holiday's gravesite, and decent dining options. there are similar towns in the sierra nevadas and the rockies that can also be viable to spend a few nights.

if you do longer stretches at a time, booking each leg separately and getting the roommette instead of the coach railpass will avail you of free soft drinks, included meals, showers, and other creature comforts that is nicer than coach, which is what we did. east of denver there wasn't as much to see besides the crossing of the Mississippi, though the Cardinal passed through the impressive New River Gorge, which will be spectacular with the fall foliage

you can also take the Lake Shore Limited from Chicago direct to NY but my understanding is that it rides along the great Lake at night, which kills the namesake. another option from Chicago is taking the Capitol Ltd to DC (with Harpers Ferry being a great stop, which is also accessible by MARC commuter rail to DC) and switching to go up the northeast corridor, but the Cardinal would save you that extra transfer. if you have the time, another route is going north on the coast starlight and across glacier natl park on the empire builder to chicago, but I'm not sure how the weather would be like up there then.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

Hey, I am heading to New York in November and planning on travelling across America mostly by rail. I will be doing this over 4-6 weeks I have found Amtrak tickets that do this route, but I would like to pick and choose where I want to stop along the way and perhaps stay in the town for a week or so if I like that place.
Is there a flexible ticket that allows for this? Or do I have to buy each leg of my trip separately?

Any help would be fantastic! And if anyone has any recommendations on where to go, or the most scenic train routes please let me know.

Regards Patrick

:hi: Welcome to AU, please consider joining this Forum as a Member, it's Free and has all kind of Good Bennies!

What you want to do is Purchase a 45 Day Rail Pass from Amtrak which must be used within Six Months of Purchase and is good for 45 Days of Coach Travel with 12 Segments of Travel allowed! (every Train or Amtrak Thruway Bus you take is One Segment, ie New York to New Orleans(Train), Emeryville to San Francisco(Bus) etc.)) You must make your Reservations for each Segment of Travel in Advance and Upgrades to Sleepers or business Class are allowed when you Pay the Applicable Upgrade Charge!

If you would give us an idea of your Interests and which Cities and Sights you most have in mind to Visit we can better give you Suggested Routes, Places to Stay, Visit etc.

Just to clear up a little, the 45-day rail pass has 18 segments. The 30 day has the 12 segments. The only issue you need to watch for is to not take the same train more than 4 times during your trip. They have a good example on the pass page of the website.

 

[user 1215]

Hey, I am heading to New York in November and planning on travelling across America mostly by rail. I will be doing this over 4-6 weeks I have found Amtrak tickets that do this route, but I would like to pick and choose where I want to stop along the way and perhaps stay in the town for a week or so if I like that place.
Is there a flexible ticket that allows for this? Or do I have to buy each leg of my trip separately?

Any help would be fantastic! And if anyone has any recommendations on where to go, or the most scenic train routes please let me know.

Regards Patrick

:hi: Welcome to AU, please consider joining this Forum as a Member, it's Free and has all kind of Good Bennies!

What you want to do is Purchase a 45 Day Rail Pass from Amtrak which must be used within Six Months of Purchase and is good for 45 Days of Coach Travel with 12 Segments of Travel allowed! (every Train or Amtrak Thruway Bus you take is One Segment, ie New York to New Orleans(Train), Emeryville to San Francisco(Bus) etc.)) You must make your Reservations for each Segment of Travel in Advance and Upgrades to Sleepers or business Class are allowed when you Pay the Applicable Upgrade Charge!

If you would give us an idea of your Interests and which Cities and Sights you most have in mind to Visit we can better give you Suggested Routes, Places to Stay, Visit etc.

Just to clear up a little, the 45-day rail pass has 18 segments. The 30 day has the 12 segments. The only issue you need to watch for is to not take the same train more than 4 times during your trip. They have a good example on the pass page of the website.

Hi June,

That's not accurate. You can take 18 segments on the same train, so long as you don't go between any city pair or inbetween those city pairs more than 4 times. According to the rules,

Travel is restricted to four one-way trips between two cities, and to all cities in between, over the same route. For example, the following trips would use up the four trips over the Washington, DC to New York route segment:

• Trip 1: Washington, DC to New YorkTrip 2: New York to Washington, DC
  
  Trip 3: Washington, DC to Philadelphia
  
  Trip 4: Philadelphia to Washington, DC
  

That means that I could spend my 45 days and 18 segments on ONE TRAIN like the California Zephyr and spend the night at every other stop and never ride another train.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

Hey, I am heading to New York in November and planning on travelling across America mostly by rail. I will be doing this over 4-6 weeks I have found Amtrak tickets that do this route, but I would like to pick and choose where I want to stop along the way and perhaps stay in the town for a week or so if I like that place.
Is there a flexible ticket that allows for this? Or do I have to buy each leg of my trip separately?

Any help would be fantastic! And if anyone has any recommendations on where to go, or the most scenic train routes please let me know.

Regards Patrick

:hi: Welcome to AU, please consider joining this Forum as a Member, it's Free and has all kind of Good Bennies!

What you want to do is Purchase a 45 Day Rail Pass from Amtrak which must be used within Six Months of Purchase and is good for 45 Days of Coach Travel with 12 Segments of Travel allowed! (every Train or Amtrak Thruway Bus you take is One Segment, ie New York to New Orleans(Train), Emeryville to San Francisco(Bus) etc.)) You must make your Reservations for each Segment of Travel in Advance and Upgrades to Sleepers or business Class are allowed when you Pay the Applicable Upgrade Charge!

If you would give us an idea of your Interests and which Cities and Sights you most have in mind to Visit we can better give you Suggested Routes, Places to Stay, Visit etc.

Just to clear up a little, the 45-day rail pass has 18 segments. The 30 day has the 12 segments. The only issue you need to watch for is to not take the same train more than 4 times during your trip. They have a good example on the pass page of the website.

Hi June,

That's not accurate. You can take 18 segments on the same train, so long as you don't go between any city pair or inbetween those city pairs more than 4 times. According to the rules,

Travel is restricted to four one-way trips between two cities, and to all cities in between, over the same route. For example, the following trips would use up the four trips over the Washington, DC to New York route segment:

• Trip 1: Washington, DC to New YorkTrip 2: New York to Washington, DC
  
  Trip 3: Washington, DC to Philadelphia
  
  Trip 4: Philadelphia to Washington, DC
  

That means that I could spend my 45 days and 18 segments on ONE TRAIN like the California Zephyr and spend the night at every other stop and never ride another train.

That clarification is good to know. I was always under the assumption that the "all cities inbetween: meant that each time you stopped was counted as part of the four trips.

 

[BCL]

It seems odd to me that anyone would actually use a valuable "segment" on something like a bus trip. The SFC-EMY bus trip is worth about $6. I might be possible to reserve something like SFC-MTZ as a multi-city. I found that I could set up a 5006 bus SFC-EMY and 714 San Joaquin EMY-MTZ for $11 (San Joaquin is cheaper than anything else). Then book the CZ segment from Emerville normally using the rail pass.

The breakdown I saw for that combination this Saturday was $1.53 for the bus and $9.47 for the train. Then the train segment will either automatically be refunded for a no-show or one could get a refund as an eVoucher.

Will the system allow for such double booking? I'm thinking it can if someone doesn't log in with an Amtrak user account.

 

[chakk]

If doing this sort of cross-country trip on the CZ, and you are a rail buff of sorts, then I would suggest stopping over at Omaha, NE, Denver, CO, perhaps Fraser, CO, Glenwood Springs, CO, perhaps Salt Lake City, UT, Reno, NV, Truckee, CA, and Sacramento, CA (with a side visit to Davis, CA using local bus for transit to/from Davis and Sacramento.

 

[Sam314]

Who needs a bus to San Francisco, if there's a ferry from Oakland? http://sanfranciscobayferry.com

Also it's easy to change to the BART trains at Richmond.

But I agree that, as the CZ does not stop at either location you would need to get another train (the Coast Starlight maybe?) or change trains at Sacramento.

 

[BCL]

Who needs a bus to San Francisco, if there's a ferry from Oakland? http://sanfranciscobayferry.comAlso it's easy to change to the BART trains at Richmond.

But I agree that, as the CZ does not stop at either location you would need to get another train (the Coast Starlight maybe?) or change trains at Sacramento.

The bus ride from the Ferry Building includes checked luggage. I understand even if someone splits up tickets, as long as the passenger can show multiple valid tickets to get from point A to point B, one can get the baggage checked in to go from point A to point B.

However, some people actually check in the night before at a hotel in Emeryville or Berkeley and arrive early. Just Thursday I was in Emeryville to take CC, and saw dozens of passengers waiting for CZ #5 to arrive.