New York to San Francisco, or the other way around?

[BCL]

Hi, welcome fellow Pennsylvanian. I don't believe 10 ride tickets work like that. They are intended for commuters on shorter, frequent corridor rides. If you are looking to ride long distance you would need to make your itinerary and make individual reservations with your stops in mind. An option is to buy a USA Rail Pass ($500) which does allow stopovers, yet you still would need reservatons for each segment. Sorry, they don't make it easy.

It used to be a lot easier back when a multi-ride was a workaround to get on an otherwise fully booked train. And I think on some routes they allowed them to be used for multiple passengers as long as the passholder was one of them. Five passengers might go round-trip with a single 10-ride pass.

 

[joelkfla]

I think @sp001 actually meant the Rail Pass, as it allows 10 segments or "rides", but isn't familiar with the terminology.

​

 

[Cal H]

New here also.....and also want to do this trip but we were thinking of buying the 10 ride ticket so we can get on and off where we want.
Anybody do this?

This sounds like the rail pass. If so, my wife & I used it last fall. We had a great time and it was a pretty good deal. As others have said - it is not a “hop on- hop off” like a tourist bus, but with a bit of planning you can make it operate kinda sorta like that.
Please clarify for us the ticket/pass you are referring too and I’m sure you’ll get lots of good info!

 

[BCL]

I think @sp001 actually meant the Rail Pass, as it allows 10 segments or "rides", but isn't familiar with the terminology.

​

Yeah - I was a bit confused with the reference to a "10 ride". Most here would call it the USA Rail Pass or at least refer to it as "10 segments". Plus "on and off" sounded like it could be about random times. But then "doing this trip" didn't necessarily make sense in that context.

As for the pass, there are some things that might be considered, such as bus segments counting as a whole segment if one wants to maximize the use of segments. Haven't some people decided against using the rail pass to reserve a bus segment and just bought a separate ticket for the bus (with a throwaway train segment) just to preserve the rail pass segment to use on a longer train ride? I know there's a lot of talk about that for Emeryville or Oakland to San Francisco.

 

[Cal H]

As for the pass, there are some things that might be considered, such as bus segments counting as a whole segment if one wants to maximize the use of segments. Haven't some people decided against using the rail pass to reserve a bus segment and just bought a separate ticket for the bus (with a throwaway train segment) just to preserve the rail pass segment to use on a longer train ride? I know there's a lot of talk about that for Emeryville or Oakland to San Francisco.

Absolutely. If you are wanting to maximize the value of the pass you compare the cost of any short segments to the cost per segment of the pass ($50). When my wife & I traveled from LA to Merced and back (2 segments each way) - those segments were very cheap to pay with cash, saving the 4 pass segments for the longer overnight runs on the SWC, CS, CZ & CNOL.

Now, I have looked into a California pass (7 trips over 21 days I think). I just haven't put together an itinerary that works for us yet. I'm sure it exists, I just haven't found it

 

[sp001]

Ok yes I was talking about the rail pass. We would plan out the entire trip and make all the reservations ahead of time. Seems like the best way to see a lot.

 

[Cal H]

Ok yes I was talking about the rail pass. We would plan out the entire trip and make all the reservations ahead of time. Seems like the best way to see a lot.

Super! If you can make it work for you the rail pass is a great way to travel and see a lot of the country

When we started to look into Amtrak travel we watched a bunch of youtube videos. There are tons of them out there and I would encourage you to watch a bunch of them. One couple that we liked a lot was under the name of "Grounded Life Travel". This couple have a lot of videos covering nearly all aspects of the Amtrak experience - good & bad, coach & sleeper accomodations and many route specific videos.

Regarding the pass, and the first question to ask yourself is - are you ok with overnight travel in coach? Our attitude going in was we've done it in an airplane so we could overnight on a train. As a couple of seniors though, we didn't want to do 2 or 3 nights in a row in coach - so we spent one day/night aboard and then got off to spend 2-3 nights (usually) before continuing on. We made it work and it worked out very well for us. So much so that I hope we can do it again in 2025.

So, the ball is in your court. Tell us where you plan to start and end your trip and where you want to go in between and maybe what you want to see. And, when you want to do your travel.

One last thing when you start thinking about where you might go. If your plans include staying in any of the major cities - there will be "a lot" of people (not so much on this forum) that are nay sayers - don't go to Atlanta, or New Orleans, or LA, or San Francisco - they are crime ridden hell-holes of homelessness. Take what they say with a grain (or bucket) of salt. My wife & I stayed in ATL, NOL, CHI, ABQ, LA, Berkeley, Denver, DC and a few other places. We enjoyed visiting each and every one of them and plan to do them all again as we are able

 

[BCL]

Absolutely. If you are wanting to maximize the value of the pass you compare the cost of any short segments to the cost per segment of the pass ($50). When my wife & I traveled from LA to Merced and back (2 segments each way) - those segments were very cheap to pay with cash, saving the 4 pass segments for the longer overnight runs on the SWC, CS, CZ & CNOL.

Now, I have looked into a California pass (7 trips over 21 days I think). I just haven't put together an itinerary that works for us yet. I'm sure it exists, I just haven't found it

When paid with cash fares, the bus ride from Oakland or Emeryville might have been included or was perhaps something like 50 cents or a dollar.

The California Rail Pass is actually 7 days of travel over a 21 consecutive day period. So it's very possible to get a lot of rides for each day of travel. But then there's the fine print.

https://www.amtrak.com/california-rail-pass​

Details​

• The California Rail Pass is valid for travel on any 7 days during a consecutive 21-day period.
• Travel during any part of a calendar day counts as using that day.
• Travel is limited to not more than four one-way journeys on a given route segment.
• The pass is not transferable and must be used within one year of purchase.

I haven't really had that much experience with it, but I did talk to someone who worked at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and used Amtrak to commute from her home. I think she said near Fairfield, California which is on the Capitol Corridor route. I was kind of confused because she was commuting during a weekday and there was no event, but she said they do food prep for a whole week before any event like a football game. Not sure why she asked me, but she asked about the California Rail Pass and how she might use it to save on her commute. The rules are supposed to prevent it from being used by commuters. Her problem was that they limit the number of specific route segments to four during the entire period of the pass. I think the workaround is to extend the stations so that it's not the same "route segment".

I've never had a problem using tickets that had endpoints beyond a route. My typical ride was Emeryville to Santa Clara-Great America, but the 10-ride price for Berkeley to Santa Clara was the same. I've boarded northbound on Pacific Surfliner in LA Union Station even if my ticket specified Anaheim.

 

[Sidney]

It's a really great deal if you get in on the $299 super sale. It ran in Jan this year.
You have to book each little trip just like you were paying even though you have the pass. It isn't a 'walkon' and ride deal.
I did it once, it was a lot of fun.

I purchased the pass at $299 during the sale I plan using it in April. No more than one night on the train and motels around $60 to $70 a mile or less from the stations. This is my fourth pass.

 

[Traveller]

Wow.
You guys really are so kind and helpful. My wife and I genuinely appreciate the time you take to help and we will carefully look at your very helpful suggestions.
With regards accommodations in SF. Well we had not considered staying just outside of the city and taking the BART in,. It’s something we shall look at, Thanks Bob.
Thinking about Hotels in LA, my good wife is almost settled upon the Roosevelt in Hollywood, given we fly out of LAX and do not intend renting a car (you drive on the wrong side,far to complicated for us ) the Roosevelt is close to the Metro station and would represent ease and convenience for us. ??
Thank you Joe, yes we have visited Grand Central in NYC, what an extraordinary wonderful place, but never the transit museum in Brooklyn. Thanks for that one, something for us to look at indeed.
BCL, your food recommendations are really helpful. We do particularly enjoy Asian food,and so will almost certainly follow your advice and have a good look around Chinatown.Cheeseboard Pizza and U Desserts also sound very appealing and will be something we look into. Many thanks for taking the time that you have to offer such fantastic suggestions.
Steve z, my wife in particular loves Italian cuisine.We were not aware of the Columbus ave Italian area, …It’s very likely we shall be giving that a try.
For my part I’m a bit of a craft beer fan. Whilst not a knowledgeable one by any means I’d love to perhaps learn a little more by sampling some local offerings. Are any of you very helpful people able to recommend decent hostelries, where I may imbibe ? I’m thinking central, downtown areas, as we won’t have a car and so don’t wish to stagger too far back to the hotel.
Cheers all

Hello Karl, you've come to the right place for help and opinions on travelling Amtrak, nothing like the AU forum anywhere.

Only one suggestion for you as there is plenty of advice here to cover all your trip, and all worth considering. If you like some fun and something not seen anywhere else try a half day at least in Venice Beach, LA.
If I were to say it's the California Blackpool on steroids but in the sun, maybe that gives a clue. Best people watching anywhere, and so much of it. If you stand at the end of Route 66 on Santa Monica Pier you can walk north along the cliff top through the park for some sophistication, or walk south admiring the inventiveness of people, it's a very happy place. In my experience it is best on a warm Friday, Saturday or Sunday, but fun anytime.
There's much else to do in the LA area, most of it very accessible by public transport or Uber.

About your Amtrak train rides. To many the heart of an Amtrak Long Distance (LD) train is the diner, you'll never know who you will be seated with which is the best in my mind.
You will already know that you get 3 meals each day if booked in sleeper accomodation, nothing better than having a meal with interesting company while looking out on spectacular mountains, plains or deserts, or even America's back yard.

Enjoy.

 

[diodotos]

Hello everyone.
Excuse me if this has been asked before. I’m brand new….
My wife and I would love to do a train ride, coast to coast in America. We have had the absolute pleasure of one previous long distance Amtrak trip, when we went from Fort Worth to Miami a few years ago. We’d now love to pop back over the pond, later this year to do a coast to coast trip. My question to the experienced Amtrackers is which way should we go? Should we fly into NYC and take the train across to San Francisco, or should we fly into San Francisco and train back into NYC? We would spend two or three days in each city too. Your advice and rationale would be greatly appreciated please.
Many thanks

For a stay in San Francisco, if you do not require en suite bathroom, I recommend checking out the San Remo hotel, an inexpensive converted sailors' boarding house in North Beach. Get the Penthouse Suite if you can (it has the en suite, and the roof of this 3:story structure). https://www.sanremohotel.com/guestrooms

 

[BCL]

About your Amtrak train rides. To many the heart of an Amtrak Long Distance (LD) train is the diner, you'll never know who you will be seated with which is the best in my mind.
You will already know that you get 3 meals each day if booked in sleeper accomodation, nothing better than having a meal with interesting company while looking out on spectacular mountains, plains or deserts, or even America's back yard.

Currently no diner service for coach passengers, and right now I don't think it's possible to pay for an accomodations fare on a USA Rail Pass.

And I loved being in the diner, where that was part of my plan even for a short trip (less than 2 hours). Our first time in the diner was my kid and myself (coach fare) paired with a couple in sleepers. Another time it was four solo coach passengers for lunch. It was kind of fun having coach passengers mingling with sleeper passengers.

Strike that. Apparently there might be some routes where coach passengers can eat in the dining car in limited numbers. I don't know what to make of this since I can't find anything on the Amtrak website that indicates anything other than it's included for sleeper passengers. The menu has no prices, so if coach passengers can, it's probably no a la carte. But I remember when there were unlimited beverages with any breakfast meal, even the kid's menu. Wasn't bad when the cheapest breakfast items were maybe $3.50 for a kid's meal and $8 for an adult 2 egg breakfast.

https://upgradedpoints.com/news/amtrak-coach-dining-car/

 

[Cal H]

While riding coach last year on a rail pass, it was announced before each meal that there were a limited number of availability for coach riders, first come, first serve. IIRC prices were about $40 for lunch & supper and maybe $25-30 for breakfast…

 

[Stevenz]

While riding coach last year on a rail pass, it was announced before each meal that there were a limited number of availability for coach riders, first come, first serve. IIRC prices were about $40 for lunch & supper and maybe $25-30 for breakfast…

I was on the Floridian last night and this was the system. The attendant announced the dining car was open to coach passengers for dinner for $45. It’s one price for the whole dinner. There are no prices on the menu except drinks though one is included, and it doesn’t include a tip. Amtrak is apparently known for their steak so that’s what I had and highly recommend it. The others at the table felt the same. $45 may sound like a lot but it’s a nice experience and it’s a high-overhead operation.

 

[zephyr17]

Currently no diner service for coach passengers, and right now I don't think it's possible to pay for an accomodations fare on a USA Rail Pass.

And I loved being in the diner, where that was part of my plan even for a short trip (less than 2 hours). Our first time in the diner was my kid and myself (coach fare) paired with a couple in sleepers. Another time it was four solo coach passengers for lunch. It was kind of fun having coach passengers mingling with sleeper passengers.

Strike that. Apparently there might be some routes where coach passengers can eat in the dining car in limited numbers. I don't know what to make of this since I can't find anything on the Amtrak website that indicates anything other than it's included for sleeper passengers. The menu has no prices, so if coach passengers can, it's probably no a la carte. But I remember when there were unlimited beverages with any breakfast meal, even the kid's menu. Wasn't bad when the cheapest breakfast items were maybe $3.50 for a kid's meal and $8 for an adult 2 egg breakfast.

https://upgradedpoints.com/news/amtrak-coach-dining-car/

Coach passengers can eat in the diner on any train that has had Traditional Dining reinstated. There are fewer trains that don't allow it (5) than do (7). Those that don't allow it are just those with Flex Dining, the LSL, the Crescent, the Cardinal, the CONO and the Eagle. Of those trains, only the LSL and the Crescent even have a dining car, the others only have a cafe or CCC.

Since reopening to coach service, I have never been on a train that they didn't announce the opportunity for coach passengers to make dining car reservations and I have been seated with coach passengers at first come, first served breakfast.

You are correct in that the current iteration of the USA Rail Pass does not allow upgrades.