Questions about Washington-Savannah trip

[Ispolkom]

I've been asked to organize a trip from Washington to Savannah for two couples, and I'm wondering what the state of play is now on the Washington-Savannah run. While I used to travel a lot on Amtrak, and participate on this message board, I took a break after the inception of AGR 2.0. My last trip on the Silver Meteor to Savannah was in November 2016 (an epic Denver-Chicago-Washington-Savannah 2-zone AGR reward. Since we were burning points before the change to AGR 2.0 we booked two connecting bedrooms for I think 50k points).

What are the differences between the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor? I remember that the Silver Star dropped dining cars, and I thik that all of the eastern trains are still on "flexible dining." Is service on the Silver Star even worse than that? Any other suggestions or ground truths would be most welcome.

 

[joelkfla]

I've been asked to organize a trip from Washington to Savannah for two couples, and I'm wondering what the state of play is now on the Washington-Savannah run. While I used to travel a lot on Amtrak, and participate on this message board, I took a break after the inception of AGR 2.0. My last trip on the Silver Meteor to Savannah was in November 2016 (an epic Denver-Chicago-Washington-Savannah 2-zone AGR reward. Since we were burning points before the change to AGR 2.0 we booked two connecting bedrooms for I think 50k points).

What are the differences between the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor? I remember that the Silver Star dropped dining cars, and I thik that all of the eastern trains are still on "flexible dining." Is service on the Silver Star even worse than that? Any other suggestions or ground truths would be most welcome.

The Silver Meteor is currently suspended, with the Star pulling all the sleepers & coaches that were on both trains. The website shows the Meteor resuming 9/12, but the resumption has already been delayed twice, so don't bet your life on it.

The diner was restored to the Star before the suspension. Both had been serving Flex Dining. Amtrak has said they will restore something more traditional, but maybe not full traditional dining. I would expect service on both trains to be the same. They haven't given a date, and there are no firm rumors.

The only differences expected when the Meteor resumes are that the Star has fewer cars, a longer and slower route, and often higher fares than the Meteor.

 

[Stremba]

If your group is interested in a non- overnight trip, the Palmetto might also be an option. Being a single day train, there are no sleepers (and only cafe car food) available. There is only coach and business class. It would certainly be cheaper than sleeper accommodations on the SS though, if that is a consideration.