What reason do you hear from people for not riding Amtrak

[BCL]

When I speak to people about of LD train trips the conversation invariably comes down to "its too dam slow". Just goes to show the high level of anxiety that exists in todays society. Everyone is in a hurry! They've got to have everything handed to them fast or else!
While we would never travel anywhere by plane and have to be exposed to the filthy, congested, unhealthy atmosphere and a security process that reduces passengers to the level of an animal; it seems that the "airline sheep" have no problem with the DSM *****. I am convinced that if all airline passengers were required to strip completely naked there would still be no outcry. This is a clear illustration of how American society has been dummed down into accepting the tyrannical propaganda-lie down play dead and let government do anything that they want to you!

Let me guess, you are retired?

You know why people are in a hurry? Not because they have high anxiety, but because they have jobs to do and schools to attend. Not everyone has the privilege of taking long vacations and spend 2 days to travel from city A to B and then another two days to travel back to A. I absolutely love taking Amtrak, but still I end up taking flights for 99% of my travel (when I am not driving). Amtrak trips work only as "land cruise" and needs to be planned as an independent excursion, not as a means of transport to reach somewhere.

And about your observation about air travel, let me guess, you have not actually traveled by a plane in a long time and this is just armchair preaching? I have taken more than 50 flights from airports across USA in the last 3 years, and not even once have I had to "strip naked", nor did I ever feel i was being treated like an animal. Sure TSA is a mild annoyance, but that's about it and takes 30 seconds to go through the drill. No big deal, really.

I wholeheartedly agree.

I fly at least once a month and the only annoying part about the TSA is some of the lines. But you'll have to stand in line no matter what at an airport, that's not new with the advent of increased screening.

Additionally TSA has been pretty pro-active in working with the airlines to expedite screening processes for frequent fliers and loosening restrictions on the elderly an the young.

Are they perfect? By no means at all, and flying is a very frustrating and taxing experience at times. But the speed is unrivaled except in here in the Northeast.

That said, where I can I've always preferred Amtrak over flying. Whenever i head up to NYC these days I exclusively take the train. It easily beats driving, bus, and most of the time flying.

It's highly variable depending on who you get running the operation. I've been in cases where I think anyone in line would be asking themselves "What the hell do they think they're trying to accomplish?"

In just the last six months I've encountered TSA behavior where I just scratch my head. Before that I'd say I actually had some pretty good experiences. On our last flight I flew with the family, including our kid who was wearing overalls. I should have been proactive about it, but what can you do once you're there? They can't figure out what the heck they're doing. One screener was about to give an enhanced pat down on my kid until another one stopped him and said it was OK, as long as dad was willing to get his hands swabbed for explosive residue. So the metal detector goes off on a kid and they're not concerned that a parent might have actually smuggled a knife, but maybe dad has been handling explosives? Before that I offered to take off the overalls, let them X-ray them, and let my kid walk through in diapers. Apparently that never occurred to them.

I also encountered one head screener who started yelling at the other ones to shut down the only equipment on at the time, even though they're telling her that there's nothing wrong. I happened to be about the last person who got through before that fiasco, so I consider myself lucky. There were about a good 50 people in line behind me who were pissed.

There's also some weird stuff going on. I can't bring abord a bottled beverage through security for myself, but can for my kid. So two bottles of water and a bottle of milk are fine as long as they're for the kid, but I can't have my own. And they stopped us from bringing through a soft drink can saying that it couldn't be for my kid (you guys should see my kid down Cherry Coke).

Now San Francisco International Airport is another matter. They get universally good ratings. The airport also insists on using private security company and not the TSA. The TSA then pays the private company in place of paying their own employees.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Just an observation - Until you've been coordially invited to take a visit to the private backroom for a resolution, you really don't know what people are complaining about.

I completely agree with this.

People who fly regularly have the whole process down to a science, and know just what to expect. People who don't fly regularly often make mistakes, don't know what to expect or what's expected of them, and often have more problems than the regulars.

People who travel by train regularly have the whole process down to a science, and know just what to expect. People who don't take trains regularly often make mistakes, don't know what to expect or what's expected of them, and often have more problems than the regulars.

I know many people who fly only occasionally, and have had many problems. My wife, who had packed everything appropriately, was randomly selected for a screening once, and was put through an extremely annoying and embarrassing examination. My mother, who flies fairly regularly, packed her suitcase badly a few weeks ago before an "emergency" trip to visit a relative in the hospital (not surprisingly, her mind was not focused on TSA packing regulations). She ended up with her suitcase in front of a TSA agent and, in her words, her underwear all over the floor for everyone to see.

TSA and airport security in general are a legitimate hassle for many people.

 

[JoeBas]

And how exactly do you know that the TSA has doing nothing to keep explosives and terrorists off of planes? Have you done a study of TSA? Are you privy to information about potential incidents? Your points about TSA needing to be more efficient and cost-effective are, to me, fatally flawed because you go on with no specifics to castigate TSA for its very existence.
I believe you have more than once harshly criticized posts complaining about Amtrak because people begin with a specific issue and then go on to generalize about the entire Amtrak system being flawed. You are guilty of the same thing regarding TSA.

Paragraph A) Given it's long a rich history of FAIL, had they caught any real threat, they'd be shouting it from the rooftops.

Paragraph B) When a system is rotten from the bottom to the top, you're not generalizing.

 

[Ryan]

And how exactly do you know that the TSA has doing nothing to keep explosives and terrorists off of planes? Have you done a study of TSA? Are you privy to information about potential incidents? Your points about TSA needing to be more efficient and cost-effective are, to me, fatally flawed because you go on with no specifics to castigate TSA for its very existence.

So how many terrorists has the TSA stopped from getting onto a plane? Unless you can name some, my point stands.

I believe you have more than once harshly criticized posts complaining about Amtrak because people begin with a specific issue and then go on to generalize about the entire Amtrak system being flawed. You are guilty of the same thing regarding TSA.

I'm not using a single data point to extrapolate about the entire organization. I'm using the fact that the entire organization is without any redeeming qualities to make my point.
I believe that I no idea who you are or what you've posted before because you're hiding behind an anonymous guest monicker. At least I have the courage of my convictions to post using established account using my real name.

Given that the purpose of guest posts here are to allow easy access for people to ask questions about Amtrak, and your post does none of those, don't plan on any further interaction until you've signed in.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Back to the original question (at least for a moment )... most people I know want to travel in one of two ways. They want to get there quickly, or they want to get there cheaply. And they prefer to bring as much stuff with them as possible.

Planes let you get there quickly, but not cheaply. You also can't bring that much stuff.

Cars are slower than planes, but much cheaper. On the positive side, you can bring a lot of stuff with you.

Trains are slow like cars, but expensive like planes. Unfortunately, you also can't bring a lot of stuff with you.

I know many families who travel great distances for their summer vacations. They all own large SUVs, and pack them full of pack-and-plays, coolers full of food, 832 different small bags and suitcases containing everything in their home, every possible fun activity the kids might want to do along the way, etc.

When I talk to them about Amtrak, the time & money are the main reasons they don't take a train - trains are neither quick nor cheap. However, the luggage issue also comes up.

Here's my solution: Amtrak should make pallet-sized (or SUV trunk-sized) "Luggage Crates" available to be checked. Families or groups who are traveling large distances could cram everything in there that they could possibly need. Musicians could pack instruments, college kids could fit their dorm stuff in there, etc. I think it would be a great solution for people who need to cross the country but don't want to rent a U-Haul or drive their SUV.

 

[benjibear]

I showed up at a bussiness meeting a few years ago and was asked what flight I took and everyone was shocked that I took the train. The one guy coming from roughly the same area I was. He said how the train was so slow and he would rather stay home and eat dinner, watch a movie, and get up early to get his flight. He had 6 hours sleep, I had 8 on the train. He had to drive an hour and a half to the airport, I had a half hour drive. He had to get to the airport 2 hours before his flight, I showed up 15 minutes before departure. Added all up, my time was alot more relaxing.

While I think our country should be working on improving speed of trains, the real issue is delayed trains. Just getting back from a long distance trip, I was delayed by a little over an hour getting to my destination and back home due to an issue with a freight train.

 

[guest]

And how exactly do you know that the TSA has doing nothing to keep explosives and terrorists off of planes? Have you done a study of TSA? Are you privy to information about potential incidents? Your points about TSA needing to be more efficient and cost-effective are, to me, fatally flawed because you go on with no specifics to castigate TSA for its very existence.

So how many terrorists has the TSA stopped from getting onto a plane? Unless you can name some, my point stands.

I believe you have more than once harshly criticized posts complaining about Amtrak because people begin with a specific issue and then go on to generalize about the entire Amtrak system being flawed. You are guilty of the same thing regarding TSA.

I'm not using a single data point to extrapolate about the entire organization. I'm using the fact that the entire organization is without any redeeming qualities to make my point.
I believe that I no idea who you are or what you've posted before because you're hiding behind an anonymous guest monicker. At least I have the courage of my convictions to post using established account using my real name.

Given that the purpose of guest posts here are to allow easy access for people to ask questions about Amtrak, and your post does none of those, don't plan on any further interaction until you've signed in.

Wow! I sincerely hope that your lack of tolerance and respect is not typical of the people on this forum. I was pretty close to signing up but why would I want to do so now, when you seem to relish threats and want to argue the person, rather than the issue? I'm sorry, but I guess I no longer have any interest in Amtrak Unlimited even though I love trains. I don't want to interact with people such as you if that is what joining the forum entails.

 

[Ziv]

Benji, I agree with you about delayed trains being a problem.

But I would like to ask, what is the ratio of freight trains to passenger trains in the US? 10:1? More?

Passenger trains may be what matter to me, but the fact of the matter is, freight trains are paying the bills and passenger trains are asking for government help to pay their bills.

I don't know how Amtrak can change that, other than by getting a steady stream of funds so that they can increase their average speed on long distance trains, increase the amount of sleeper cars on those LD trains and hopefully increase the amount of LD trains over the routes we have now.

I realize that the freight train portion of your comment was tangential to the major thrust of it but I guess I just think that freight trains get ignored on this site but they are the ones that are paying for most of the LD tracks we love to use.

 

[GG-1]

And how exactly do you know that the TSA has doing nothing to keep explosives and terrorists off of planes? Have you done a study of TSA? Are you privy to information about potential incidents? Your points about TSA needing to be more efficient and cost-effective are, to me, fatally flawed because you go on with no specifics to castigate TSA for its very existence.

So how many terrorists has the TSA stopped from getting onto a plane? Unless you can name some, my point stands.

I believe you have more than once harshly criticized posts complaining about Amtrak because people begin with a specific issue and then go on to generalize about the entire Amtrak system being flawed. You are guilty of the same thing regarding TSA.

I'm not using a single data point to extrapolate about the entire organization. I'm using the fact that the entire organization is without any redeeming qualities to make my point.
I believe that I no idea who you are or what you've posted before because you're hiding behind an anonymous guest monicker. At least I have the courage of my convictions to post using established account using my real name.

Given that the purpose of guest posts here are to allow easy access for people to ask questions about Amtrak, and your post does none of those, don't plan on any further interaction until you've signed in.

Wow! I sincerely hope that your lack of tolerance and respect is not typical of the people on this forum. I was pretty close to signing up but why would I want to do so now, when you seem to relish threats and want to argue the person, rather than the issue? I'm sorry, but I guess I no longer have any interest in Amtrak Unlimited even though I love trains. I don't want to interact with people such as you if that is what joining the forum entails.

Aloha

We have a cross section of people that are part of AUnlimited. Most of us can agree and disagree with each other without offending each other.The Founder of this site wanted this site to help all have a better understanding and experience with Amtrak. Not everything Amtrak does is perfect, so members and guest are encouraged to be honest and civil. For the most part 99.9 percent are. We as the site staff remind visitors and members that if they find topics they disagree with, to just skip those. When something gets to extreme we take action.

I hope everyone understands and that this guest returns and decides to become a member. There are many positive reasons to be a regular of this forum.

 

[jebr]

Back to the original question (at least for a moment )... most people I know want to travel in one of two ways. They want to get there quickly, or they want to get there cheaply. And they prefer to bring as much stuff with them as possible.
Planes let you get there quickly, but not cheaply. You also can't bring that much stuff.

Cars are slower than planes, but much cheaper. On the positive side, you can bring a lot of stuff with you.

Trains are slow like cars, but expensive like planes. Unfortunately, you also can't bring a lot of stuff with you.

I know many families who travel great distances for their summer vacations. They all own large SUVs, and pack them full of pack-and-plays, coolers full of food, 832 different small bags and suitcases containing everything in their home, every possible fun activity the kids might want to do along the way, etc.

When I talk to them about Amtrak, the time & money are the main reasons they don't take a train - trains are neither quick nor cheap. However, the luggage issue also comes up.

Here's my solution: Amtrak should make pallet-sized (or SUV trunk-sized) "Luggage Crates" available to be checked. Families or groups who are traveling large distances could cram everything in there that they could possibly need. Musicians could pack instruments, college kids could fit their dorm stuff in there, etc. I think it would be a great solution for people who need to cross the country but don't want to rent a U-Haul or drive their SUV.

While I like the idea of a "luggage tote" type idea, I think that still doesn't solve the core problem - cars are relatively cheap to use (especially if you have to own a car already and you have multiple people that are taking the same trip) and are faster than trains in much of the country. Trains aren't cheap, especially if you want to go anything other than coach, and they're a tad slower than driving.

There's also the problem of "endpoint transportation" with trains, in that in the vast majority of the country you need a car to see much of the sites, at least in any reasonable fashion. That means renting a car, which adds another $150+ for a week vacation. Sure, flying has the same problem, but at least there you have the advantage of speed to your destination.

Amtrak does work for some transportation, especially those where money is more valuable than time. On LD trips in coach it can be cheaper to take the train than to drive. But it doesn't have efficiency down to be better than planes outside of the NEC and some other corridor trains, and it can't beat the cost and convenience of a car in rural America for multiple people. Amtrak can have some advantages or be just fast enough to be better than a plane. It's also a better experience. But when time matters, I'm not taking the train long-distance. I'll be flying, TSA and all.

 

[NW cannonball]

Back to the original question (at least for a moment )... most people I know want to travel in one of two ways. They want to get there quickly, or they want to get there cheaply. And they prefer to bring as much stuff with them as possible.
Planes let you get there quickly, but not cheaply. You also can't bring that much stuff.

Cars are slower than planes, but much cheaper. On the positive side, you can bring a lot of stuff with you.

Trains are slow like cars, but expensive like planes. Unfortunately, you also can't bring a lot of stuff with you.

I know many families who travel great distances for their summer vacations. They all own large SUVs, and pack them full of pack-and-plays, coolers full of food, 832 different small bags and suitcases containing everything in their home, every possible fun activity the kids might want to do along the way, etc.

When I talk to them about Amtrak, the time & money are the main reasons they don't take a train - trains are neither quick nor cheap. However, the luggage issue also comes up.

Here's my solution: Amtrak should make pallet-sized (or SUV trunk-sized) "Luggage Crates" available to be checked. Families or groups who are traveling large distances could cram everything in there that they could possibly need. Musicians could pack instruments, college kids could fit their dorm stuff in there, etc. I think it would be a great solution for people who need to cross the country but don't want to rent a U-Haul or drive their SUV.

While I like the idea of a "luggage tote" type idea, I think that still doesn't solve the core problem - cars are relatively cheap to use (especially if you have to own a car already and you have multiple people that are taking the same trip) and are faster than trains in much of the country. Trains aren't cheap, especially if you want to go anything other than coach, and they're a tad slower than driving.

There's also the problem of "endpoint transportation" with trains, in that in the vast majority of the country you need a car to see much of the sites, at least in any reasonable fashion. That means renting a car, which adds another $150+ for a week vacation. Sure, flying has the same problem, but at least there you have the advantage of speed to your destination.

Amtrak does work for some transportation, especially those where money is more valuable than time. On LD trips in coach it can be cheaper to take the train than to drive. But it doesn't have efficiency down to be better than planes outside of the NEC and some other corridor trains, and it can't beat the cost and convenience of a car in rural America for multiple people. Amtrak can have some advantages or be just fast enough to be better than a plane. It's also a better experience. But when time matters, I'm not taking the train long-distance. I'll be flying, TSA and all.

So much depends on where you are going from, and to. And whether you already are committed to owning a car (some people need a car full-time, I don't - I can rent one anywhere) And whether you consider driving your car to be a pleasure or a hassle (especially driving in new territory).

And the personal conditions at the endpoints (staying with friends or relatives, doing a cruise, work-related convention, vacation in a big or small city - etc).

For MSP-SEA - I say - take the train one-way if you can - the scenery and the ambience is worth a lot. Fly back on SunCountry they have the best one-way fares - but check first - Delta might have a real cheap deal.

For MSP-GFK - Amtrak is a cheap overnight, the airfare will be enough to get a major overhaul on your car - sometimes -- check the fares.

Mostly, I just say, consider the alternatives - between some endpoints you can drive 40 hours or take the train, or fly, and pay so much for the rentacar it makes no sense.

Every trip is different -- I advise to consider the alternatives, your personal situation - whatever.

 

[anon13]

And how exactly do you know that the TSA has doing nothing to keep explosives and terrorists off of planes? Have you done a study of TSA?

Yes.

Are you privy to information about potential incidents?

Yes.
The TSA airport security scheme is worthless and dangerous. Dangerous because it concentrates people in such a way as to create an easy target; waiting lines have been successfully bombed in several European countries.

 

[Ryan]

Aloha
We have a cross section of people that are part of AUnlimited. Most of us can agree and disagree with each other without offending each other.The Founder of this site wanted this site to help all have a better understanding and experience with Amtrak. Not everything Amtrak does is perfect, so members and guest are encouraged to be honest and civil. For the most part 99.9 percent are. We as the site staff remind visitors and members that if they find topics they disagree with, to just skip those. When something gets to extreme we take action.

I hope everyone understands and that this guest returns and decides to become a member. There are many positive reasons to be a regular of this forum.

I apologize if my post didn't contain the requisite amount of aloha spirit. I'm all for a polite debate over things we disagree about.

That said, you can't have that polite debate when someone hiding under a cloak of anonymity (either guests or members posting without signing in) crawling out of the woodwork to say "You're wrong" while providing no evidence to back up the claim. Doubly so when that person takes advantage of the fact that I post under a registered account tightly coupled to my real name to bring up my posting history while providing no clues to what their own posting history may contain.

It's very easy to sit back and take potshots at someone while providing nothing of value to the conversation. I wholeheartedly agree with the reasoning behind allowing guest posts. I just wish that mechanisms would be put into place to prevent guests from abusing the privilege.

Now all of that said, I'm sorry that our masked crusader took offense. I could have probably worded my post in a less-antagonizing way. Like you, I'd love for this person to emerge from the shadows and engage in a respectful discussion on equal footing.

 

[JoeBas]

Now all of that said, I'm sorry that our masked crusader took offense. I could have probably worded my post in a less-antagonizing way. Like you, I'd love for this person to emerge from the shadows and engage in a respectful discussion on equal footing.

Says the man in the brown paper bag...

 

[Ryan]

(that's not even me )

 

[SanAntonioClyde]

This would have been an interesting conversation to have as we sat back and rode the rails. Drinks are on me.

 

[Bob Dylan]

And how exactly do you know that the TSA has doing nothing to keep explosives and terrorists off of planes? Have you done a study of TSA?

Yes.

Are you privy to information about potential incidents?

Yes.
The TSA airport security scheme is worthless and dangerous. Dangerous because it concentrates people in such a way as to create an easy target; waiting lines have been successfully bombed in several European countries.

True this one for sure!

 

[Bus Nut]

As one friend described it to me when considering a DC to Boston trip:
It's the worst of both time and money. If I wanted to spend $500 (for two tickets), I can get there in 2 hours on a plane. If I wanted to take 8 hours getting there, I can do it for a heck of a lot cheaper by car.

Apparently your friend can think of no better use of time than driving. ^_^

Personally, I only drive that many hours if somebody is paying me. I can find plenty of productive (or completely unproductive) uses of my time on a train.

I rode DC-Boston several times, usually Regionals, and it was a lot cheaper than OWNING the car in the first place. :giggle: :giggle:

And don't forget the cost and hassle of parking in Boston once you get there.

 

[Bus Nut]

. But my trip to Toronto via Buffalo took 24 hours too long. That to me would be unacceptable to virtually the entire traveling public. Nasty surprise for anyone thinking modes of travel were anywhere close to competitive. The aftermath taught me all sorts of things the general public doesn't know. Amtrak certainly doesn't disclose this sort of stuff. Train fans pooh-pooh it. So the only hope for the public is the critics who neither hate nor love trains. Amtrak is a "special way to go". It requires you not to care if an extra day is thrown into your schedule. That's the degree of flexibility you have to accept. And for all but a small segment of the trips people take, that isn't acceptable.

I always take an extra day off of work when I have to fly because I have had my flights cancelled too many times. One time I was going to a wedding and knowing how frequently they're cancelled planned to fly a day early. That was a good thing because we did get cancelled. The airline put us up in a hotel nearby (otherwise we faced 4 hrs of tedious driving) and we got to the wedding on time. I've also had to fly into the wrong airport and go get luggage days later to get back to work on time. Airlines promise you speed but you have to know how to work the system or you will end up stuck like chuck where you don't want to be, praying for standby at 6am the next morning. Amtrak has gotten a lot better lately, and should continue to improve with all of the recent investment in America's rail infrastructure in improve capacity.

 

[Bus Nut]

Here's my solution: Amtrak should make pallet-sized (or SUV trunk-sized) "Luggage Crates" available to be checked. Families or groups who are traveling large distances could cram everything in there that they could possibly need. Musicians could pack instruments, college kids could fit their dorm stuff in there, etc. I think it would be a great solution for people who need to cross the country but don't want to rent a U-Haul or drive their SUV.

I thought Amtrak already did this at checked baggage stations? I sent a pallet of my crap from Boston to Jacksonville on Amtrak package freight back in 2004. It was quite cheap. (I, in fact, flew, because you'd have to change trains and Silver Service is not cheap. I guess that makes me a hypocrite or something. This was a time of $79 PVD-JAX fares or maybe it was BOS-JAX? I also did JFK/JAX and took bus or train from NYC north but probably not that time.

I kind of regret not taking the Silver Service because they ended service on the S-line shortly thereafter.

 

[jerichowhiskey]

Usually I hear Amtrak takes too long. Recent example was when a group of us traveled to Montreal and some of them rather drive up for 6 hours than the 11-12 hour train ride on the Adirondack which is understandable especially when the normal fare is around $72 one way. Only reason we managed to get a good majority of us on Amtrak was due to the special fare price they had going at the time and the prospect of being able to drink on the train.

 

[jebr]

So much depends on where you are going from, and to. And whether you already are committed to owning a car (some people need a car full-time, I don't - I can rent one anywhere) And whether you consider driving your car to be a pleasure or a hassle (especially driving in new territory).

And the personal conditions at the endpoints (staying with friends or relatives, doing a cruise, work-related convention, vacation in a big or small city - etc).

Very true. If you don't own a car, then the cost of the car would be an additional expense. There's also some areas where it's nice to not have to deal with a car and the annoyance storage/parking of it can bring.

However, most Americans already own a car, either because they have to or because they want to. Our system is set up in such a way that encourages the use of personal vehicles for most short-distance travel, because public transit is weak enough that most people either need or have a much improved quality of life if they don't have to depend on the bus system, and driving a car for an additional trip is cheaper than offloading it to another type of transportation. In those cases, the only things that the train has on cars is comfort and "better use of time" - I can relax on a train where I have to focus on driving if I drive.

But when that's tied to a once/day schedule that is usually slower than driving and often more expensive? I'll probably take the car, especially if it's to an area where I'll need a car to get around at my destination, and I'll bet many Americans will do the same until the equation changes.

This is coming from someone who wants better public transit and wants to use it. If Amtrak could boost their schedules and timing (or cost), they'd be much more competitive. I also don't like driving eight hours for a long day trip, and would rather offload that to someone else's driving. But if I'm going to need a car at my destination, I'll seriously consider driving myself, because renting a car just seems to be a hassle and is fairly expensive.

 

[TraneMan]

I have the Amtrak calendar on my wall at work, and when customer see this, they say, "The train are still running? or Didn't know Amtrak was still around!?" comments.

And I've had a few who has taken the Empire Builder and loved it and would do it again.

 

[BCL]

This is coming from someone who wants better public transit and wants to use it. If Amtrak could boost their schedules and timing (or cost), they'd be much more competitive. I also don't like driving eight hours for a long day trip, and would rather offload that to someone else's driving. But if I'm going to need a car at my destination, I'll seriously consider driving myself, because renting a car just seems to be a hassle and is fairly expensive.

Another issue is that these days the rental agencies are extremely price competetive and have to actually make a profit one way or another. One way is to keep a car longer in their fleet before selling it. Another is to ding customers for "repairs" that in a previous existence the rental agencies would have considered a cost of doing business. These days there are many stories of customers who got dinged for damage that a previous renter probably caused or where customers suspect that an estimate was gotten, especially where the renter sees some extra charge on a credit card. The charge may also be right below the deductible limit for the customer's insurance (they always ask these days), where the insurance company can't sic their staff or attorneys to contest the charges. Quite a few rental agencies have been accused of charging for this but never getting the repairs.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Another issue is that these days the rental agencies are extremely price competetive and have to actually make a profit one way or another. One way is to keep a car longer in their fleet before selling it. Another is to ding customers for "repairs" that in a previous existence the rental agencies would have considered a cost of doing business. These days there are many stories of customers who got dinged for damage that a previous renter probably caused or where customers suspect that an estimate was gotten, especially where the renter sees some extra charge on a credit card. The charge may also be right below the deductible limit for the customer's insurance (they always ask these days), where the insurance company can't sic their staff or attorneys to contest the charges. Quite a few rental agencies have been accused of charging for this but never getting the repairs.

Really? Perhaps it depends on the specific rental agency or location, but in my experience renting cars has become a lot easier. In general, I used to have to walk around the car and write down every scratch or dent & sign a form saying I'd be responsible for anything that I didn't mark when I took the car out. There was also a mountain of paperwork before signing up for the vehicle. Now, in many cases, I just walk through the lot, pick a car I like, and somebody scans something on the way out. No paperwork, no checks for damage, no hassle.

Rentals are also getting cheaper. Bidding sites like Priceline and Hotwire make it super easy to get a low rate, especially if you don't care who the rental agency is.

For example, we've considered taking the Auto Train to Florida. But as I understand it, aside from passenger fare you also pay $450 round trip. I can easily get a rental car for $10-$15 per day in Orlando. So, the only way the Auto Train would pay for itself (at least for the car portion) is if I'm planning on staying for at least a couple of months. So, I could see how the AT makes sense for snowbirds, but not for most vacationers.