What time of year to travel cross country

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My favorite time to travel is September. Fares are decent. I usually go to California and some of the best weather out there is that time of year, plus I absolutely love the beach and the ocean. I also recalled being in a snowball fight in Jasper Alberta in September. You can at that time of the year choose which type of weather you would like to travel to. I have a running joke I know it’s getting close to my big fall trip when the stores put the Halloween Candy out.
 
caravanman said:
There are two "options" when you travel in sleeper car on the Texas Eagle. (And often two different prices...)

One car is a through car, train 421, so you can (or at least could...) remain in your sleeper while it is transferred to or from the Sunset limited.

However, you can book to travel in a Texas Eagle sleeper from Chicago to SAS which terminates there, and you would then have to wait and board a completely different sleeper on the Sunset, which has come from New Orleans.

There is a similar "option" and price difference that occurs on the Empire builder to Portland, where the through sleeper is switched at Spokane.

If booking on the Amtrak internet site, it tells you how many "Segments" your trip involves, which means that for "2 or more segments", you will have to alight and reboard, or otherwise change seats or trains or to or from a throughway bus, etc.
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This is essentially what I had heard about — thanks for the clear explanation.
 
uncleboots said:
My favorite time to travel is September. Fares are decent. I usually go to California and some of the best weather out there is that time of year, plus I absolutely love the beach and the ocean. I also recalled being in a snowball fight in Jasper Alberta in September. You can at that time of the year choose which type of weather you would like to travel to. I have a running joke I know it’s getting close to my big fall trip when the stores put the Halloween Candy out.
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We do have lovely weather in September— and even some color in a few areas. And wonderful beaches from massive expanses for sunbathers to rugged enclaves. We are already seeing Halloween stuff in stores so your trip is getting close!
 
ecetera said:
Hello All —...will be doing the CS (northbound) in Sept ’24 connecting the next day to the Cascades into Vancouver to board a cruise back to LA....
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Do NOT take the Cascades the same day as boarding for the cruise. Go a day early and spent the night in Vancouver. Less chance of missing the boat.
 
We have absolutely added in extra time — we will arrive on the CS one evening, take the Cascade the next morning, and board the ship two days after that. We do the same when flying in — it’s just not worth the stress, and we enjoy spending time in the departure port city. This particular trip is with several friends, some of whom are flying into Seattle and some joining the CS in San Jose, and then all together on the Cascade and cruise. We’ve all traveled together many times and should be a really fun trip, except none of the adult kids can join due to those pesky jobs.
 
ecetera said:
Hello All — I am in the early stages of planning/anticipating our first cross country (LAX to CHI, CHI to either Seattle or Emeryville) train trip. Currently have an LAX to SAS booked, will be doing the CS (northbound) in Sept ’24 connecting the next day to the Cascades into Vancouver to board a cruise back to LA. But we also want to do a cross country trip to Chicago to see my husband’s family. Ideally we will be looking for a great deal on roomettes, or B, FB for this trip. We are pretty flexible with time of year, and have the ability to travel on short notice. Thinking SWC to Chicago, and either the CZ or EB for the return, with the CS to complete. Am aware that great pricing across all segments could be tricky, aka impossible, but will look to do the best we can.

SO — would love input on historically (hard, post covid, but will take what advice I can get) low cost times of year, as well as opinions on how the weather impacts the experience. We live in So Cal, so don’t get too much winter experience which makes that appealing to us. But I imagine there are pitfalls, and or amazing elements to full winter that we may not know. Maybe fall, or spring is a better window? Definitely not summer or holiday timeframes. I just know I will need to be doing regular fare checks and hoping to focus on a certain time of year.
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The bedroom pricing is hard to figure out. I have rode Amtrak every summer for several years, but not this year. In most cases the rooms are at least twice as much as last year. U got roomette from Chi to Sac for $583 last summer. The lowest price I've seen is around 900. I run every day 2 or 3 times a week. Altho I have noticed lately on some trains like EB from Portland to Chicago they drop to around 585 for the next day or two from present date. But then maybe the 3rd day will show 1 room left at 3117? Occh. Not sure they ever sell that one. But fact remains it must work at times, because they still do it! Probably sell it on a bidup. Then Portland to Sac to Chicago can get as low as 1185 for roomettes a couple of days out. So if you can go on very short notice, low bucket price can be snagged. And I use the app to find fares as it is faster. I really miss Ansnag if u know what I mean. It is impossibile to know when to wait for a good deal many days out. Least I haven't seen anyone on the forums.
 
I find it difficult to predict prices on Amtrak travel. If there is an "off season formula" I just don't get it. What we try to do is book our vacation travel in mid May, avoid traveling on Amtrak in June, July, August and early September. We book early and are not sure that we get the best prices. In some cases we've seen where the buckets only move in two places; high bucket and top bucket.
 
It definitely seems that a lot of work will be in order, tracking prices (all while knowing that this upcoming years data may be irrelevant for next year. Fortunately I love research and travel planning, so I’m completely ok with that. I was describing the CZ and EB routes to my husband, and he is also super enthusiastic about that routing (he tends to be negative on travel plans until we literally walk out the door).

Thinking, based on the routes we are interested in the most, that we will book CS to Emeryville, CZ part way with overnight to see Grand Canyon, CZ continue to CHI, stay for a few days with family, then EB to Seattle with a potential overnight at Glacier Nat. Park. and return to LA on CS. Will target the EB and CZ lines for most challenging goal of getting good pricing. Our target windows will be later winter/early spring 2025

It just popped into my head that maybe we should add on to our San Antonio trip this upcoming February by continuing on the train to Chicago after our visit with friends, then take the CZ back to California, and exchange our air tickets from SAS—LAX to SFO—LAX and get to visit the kids while we are at it! Then in 2025, we can take the SWC to CHI, and the EB and CS for the return. That would efficiently provide experience on all the routes!!
 
ecetera said:
We also have several pets that our kids came home with, but didn’t take when they moved out so care for them also becomes an issue with how long we can be gone.
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Our kids didn’t drop them off. But, we did replace the kids with dogs that for quite awhile have stymied our traveling because of issues caused from leaving one of them. I still get to look out the window thru other’s eyes. Be sure and post your trip.
 
I am considering a transcontinental trip via Amtrak in either May or September. Is there any reason to prefer one month over the other?
 
eldomtom2 said:
I am considering a transcontinental trip via Amtrak in either May or September. Is there any reason to prefer one month over the other?
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It just happens that we have San Diego-Toledo trips planned for both May and September this year. We'll report on which one was better although any time is a good time to ride the train.
 

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