Booking Mystery

[ATXEagle]

I'm looking at taking an AGR trip cross country in May. I was thinking of first flying down to visit my parent's in Florida and then take the train from Lakeland (LAK) out west, probably to Seattle.

I'm researching possible itineraries online and I'm confused by the options Arrow is giving me.

If I depart from ORL (pretty far away for my parent's to take me to the train station) I'm given two options to get to SEA:

ORL-WAS (Silver Meteor), WAS-CHI (Capitol Limited), CHI-SEA (Empire Builder)

-or-

ORL-NYP (Silver Meteor), NYP-CHI (Lake Shore Limited), CHI-SEA (Empire Builder)

However if I search from Tampa or Lakeland, taking the thruway bus to Orlando, it only gives me the option with the Capitol Limited:

LAK-ORL (bus), ORL-WAS (Silver Meteor), WAS-CHI (Capitol Limited), CHI-SEA (Empire Builder)

I would prefer to connect in New York and take the Lake Shore Limited because I've already ridden the Capitol Limited. Also the connection at NYP means more time on the train and lets me avoid having to get up so early to disembark at WAS.

Any guesses as to why departing from TPA or LAK would take away that option? Do you think AGR would be able to book it for me even if it doesn't show up on the Amtrak website as an option?

 

[saxman]

It's just one of the limitations of Arrow. All city pairs on a single route won't alway give you the same routing, even if you use the next station down or up the line. If you'd like to use AGR points to take the LSL through New York, then ask to go from Orlando. Just buy a cheap $10 or $12 ticket from Lakeland to Orlando in coach. You'll get the 100 points for that and most likely, if you sleeper is available, your conductor or sleeper attendant will let you occupy your room early. Just ask the conductor when you board.

 

[pennyk]

To get to NYP or WAS from Lakeland, you would need to take the Silver Star and I do not believe the connections work with the LSL and I am not sure about the Capitol Limited.

Next August I am traveling cross country from Orlando, taking the Silver Meteor to Was, then the Cardinal to Chicago, then CZ through Denver to Sacramento, then CS to Seattle. From there I will be taking the Empire Builder, and Capitol Limited and Silver Meteor back home.

I chose the Cardinal for this trip since I had not traveled on it. I planned my trip around its 3 times a week schedule.

Last summer I took the Silver Meteor to NYP, then the LSL to CHI. I do not believe the Silver Star was ever an option.

 

[the_traveler]

One reason is the Silver Meteor does not go to either Lakeland or Tampa. (Only the Silver Star goes there.) So that is why you need to take a bus to Orlando to connect to the Silver Meteor.

 

[ATXEagle]

One reason is the Silver Meteor does not go to either Lakeland or Tampa. (Only the Silver Star goes there.) So that is why you need to take a bus to Orlando to connect to the Silver Meteor.

Thanks to all for your responses!

Reading over them, I can tell that I wasn't clear enough in my original post.

My question is about why Arrow will let me book either of the following itineraries as a one-way trip:

Silver Meteor from ORL to NYP, followed by Lake Shore Limited from NYP to CHI, followed by Empire Builder from CHI to SEA.

-or-

Silver Meteor from ORL to WAS, followed by Capitol Limited from WAS to CHI, followed by Empire Builder from CHI to SEA.

My question comes in here, if I depart from Lakeland or Tampa I am taken by thruway bus to the very same Silver Meteor in Orlando, but it only gives me the option involving the Capitol Limited and not the option involving the Lake Shore Limited.

Thruway Bus from LAK to ORL, ORL to WAS on Meteor, WAS to CHI on Capitol, CHI to SEA on Builder.

I know all about the reasons for the bus, the (in my view unfortunate) schedule that breaks the connection from the Capitol Limited to the Silver Star. (In fact, I used to be able to take the train to my parent's home town of Dade City, but now that's only served by a long bus ride from JAX.)

My confusion is as to why the system gives me two options when going from ORL to SEA (beginning with the Meteor), but only one option when beginning basically the same trip in LAK or TPA.

Thanks again to all on this forum! I am so happy to have found it and it enjoy reading it often.

Mark

 

[the_traveler]

My confusion is as to why the system gives me two options when going from ORL to SEA (beginning with the Meteor), but only one option when beginning basically the same trip in LAK or TPA.

The reason is that Arrow only shows (or at least only showed) a limited number of lines on the screen on amtrak.com. (Just say it showed 7 lines - not 7 choices. Just use TPA-ORL, ORL-WAS, WAS-CHI and CHI-SEA. That totals 4 lines.) That's over 1/2 of the total available. So if it showed more (assuming all were 4 lines), another choice would start on line 5 - but it would end on line 8! (Which is more than 7 lines.)

It just ran out of room.

 

[PaulM]

The reason is that Arrow only shows (or at least only showed) a limited number of lines on the screen on amtrak.com. (Just say it showed 7 lines - not 7 choices. Just use TPA-ORL, ORL-WAS, WAS-CHI and CHI-SEA. That totals 4 lines.) That's over 1/2 of the total available. So if it showed more (assuming all were 4 lines), another choice would start on line 5 - but it would end on line 8! (Which is more than 7 lines.)
It just ran out of room.

Wasn't this one of the design flaws that was fixed in the recently unveiled new system?