Empire Builder: Chicago => Portland

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Sep 6, 2021
Messages
7
Location
Michigan
I'm planning a trip with my family for next July. We are planning to take the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland. Unfortunately seemingly the only 4 person bedroom on the train has already been booked so I'm trying to decide between coach or business tickets. The Amtrak website lists more leg room for business class but not much else, are there any other benefits to traveling in business class? Also, will it be ok to have my family in something labeled "business class" or is there an expectation that its more a quiet car kind of like on the Acela?

Thanks!
 
You don't have to worry about business class since the Empire Builder doesn't have business class. Only coach and rooms. And business class on LD trains don't offer much more leg room AFAIK, and the leg room in coach is already great. I say go for roomettes across the aisle from each other, then you can eat in the diner since we're unsure when coach dining is coming back. \


If you booked CHI-PDX, I see that it gives you three options where it shows business class as an option. They are listed below. All of them require you taking the Coast Starlight or Cascades which have business class, other trains do not.

1. CZ #5 CHI-SAC in coach/room then transfer to Starlight in business class to Portland.
2. EB #7 CHI-SEA in coach/room then transfer to Cascades in business class to Portland.
3. SWC #2 CHI-LAX in coach/room then transfer to Starlight in business class to Portland.
 
I did not realize business class was an option on the Empire Builder. When you refer to a 4 person bedroom, are you referring to the Family Bedroom or a Bedroom Suite. There are 2 bedroom suites and one Family Bedroom in the Portland section of the Empire Builder. One consideration is the family bedroom/bedroom suite from Chicago to Spokane and then possibly 2 roomettes from Spokane to PDX.
I am not a big fan of coach, so I will let someone else respond as to whether it will be quiet. (I assume not).
 
I was hoping to get the 4 person family bedroom but it looks like each train only has one of those rooms and someone else beat me to it. The other rooms listed are both 2 person rooms so we would have to get 2 of those rooms and it makes the trip much more expensive as shown in the attached pictures. Looks like we'll just ride coach and save some money.
I know there have been restrictions put in place due to Covid but if we travel coach we will still be able to go to the dining car for meals? (Obviously it's impossible to know what the situation will be like almost a year from now) Just curious what the current options for dining are for coach travelers.
Screen Shot 2021-09-06 at 4.25.23 PM.pngScreen Shot 2021-09-06 at 4.24.38 PM.pngScreen Shot 2021-09-06 at 4.24.30 PM.png
 
I was hoping to get the 4 person family bedroom but it looks like each train only has one of those rooms and someone else beat me to it. The other rooms listed are both 2 person rooms so we would have to get 2 of those rooms and it makes the trip much more expensive as shown in the attached pictures. Looks like we'll just ride coach and save some money.
I know there have been restrictions put in place due to Covid but if we travel coach we will still be able to go to the dining car for meals? (Obviously it's impossible to know what the situation will be like almost a year from now) Just curious what the current options for dining are for coach travelers.
View attachment 24259View attachment 24260View attachment 24261
Those Prices are Obscene!😱🤬
 
Currently, the dining option for coach is the cafe car. By next July, things may be different.
 
Okay, first off the Family Bedroom only works if you have small children. Two of the berths are short and small and designed only for children.

You are correct in that there is only one family room. The Portland section is generally only one sleeper (they put on a second Portland sleeper the summer of 2019 only for the first time in memory, and I don't think it is coming back) and there is only one family room per Superliner sleeper.

Based on Niemi24s charts, and allowing that they are not fully updated, and also assuming one adult per room and one half fare child under 12 per room, the roomette accommodation charges appear to be in the highest bucket. The Bedroom accommodation charge also appears to be in the highest bucket.

It is really early to be booking for July 2022. Amtrak no longer routinely releases inventory at low bucket 11 months in advance, so the old "buy 11 months out and get low bucket" rule of thumb has been gone a few years now. Now the appear to be releasing inventory based on an optimistic projection of demand for the period of travel, then adjusting as time goes on if necessary. Which is smart if they do it well, but how well they do it is questionable.

I checked the the fares CHI-PDX leaving Chicago the Monday before Thanksgiving for arrival the day before Thanksgiving and got $4279 for 2 adults and 2 children under 12, which appears to be the second highest bucket. The same for leaving 12/21 and arriving on 12/23. For July 12, 2022, I got $5003, which appears to be high bucket. My point is that even during a high travel demand period, but one that is closer, the rates are lower. That indicates to me they've adjusted inventory allocation at some point.

I could not replicate your fares exactly on Amtrak.com, most likely because your actual point of origin may not be Chicago. The difference is not accounted for by assuming one child is over 12 (which would be a 123.50 difference).

With all that said, my point is that the fares may well drop. I'd start looking again in a couple of months to give Amtrak yield managers some time to track trends and react. You wouldn't be losing anything, fares are at high bucket already, so there is nothing good to grab. I would not worry that much about inventory, the Thanksgiving and Christmas dates I just checked still have availability in both roomettes and bedrooms. But also bear in mind that July is a peak travel period and it is highly doubtful they will ever drop as far as low bucket. Middle bucket is probably about the best you could hope for.

Another option would be to check going through Seattle and then taking a Cascades train to Portland. The Seattle section generally has two sleepers in high demand periods, making for two Family Bedrooms.

Finally, as to your other points:
1. There is no Business Class on the Empire Builder. Even if there were, like on the Starlight, the seat pitch is no different, since they use a Superliner coach with better upholstery for Business Class on Superliner trains that have Business Class.
2. As it stands now, the dining car is off limits to coach passengers. There is no indication at all about when, if ever, coach access to the dining car will be restored. It may be by next July, it may not. I wouldn't count on it, though.
 
Last edited:
Zephyr, thank you for your informative response. Both the children will be aged 7 at the time of the trip so I think we would have been ok for a 4 person sleeper but it's a moot point now. I'll hold off on booking for a while in hope that prices come down a little bit.
Since the dining car isn't open to coach passengers are they able to order food to eat at their seats?
 
Coach passengers have access to the cafe, but have no access to dining car selections at all at present.

The National cafe menu:
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...ts/menus/national/National-Cafe-Menu-1020.pdf
To manage expectations, middle bucket accommodation charges would save about maybe $400 for two roomettes, maybe $1300-1400 for two bedrooms. July is a high demand month, I think the chances of accommodation charges ever dropping into the lower two buckets are pretty slim. Lowest bucket could save around $1000 for two roomettes and a whopping $2600 for two bedrooms, but the chances of that happening for a July travel date are pretty much non-existent.

Did you look into Family Bedroom availability to Seattle? Your chances are better since there are two sleepers, and so two Family Bedrooms, in high demand months. You could connect with a Cascades at Seattle and you'd get to Portland in the evening instead of the morning at 5:50 pm with a 4 hour layover in Seattle.
 
Last edited:
Thanks again. I'd like to get into portland early because we're driving to florence to stay a couple days on the coast. We'll just make the best of the coach accommodations.
I took this same route when I was a kid back in the 1989, I don't remember a whole lot but my parents said my siblings and I slept great. My mom was 6 weeks removed from back surgery so it wasn't a lot of fun for her. My dad said he slept on the floor under the seats :)
Being 6'2" hopefully I don't have to resort to that.
 
Well, bear in mind you could go all the way to Eugene on the Cascades, then Florence is a quick 60 mile hop over the Coast Range.
This isn't a bad idea. Consider modifying the trip to go to Seattle instead. You could spend a few hours in Seattle, see the waterfront, and catch Cascades down to Eugene in the afternoon, and pick up a car down there.
 
The highway between Eugene and Florence is stunning and much shorter than Portland to Florence. You'd miss the coast but that would be a nice day trip that would also give you more time to stop at some of the sights and museums. In July, you want to drive the coast weekdays only if at all possible.

How are you getting back to Chicago?
 
I would not consider getting off the Empire builder at Portland to make the drive to the Oregon Coast. The Portland station is in a rough part of downtown without a lot of rental car options nearby. Also the road from Portland to the Coast gets a lot of traffic in the summer time and has a number of red light cameras installed as well as speed cameras, since there's so many cars driving West out of Portland. Instead I would do one of two things:

- Get off the train at Vancouver, WA (about 20 minutes outside of Portland) and arrange for rental car at Enterprise, hopefully they can pick you up right at the train station.
- Connect to a southbound train from Portland to Eugene, OR. This will add 2 and a half hours to your trip, but you'll avoid the traffic in the Portland area. There's an 11:10am train to Eugene, OR and a 2:25pm. I would book the 2:25pm train but if you get into Portland on time try and pay the difference to be moved up to the earlier train.

The drive from Eugene to Florence is a lot easier and would be pretty as mentioned above, I would probably go with the Eugene option also because I hate the Portland area highways. I would not be considering the Seattle options suggested here.
 
I'm planning a trip with my family for next July. We are planning to take the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland. Unfortunately seemingly the only 4 person bedroom on the train has already been booked so I'm trying to decide between coach or business tickets.

What's the longest roadtrip you've taken with your children? How did they handle it? How do they do without internet access?
 
Back
Top