New to Amtrak have ?'s

[Judy]

I will be traveling from Cleveland to San Diego and I have a few questions before I confirm my plans. What are the advantages/disadvantges of booking a seat on the lower level. Can I request a coach seat with an ac outlet. I'll be traveling with a teenager and it would be wonderful for him to be able to plug in his laptop. His battery doesn't last to long. What are the cost of meals, is it one standard price, or a la cart? A sleeper is out of our budget, do they have pillows and blankets for coach seats like on planes, or should I bring my own. I have never traveled by train before, so if you vets have any travel tips that will help us out I'd appreciate you sharing them with me. I'm looking forward to this trip and my son is excited too. I'm not sure if it's the train, or the fact that he gets 5 extra days off school if we take go by rail. Thanks for any help!!

 

[Sam Damon]

On-Track-On-Line has this helpful page of Amtrak travel tips.

The lower level of Superliner cars is mostly for the elderly, or otherwise mobility-impared people. As for power outlets in coach, there aren't many. Superliner coaches have one or two outlets meant primarily for vacuum sweepers the cleaners use. If you want to plug a laptop in, go for it; but the HEP (Hotel Electric Power) may not be the "cleanest." I'd bring a small surge protector if I was plugging in a laptop. Or invest in a spare battery that you carry.

If your train has a Sightseeer Lounge, odds are the upstairs snack bar if unused will have two outlets. On a recent trip, pretty much everyone on coach wishing to charge their phone for an hour or two shared those outlets. It was a remarkable display of community.

 

[Sam Damon]

Forgot to mention: bring your own blankets if you're riding in coach. Pillows, too, if you have room.

 

[denmarks]

See sample menu at http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/Dining_Car_Menu.r5.pdf

You will be traveling for 2 nights without a shower. Can you handle it? Don't forget that a sleeper includes all meals and there is a shower.

 

[Judy]

I think a better question is if the people sitting around me can handle it. As much as I would love to book a sleeper, an additonal $400 each way just isn't in the budget. I quess I'll just have to dig down deep and find that old girl scout in me.

 

[caravanman]

I have never taken a long distance trip in"coach class" but I would suggest that you pack some earplugs, and if you have a choice of seats, try not to sit too near the ends of the coach, as you may hear the doors between coaches opening and closing at night. The seats themselves are real comfy, lots more space than when flying. I would take a book, maybe playing cards, or a walkman with earphones. I like some comfort foods as well, so I take my favourite chocolate - I have to bring it from England as USA chocolate is apparently made from flour with chocolate "style" flavouring! Be brave, you are traveling by train in America, not on some branch line in the third world, so you should easily cope, especially with your scouting experience (and some comfort food) !

Good luck! Ed B)

 

[gswager]

You can bring your own meals onboard. However, there are some restrictions- you only can eat on your coach seat. You cannot cook food on microwave due to FDA health regulation. You can ask for hot water in snack bar area to cook noodles.

There are foods in snack bar which it is located beneath the sightseer.

Riding in train is far more comfortable because you can talk to strangers, in constrast to keep your mouth to yourself in airplane. Since trains don't usually come on time, so be patient with those tardy trains. The train that you'll be riding on, Southwest Chief, is the one of best on-time schedule.

 

[Judy]

Thanks for the additional info. I'm really looking forward to this trip. I think it will be nice spending "quality time" with my son without his playstation. I've received lots of good traveling tips and I apprecitate it. One carry on will be full of comfort food. I'm traveling with a growing boy. OH! one more very improtant thing. Do they serve Mountain Dew on the train? I don't think my son could go two and a half days without any. Sad I know. Keep the travel tips comming, I love advice from those who have been there and done that.

 

[haolerider]

Amtak has a sales & marketing relationship with Pepsi and I think Mountain Dew is a Pepsi product, however I can't say for sure if it is available on the trains. I would bring some with me just to be safe.

 

[AlanB]

Amtak has a sales & marketing relationship with Pepsi and I think Mountain Dew is a Pepsi product, however I can't say for sure if it is available on the trains. I would bring some with me just to be safe.

I don't think that I've ever seen Mountain Dew on the train. The closest Amtrak carries is Sierra Mist.

 

[cbender]

I've enjoyed Mountain Dew on the train, but that was in the Northeast corridor. I can't speak for the long distance runs.

 

[Judy]

Thanks! I think I'll pack a couple bottles, just incase.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I appreciate that you are traveling on a budget, but I do hope you will get take at least one meal on the train in the full service dining car.

Eating real food at real tables while the train speeds along is one of the pleasures many find in train travel, even some people who are not specifically railfans. Train travel as an experience to be enjoyed in its own right."

Books, tapes, comfort foods, etc can all be helpful but it is possible the magic of the rails will help you along also.

Watching the train go around curves, hearing the train's locomotive horn up ahead, watching the lights on in small farm houses at 2 a.m (wondering who is awake at that hour, and why) , talking to strangers you may be seated with in the dining car, seeing sides of towns and cities you no longer see from an interstate or from way up above the clouds.....things like that......enjoy.

 

[Judy]

I do plan on eating many if not all of our meals in the dining car. Traveling with a growing boy, I don't think that granola bars and snack food would would cut it for two days. I watch the budget where I can, but food is something I never skimp on. I checked out the menu on line, it looks pretty good. Reading the last post has really made me even more excited about the trip. The way you explained things is exactly the experience I am hoping for. I love meeting new people from different area of the country, backgrounds, ect. It is very had to do that on a plane. If your lucky the person sitting next to you will talk a little. My son is planning on a making a video diary of the trip. He wants to be a film maker and has never done a documentary. I think this is a good place to start. If the people on the train are as nice as the people on this fourm I'm sure our trip will be wonderful.

 

[Guest]

If you do intend to eat all meals in the dining car, it likely would be VERY worthwhile to travel in sleeper. the not cheap meals served in the dining car become free then

 

[Guest_Amtrak OBS Employee]

Thanks for the additional info. I'm really looking forward to this trip. I think it will be nice spending "quality time" with my son without his playstation. I've received lots of good traveling tips and I apprecitate it. One carry on will be full of comfort food. I'm traveling with a growing boy. OH! one more very improtant thing. Do they serve Mountain Dew on the train? I don't think my son could go two and a half days without any. Sad I know. Keep the travel tips comming, I love advice from those who have been there and done that.

Judy, most of the lounge cars have "Mountain Dew" available. But it is almost two bucks a can for any soda. Bring a few with you to start the trip that he (your teen boy) can have at his seat. As far as the outlet thing is concerned, if there is not one at the seat, then you can check in the lounge car and find one at couple or all the tables. Bring a surge protector extension cord with you, too. That for safety as well as it might come in handy if an outlet is close but a little ways from the seat. Enjoy your trip. OBS...