KWBud
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2010
- Messages
- 70
Again this year, I'm trying to flee paradise and I very much want to do it by rail.
I would be leaving Miami, FL and going to Austin, TX and returning. Taking the bus or flying are about $200. The flight is hours and the bus is a day and a half.
The trip by train is several days, costs a fortune and takes me from Miami to DC to Chicago and then to Austin. Yikes!
So I looked up the rail pass and found that if I spend just a little more, I can *really* stretch the trip out and bum around the country for an additional month.
However, there are some serious questions.
1) If I get the rail pass, I can book the trip (MIA->AUS) using three segments and return (CHI->MIA) using two segments. If I can get confirmed tickets on these routes, I would then have 13 additional segments to see the country by rail, is this correct?
2) How much flexibility is practical? That is, I'm assuming that I could just plan segments and be locked into a known schedule, but if I want to vary my length of stay at the layover points, how practical is that?
3) How easy is it to reroute? Say, for instance someone says that XXX route is especially beautiful now, how hard would it be to drop segments and pick up new ones?
Also, any advice about which are the most spectacular routes in June would be most appreciated.
I'm Thinking about an itinerary something like Sunset Limited -> Coast Starlight -> California Zephyr -> Empire Builder -> Coast Starlight -> California Zephyr. If I have the segment math right, that would allow seven segments for side trips or additional routes.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
–
Bud
I would be leaving Miami, FL and going to Austin, TX and returning. Taking the bus or flying are about $200. The flight is hours and the bus is a day and a half.
The trip by train is several days, costs a fortune and takes me from Miami to DC to Chicago and then to Austin. Yikes!
So I looked up the rail pass and found that if I spend just a little more, I can *really* stretch the trip out and bum around the country for an additional month.
However, there are some serious questions.
1) If I get the rail pass, I can book the trip (MIA->AUS) using three segments and return (CHI->MIA) using two segments. If I can get confirmed tickets on these routes, I would then have 13 additional segments to see the country by rail, is this correct?
2) How much flexibility is practical? That is, I'm assuming that I could just plan segments and be locked into a known schedule, but if I want to vary my length of stay at the layover points, how practical is that?
3) How easy is it to reroute? Say, for instance someone says that XXX route is especially beautiful now, how hard would it be to drop segments and pick up new ones?
Also, any advice about which are the most spectacular routes in June would be most appreciated.
I'm Thinking about an itinerary something like Sunset Limited -> Coast Starlight -> California Zephyr -> Empire Builder -> Coast Starlight -> California Zephyr. If I have the segment math right, that would allow seven segments for side trips or additional routes.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
–
Bud