Sleeping on coach, long distance

[Devil's Advocate]

Before resigning yourself to coach for the entire route, investigate the prices for transferring to a sleeper at, say, ABQ. And don't forget to check AmSnag to see if a day or two earlier or later would make a difference in the cost.

^ This is good advice.

I sleep at a table in the Sightseer Lounge. The lights don't dim. Depending on the crew you could be woken up before every stop, more, less, never(last time there was a guy sleeping on the floor in front of 2-1 bench at 8:30am).

Having the lights on is what kills the idea of sleeping in the lounge for me. Why did the staff wake people over and over again?

For my checked luggage I do put a cable tie through the zippers to secure them. Just make sure you have something to cut them with.

Seems a bit less practical than a combination travel lock, but also good advice.

If you can, depart CHI on a Tuesday.

What's special about Tuesday?

I presume this is a generic reference to a day with traditionally low travel numbers?

 

[KmH]

If you can, depart CHI on a Tuesday.

What's special about Tuesday?

I presume this is a generic reference to a day with traditionally low travel numbers?

Yes.And consequently prices may be at a lower bucket.

 

[niemi24s]

For the entire CZ route, from now until the end of the year Tuesday's average Roomette fare is $511.10 which is a mere $2.37 less than the average for all the other days. I think it's unwise to select a travel date based on generalities such as this and AmSnag is by far the best guide to choosing. That's because for the 38 Tuesdays involved, 7 are currently at high bucket of $750 while only 5 are at low bucket of $308.

Other generalities such as "midweek fares are less than weekend fares" don't hold up under close scrutiny either. It's my opinion that the only general rule for Amtrak fares is that...uh...there are no general rules. :blink:

[Edit] Using a larger AmSnag data set (covering the period from tomorrow out to the maximum of 11 months) the average Roomette upcharge for each day of travel is:

Thu = $475

Sun = $475

Tue = $479

Sat = $485

Wed = $498

Mon = $498

Fri = $514

Tuesday may have been the cheapest travel date (on the average) at one time for the CZ, but not now. But these averages can be misleading simply because they are just the average of Roomette upcharges which range from $308 to $750. Moral: Rely on AmSnag, and not any generalities - including these. Just for laughs, here's what the pasted-together AmSnag data used to get those by-day figures looks like:

 

[MARC Rider]

A handy tip for sleeping on coach - eyeshades and earplugs. I use eyeshades every morning on my MARC commute, and I get some more ZZZZS to make up for the godawful early time I have to get up. I used to use foam earplugs, too, but it's been awhile since I last visited the test lab where they hand them out. I ought to buy a headset or something.

 

[andersone]

I have a marvelous noise cancelling headset with am-fm-aux I just plug my phone into it, and depending on my location listen to XM or the cloud or tunes on a stick,,, the look funny but so do i

 

[Railroad Bill]

Others have suggested breaking up your trip to cut costs and those are excellent ideas.

One suggestion would be to ride coach CHI to Kansas City. Move to roomette there and sleep overnight with breakfast in the morning to La Junta, CO. Move back to coach from there until Flagstaff, then take a roomette from FLG to LAX. Two nights sleeping in a roomette for around 23,000 AGR points. Coach tickets would be around $135 total for the two coach ticket sections. Again check Amsnag for best days to accomplish this, but it could save some money and your points would be similar to what it once cost to go the whole trip on the SWC. And you would have two decent nights sleep in a roomette. You will likely spend lots of time in the Sightseer lounge during the daylight hours so that will work to avoid any more time in coach than necessary.

Just a thought to consider.

 

[KmH]

During high season (summer) there may not be any roomettes available from FLG to San Bernardino (or LAX).

But there may be roomettes that free up at the next stop - Williams - from people getting off to ride the Grand Canyon Railroad.

 

[railiner]

My tip for long distance coach sleeping....

Some people will get aboard, and as soon as seated, will immediately recline and attempt to sleep, regardless of the time.

My method is to stay awake as long as I possibly can....I may socialize in the SSL until 'the party ends' and then try reading until I just can't keep my eyes open any longer.

Then I will go to sleep. I find that I will sleep longer and better that way, rather than just a series of 'catnaps'....