Sold out trains

[tourlink99]

I traveled on the Star, southbound out of Tampa last Thursday and northbound on Sunday out of Ft Lauderdale There were approx. 75 pax getting on in Tampa, and I had to sit in the Lounge. The train was jam packed! On the return I was able to get a seat in coach, but when we got to West Palm there was at least 150 pax getting on! Many of them sat in the lounge.I asked the conductor(Gorski) how often this occurs and he said 3 or 4 days a week. As to the schedule, the southbound arrived in FTL 30 minutes early. Northbound was 45 minutes late into Tampa do to waiting on the siding for the 2 southbound Amtraks.

 

[the_traveler]

As of right now, you're finding that on many trains. I have a res for 1 pax from ATL-WAS for October 18 and wanted to add 1 more ticket. Guess what - October 18 is sold out 3 1/2 months in advance!

 

[Rail Freak]

I traveled on the Star, southbound out of Tampa last Thursday and northbound on Sunday out of Ft Lauderdale There were approx. 75 pax getting on in Tampa, and I had to sit in the Lounge. The train was jam packed! On the return I was able to get a seat in coach, but when we got to West Palm there was at least 150 pax getting on! Many of them sat in the lounge.I asked the conductor(Gorski) how often this occurs and he said 3 or 4 days a week. As to the schedule, the southbound arrived in FTL 30 minutes early. Northbound was 45 minutes late into Tampa do to waiting on the siding for the 2 southbound Amtraks.

I'm from Palm Harbor. I'd like to take a few family members on FLA trips. Suggestions?

 

[Tony]

I'm from Palm Harbor. I'd like to take a few family members on FLA trips. Suggestions?

I think you will need to make Sleeper reservations. For day only usage, within Florida, I don't think there is that much of an accomindation charge for rooms.

 

[tourlink99]

[The day room between TPA and South Florida is usually $57. They were available on my south bound trip even though coach was sold out. I'm not sure if you can buy a coach ticket on a sold out train if you sit in the lounge. If you have a Florida Rail Pass you CAN sit in the lounge. By the way, I'm not sure if this was posted yet, but the word on board was no more passes after Sept. Any one know if that's true?

By the way, Rail Freak. I lived in Palm Harbor for 20 years. I'm in Tampa now.

 

[Shotgun7]

I'm from Palm Harbor. I'd like to take a few family members on FLA trips. Suggestions?

I think you will need to make Sleeper reservations. For day only usage, within Florida, I don't think there is that much of an accomindation charge for rooms.

I travel on the Silver Meteor (I know, doesn't go to Tampa) at least every two weeks within Florida, usually to Winter Haven from Deerfield Beach. Most of my reservations are made one, usually two days in advance. Booking two days in advance, the price has never risen past the typical, low bucket $24 one way to WTH. Not only that, but the train is usually only 2/3 full before Orlando and is probably why I always get low bucket prices. TPA is comprable to Orlando in passenger numbers, so the Star will always be jam packed due to Tampa on top of Orlando. Why don't you plan a trip to Orlando and then after that, go south? Of course, this is only if you want to guarantee a cheap trip for alot of people on a Florida train. There are exceptions to the rule, though. A month ago I bought a ticket for the Star TPA-DFB an hour before departure for $39 (or somewhere around there) and $29 DFB-TPA.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

WPK and ORL agents both told me no more FLA Railpasses will be sold after September 30. We just bought ours. If you do travel a lot in FLA and you live in FLA, the Florida railpass is a fairly good deal - $249, for in-Florida Amtrak travel as often as you like, for a year.

 

[Shotgun7]

WPK and ORL agents both told me no more FLA Railpasses will be sold after September 30. We just bought ours. If you do travel a lot in FLA and you live in FLA, the Florida railpass is a fairly good deal - $249, for in-Florida Amtrak travel as often as you like, for a year.

Who's the moron who thought of getting rid of these?

 

[sechs]

Probably the moron who thought it might be nice for reserved passengers to get a seat.

Now, it might have been smarter to raise the price and toss in some black-outs, but it's a start.

 

[Walt]

Who's the moron who thought of getting rid of these?

Probably the same moron who didn't like how high his FL taxes have been raised?

I am sure that the FL Rail Passes are an easy target at budget time. I am sure that just about any state rep who bothers to ask his/hers constituency if they ride Amtrak, will hear very few "yes's".