St. Louis-San Diego Summer Trip

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ShiningTimeStL

Train Attendant
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
92
If I can get the money and get a good price, my gf and I want to finally take our first LD cross country trip on the SWC to visit my sister's family in SAN before they move, and in case the Chief gets screwed over. But I'm having a very difficult time justifying the cost. We don't quite live paycheck to paycheck, but close. I'm saving more money every month but it's slow. I'm having a hard time imagining the two of us going all the way in coach, and even then we might as well fly--Google is telling me the cheapest direct flights are just $177. I'm trying to use AmSnag but I'm not seeing a whole lot of change in prices for roomettes. What am I doing wrong? Is there any way to get a substantially lower fare for this route?

To be clear, plan is to take the MORR from KWD (Kirkwood MoPac Depot) to KC, then SWC to LAX, then Surfliner to SAN. Going all the way with the Eagle/Sunset would be cool but just takes too much time that we don't have.

Also, I'd like to know if there's a convenient way to book so that maybe we have a longer layover in KC in the rare-ish event something goes sideways on the Runner. Hopefully we won't have another summer-long deluge.
 
Is there any way to get a substantially lower fare for this route?
Not unless you want to wait and hope that Amtrak puts on a sale. At present the cheapest SWC Roomette fare for two adults from KCY to LAX is $810. And if your travel dates are pretty well fixed in stone, then you're stuck with what you see.
 
Check bedrooms as well; occasionally they go lower than roomettes, but the lowest roomette I've seen STL-CHI-LAX (Business class STL-CHI) was $690 for a solo traveler. If the River Runner route floods, you're looking at a bustitution anyway. Only time I've been grossly late is during heat waves due to speed restrictions, and less of an issue during the evening train. I'd be more worried about a long layover in KC due to a late SWC.
 
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