V
Viajero Joven
Guest
Hi everyone, greetings from Flyertalk.com
I usually travel by air, but Amtrak holds a special place for me. I'm planning my first ever sleeping car trip, St. Paul to LA (or vice versa) using Continental-to-Guest Rewards points on the Coast Starlight and Empire Builder.
My questions are:
-- For the best scenery, which side of the train should we try to get rooms on?
-- Is it worth spending more for a Deluxe room vs. a Standard? 2 people would travel, my mom and myself-- both of us are 5'7".
-- Should we fly to LA, then train back (1 hour connection in Portland) or take the train to LA and fly to St. Paul (4 hours from CS arrival until 1am LAX flight)?
If we can't get ideal rooms, should we settle for what's available and travel under the promo, or just go later for full price? For the moment, availability is very limited-- hoping to travel in late June under the 20% discount, so we may not have much of an option.
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As a related tip for all of you, consider earning Continental or United miles that you can later move to Amtrak. The airlines have promotions for double miles, etc., and a round trip from the east coast to Asia for $600 can yield 20,000 points, enough for a 2 zone standard room one way.
Thanks!!
I usually travel by air, but Amtrak holds a special place for me. I'm planning my first ever sleeping car trip, St. Paul to LA (or vice versa) using Continental-to-Guest Rewards points on the Coast Starlight and Empire Builder.
My questions are:
-- For the best scenery, which side of the train should we try to get rooms on?
-- Is it worth spending more for a Deluxe room vs. a Standard? 2 people would travel, my mom and myself-- both of us are 5'7".
-- Should we fly to LA, then train back (1 hour connection in Portland) or take the train to LA and fly to St. Paul (4 hours from CS arrival until 1am LAX flight)?
If we can't get ideal rooms, should we settle for what's available and travel under the promo, or just go later for full price? For the moment, availability is very limited-- hoping to travel in late June under the 20% discount, so we may not have much of an option.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a related tip for all of you, consider earning Continental or United miles that you can later move to Amtrak. The airlines have promotions for double miles, etc., and a round trip from the east coast to Asia for $600 can yield 20,000 points, enough for a 2 zone standard room one way.
Thanks!!