Trip across America

[Janelynn]

First let me say I'm sorry I don't know the abbreviations or slang ... pure newbie here. I was on a train one time in my life and I was in the 4th grade <many many years ago>

My sons <aged 26 and 20> and I are going on an Alaskan cruise the third week of June. We live in the Atlanta area, and had planned to drive to Seattle. We were going to take 4 days to get there but take a week to get back. We were going to do the site seeing thing.... WERE is the key word. With the price of gas, a car rental... etc etc the cost was almost triple the cost of air fare. I really want them to have some sort of adventure since I promised. That's my story... now here's the route I'd like to take.

I know we can go from Atlanta to Seattle via Chicago.... but I'd prefer to go through Califorina and across Arizona towards New Orleans. If it's possible taking long layovers in a few interesting cities, maybe one night in a hotel. Is this type of trip possible? I'd prefer the sleeper car, mostly for privacy but I don't think all the trains have sleepers. AND when I tried a fake reservation on the website a sleeper wasn't an option. Are showers and changing rooms available if I can't get a sleeper? Someone mentioned first class vs coach in one post, I didn't see that as an option when I faking it either.

If anyone could give me some insight into something like this I'd appreciate it........

 

[Rail Freak]

Yes it is very possible!!! However, it,too, will be a little expensive! You could take the #19 Crescent from Atlanta to New Orleans stay over as many nites as you like & take the #1 Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Los Angeles. then connect the same morning to the #14 Coast Starlight to Portland or Seattle! There are many options for you. I'm from Tampa & I like to fly west in order to cut expenses & pick up the train from either Abuquerque, Denver etc..Ask away, there are many great folks here who will be more than happy to help you!

Have Fun

 

[AlanB]

Jane,

It is most certainly possible to go from Atlanta to Seattle via New Orleans. From Atlanta you'd start out on train #19 the Crescent. This is a daylight only run, no overnight, but often times sleepers on this run are very cheap. Since sleepers, also called first class, include free meals in the dining car (3 meals in this case) you should still look at the costs and consider it.

You'll have to spend 1 night in New Orleans no matter what. The Crescent arrives too late to connect with the westbound train to LA. That train, the Sunset Limited train #1, only runs 3 days a week. So you must carefully plan your trip around that. You can choose to spend 1 night or 2 nights in New Orleans, the choice is yours, but know that it's on your dime.

From New Orleans as noted, you'd catch the Sunset Limited to LA. This is a 2 night run, so sleepers are a good idea if you can still get them. There are no showers if you're forced to go in coach.

It is possible to same day connect with the train to Seattle, but you can certainly choose to spend a day or two in LA if you want. From LA you'll catch the Coast Starlight, train #14 to Seattle. This is an overnight run, so again getting sleepers is a good idea. Be sure to give yourself at least 1 night in Seattle, as you don't want to miss the cruise if something goes wrong along the way.

 

[zephyr17]

All the trains you might take from Atlanta to Seattle have sleeping car accomodations. None have coach first or business class.

The two most direct routes you could use would be the Crescent to Washington, DC, the Capitol Limited to Chicago and the Empire Builder to Seattle. The other is the one mentioned by Rail Freak, which would be to take the Crescent the other way to New Orleans, overnight in New Orleans, the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles, and the Coast Starlight to Seattle, which I would recommend, too. Either way, you would 4 nights out assuming minimal connections (4 on the train via Washington, 3 on the train, one in New Orleans via New Orleans). The route via Washington and Chicago you could do with same day transfers all the way.

Sleeping cars have showers available, whether you have a private shower in your room depends on the accomodation you get. Bedrooms have their own showers, roomettes, you use the general shower available in the car. No showers are available to coach passengers.

Note that sleeping car accomodations can be quite expensive. The accomodation charges are usually quite a bit more than the base rail fare, and is charged in addition to the base rail fare. The good news is the accomodation charge is for the room, not per person. Also, all meals are included in the sleeping car fare. However, with 3 adults, you would likely need 2 rooms. Although a Bedroom can officially sleep 3, they only have 2 berths and the "big" lower berth is still only about the size of a twin. If you wanted to spring for 2 Bedrooms, you could get a bedroom suite, which is 2 connecting Bedrooms. The cheapest way to do sleeping accomodations would be to get 2 Roomettes.

 

[me_little_me]

Unfortunately, it is not likely you are going to find any good deals in sleepers both because it is summer coming and because it is a little late. Here's my suggestion:

1) Consider flying RT to Chicago from Atlanta to dramatically reduce your travel if you can get a non-stop at a reasonable price. Or alternately, try other non-stop cites that have major trains (Albuquerque, Denver are two) and which are worth spending a few days in to enjoy.

2) Look at alternate routing so you can find the best deal and look at different routes to/from Atlanta so you can get a different view of the country as well as possibly a good price deal. Remember, train cost is point to point so going round-trip or to/from the same city saves you nothing. Look at different days to see if there are good deals on alternate days.

3) Consider driving to a train stop convenient to Chicago to save money then take the train there to Chicago then to Seattle. You can catch the train in Charlottesville, VA e.g.

4) Planes are no fun. They are transportation only. Trains can be the vacation with relaxing travel, nice meals (dinner in a window-front sit-down restaurant with table cloths and some awesome scenery), opportunity to meet others (we never failed to find interesting people to talk with), low stress (no driving, delays not so big a deal when you have a comfortable place to stay). lounge car for relaxation and scene-watching. So think of the cost as a vacation/destination cost as much as a travel cost.

5) Stopovers can be fun especially if your stopover is in an interesting city where renting a car is not required (e.g. taxi to French Quarter New Orleans; RailRunner train from Albuquerque to downtown Santa Fe; elevated subways in Chicago; museums in KC's station with hotels within walking distance; etc).

6) After you book, check every other day or so for price decreases as up to a week before, your sleeper can be changes/added/removed at no cost and if prices go down, you can rebook at lower price.

You are late to start planning something. However, it can be done. Remember, even in coach travel the seats are wide, comfortable and you have access to the lounge cars so if you want to see Minneapolis e.g., you can take daytime coach from Chicago, stay a few days, then take a sleeper from there to Seattle (or Glacier Bay for another stopover).

 

[the_traveler]

(or Glacier Bay for another stopover).

Glacier Bay is in Alaska!

You can't get there on Amtrak.

Me thinks you meant Glacier National Park!

 

[coachseats]

I would agree with a few of the above posters that flying part way then taking the train might be your best combination of fun/value/adventure. See if you can find a cheap fare from ATL to Chicago or Milwaukee and take the Empire Builder from there to Seattle. That would save some time but still give you a nice variety of scenery as you travel across the country. Once you make up your mind, make your reservations soon as that is a busy time of year for the trains and many may be sold out/expensive. Try amsnag at http://biketrain.netfirms.com/amsnag/amSnag.php to see what dates and fares are available. Let us know if you have further questions as you plan. Have a great trip!

 

[PaulM]

Trains can be the vacation with relaxing travel, nice meals (dinner in a window-front sit-down restaurant with table cloths and some awesome scenery), opportunity to meet others (we never failed to find interesting people to talk with), low stress (no driving, delays not so big a deal when you have a comfortable place to stay). lounge car for relaxation and scene-watching. So think of the cost as a vacation/destination cost as much as a travel cost.

Well said! But you know that those suffering from Amtrak Derangement Syndrome hate this and try to use it against Amtrak.

 

[hello]

I totally agree with coachseats ... you must plan with: amsnag at http://biketrain.net. You put in your departure city and your arrival city, and up to a 30 day time frame .... it will tell you the coach prices/sleeper prices ... on all the different days. An Amtrak Unlimited member is responsible for this great planning tool.

 

You can actually put in ATL (Atlanta) and SEA (Seattle) and it will tell you the "connecting" train route (it will go through Chicago), but it will not give you the Sunset Limited train as you need an overnight in NOL (New Orleans).

 

[Janelynn]

thank you all!!! I'm going to look at all the train routes today and give Amtrak a call this evening. I'm thinking flying to Seattle before the cruise and using Amtrak to come home... but I didn't even think about flying to Chicago and using Amtrak from there to Seattle. We could see that part of the country too.

I'll come back and post what the final plans are....... and of course I will do a trip report.

again, thank you VERY MUCH!!

 

[FlyingBoat]

You might want to consider getting a Chase Continental credit card which gives 50K points and transfer the miles to Amtrak, then use those miles to book transportation from Seattle to Atl. I think a sleeper car for two people would be 20K miles. So there, your trip back is free if you can get this done in time. Disadvantage is there would be no stop overs allowed.