Where is the best place to purchase your ticket?

[cutecreativegal]

Online or at the Train Station?

I was thinking of going to the station only so i can look around and see where things are, make it little easier on myself with my luggage. The station is huge and i get turned around very easily. Just today i got on the wrong train going in the wrong direction ( and i've lived here for 3 years).

Also, regarding luggage, I am moving back to California. Since i don't have a place yet i was just going to take my two suitcases with me. Do people normally have a lot of luggage? Should I try to ship my luggage to a friend or something?

Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated. I know the bags need to be max 50 pounds, unfortunately i don't know what 50 pounds feels like. When i moved to NY i flew and my bags were 90lbs ( of course i got charged for that), trying to avoid that this time.

Help!

 

[sunchaser]

Online or at the Train Station?
I was thinking of going to the station only so i can look around and see where things are, make it little easier on myself with my luggage. The station is huge and i get turned around very easily. Just today i got on the wrong train going in the wrong direction ( and i've lived here for 3 years).

Also, regarding luggage, I am moving back to California. Since i don't have a place yet i was just going to take my two suitcases with me. Do people normally have a lot of luggage? Should I try to ship my luggage to a friend or something?

Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated. I know the bags need to be max 50 pounds, unfortunately i don't know what 50 pounds feels like. When i moved to NY i flew and my bags were 90lbs ( of course i got charged for that), trying to avoid that this time.

Help!

If you buy your tickets at the station, you may run the risk of losing them, or if you change the date you would have to go back. If you do it online, you can get them printed the day you leave at the station.

On the train, you can have 2 carry on bags (28" x 22" x 14") no charge, plus other items too. Go to amtrak.com, & look at 'baggage guidelines' for more detail. As long as both stations have checked luggage, you can also have 3 checked bags (36" x 36" x 36"), weighing no more than 50 lbs each at no charge. I'm not sure of the limits on the bus.

You can pick up a luggage scale at most stores.

 

[savoirfaire]

My vote would be buying the tickets online. You can always go to the station to look around at any time, and you will pick the tickets up there anyways.

As far as weighing luggage—if you have a scale at home, weigh yourself, then weigh yourself holding the luggage. Yes, this can be an issue when looking at the display. I have found this to be pretty accurate (within a couple of pounds).

I recommend shipping the excess. We did this when my fiancee did a coast-to-coast move a couple of years ago. It was an easy way to do the move.

Good luck with the move, and enjoy the ride!

-Sav

 

[the_traveler]

As others have said, you can either get a luggage scale at most stores, thru Magellan's (via the AGR Points for Shopping and earn 7 points per $) or via your home scale. I believe the weight limit on the Thruway bus would be the same.

And as mentioned, you are allowed 2 carry on bags (and many things are not included in that total - they would be allowed in addition to the 2 bag limit ) plus 3 checked bags at NO CHARGE! In addition to that, you can check ANOTHER 3 bags for $10 each! Do you think you could ship 6 boxes weighing a total of 300 pounds by UPS or FedEx for $30? :huh:

 

[saxman]

Get your tickets online. That way you won't have to worry about losing them. When you show up at the station on the day of your trip, you just pick up the tickets there. This way it is easier to make changes to your reservation.

And as The Traveler said, its much cheaper to ship your things on Amtrak. 3 bags/boxes for free, 3 for $10 each. After that you can send your stuff via Amtrak Express. With that you pay based on weight, and I believe its very reasonable as far as price goes.

 

[MikeM]

I like online, but then again my closest Amtrak station is only staffed M - F midnight to 8am, and it's 45 minutes away. I have had decent luck with the online service, the only issue being that I miss the ability to talk with a live person about switching rooms, getting two economy bedrooms together, or otherwise personalizing things.

One other question, has anyone used a dedicated rail travel agent or an agent that does lots of rail to book tickets? There's a couple in Oregon that advertise in Trains a lot, specializing in Amtrak and Canadian rail. Not sure if they do much business or for that matter if everyone on these boards probably have memorized much of what they know as special knowledge.

 

[Guest]

And as mentioned, you are allowed 2 carry on bags (and many things are not included in that total - they would be allowed in addition to the 2 bag limit ) plus 3 checked bags at NO CHARGE! In addition to that, you can check ANOTHER 3 bags for $10 each! Do you think you could ship 6 boxes weighing a total of 300 pounds by UPS or FedEx for $30? :huh:

Saying that you get 300 lbs for $30 is bad logic. 150 lbs is included in the ticket price and the other 150 lbs is $30. So the correct statement would be: "Do you think you could ship 3 boxes weighing a total of 150 lbs by UPS or FedEx for $30?"

That said, I do agree that paying Amtrak $30 for the extra luggage is a much better deal.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Do NOT ship your luggage with items that are breakable. I work for a major parcel delivery service and so many people just don't take time to pack the precious things with any packing. Ship your clothes, books, whatever but do something different if you have glasswares or expensive items. If you ship your stuff in your luggage, make for sure you have a couple of different places you have your address and return on it. Most pieces of luggage are cloth and "to and from's" don't stick very well and then next thing you have is a suitcase sitting in a hub with no address on it. Good luck!

 

[cutecreativegal]

Do NOT ship your luggage with items that are breakable. I work for a major parcel delivery service and so many people just don't take time to pack the precious things with any packing. Ship your clothes, books, whatever but do something different if you have glasswares or expensive items. If you ship your stuff in your luggage, make for sure you have a couple of different places you have your address and return on it. Most pieces of luggage are cloth and "to and from's" don't stick very well and then next thing you have is a suitcase sitting in a hub with no address on it. Good luck!

I don't have any breakables. It just clothes and a few books. Thanks for the tip about have my address in multiple places.

The only reason i'm thinking of shipping the bags is just so i don't have to deal with taking them to the station. I'm not a big woman, so draging to big bags plus my carryon will be a bit of a challenge.

 

[darien-l]

The only reason i'm thinking of shipping the bags is just so i don't have to deal with taking them to the station. I'm not a big woman, so draging to big bags plus my carryon will be a bit of a challenge.

My guess is that taking a taxi to the station would be cheaper than shipping the bags.