Has anyone here ever bought an Amtrak USA Rail Pass (https:/

>>1091544
Amtrak is complete shit and slow as fuck everywhere except traveling up and down California and traveling the northeast corridor.

Everywhere else it should only be used to travel back and forth between neighboring cities and even then most of the time the bus is just as fast. If you have any need to travel great distance you'll need to fly

>>1091544
Not gonna even click the link, but yeah, trains are super slow, plus east-west routes are pretty shit.

Amtrak is cool as an experience in and of itself. But outside weird circumstances, I would hesitate to rely on them for travel.

>>1091544
Amtrak is shit. Should be dismantled and make way for high speed trains or the hyperloop

>>1091547
This. I ride it between chicago and milwaukee, but i cant imagine trying to go to seattle or new york. Id fucking kill myself.

>>1091602
The northeast corridor is actually very profitable

>>1091544
Amtrak is good between Boston and DC. The rail pass I believe is only for foreigners who visit.

It's great if you're not in a hurry. The train is way more comfy than flying, even if it's a lot slower. You meet a lot of people, you see scenery you wouldn't normally see, you can bring a lot more with you than you could on an airplane.

I took the train from Seattle to NYC once and thought it was cool. I'd do it again if I had the time but usually when I travel I'm in a hurry.

>>1091786
>""comfy""
Its tight and cramped as fuck and you cant see shit outside their little windows. I take it you've never actually taken Amtrak any long distance

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>>1091842
Not sure what you're talking about this is a typical Amtrak car for me on the East Coast and on the west coast there's some with the seats around a table area. Plenty of room, big windows, outlets usually work, lots of legroom unless you're a giant. You can hangout in the snack car if you don't want to stay in your seat or need a table. Only problems I run into are a lot of people lay across both seats to sleep which is fine but a dick move when it's a packed train. Also there's wifi but it can suck depending on what car you'e in

Never had the pass. From what I can tell it's every time you get on, it counts as one of the rides. So you could go Seattle-Olympia or Seattle-San Francisco for effectively the same cost. I know it says that there's only a certain number of pass eligible seats on each train, so if you're traveling during summer there might not be enough seats?

If you're just using it to get from point a to b Amtrak sucks. I find it comfy just watching everything go by and seeing the gradual changes of landscapes, if I'm not in a hurry to get somewhere.

The on train food is bad and expensive. If you travel with a pass, you just get a seat and you'd eventually want to stop and stay in a hotel and get to eat some better food. Timing also becomes a issues, because at some stops the train only comes in at 4am.

I find the plains and north east to be kind of boring. Maybe fly out to Denver and get on the train there if you want to see the west? Going through the Rockies, Sierra Nevada and Cascades is great on the train. The track leads you to places you wont see otherwise.

>>1091842
What are you talking about? Amtrak is bad because most of the time its barely faster than the bus, twice as expensive as the bus, and ridiculously slower than planes. But when you're actually on the trains its the most comfortable experience you can have out of all the forms of long distance travel in the US for the average person

>>1091544
yeah i took the Atl-NYC and NYC to PVD
It's over prices and the people mostly sleep my neighbor was a coked out whacko from DC going to see his kid for the first time
Overall it was an ok experience i got to see some interesting countryside and some racists looking signs in obscure towns.
total trip was 17 or 18h on tain so slow as shit should be way cheaper too bad we don't invest int rain tech.

>>1091544
Also interested. I'm a Buffalofag, gonna train to NYC/Boston/DC this summer and if I like it I'll try a Chicago/Seattle/SanFran/LA journey.

>>1091842
Is Seattle to NYC not long distance to you?

I take it you're the one who's never taken Amtrak. The windows are MUCH larger than any plane I've ever seen. You get a lot more legroom than a bus or plane. If money isn't an issue you can even get a private bunk.

Then you get a dining car, lounge car... None of that exists on a plane or bus. I think you must be trolling because no one can be that dumb.

>>1092240
The seats don't lean back and I literally had no leg room. they also stopped constantly and what was supposed to be a 17 hour ride turned into a 22 hour trip

I was going to do the rail pass and take train from Philly to portland oregon and back.

is it really that bad?

>>1091931
This

>>1092426
>and back.
I don't think I would take it both ways.

>>1092428
was going to take southern route to new mexico and up cali. on way back it would be northern through montana.

I want to see the country and travel for few weeks

>>1092430
Fair enough

>>1092431
not in for a world of disappointment?

>>1092432
I have no idea because I've never taken it long distance. It definitely works great in the Northeast Corridor even if the tickets might be overpriced.

I've thought about doing long distance via Amtrak as well but it seems as though it would be difficult to be in those seats for so long, and the price of a roomette is prohibitively expensive.

>>1092266
What part of "compared to a bus and plane" and "if you're not in a hurry" do you not understand?

>>1091931
I'm looking into a Montreal trip (from Philly) and the bus and Amtrak seem pretty evenly matched. I'd prefer Amtrak I guess.

I wish trains were nice in America, but I have a romanticized idea of how it would be, with sleeping carts and dinners and shit how it used to be.

Just a shame they don't go everywhere, are more expensive than a plane, and can take longer than driving sometimes

>>1091679
NYC to DC is great. If you have to fly the cab ride alone is like 30 minutes to the airport from city center. I've taken the bus and driven it many times, but the train is much nicer when traveling for business.

>>1092958
Can't say it's cheaper, but try riding the California Zephyr, aka the Land Cruise, in a sleeper train from end to end. You get to eat in a dining car and have conversation with different sorts of people. See all sorts of landscape not seen on the road or in the air.

If you believe that a trip is the journey and not the destination, traveling by train, even if it's Amtrak, is pretty awesome.

>>1092240
>Spending 6 days of your weeklong vacation on a train.

>>1093872
It's actually 3 days that you could consider part of your vacation. I don't know, I like trains so I had fun. Also it was a one-way trip.

>>1092958
The really long distance trains have sleeping cars and diner cars with food on china plates. You'll pay for the privilege though.

>>1092430
Did down Cali here, on Coast Starlight.
Worth it to my mind, but keep in mind part of your trips will be overnight if you're doing longer than California so if you're running through an area you want to see at 0200, you're going to see black outside your window.

If you're booking a sleeper car, book a roomette- if you're only booking one seat in the roomette you get that shit all to yourself, if you're booking two seats, it's the same surcharge for the roomette as for one seat.
If you're doing a long trip the sleeper option is worth it because it gives you all your meal included in the price, and free coffee/water/etc in your room (but not at the bar), and food on board can be expensive.

Don't expect to be exactly on time. If you're booking through Amtrak, they won't let you take a connection >1hr after your arrival time because they can't ensure you'll make it. This does have its perks on some parts of the route, especially if you're a smoker, because arriving early at a station will give you a cigarette break/time to visit the museum. Just make sure you get back on board the train in time.

>>1094354
It is worthwhile when you fact these into a sleeper ticket, though it is a pity they don't do the free wine tasting any more. =/

>>1094370
>they won't let you take a connection *less than an hour* after your arrival time
sorry, I'm retarded

I'm thinking of taking the Empire Builder train from Chicago to Seattle with my girlfriend. It seems like a comfy way to see some landscapes and parts of the country that I wouldn't otherwise see.

We are planning on getting one of the cars that has the mini-bathroom and bed in them.

I right across the Hudson from NYC so I'm always in and out of the city, but have never really seen the country west of Pennsylvania.

We figured we'd grab a flight to Chicago, take the train to Seattle, then just fly back to NYC.

It sounds like Anon's are torn on this. Girlfriend and I are pretty low-maintenence. We'd be fine just chilling and relaxing for 50 hours on the train tbqh senpai.

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>>1095022
If you have a gf in a private car, you'll be fine. Most people's problems are being bored by themselves and having to try and sleep in their seat, especially if a stranger is in the adjacent one.

Biggest problem for me with your plan is the time of the train. If you look at
https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/181/823/Empire-Builder-Schedule-011116.pdf
you'll see that you do the Montana-Idaho-Washington part mostly at night. Real big mountains are the one thing the north west has that the east doesn't.

I think the times for California Zephyr work a bit better. You go through the Rockies and Sierra Nevada during the day.

>>1095022
This >>1095058

Empire Builder going Chicago -> Seattle passes through Glacier National Park right as sunset, which is basically the whole reason to take that train route. If you're dead set on the Empire Building, consider taking it Seattle -> Chicago instead to see a lot of that beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery.

Or if you want to start in Chicago, the California Zephy is timed so you get the best scenery either direction (and imo is better than the Empire Builder anyway)

>>1091547
>>1091675

I have ridden the Eastern Seaboard on Amtrak recently. From Penn Station to Miami.

I guess if you are in a hurry it can suck, because the trip was over 24 hours. But the train was nice, quiet, smooth, great staff, free wifi and a hell of a lot of legroom. Not to mention huge windows to just gaze out of.

I guess if OP, if you're interested in the journey, a train is a great and cheap alternative. But if you are moreso sightseeing in different cities and have a stritct schedule, it's probably better to look elsewhere!


Still better than the bus though! haha

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>>1095226
>lot of legroom
are we talking about the same amtrak? Did you have first class by any chance?

>>1091547
first, in case you are a euro;
The trains here are not nice like over there.
Amtrack doesn't go anywhere neat, so once you are in a an area you need a rental car to get anywhere, besides the big cities that have bus service around.
As others have said, the trains are limited, so sometimes you have to leave or arrive at 4am, which sucks if you have to wait for a bus. They don't leave every day either.
The only way you'll enjoy it is if you actually enjoy sitting on a train reading or being alone. The sights are meh outside of a train window and they all start to look the same after a little while.
and omg is it slow. Remember the US is really spread out

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>>1095462
>are we talking about the same amtrak?
Apparently not, since this has been coach class every time I've taken it, and they use basically the same fleet nationwide. What route did you take?

Over the summer I bought the 15 day rail pass
I was going from Austin to Chicago making stops at New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Portland Maine, and Boston.
Amtrak is slow and expensive but my entire experience was positive
The longest leg i had was a 21 hour ride but along the way you have time to read, watch the scenery go by, and chat up your neighbors
I had an amazing vacation and always tell people they should try it