If they still have unbooked rooms a few days before the trip, there’s something called “BidUp” where you can name the price you’re willing to pay and they take the highest bid.
Rooms are definitely more expensive during the summer and when you’re booking closer to the travel date. My trip was in April and I booked several momths out so I only paid $600 for myself on a roomette from Seattle to Chicago.
The trains fill up fast. You have to release your original tickets to bid on the others, so the result could be that we end up with no tickets at all.
I’ve used BidUp before and didn’t have to release my tickets. AIUI, unless your bid is accepted nothing changes with your booking and they don’t charge you anything extra.
Yeah, that’s brutal.
Very understandable. I’m not a train rider, but an eye mask and earplugs do wonders for me on red-eye flights.
And in a coincidence (or maybe you secretly work for the Oregonian?), they had an article today about the Coast Starlight route. There are volunteer docents who ride the train about once a week between Eugene and Klamath Falls and give presentations on the history and cultural and natural resources along the route.
I did that same route, both ways.
For a while there was some tiff between Amtrak and Union Pacific, where UPs cargo trains were given priority- causing hour long delays. I think that issue is over now.
Thanks for your input.
Looks pretty good!
No you don’t, as @smapti cited.
Acknowledged. My Beloved says maybe next time, though.
I am currently on the northbound Coast Starlight, and I can now confirm they do require a reservation for lunch. They take reservations from the sleeper passenger first, then make an announcement for any coach passengers interested in eating in the dining car to come make a reservation.
I’m writing this from The Crescent going from Atlanta to New Orleans. I live near the Emeryville station and regularly take the Coast Starlight down to LA and up to my daughter in Portland and cousin in Seattle.
Last year I booked too late to get a roomette and went from Emeryville to Portland in coach. Never again, ever. After years in a roomette, trying to sleep in coach is intolerable.
Since Emeryville to LA is not overnight, I usually book coach but have used BidUp successfully several times - even on a day trip the roomette is MUCH more comfortable.
On this trip I booked a roomette from LA to New Orleans on the Sunset Limited but a wreck ahead of us led to them cancelling the entire train in El Paso! They loaded everybody (except me) onto busses. That’s two days on a crowded bus instead of a private roomette. No thanks, I took a plane. (Amtrak automatically refunds the sleeper premium when they have to do that).
I’m anxious about the return trip on the Sunset Limited. August in the Southwest means very high temperatures, which sometimes makes the track kink unpredictably so they slow trains way down, making the arrival times way off. I wouldn’t mind but I’ve only got a four hour window to make the connection with the Coast Starlight in LA. We shall see.
Amtrak is funky, but I love it.
Gotta love these reports from the trenches in Real Time.
Yep. Very helpful
Note that the dining car takes care of the sleeper passengers first. If there are any spaces left over – and there usually are – they are offered to the plebes in coach.
While what you said is true for this particular trip, if you were to take it all the way to San Diego, you would get significantly more coastline. From San Juan Capistrano to San Diego is almost all coastline.
Right, but you are referring to the Pacific Surfliner, which goes from SLO to San Diego - that name does hold true for most of that route. The Coast Starlight ends/starts in Los Angeles.
I’ve taken the train from L.A. to Sacramento when I was in high school, and then a few years later from San Francisco to L.A. Both trips were cool, and, yes, the the views were great. Mostly. I can remember a few seamier parts of town we went through. Stockton is the one that sticks in my memory. But the Sacramento trip was longer than I wanted – although we had several cars (3 or 4?) filled with high school kids. All going, like me, to the Youth Legislature.
The San Francisco trip was o.k. but I was bummed because we went to a Chinatown bakery to get bao for the trip, but they were all out! We settled for salami, cheese, and Italian bread. Sadly, it was a little greasy for my stomach. We ended up in the club car for the last couple of hours – the best part of the trip! More comfortable and a charming porter to chat with.
More on whether or not you need a reservation for lunch: As I mentioned before, I did need to make reservations for lunch on the Coast Starlight. But today on the Empire Builder they didn’t take reservations for lunch, it was just first come first served. So @Smapti was right on that one. Not sure why the difference between the two trains.
My Beloved says she will take care of meal reservations.
It’s been 25 years since I’ve taken coach long-distance, but IIRC sometime around 4 PM one of the conductors will come down the aisle and ask you if you want to make a reservation. They’ll then call out on the PA when they’re seating for which time slots.
On my train they did that for the sleeper passengers, then they made an announcement that any coach passengers who wanted to make a dining car reservation should come to the dining car and make it there.