Question(s) about long-distance train travel

June 8, 2010 1:40 PM

I want to book a 2-3 day trip by sleeper car on one of Amtrak's long scenic routes. I'm totally flexible about which route and when, but it's still proving more difficult than I thought to plan this.

Amtrak's site seems to let you query only one starting city / ending city / departure date at a time, and invariably with most of the combinations I've tried, the sleeper cars are sold out for the next month or longer. Could there really be that many train buffs out there?

For anyone who's done this before -- did you just book way in advance, or was there some third-party site or travel agent that made it easier to plan? Any related suggestions / recommendations for this kind of trip would also be appreciated.

posted by pete_22 to Travel & Transportation (2 answers total)

Best answer: It's not necessary the lead time, it's the season. Long cross-country Amtrak routes during the summer/vacation months are far more popular, and apparently far more expensive, than the off-season. I've done, hmm, four long routes with a sleeper, 3 west and 1 east without too much trouble, but I didn't go during the classic vacation/school out of session times. Even for those trips I had to shift the timing of my return or out trips by a day once or twice. Some days of a week are more popular than others, so you might iterate through the entire week to see what might be available. If you're committed to a definite trip time, and an on-time arrival, Amtrak isn't a real good choice for cross-country.

Comments I've read and heard from riders is that Amtrak has also become more popular for leisurely trips as the horror stories of plane trips and security scans have exponentially increased. One person I know who regularly rides the train said he'll probably have to take a cheap jet this year because he waited too long to book the train trip and didn't see any appropriate times, even with coach.

Amtrak's web site is definitely subpar for browsing around the routes.
posted by mdevore at 1:58 PM on June 8, 2010

I think mdevore covered it pretty well, but this travel agent might be able to help: Vacations By Rail. I used them a couple of years ago to book a long Amtrak trip that involved a few layovers and hotel stays, and they did a good job fitting all the pieces together.
posted by Quietgal at 4:51 PM on June 8, 2010