4 ms·

I was considering taking a trip from NYC, since I like railway journeys. The NYC-Montreal (10.5 hours) and NYC-Toronto (12.5 hours) trips would be perfect... bu

I was considering taking a trip from NYC, since I like railway journeys. The NYC-Montreal (10.5 hours) and NYC-Toronto (12.5 hours) trips would be perfect... but they only have the café cars, which means microwaved, pre-made airline food. Apparently Amtrak considers these to be "short-distance" journeys, which don't have dining cars. I don't know if these ever had dining cars, but the idea of spending an entire day with just frozen pizza on the menu is just out of the question. And then there are the couch seats. Who wants to be in a couch seat overnight for 12+ hours? Sleeper cars were $1,500 (!) for the dates I checked. Coming from Europe, where trains are modern and super cheap, this was extremely depressing to me. I just checked the Empire Builder for a random date in May, and they charge $2,000 for a sleeper car. It's a 45-hour journey!

ikawe 8y ago
I recommend packing most of your food. Sandwiches, granola, nuts, fruit, raw veggies. Not exciting food, but better than microwave hotdogs, and even with a spartan meal plan the trip is totally worth it. Also some routes have a stop over which gives you an hour or so to scramble for a hot meal. Another pro tip for the thrifty, bring a blanket and sleep on the floor in the observation car. Ear plugs help in case other people are hanging out, but usually it’s pretty quiet for at least 6 hours. You can wake up and watch the sun rise. You can always grab a nap in your seat later, but I have trouble sleeping more than an hour in a chair, whereas even on a hard floor I can zonk out for hours.
db48x 8y ago
From the price you were probably looking at the larger bedroom, rather than the roomette, which is generally half the price.
- lobster_johnson 8y ago
  No, roomette. Chicago-Portland direct round trip, in mid-May, is $1,900 for the two-person "Superliner Roomette". I checked a bunch of possible journeys, and the cheapest round-trip roomette ticket was $1,000.
  - db48x 8y ago
    Ah, ok. You picked a day that is very crowded; the price goes up as the rooms are filled. Edit: use http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php to find a cheaper day.
    - lobster_johnson 8y ago
      I actually checked a whole bunch of different dates. Cheapest non-stop I can find using that biketrain.net page is $1,532 r/t.
      - db48x 8y ago
        You could drop that to $1118 by buying further in advance; check August, for example.
        lobster_johnson 8y ago
        Still completely insane.
        db48x 8y ago
        It's not obviously insane compared to driving. It's a 4200 mile trip, basically the length of Europe and back. That's a minimum of 6 days of driving, ~$400 in gas, 5 nights in hotels during the trip (at least another $500), plus meals (three fast-food meals per day could be ~$200). Obviously you can economize on any of these at some cost to your comfort and sanity. But because you can read a book on the train, or play computer games, or work, or socialize (or all of the above), you can easily conclude that a modest premium is worth it. That makes the $1100 fare a bargain, and even the $2000 fare might be worth it. The real cost is the time. Most people who get yearly vacations can count on two weeks worth, and most of them aren't going to want to spend half of that on the journey; they're either going to go somewhere closer or they're going to fly. And that's still $400 for a cheap coach ticket, 8 hours in the air, and all the suffering you can bear in the airports at either end. Plus a taxi at each end, or long-term parking. You do get an extra 4 days to explore Portland though.
wenc 8y ago
> The NYC-Montreal (10.5 hours) and NYC-Toronto (12.5 hours) trips Budget 2 extra hours due to the border. It can take up to 2 hours to for the train to clear customs. Source: been there, done that.
lionhearted 8y ago
Go to the grocery store beforehand — they don't mind you bringing food onboard.

ikawe 8y ago

I recommend packing most of your food. Sandwiches, granola, nuts, fruit, raw veggies. Not exciting food, but better than microwave hotdogs, and even with a spartan meal plan the trip is totally worth it. Also some routes have a stop over which gives you an hour or so to scramble for a hot meal. Another pro tip for the thrifty, bring a blanket and sleep on the floor in the observation car. Ear plugs help in case other people are hanging out, but usually it’s pretty quiet for at least 6 hours. You can wake up and watch the sun rise. You can always grab a nap in your seat later, but I have trouble sleeping more than an hour in a chair, whereas even on a hard floor I can zonk out for hours.

db48x 8y ago

From the price you were probably looking at the larger bedroom, rather than the roomette, which is generally half the price.

lobster_johnson 8y ago
No, roomette. Chicago-Portland direct round trip, in mid-May, is $1,900 for the two-person "Superliner Roomette". I checked a bunch of possible journeys, and the cheapest round-trip roomette ticket was $1,000.
- db48x 8y ago
  Ah, ok. You picked a day that is very crowded; the price goes up as the rooms are filled. Edit: use http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php to find a cheaper day.
  - lobster_johnson 8y ago
    I actually checked a whole bunch of different dates. Cheapest non-stop I can find using that biketrain.net page is $1,532 r/t.
    - db48x 8y ago
      You could drop that to $1118 by buying further in advance; check August, for example.
      - lobster_johnson 8y ago
        Still completely insane.
        db48x 8y ago
        It's not obviously insane compared to driving. It's a 4200 mile trip, basically the length of Europe and back. That's a minimum of 6 days of driving, ~$400 in gas, 5 nights in hotels during the trip (at least another $500), plus meals (three fast-food meals per day could be ~$200). Obviously you can economize on any of these at some cost to your comfort and sanity. But because you can read a book on the train, or play computer games, or work, or socialize (or all of the above), you can easily conclude that a modest premium is worth it. That makes the $1100 fare a bargain, and even the $2000 fare might be worth it. The real cost is the time. Most people who get yearly vacations can count on two weeks worth, and most of them aren't going to want to spend half of that on the journey; they're either going to go somewhere closer or they're going to fly. And that's still $400 for a cheap coach ticket, 8 hours in the air, and all the suffering you can bear in the airports at either end. Plus a taxi at each end, or long-term parking. You do get an extra 4 days to explore Portland though.

wenc 8y ago

> The NYC-Montreal (10.5 hours) and NYC-Toronto (12.5 hours) trips Budget 2 extra hours due to the border. It can take up to 2 hours to for the train to clear customs. Source: been there, done that.

lionhearted 8y ago

Go to the grocery store beforehand — they don't mind you bringing food onboard.