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I will always elect to be stuck on an Amtrak than stuck on a plane or in an airport. I'll take a book to the observation car and read next to the Mennonites do
by maxbond 4y ago
I will always elect to be stuck on an Amtrak than stuck on a plane or in an airport.
I'll take a book to the observation car and read next to the Mennonites doing their knitting and love every minute of it, no worries from me.
- robswc 4y agoWhat is stopping you from doing that in an airport?
- maxbond 4y agoI suppose nothing, I'll just be miserable while I'm doing it because I hate airports. A personal preference.
- themitigating 4y agoWhat is your preference based on?
- reidjs 4y agoProbably he’s been to… any airport. Maybe they’re bearable if you can get into a lounge
- maxbond 4y agoMore or less. The chairs are hostile to stop you from getting too comfortable. I've had 6 hour layovers before and had to sleep in those terrible chairs under fluorescent lights. On the last flight I took there was barely any good near my gate, there were like 4 bars instead. You can't leave your luggage anywhere, so you're dragging it all over the place. You get jammed like sardines into the plane, and you can't stretch your legs. You can't really relax because you have to stay abreast of announcements, in case they change your gate or cancel your flight or what have you. Everyone is on edge. Et cetera. On the train there's more room, you can move around, and the atmosphere is more relaxed. Some people like planes. I saw an HN comment where someone said they took lots of "flights to nowhere" over COVID and used the plane as their office. I don't understand that at all. But to each their own. I will say the views are unbeatable.
- nullify88 4y ago> I will say the views are unbeatable It's hard to agree with that. There are some amazing train routes through Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Germany that keep me looking out of the window the whole way.
- maxbond 4y agoI love the views from the train too, but I feel like the view flying is something magical everyone should experience at least once in their life. The ground fading away, the tiny cars, glittering rivers, seeing it in reverse for landing. That is something I'll wax poetic about. But if I could take the train the rest of my life I would. Clearly the middle ground here is to bring back zeppelins. /s
- thombat 4y agoNo sarcasm needed for zeppelins: the idea of gliding over the landscape low enough to hear through the openable window what's happening below fast enough to be useful for a domestic voyage, and in reasonable comfort: What's not to like? I was waiting for a Ryanair flight from Friedrichshafen when one of the Zeppelin NT craft flew past, heading over the Bodensee towards Switzerland. It looked simultaneously classic and futuristic, the sort of shiny utopia future of 1950s sci-fi book covers. I envied HARD.
- gonzo41 4y agoThe expectation of speed at the airport, because planes move fast, creates urgency for everyone. When you're on a ship or a train there's a time component to your expectations of travel. A delay in an airport feels worse than a delay at a train station or at a port.
- ghouse 4y agoCan't take knitting needles past TSA.
- ggm 4y agoActually you can. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/knitting-needles https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/... Final decision vests with the TSA agent at the desk. But there are needles which are short metal/plastic parts, with a long flexible back (eg for circular knitting) which are very unlikely to cause an issue: the point is smaller than a pen.
- Johnny555 4y agoWell, sometimes it's because you already boarded and started to taxi and there are so many planes on the ground that there are no gates open to get back to the terminal so you spend hours on the plane waiting for a slot to open so you can get off, meanwhile the galley runs out of food/drink and the toilets fill up. Then when you finally get into the terminal, it's chaos, no one knows when planes will be flying again so you're not sure if you should stay there or try to get a hotel (which fill up quickly from all of the stranded travelers)
- weakfortress 4y ago[dead]
- KennyBlanken 4y agohttps://www.google.com/search?q=passengers+trapped+on+plane https://www.google.com/search?q=passengers+trapped+on+plane
- xwdv 4y agoIf Amtraks were more luxurious, I might agree with you, but these days you might as well be riding Snowpiercer (and I don’t mean the good parts).
- maxbond 4y agoIn that the wealthier clientele have better accomodations? Outside of Southwest isn't that true of airplanes? But I'd like to see more investment in rail & a better coach experience, absolutely.
- brewdad 4y agoMy seat on the Amtrak Cascades in September was more comfortable and had about 6 inches more legroom than any airplane I’ve ever flown on. First or Business class on an international flight will be way better than a roomette on Amtrak however.
- rmason 4y agoAre you aware that an Amtrak passenger train was stuck in South Carolina for 39 hours this month? Some of the passengers felt they were being held hostage. At least at an airport you can walk outside and catch an Uber.
- _ea1k 4y agoIsn't that the same one that he was replying to?
- maxbond 4y agoThat's terrible. On the other hand, airports for me are guaranteed to be awful, and I've always enjoyed the Amtrak. If I'm in a hurry to get someplace I'll take a plane, sure. I wish we had high speed rail in this country (or I'd never fly again except internationally) but of course we don't. If there's no particular rush I'll take my sweet time on the Amtrak, and if it's delayed for 30 hours - like I said, you'll find me minding my reading with no complaints.
- katbyte 4y agoBlame the fact freight generally overrules passenger: https://youtu.be/qQTjLWIHN74 https://youtu.be/qQTjLWIHN74 Amtrak isn’t allowed to be successful Either way rather be stuck on a train then a plane anyday
- sclarisse 4y agoThere’s a reason for that. Freight has priority because the freight companies actually own the rails, and actually use them, and it’s a significant contributor to the US economy. Amtrak is an unwelcome guest that they are required by law to put up with. If they wanted better service, Amtrak could pay for it, except the big cross country routes are already crazy unprofitable. The actual sane solution is to shut down those routes and run buses. American heavy rail outside the NEC is better suited for freight anyway. Build new dedicated corridors for fast passenger services, or stay home.
- bobbylarrybobby 4y ago