Amtrak USA Rail Pass: Travel 10 Segments within 30-Days

magic1asso

Jun 10, 2021 1:54 PM

23 Comments

Joined May 2014

magic1assoJun 10, 2021 1:54 PM

23 Comments

Quote from Lanmanna

:

You're soooo right. Honolulu, Hawaii looks just like Mobile, Alabama! I always get Anchorage mixed up with Houston because they look so much alike.

Have you ever left your city or house?

Amtrak goes to Honolulu and Anchorage now?

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jimx200

Jun 10, 2021 2:11 PM

10.4K Comments

Joined Oct 2011

jimx200Jun 10, 2021 2:11 PM

10.4K Comments

HSR here in California is toast. Once people learned it's limitations and very high cost, public opinion dropped like a rock. They projected a fare of $100. from N Cal to S Cal and a 4-6 hour trip..lol. There is only 3 places where the train hits 80mph and that's for a whooping 12 minutes. Nothing high speed about this financial fiasco. This was Brown's (former gov) legacy to himself. I can get a SouthWest flight from Sacramento to OC for $79. and travel time of just over a hour. I've been on Amtrak and thanks, but it's not a good experience. They can't even regulate the heating/cooling. " Cost estimates have bounced around since 2008, landing at various times at $64 billion, $77 billion, $98 billion, and $117 billion before settling, for now, at $100 billion for a scaled-back version that links Los Angeles and San Francisco. That's $20 billion more than the price tag of a year ago when Governor Gavin Newsom, in one of the political understatements of the year, said that "the current project, as planned, would cost too much and take too long." LOL..Dems in action and why our once Golden State is now turd brown.

3

Edxzxz

Jun 10, 2021 2:16 PM

6.7K Comments

Joined Nov 2006

EdxzxzJun 10, 2021 2:16 PM

6.7K Comments

Quote from JH0214

:

Have a coworker who commutes from philly (starts from trenton? I believe) to nyc penn by nj transit. Ride is only an hr and 10 mins or so. On the other hand, my commute from coney island to herald sq takes abt the same time lol.

Yeah, I used to live in Jersey City down by Bayonne, I had to take a bus to Journal Square PATH, PATH to subway to midtown (or walk 8 blocks) it took over an hour each way all in, and the worst was the bus - either they'd whiz past because they were full, or I'd get on and it was full of high school kids being obnoxious, but every time some old lady would be waiting for the bus with me and somehow never know she was expected to pay exact change for the bus, so the bus wouldn't move until she sifted through her change purse and found the change to pay, then she'd get off the bus 4 blocks later (always buzzing after the bus had stopped for a red light so we'd have to stop again 10 feet after the light changed to green). Good God I do not miss that awful commute. On a map it looks like if you walked it would take 10 minutes.

Kimjongun2020

Jun 10, 2021 2:20 PM

263 Comments

Joined Oct 2020

Kimjongun2020Jun 10, 2021 2:20 PM

263 Comments

10 rides... So I would expect the ride to derail at least three times out of those ten?

1

threeclaws

Jun 10, 2021 2:35 PM

1.3K Comments

Joined Jun 2007

threeclawsJun 10, 2021 2:35 PM

1.3K Comments

Quote from theoutlawtorn

:

Hahaha. San Fran and LA are 7 hours apart with 2 hours for traffic. What you fail to understand is that a lot of states are huge.

I used to do Pomona to Oakland a few times a year in college and it never took me longer than 5hrs.

That being said I eventually grew up and just started flying since it costs so little and got me there in far less time without feeling like crap. It was a little bit easier back then because LAWA hadn't taken over ONT and I could get through security in 30min and SWA hadn't started jacking up their prices ($60/RT was common.)

As for the HSR, it's a boondoggle and for California's sake I hope it never gets completed. It would be slow, expensive to ride (more than a plane ticket,) and incredibly expensive to taxpayers.

wilkommen

Jun 10, 2021 3:29 PM

99 Comments

Joined Apr 2006

wilkommenJun 10, 2021 3:29 PM

99 Comments

Quote from AvidBuyer

:

The destinations people enjoy are closer together.

While Eurail is big, Eurail Pass isn't. It is very common knowledge among backpacker/hostelers that they will always end up paying more with Eurail. It is a marketing gimmick with many restrictions. Japan Railway pass on the other hand is subsidized by the Japanese government and is a screaming deal.

Lanmanna

Jun 10, 2021 6:35 PM

9.4K Comments

Joined Nov 2008

LanmannaJun 10, 2021 6:35 PM

9.4K Comments

Quote from magic1asso

:

Amtrak goes to Honolulu and Anchorage now?

It wasn't about where Amtrak goes. It was in response to all of the United States looking the same, which isn't true at all.

anjentai

Jun 10, 2021 9:59 PM

104 Comments

Joined Feb 2018

anjentaiJun 10, 2021 9:59 PM

104 Comments

So I can think of two interesting itineraries. One is to hit a bunch of big cities on the East Coast + Chicago and New Orleans. Say start in New York, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, Washington DC, and Philly, spending a few days in each exploring downtown. Another is to do a big loop across the north, down the west coast and back through Texas, New Orleans, then back to the east coast, and stopping at a few major cities along the way. The second trip is mainly to ride the train as it were and not so much to see the stops. If you do it right and/or are cheap you can save a few bucks riding trains at night! If I was 20 and had a month to blow on seeing the country .........

1

CreditGuy

Jun 10, 2021 10:12 PM

2.7K Comments

Joined Nov 2010

CreditGuyJun 10, 2021 10:12 PM

2.7K Comments

I agree with the above comment. I think for folks with a decent amount of time for travel, this would be a deal that would be interesting. The train runs up and down the west coast so for someone who would be interested in seeing the coast from SoCal to Washington, with stops along the way to sight see, this would be attractive. Just as an example.

And for those who have not driven the US much, this is a huge country we live in that is really diverse. I've been in every state and driven thousands of miles. I84 westbound from the blue mountains into Pendleton is one of the best 25 mile stretches of highway in America.

VictorB7230

Jun 10, 2021 11:41 PM

35 Comments

Joined Aug 2013

VictorB7230Jun 10, 2021 11:41 PM

35 Comments

Quote from Edxzxz

:

Am I missing something here or does this 'deal' require you to take 10 train trips in a span of 30 days, at $30 per trip? Who does that? Where are you going that you won't need a car when you get there, and you're only staying 3 days or so at every single one of the 10 places you go? Maybe for someone who lives in Philly and works in NYC?

I think it is attempt to duplicate the success of euro pass. There you can travel around the Europe unlimited for a certain number of days. A lot of students can use it to travel around on budget.

Alpha__Omega

Jun 11, 2021 2:17 AM

1.1K Comments

Joined Jan 2007

Alpha__OmegaJun 11, 2021 2:17 AM

1.1K Comments

Quote from IlluminatusCU

:

Not just the distance between cities but the layout. In most cities you're gonna need to rent a car over and over to get around within town, and if you're doing that - just rent the car and drive the distance.

Same can be said for flying, except worse, since train stations typically in town, airport, outlying area. "There is no perfection"

Big Wang

Jun 11, 2021 2:29 AM

1.2K Comments

Joined Oct 2005

Big WangJun 11, 2021 2:29 AM

1.2K Comments

Quote from itsarectangle

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Thats for youths, adult is $777

You're correct on the youth part. However, I have one adult selected and it's still $493 MSRP for 2nd class.

vreezkid

Jun 11, 2021 11:22 AM

623 Comments

Joined Dec 2007

vreezkidJun 11, 2021 11:22 AM

623 Comments

Amtrak is awesome! Way more relaxing than air travel IMHO, if you're not on a time crunch.

SDDuck

Jun 11, 2021 11:38 AM

504 Comments

Joined May 2007

SDDuckJun 11, 2021 11:38 AM

504 Comments

Quote from KMan

:

ALL of this is also true or could be made true in the US. If you look at the US as a continent rather than country, it's not that different from Europe. Or perhaps China's a better example, comparable size, terrain variety and urban/rural mix, yet they've made it happen in 20 years. There's nothing special about US cities or the land between them making this impossible or impractical. And our best cities are absolutely walkable and have or could have great public transit. Where have you been in the US where this isn't so? And we haven't even gotten into how well this would serve more rural passengers, who might want to travel to a local city or distant small town now and then, to shop, see family or friends, or sightsee. Also getting to regional airports would be easier, so rail improvements, both regular and HSR, tie into air travel.

Unlike Europe where I could walk to the street corner, catch a short five minute bus ride (after only waiting only five minutes) to the local subway that connects to a train system across Europe, the United States is way behind. Many US cities downtown areas leave a lot to be desired with crime, lack of grocery stores, pharmacies, bakeries, restaurants etc... open in the evening and on weekends. Not to mention living in downtown areas. And without an adequate network of subways, and most bus routes suck, you then have a parking problem in downtown areas. Add to that the BLM protests, the United States will never match Europe with public transportation that can be relied upon which is timely and gets you to downtown areas where you feel safe and worth visiting. Too many people in the United States have a me first attitude.

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KMan

Jun 11, 2021 11:47 AM

7.5K Comments

Joined Nov 2006

KManJun 11, 2021 11:47 AM

7.5K Comments

Quote from SDDuck

:

Unlike Europe where I could walk to the street corner, catch a short five minute bus ride (after only waiting only five minutes) to the local subway that connects to a train system across Europe, the United States is way behind. Many US cities downtown areas leave a lot to be desired with crime, lack of grocery stores, pharmacies, bakeries, restaurants etc... open in the evening and on weekends. Not to mention living in downtown areas. And without an adequate network of subways, and most bus routes suck, you then have a parking problem in downtown areas. Add to that the BLM protests, the United States will never match Europe with public transportation that can be relied upon which is timely and gets you to downtown areas where you feel safe and worth visiting. Too many people in the United States have a me first attitude.

Well, we're talking about visiting these cities using Amtrak, not living in them. Two very different experiences. The US cities worth visiting beyond a day trip certainly have areas worth staying in for a few days within a relatively short distance from the train station, by foot, bus, tram, train or Uber/cab, and there's always decent eateries, grocery stores, shopping, etc. Parking is kind of irrelevant since you got there by train (although some stations do have car rental facilities, like LA's Union Station). Worries about protests are overblown and there's often a strike or protest in European cities, and crime exists everywhere and again I think you overstate this fear. "Stuff you hear about" is often way way way overblown, at least in touristy areas. All that said, though, many US cities could certainly use some quality of life improvements.

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Amtrak USA Rail Pass: Travel 10 Segments within 30-Days

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