USA RAIL PASS ON SALE FOR $299

[Fru-Gal]

I used this pass, normally $500, to travel the entire country for 30 days in 2023. Must buy by January 17 and then you have 120 days from time of purchase to use it. You get 10 coach segments of any length. You could also mix & match with paid segments if needed.

https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html

Pro tip: you don’t have to go all over the county or spend 30 days doing it. You could do half the country or one region. Some people prefer to buy this ticket over a long-distance one since you have more flexibility for destination and hop on-hop off.

I am definitely getting it, it has not been on sale for over a year!

[NotJen]

Well, shoot.  I was looking at doing 2 segments for $148 this month.  I'll have to look into this and see if I can turn it in to some useful travel...  Thanks for the heads up.

[uniwelder]

Thanks for the heads up.  We can't use it anytime soon, but these travel tips will come in handy in a few years.

[NotJen]

Does anyone want to help me brainstorm travel ideas for using this pass?  Or at least bear with me while I try to puzzle this out.

I don't think I want to do an epic round-the-country-for-a-month trip.  I have no idea if I can sleep on a train, but I'm willing to try.  I rode the Vermonter for a single day about 10 years ago as part of a longer vacation for the experience - I liked it, but was annoyed by how long it took.  Since I'm FIREd now, the extra travel time might not matter, but I am used to getting daily exercise, so I'm not sure how restless I'll get on the train.  I do have plenty of sedentary hobbies to occupy myself.

I live along the California Zephyr route (pretend like you don't know where I live), and had already been contemplating a 2-day out-and-back trip across the Rockies, just for the winter scenery.

It seems quite realistic to use 2 segments for a trip to Chicago, and 2-4 segments for a separate trip to San Francisco.  But that leaves me with 4-6 segments.

Ideally, I'd want something like 3 5-day trips that would let me keep my normal volunteer day in place.  However, that's not looking realistic with the long travel times!

What's annoying is the lack of North-South routes in the west.  To get to a different line, I'd have to go all the way to California or Illinois.  So it seems like my only option would be tacking on segments to the SF and Chicago trips, instead of trying to find a 3rd trip.

I have a friend in Tennessee I would like to visit in March.  I could add a segment to Nashville from Chicago - but it's 10 hours on a bus.  Is it worth it?  Flights would only cost $11 (using miles and only paying taxes), and take me directly to their city...

I wouldn't mind spending a couple days in NYC, but that seems like so much time on the train!

[Omy]

Sounds so cool. I need to go back to your other post to get more info. Are train stations usually walkable to hotels, restaurants, etc? Or do you usually Uber or rent a car to stay elsewhere?

[Fru-Gal]

This site will help you a lot: Amtrakexplorer.com


(Sorry about spelling but I’m dictating this while I’m walking my 20 K steps lol)

There’s really an art to it and you can only kind of figure it out by doing it. But at the same time, it’s not as hard as it seems.

Step one as you need your Amtrak app because that’s where you’re gonna order all of your tickets (segments). And it’s always important to know that in order to not lose a segment all you have to do is cancel if you’re going to miss it and if you have a complicated route with two or three segments in it and something gets messed up or canceled in the middle of it, call Amtrak and they will be very helpful so that you don’t lose the segments that you already have booked. I say that because sometimes segments can sell out.

also, some segments have less activity; for example, the Texas eagle, which is a super cool line, does not run every day. So you have to plan for that.

Here’s my tip about buses. First off I would never take a bus ride that was more than say five hours the whole point about being on the train is you’re gonna be on it for hours you don’t need to spend that time on a bus. That said, Amtrak buses are fantastic and they take great care of you. So are local buses, like in Colorado you have Bustang and in Utah you have Salt Lake express. From what I have heard, greyhound is not fantastic in fact it’s downright scary (the passengers are).

So I would recommend not taking greyhound to Nashville, which is Amtrak‘s option for getting to Nashville. what I did is I rented a car in Birmingham Alabama and drove to Nashville. Getting there from Memphis might be another option.

New Orleans was absolutely phenomenal. I also took the train from New York to Birmingham and it goes right through Washington, which was stunning to look at and it would be amazing to stop there.

At this point, I’ve taken almost all of the long distance routes and I can’t tell you there’s a single one that I didn’t love. They are all beautiful because this country is beautiful. The Western trains are super liners meaning they are double-decker, which is pretty cool. Everything east of the Mississippi is single level because of the lower tunnels oh the other thing I have not yet taken is high speed (the Acela).

Chicago was amazing as well so was Kansas City and St. Louis. All of these stations are absolutely stunning and they’re such part of the fabric of the history of America. When you go to the Chicago station you realize what a lie we’ve been told about our real system. this is how our country was built and it’s still highly functional. It’s just that long distance travel by train is not something that most people are going to want to do so that’s a niche prospect but people still do middle and short distance a ton.

To answer another posters question, I only rented a car one time which is when I wanted to go from Birmingham to Nashville. The whole point of train travel is it drops you right in the middle of town wherever you go. No TSA tons of legroom food and drink on the train, and you can take whatever you like on the train. The only thing with bicycles is, they can be tricky because some lines are not commuter lines and therefore the bicycle needs to go in the baggage compartment, which makes it a little bit more tricky. Just do your research or call one,800 USA rail and they will help you out.



I have not yet taken the city of New Orleans, which is the train that runs along the Mississippi between New Orleans and Chicago

[Fru-Gal]

@NotJen I actually ended up with one segment left over after my trip and I used that on the last day that I could for a local one hour trip where I took my Ebike and then biked back.

So remember, you can use these segments for much shorter trips as well and they’re still a very good deal. Are there local trips that you could take within an hour or two within that 30 day timeframe?

[NotJen]

Here’s my tip about buses. First off I would never take a bus ride that was more than say five hours the whole point about being on the train is you’re gonna be on it for hours you don’t need to spend that time on a bus. That said, Amtrak buses are fantastic and they take great care of you. So are local buses, like in Colorado you have Bustang and in Utah you have Salt Lake express. From what I have heard, greyhound is not fantastic in fact it’s downright scary (the passengers are).

So I would recommend not taking greyhound to Nashville, which is Amtrak‘s option for getting to Nashville. what I did is I rented a car in Birmingham Alabama and drove to Nashville. Getting there from Memphis might be another option.

I hear you about buses.  It's just that all of my friends are in the Amtrak dead area in the southeast!  It looks like there's an option for a 5.5hr bus ride from Indianapolis to Nashville.  Memphis is further than I'd like to drive (destination is several hours east of Nashville).  I also looked at Birmingham, but it's 74 hrs on the train to get there since you have to go ALL the way to the east coast.  I *LOVE* DC, but I grew up nearby, so going through there isn't a draw (since I'd want to stop and see my family and then that turns it in to an even longer trip!).

@NotJen I actually ended up with one segment left over after my trip and I used that on the last day that I could for a local one hour trip where I took my Ebike and then biked back.

So remember, you can use these segments for much shorter trips as well and they’re still a very good deal. Are there local trips that you could take within an hour or two within that 30 day timeframe?

I like this idea, but the closest stations in either direction are 2 hrs away.  I can't head west and get back the same day.  If I go east, I'd have 3 hours before the return trip, if things are on time.  Plus the possibility that I could miss the return trip.  It's somewhere I definitely need to go explore, but driving there would cost me all of $14.  Taking a "free" ride on the train would inevitably cost me more.


I'm going to start a spreadsheet.  I think I'll investigate Chicago plus Michigan (never been ~ possibly Dearborn for the Ford museum?) or Chicago plus NYC, and San Francisco plus maybe a stop somewhere on the Coast Starlight.

[Omy]

Thanks so much for your long posts on this subject - it's very interesting and inspiring and I'm seriously considering this.

[Fru-Gal]

You're welcome, @Omy !

Remember to get your Amtrak credit card and set up guest rewards! I can travel for free a lot now (however you can't buy rail passes with points, but they do add to your points balance). I posted elsewhere that spouse and I had a free 2 day, $1000 roomette ride last year!

Another suggestion, there are tons of YouTube channels on Amtrak travel, and a couple with USA Rail Pass itineraries. Another option is to fly somewhere and do a bunch of rail trips from that particular hub.

I took 30 days because I spent a week in NYC and 3-5 days in a few other cities.

I didn't make it to Florida last time (that would have added a whole week!) but I hear Tampa is beautiful.

@NotJen, I believe what's causing that hole in the South East network is a rail line that was lost (perhaps to Hurricane? Katrina?) decades ago. I believe Biden proposed rebuilding that.

I understand how overwhelming it can be. This was something I had wanted to do forever, and I realized that I knew people all over the US. However, what finally sparked action was a catastrophic near death experience for a loved one. That and a few other bad things have pushed me to face my fears in the last few years. None of us are getting out alive!

[ixtap]

I don't think we are going to know our next moves by Jan 17, but if we do figure out a timeline this week, this might be an option.

[Omy]

It appears to be fully refundable as long as you don't use any segments...unless I'm reading incorrectly.

[BicycleB]

Wow, that's interesting. I haven't been on Amtrak since childhood but live in a town with an Amtrak station.

Can you use the segments for 2 people (5 segments each x 2 people = 10 segments)?

[NotJen]

Wow, that's interesting. I haven't been on Amtrak since childhood but live in a town with an Amtrak station.

Can you use the segments for 2 people (5 segments each x 2 people = 10 segments)?

I don't think so.  The FAQs say "each customer must purchase their own rail pass and travel is booked on separate reservations.".

I bought a rail pass this morning (!!) and there is no ability to book a trip in someone else's name.  Or book 2 tickets at once.

[Fru-Gal]

Woo hoo!!!

Yeah it’s one per person. But at this price you get two for only $100 over the normal cost for one ($500). And even at normal price it’s a steal!

If you have a lot of points, you CAN use them to buy someone else a ticket. But you can’t use points to buy any rail passes.

[Fru-Gal]

OK I’m buying mine. It is refundable if unused:

Refunds

• An unused rail pass is fully refundable if requested within the pass validity period (120 days) and no segments have been booked.
• If travel has been booked, pass is fully refundable up to 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure of the first booked segment.
• Pass is refundable within 48 hours of scheduled departure of the first booked segment, less a 25% cancelation fee.
• Pass is non-refundable after the scheduled departure of the first booked segment.
• Pass has no remaining value following the validity period, even if no segments have been booked or used.

[/quote]

[Omy]

Bought ours as well!

[Fru-Gal]

Bought ours as well!

Woo hoooOOOOO! Choo chooooo

[NotJen]

I just completed the first 4 segments on my rail pass!

1: Home->Chicago (1 overnight)
2: Chicago->Dearborn MI
3: Dearborn MI->Chicago
4: Chicago->Home (1 overnight)

I really enjoyed it!  I'm the kind of person who loves watching the world go by, so it worked for me.

Biggest complaint - every train was in the ballpark of 2 hours late.  It wasn't a big deal because I was expecting it, but it put me walking to my hotels after midnight which didn't cause any issues, but wasn't ideal.  I had assumed that at least one segment would be close to on time, but no.  I was surprised by the number of people complaining about "why is the train stopped".  I knew the train would randomly stop for rail traffic and whatnot.  The best was whoever was doing the announcements on the Wolverine coming back from Dearborn - they announced that we were stopped because of a car on the tracks, and continued with some "real talk" about how we need to stop doing that - it was hilarious.  He was calm, but obviously frustrated, as I take it this is a common occurrence - the previous day we took on passengers from an earlier train that was taken out of service, and I read that they had possibly hit a vehicle.

Slight complaint - announcements are hit-and-miss.  In general, the calling out of stations and how long we'd be at each was excellent.  Some conductors were better at announcing reasons for (or simply acknowledging) stops and delays.  On my outbound trip, the conductor did a great job of pointing out points of interest along the way.  I'm pretty sure he even pointed out a moose sighting!  On the way back, no "sightseeing" announcements at all.

I was able to sleep on the train.  Not well, but not too bad, either.  Both nights I had both seats to myself.  Leaving Chicago the train was understandably full, but it cleared out before night, and I was able to snag a seat alone when I wanted to go to bed.  I don't think I'd be able to sleep if someone was sitting next to me, as that would limit my motion a lot.  I'm a little worried about not having both seats to myself on future trips.

1 night on the train was fine, 2 would be iffy.

I got off at every fresh air break to walk a few steps (formerly called smoke breaks, I assume).  Since every train was running late, these stops were mostly 3-5 minutes, not enough time to do much (like look for fresh food).

I spent most of my time in the observation car, though that was a little silly at times because the coach seats are more comfortable.  The attendant gave away my seat as we approached Chicago because I was spending so much time in the observation car.  I went back to my seat, and someone was in it - even though my coat had been in the seat.  ??  So that was annoying, but ultimately not a big deal, other than me having a confrontation with the woman asking why she was in my seat (and she very definitely was not moving, lol).

Food was okay.  I ate 1 dinner in the dining car to see what it was like - it wasn't bad, but definitely not worth the $45.  Next time I might try lunch, just because, but I was not enamored of the dining car.  Cafe car options were pretty disappointing (they looked better on paper).  I took a homemade veggie-heavy lunch and dinner in a small cooler for my first day, as well as some fresh fruits and lots of shelf-stable snacks, but didn't have time to shop for my return trip at all.  I will be researching some homemade food ideas that don't need refrigeration or microwaving or hot water for my next trip.  I'm thinking granola and shelf-stable milk boxes for breakfast will be easy.  PB&J and tuna packs are obviously an option.  But if I could get some vegetables in my second day, that would be amazing.

I felt pretty safe as a solo traveler.  I kept my important items in a fanny pack that was always looped over my chest.  If someone wanted to rifle through the bag I left above my seat and take my knitting project, bag of random cables, and snacks, or my dirty clothes from my suitcase on the luggage rack - well, it would be super annoying and upsetting, but not the end of the world.

Assuming I use all the segments available on my pass, these 4 segments were $120.  The prices for refundable tickets on the day I booked my finalized trip was $520 (I changed dates once, love the flexibility).

I start trip #2 in 10 days...

[Fru-Gal]

Awesome report! You are motivating me to do the same with my pass and break it up into two separate trips.

I had better luck with timeliness with my rail pass trip in 2023.

But I just took a different long-distance trip where there were major delays. The difference with me is first off, it doesn't even really bother me. Second, I was lucky in that the particular region I was in has multiple train and train/bus combos available, so I was able to quickly buy new tickets in the app and get home a few hours earlier than I would have taking the original route. The other thing I always forget is that you can take rideshares to a nearby station if you're stuck. That's what I did this last time, and split a 40-minute ride with 3 strangers. Basically we drove around the obstruction that had the train stopped.

I would say in general safety is extremely high on Amtrak. They do not play around if anyone is misbehaving, they put them right out. I have mostly had nice conductors but one time I did have a meanie. I also know what you mean about the timing. I think the long distance train pulls into San Antonio late at night and leaves there around 2 am. I walked across an open parking lot at midnight to the extended stay hotel there. Seemed fine to me but someone said I shouldn't have. I didn't have any choice, so I did it. A couple days later, coming back to the station just before 2 am, the train was delayed because they were kicking out two belligerent passengers.

It's funny how in our society we emphasize speed and everyone's biggest fear is delays. Since I don't fear delays too much, I just use them as a problem-solving opportunity. I also compare them to the worst delay I ever experienced: 8 hours stuck on a bus in a traffic jam in Mexico due to protests blocking the highway. After that experience, being on a stopped train seems minor. I've also spent 4 hours in a plane stuck on the tarmac.

[Fru-Gal]

Oh, also the biggest pro tip some people do is bring grocery bags of snacks etc. I like the Amtrak food plus I get a rebate on it so I don't do that, but it is useful in case something goes wrong and there isn't food available (that happened to me once).

[Turtle]

Train travel and knitting are very compatible, especially with those kind of delays. 

Thanks for your report @NotJen - I’m considering getting a pass next year if they go on sale again.

[Warlord1986]

Somehow I missed this post. I'm not ready to travel right this minute, but I'm posting to follow. Would love to do something next year.

[Fru-Gal]

Train travel and knitting are very compatible, especially with those kind of delays. 

Thanks for your report @NotJen - I’m considering getting a pass next year if they go on sale again.

FYI, I don’t think they go on sale every single year. But even at $500 they are an incredible deal for 10 rides of any distance and as Jen said you can cancel and reschedule them easily as well.

[nouseforausername]

This is awesome.

There is also one for Germany that costs around €50ish and lasts a month for unlimited travel on most trains, busses, and metro there. You just screenshot the QR code or print it out and hop on whatever mode of transport you want.

It makes planning a vacation to Germany as easy as "buy airfare" then "joyride train to pretty town with cheap hotels or Air BnB, hop off." Then repeat at your leisure.

[lhamo]

For those who want to experiment a bit with the train before committing, it might be worth doing some short trips to see how you like it -- I am on a trip to Portland from Seattle and decided to take Amtrak instead of driving.  I ended up paying $76 rt for my ticket -- would have been around $60 if I hadn't procrastinated on buying it, as prices go up the closer you get to departure date.  I also paid about $8 more total so that I could change departure times. 

Ride down was fine except we got stuck for about an hour just outside Portland due to track work and them prioritizing freight traffic. 

[NotJen]

I completed my second trip last week (9 days total).

5: Home -> Martinez, CA (1 overnight)
6: Martinez -> Merced, CA (San Joaquins route)
7: Merced -> Emeryville, CA (San Joaquins route)
8: Emeryville -> San Francisco, CA (thruway bus connection)
9: San Francisco -> Emeryville (thruway bus connection)
10: Emeryville -> Home (1 overnight)

I didn't save as much by using the rail pass on this trip as my first trip.  $314 if booked separately, $180 for the rail pass for these segments.  I 'lost' money on the bus connections and intra-CA trips.  You can't buy the bus portions separately, so that's fine.  Plus I wanted my connection in Martinez to be on the same ticket as my 5th leg, so that Amtrak would "guarantee" the connection.  I considered purchasing legs 7+8 separately ($34 vs using 2 segments of the rail pass), but I could not come up with any reasonable way to use those last 2 segments within my 30 days.  So.

Incredibly, my first train was running EARLY the whole trip.  Honestly, I was hoping for about an hour delay to reduce my connection time, but it was really nice to not have to worry about my connection in Martinez (2hrs 20mins) at all.  That did leave me with a much longer-than-anticipated layover.  I ended up leaving the station and dragging my large-ish luggage around to find dinner (a food truck behind a brewery was nice and convenient), and then I walked some of the trails in the waterfront park, dragging my luggage instead of a dog (*I* was highly amused by this situation).

My side-trip to Merced was to have a 24-hour long visit to Yosemite.  I took public transport (YARTS) into the park, which worked really well, took the free park shuttle to the trailhead I wanted to hike, and stayed the night at a lodge inside the park.  I'm surprised my precarious plan worked, but it was a really nice visit, doable with public transportation (though I wouldn't have wanted to be without a car for a longer trip as you can't see everything from the shuttle).  I've been before, and I liked this brief glimpse of winter in the park.

I had 4 days in San Francisco (my first time to this area), and I rented a car for 2 of those days so that I could hike at Point Reyes National Seashore and the Muir Woods.  It's possible to get out of the city on public transport, but not easy, and I was grateful to have a car so I could go exactly where I wanted.

The trip back was a bit of a trial.  Due to delays the day before (a boulder crashed into and disabled the east-bound California Zephyr, and the west-bound train had to drag it to where it could be fixed, and arrived 11 hours late), my train was delayed 4 hours leaving the first station.  However, my bus connection was on time (I called Amtrak to verify the situation).  Which means instead of enjoying the city for an extra hour or two, I had to get on my bus at 7am, and wait in the Emeryville station for 5 hours.  That. was. lame.  Track slowdowns meant we didn't make up the time planned on the return trip, so I got home 5 hours later than planned.  At least it wasn't 11 hours late!  Certainly grateful for that.

I was originally a little cheered by the fact that we would get to see some scenery in the daylight that we otherwise wouldn't get to see, but that excitement was really dampened by the long delay.  It also meant that I didn't eat lunch in the diner car like I was expecting because they didn't offer it to coach.  So that was a bummer.  They did give us all free coffee and a small breakfast snack the 2nd day because of the delay.

When I first got the delay notification (we were informed the evening before the trip), I considered extending my trip an extra day to avoid this delay.  But I had a volunteer commitment in the afternoon, and I didn't want to have to cancel last minute if the next day's train was delayed.  So I kept with my original plan - which was made with delays in mind anyway.  It would have been awesome if there were 2 trains a day running this route, and I could have just jumped on the 2nd one.

Conductor messages on the trip out were horrid - no mentions of what we were passing, and really bad messaging on stops.  Coming back we got the best commentary from the conductor who got on in Salt Lake City - tons of backgrounds and history.  Though I'm pretty sure he misidentified the arch we could see as we passed by Arches.

Overall, I enjoyed my trips and hope to take Amtrak again if it ever makes sense.

[BicycleB]

I completed my second trip last week (9 days total).

5: Home -> Martinez, CA (1 overnight)
6: Martinez -> Merced, CA (San Joaquins route)
7: Merced -> Emeryville, CA (San Joaquins route)
8: Emeryville -> San Francisco, CA (thruway bus connection)
9: San Francisco -> Emeryville (thruway bus connection)
10: Emeryville -> Home (1 overnight)

I didn't save as much by using the rail pass on this trip as my first trip.  $314 if booked separately, $180 for the rail pass for these segments.  I 'lost' money on the bus connections and intra-CA trips.  You can't buy the bus portions separately, so that's fine.  Plus I wanted my connection in Martinez to be on the same ticket as my 5th leg, so that Amtrak would "guarantee" the connection.  I considered purchasing legs 7+8 separately ($34 vs using 2 segments of the rail pass), but I could not come up with any reasonable way to use those last 2 segments within my 30 days.  So.

Incredibly, my first train was running EARLY the whole trip.  Honestly, I was hoping for about an hour delay to reduce my connection time, but it was really nice to not have to worry about my connection in Martinez (2hrs 20mins) at all.  That did leave me with a much longer-than-anticipated layover.  I ended up leaving the station and dragging my large-ish luggage around to find dinner (a food truck behind a brewery was nice and convenient), and then I walked some of the trails in the waterfront park, dragging my luggage instead of a dog (*I* was highly amused by this situation).

My side-trip to Merced was to have a 24-hour long visit to Yosemite.  I took public transport (YARTS) into the park, which worked really well, took the free park shuttle to the trailhead I wanted to hike, and stayed the night at a lodge inside the park.  I'm surprised my precarious plan worked, but it was a really nice visit, doable with public transportation (though I wouldn't have wanted to be without a car for a longer trip as you can't see everything from the shuttle).  I've been before, and I liked this brief glimpse of winter in the park.

I had 4 days in San Francisco (my first time to this area), and I rented a car for 2 of those days so that I could hike at Point Reyes National Seashore and the Muir Woods.  It's possible to get out of the city on public transport, but not easy, and I was grateful to have a car so I could go exactly where I wanted.

The trip back was a bit of a trial.  Due to delays the day before (a boulder crashed into and disabled the east-bound California Zephyr, and the west-bound train had to drag it to where it could be fixed, and arrived 11 hours late), my train was delayed 4 hours leaving the first station.  However, my bus connection was on time (I called Amtrak to verify the situation).  Which means instead of enjoying the city for an extra hour or two, I had to get on my bus at 7am, and wait in the Emeryville station for 5 hours.  That. was. lame.  Track slowdowns meant we didn't make up the time planned on the return trip, so I got home 5 hours later than planned.  At least it wasn't 11 hours late!  Certainly grateful for that.

I was originally a little cheered by the fact that we would get to see some scenery in the daylight that we otherwise wouldn't get to see, but that excitement was really dampened by the long delay.  It also meant that I didn't eat lunch in the diner car like I was expecting because they didn't offer it to coach.  So that was a bummer.  They did give us all free coffee and a small breakfast snack the 2nd day because of the delay.

When I first got the delay notification (we were informed the evening before the trip), I considered extending my trip an extra day to avoid this delay.  But I had a volunteer commitment in the afternoon, and I didn't want to have to cancel last minute if the next day's train was delayed.  So I kept with my original plan - which was made with delays in mind anyway.  It would have been awesome if there were 2 trains a day running this route, and I could have just jumped on the 2nd one.

Conductor messages on the trip out were horrid - no mentions of what we were passing, and really bad messaging on stops.  Coming back we got the best commentary from the conductor who got on in Salt Lake City - tons of backgrounds and history.  Though I'm pretty sure he misidentified the arch we could see as we passed by Arches.

Overall, I enjoyed my trips and hope to take Amtrak again if it ever makes sense.

Great report!!

[Fru-Gal]

Great trip report!

[Warlord1986]

That was a treat to read!