Amtrak Guest Rewards - Amtrak SLC to SEA newbie

Hey all,

Will be making a trip to Seattle from Salt Lake City in the late summer. I've really wanted to experience a train ride, but have a few questions, because I've been bummed about the cost.

The cheapest way obviously seems to be via air, but maybe I'm not using the reservation site right on Amtrak.

Travel for 2 round trip seems to run about $350 a person, and that's without any rooms. Do you think a room is the better way to go? Or just reserved seating, if you add the rooms, it looks like we have to add almost $200 for the Sacramento to Seattle leg, and about $140 for the SLC to Sacremento leg, and that's just on the way to Seattle.

Does anyone know what the trip is like, any discount codes, or even general tips on heading that way, and cutting costs.

Thanks.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Do you have/can you get Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR) points, or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which convert to AGR points? Redeeming for a roomette on that route would be a good value.

Hey all,

Will be making a trip to Seattle from Salt Lake City in the late summer. I've really wanted to experience a train ride, but have a few questions, because I've been bummed about the cost.

The cheapest way obviously seems to be via air, but maybe I'm not using the reservation site right on Amtrak.

Travel for 2 round trip seems to run about $350 a person, and that's without any rooms. Do you think a room is the better way to go? Or just reserved seating, if you add the rooms, it looks like we have to add almost $200 for the Sacramento to Seattle leg, and about $140 for the SLC to Sacremento leg, and that's just on the way to Seattle.

Does anyone know what the trip is like, any discount codes, or even general tips on heading that way, and cutting costs.

Thanks.

AAA offers a good discount -- also if you don't take a sleeping car, you'll have to pay for all of your meals, so I recommend getting a economy bedroom which would include meals.

Old town Sacramento is well worth a visit.

Bob H

Take the train one way, and fly back?

If your dates are somewhat flexible check http://biketrain.netfirms.com/amsnag/amSnag.php to see if shifting a day or two will save some bucks.

I'd say fly to Salt Lake and train it back. The best scenery is crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains between Reno and Sacramento. Youll also get a nice ride north of Klamath Falls all the way to Eugene. I suggest getting a roomette on at least this leg. You'll get to enjoy the Pacific Parlour Car complete with meals, a movie theatre and wine and cheese tastings.

I say go that direction because if you go south from Seattle, you'll miss the Cascade range in Oregon. It will be dark then.

I'd say fly to Salt Lake and train it back. The best scenery is crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains between Reno and Sacramento. Youll also get a nice ride north of Klamath Falls all the way to Eugene. I suggest getting a roomette on at least this leg. You'll get to enjoy the Pacific Parlour Car complete with meals, a movie theatre and wine and cheese tastings.

I say go that direction because if you go south from Seattle, you'll miss the Cascade range in Oregon. It will be dark then.

Actually, if the trip happens between roughly early May and late September, then a good portion of the southbound trip over the Cascades is in the daylight. I did that segment in late July one year and had daylight nearly all the way to Chemult, on the east side of the mountains.

That said, I'd suggest if you try the fly/train method, just choose whichever direction works best for your own schedule and flight prices...you can't really miss either way.

I love taking trains, including Amtrak, but I wouldn't personally take a trip that long without a room (and access to showers). My wife would be even more adamant than I would. She didn't find the roomette we had from Chicago to Portland particularly comfortable (I had fewer complaints about it), but sleeping in your coach seat for that length of time? Some can do it easily. Not us. For our roomette, rest rooms were down the car, and showers downstairs. With sleeping quarters, meals (including wine tastings some days, at least on the trains I've taken) are included, which was nice. We spent most of our time in the observation and dining cars. The compartments you sleep in are fairly small. BTW, it looked to me that you were including the room cost for just one of the trains. Remember, two separate trains involved. I came up with room cost of $400-500 (surprisingly, the cost was different depending on the direction). I was using arbitrary dates. Note that room costs can and do increase as they sell out, but Amtrak has a pretty flexible cancellation policy.

I think flying one day and taking the train the other makes sense, in terms of both comfort and cost, though there are train fans who would say take the train both ways (and others who would say fly).

The historic Pacific Parlout Car mentioned above (do an Internet search) is nice. Even a special menu (not necessarily any better than the regular dining car-- sometimes not as good-- but it is an additional option, and only those with sleeping quarters can use it). The movie section on that car is small. No one was watching the flicks when I took the Coast Starlight from Portland to L.A. last year. On the Empire Builder, a movie was shown in the observation car.

Quickly glancing at the Amtrak schedule, it appears you'd go over the Siskiyous at night either day, but you would cross the Sierra Nevada during the day (it is a scenic section). One difference is that you'd have a notably longer layover in Sacramento (extending to almost midnight) if you go from Salt Lake to Seattle rather than the reverse. I've taken the Coast Starlight only from Portland south so can't comment on the Cascades crossing.

I've taken the Coast Starlight only from Portland south so can't comment on the Cascades crossing.

But to be clear, the CS crosses the Cascades well south of Portland (between Eugene and Chemult on the timetable). During the winter and much of spring and fall, this crossing (going south) is at night. As I noted above, for a good 4 months or so the s/b Cascades crossing is in daylight. The n/b crossing is in daylight all year.