Originally Posted by
markwo
I'd like to travel from Pittsburgh to Seattle sometime in mid-late October via the California Zephyr and the Coast Starlight or Coast Starlight and Cascades. I'd like a roomette from Chicago to Seattle (or til I pick up the Cascades). I don't need one from Pittsburgh to Chicago.
I'm not sure the best way to book this using my AGR points (currently have about 17,500). If I buy some points to use the 2 zone 20,000 point roomette award, it seems I can't do it using the Zephyr, just the Empire Builder since the Zephyr is less direct.
Are there any tricks to finding out how to get the most for my points?
I'd like to ride the Zephyr over the Empire Builder because I think the scenery would be better, but if you have other opinions or suggestions on a better route, I'd love to hear them!
With Amtrak's zone system, there's no reason to wait until Chicago to pick up the roomette. You might as well get the roomette at the border between the eastern and midwest zones, which (assuming you take the Capitol Limited from PIT) would be Toledo, since it would be the same number of points.
This way, you only need to buy the rail fare from Pittsburgh to Toledo instead of Pittsburgh to Chicago, which would save you $26. Additionally, you'd get a free breakfast in the dining car in the morning before arriving in Chicago. And even though you'd be moving to your roomette at midnight, you have a nice, already-made-up bed waiting for you, so moving shouldn't be too hard.
Also, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do the Zephyr, even though it's less direct. Checking Amtrak.com, one of the routing options the booking engine suggests is actually CHI-LAX-SEA on the Southwest Chief and Coast Starlight...and that's about as indirect as it gets! (AGR agents should be able to book you on any routing that is automatically suggested by the Amtrak booking engine, assuming there's availability, of course.)
I agree with your thoughts of going via the Zephyr. The scenery between Denver and Grand Junction is absolutely stunning, and I understand the travel through the Sierras west of Reno is worth seeing, too. The Cascade Range through Oregon on the Starlight is a big treat, too, which makes that a wonderful choice of routing.
If for some freak reason the Zephyr is unavailable to you during your trip out, consider taking the Southwest Chief through Los Angeles. You'll be able to spend the morning after departing Los Angeles gazing out at the Pacific Ocean, a stretch of track many people consider to be second only to the Rocky Mountain scenery on the Zephyr when it comes to scenery along the rails.
As for returning home: the Rocky Mountain scenery west of Denver is much better going west than east (due to the time of day the train goes through that area), and in the interest of variety, I'd consider choosing another route home (unless you missed it on the trip out and took the Southwest Chief instead). The Empire Builder offers great views of the northern Rockies. Additionally, if you're paying out of pocket (rather than with points) for the trip home, it tends to be the cheapest of the options.