Originally Posted by
speedbird66
Another thought that has occurred is the possibility of making a return trip from Chicago to the west coast, flying there and back from PHL where I'm based. Possibly the California Zephyr one way and the Southwest Chief the other. I know nothing about these routes so any recommendations about whether one would be better than the other, or if the whole idea is crazy because I'd be getting cabin fever after two multi-day train journeys would be greatly appreciated.
I think the return trip is a better deal: a single 3-zone trip is 35,000 points, whereas 2 2-zone trips are 40,000 points (2 x 20,000).
I have taken the Zephyr twice, but not the Southwest Chief. The consensus seems to be that the Zephyr has the best scenery (followed by the Empire Builder).