Originally Posted by
AlbConst
I've been commuting by car between Philadelphia and Baltimore about one to two times a week (usually around weekends) and wanted to get thoughts on the best Amtrak options for this route.
I've rode Amtrak a handful of times over the years but my primary flyertalk experience is with United flights.
Anyway, what would be the best/cheapest way to make this trip on Amtrak? Are there monthly passes or frequent rider programs that would provide much benefit? It looks like a lot of the trains running this route (northeast regional) have restrictions in terms of bulk ride passes, etc. so I wanted to get some advice.
Thanks in advance!
I currently commute from NYP-PHL daily on a monthly pass and when we used to live in Philly my wife commuted weekly from WAS-PHL for about six months using a series of 10-ride passes. In both cases, the flexibility of being able to take (almost) any train far outweighed paying a price per ride above the 14-day discount fare, because the average price with the pass in both cases is far below the walk-up price.
If your plans are generally set in stone, you would benefit from purchasing cheap advance fares, but checking the walk-up price for PHL-BAL on a Sunday night, you're looking somewhere between $60-$90, while the average price per ride on the ten-ride is $51 if I remember correctly.
Either way, definitely sign up for AGR, if you haven't already, because the points add up pretty quickly when you're commuting back and forth.