allset2travel

I am planning a trip to the north east in March. Decided to give up the rental car (winter driving not cool) and opted for the trains.
My main interest is to travel from Boston to Providence RI (stop over night); then on to Kingston RI (take shuttle van to Newport, couple of nights there); then Kingston to New Haven CT (stop for couple of nights); then onward to Penn Station, NYC. All on the Northeast Regional.

So far, I have browsed through the AMTRAK web site. I have the following logistical questions (admittedly a novice for train travel in USA):

1. Is it advisable to buy ticket the day of travel at the station? (e.g. show up an hour before departure). Is it better to book it online & pick up at station?
2. For the routes mentioned, are there "better trains" (less crowded during non-commute hours, faster etc...) to choose from?
3. Any fare discount available?
4. From Kingston to Newport - the AMTRAK web site mentions a shuttle van that one can be booked by phone, is it reliable? What should I budget in case I need the service of a cab?

Thank you in advance for your help.

wideman

Fare structure for Amtrak is somewhat similar to airlines, using fare buckets. That is, for any given train (or segment), some seats are available at the lowest price. When those seats are sold, only the next-highest priced seats (bucket) is available, and so on. So, the earlier you buy the ticket, the lower the price will be. You can change the date/train after you buy the ticket without a fee, but only if the same fare bucket seats are available, and only by telephone or at an Amtrak ticket office. Also, you'll pay extra if you want to take the Acela train. Acela is marginally faster than the regular service. The speed of the trains is state-of-the-art for the late 1950s.

For the Boston-Providence segment, you can save money by taking the MBTA commuter train instead of Amtrak. The commuter train takes longer (multiple stops) and has only overhead racks for luggage storage, but otherwise is a perfectly comfortable way to travel.

lo2e

allset2travel, have you consulted the Amtrak Guest Rewards forum? There's info on deals and other things there that might be of interest to your trip. I know there's at least an advance purchase discount available for NE Regional trains, which I think is 25%.

allset2travel

wideman,
Thank you for the useful info!

Are these trains reasonably on time (subject to weather?).

allset2travel

Thank you for the heads-up & the link. I was not aware of the AMTRAK forum. Will spend sometime reading up on it.

The travel resources here in FT is incredible.

All,
Any heads-up about my question #4 re shuttle service from Kingston RI to Newport? Thx.

SanDiego1K

Moved to Amtrak forum.

SanDiego1K
Senior Mod

fairviewroad

Actually, as long as you have not picked up the paper tickets, you can get a full no-questions-asked refund on the Amtrak website. So definitely buy your tickets as soon as possible, but DON'T PICK UP THE TICKET until you get to the station on the day of travel. That way, if you decide to take a later/earlier train, you can cancel with no penalty and simply buy a new ticket. The new ticket may be at a higher price, but otherwise there is no fee. However, it is important to cancel the ticket you would not be using before that train is scheduled to leave...otherwise the process is much more complicated.

(Note: You would not be "changing" the ticket, you would simply cancel one and buy a new one.)

allset2travel

SD1K,
Thanks for moving the thread to its proper forum!

allset2travel

Good to know. Thanks a bunch!
Re: changing ticket (cancel old/buy new), is this done at the ticket office also, or by phone?

travelmad478

If you booked your ticket online or by phone and have not picked it up yet, you can change or cancel the ticket by phone (800-USA-RAIL) and you can cancel (but not change!) the ticket online.

If you have already printed out your tickets, you will have to go in person to the Amtrak counter to make changes. This is why it is important to book all of your tickets as single, one-way rides--NOT a multi-stop ticket. The price will be the same either way. If you book a multi-stop ticket, you'll be handed all of your tickets at once as soon as you show up for the first leg of the trip. This will complicate your life greatly if you want to make changes to a later leg.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

There are some multi-leg tickets that are cheaper than the sum of the individual legs. Amtrak permits free, en route stopovers of less than 24 hours. On some itineraries, taking advantage of these free stopovers will result in a lower overall ticket price. But if the stop in every city is for at least 24 hours, then yes, buy individual tickets for each leg.

travelmad478

Thanks, didn't know that. Still, IMO the giant hassle of having to make changes in person, if there's any chance of changes to your ticket, is likely to outweigh that price savings.

allset2travel

Thanks for the phone # and the useful info. I shall keep that in mind when dealing with tickets.

All my stops would be for 1 to 2 days in duration. Will take your advice re ticketing early and do it as single-one-way rides.

the_traveler

While I hate to turn away travel on Amtrak, I have a couple of ideas to present.

KIN is my home station. But personally, I think the (low) $12 fare on Amtrak is a bit much for the 21 minute ride. I might chose the RIPTA (city bus) route #66 that goes from Kennedy Plaza (a few blocks from the PVD station) and stops at the KIN train station. Then you could either take the shuttle van service or RIPTA route #64 from the station to Newport. Or better yet, RIPTA route #60 goes from Kennedy Plaza to Newport.

I also second the idea of taking MBTA between BOS and PVD, if you want to save some money.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

And Metro North RR from New Haven to New York's Grand Central Terminal is a cheaper alternative to Amtrak from New Haven to Penn Station.