Seat 2A

"Fun" is what you make it. As many here have mentioned, just watching the scenery go by is a pretty pleasant diversion on a train. Meals are also a nice break. I think one of the best - maybe the best - part of train travel is meeting your fellow travelers. People have some great stories to share and the lounge car is a great place to hear them.

I've written a few trip reports describing train travel over the years. I'm not very good at the writing part but maybe the pictures will help give you a sense of what to expect. Click the link below for the report. Have a great trip!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Seeing America from "See Level"

flitcraft

My husband and I did the LA to NO Sunset Limited last spring and really enjoyed it. While the scenery isn't up there with the Coast Starlight or the California Zephyr, the changing deserts through New Mexico and Texas were surprisingly interesting to watch. You can bring your own adult beverages in the sleeping car, though you can't take them to the lounge area or the dining car. (At least, not usually. A friendly dining car attendant let us bring a bottle of wine to share with table-mates once on the Coast Starlight, though it's officially against the rules.) Bring a stemless glass for wine, though--you will be less concerned about a glass tipping over that way, even though there are wine-glass sized indentations on both sides of the pull down table in the sleeping car. You can bring a corkscrew, or have bottles that don't need one--we tend to drink Aussie and NZ wines with screwtops while on board.

On the question of surly or unfriendly dining car attendants--I admit that I've run into a few. But to put things into perspective--they work really long days (16 hours is about the minimum), and unfortunately, sleeping car passengers sometimes don't tip. (Note: Just because the price of the meals is included automatically with the sleeping car surcharge doesn't mean you shouldn't tip. The dining car workers are classified by the IRS as tipped employees who automatically are taxed on a percentage of the bill that the IRS presumes is their tip. So, if you stiff them, it's adding insult to injury--they are actually paying out of pocket for the privilege of serving you!)

A little advance planning will make the trip more enjoyable. Have a small 'personal item' sized bag for each of you in your room with the items you'll want close at hand. For me, mine has chapstick, some medicines I take daily, some earplugs, my Kindle and charger, my phone and charger (though reception often makes it a 'dumb' phone), a small writing pad and a pen, my Lumix digital camera and a couple of extra batteries, a plug adapter that takes three plugs, my essential toiletries, my PJs, and tomorrow's clean undies, socks, and top. Everything else stays in my carry-on sized suitcase, which fits either under one of the armchair seats in the sleeping car or on the rack over the chair. The rooms are compact, and though it is possible to rummage through your suitcase, you will thank me if you don't have to!

A couple of tips regarding picture taking--if you use a largely automatic digital camera, there is probably a setting for taking pictures through glass. Use it or risk the camera focusing on the spots of dirt on your window instead of the scenery. Keep in mind that, even though Amtrak trains aren't fast, they are still fast enough to cause foreground blur in your pictures. I try to frame my shots to avoid things in the foreground, and when I can't I crop out the blurry stuff at the bottom of the picture when I edit my photos later.

Taking a long haul trip on Amtrak is not for the impatient; you have to be able to relax into the rhythm of the train. But I have had generally very good experiences on Amtrak, and I've already booked the Coast Starlight for this coming March! One thing to keep in mind is that the trains sometimes run late. Not just a little but a lot, since they have to give way for freight trains. Problems with lateness aren't as big a problem these days as they were, say, ten years ago, but you need to factor the possibility into your planning. The train is not scheduled to get into New Orleans till after 9 pm, but you might well get into town in the wee small hours. I would send an email to your New Orleans hotel to let them know that you may be arriving late, and I wouldn't count on taking the streetcar into town.

ChrisInSD

Thanks all for the great feedback. I am still considering this "mini-cruise" along with a real cruise...given me a lot to consider! Thanks again for taking the time.

Middle_Seat

I appreciate the wealth of information in the replies. Thank you to those who posted about their experiences!

serpens

Be sure to allow many hours between the scheduled Amtrak arrival time and the required check-in time at the cruise ship (or any other important event at your destination).

Since your original post mentioned taking the Sunset Limited to New Orleans, you are probably safe, as the scheduled arrival time of the SL already requires at least one overnight stay before catching a cruise. I believe the latest arrival for a train I was riding on Amtrak was 17 hours, and that only once. (Second latest, IIRC, was about 8 hours.) Many hour late arrivals are unusual, but Murphy plans the super-late arrivals for times when a passenger has a deadline.

strickerj

Thanks for that detailed report! We’re taking a long road and rail trip out west next year (California Zephyr to Denver, visit Badlands / Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Glacier NP, Empire Builder back from Whitefish), and we’ve booked bedrooms for the two overnight segments. Do you go to the dining car for meals or are they brought to your room? What would be a reasonable tip for the attendants?

If this goes well, we’re thinking of doing a Route 66 road trip with my wife’s parents (they’ve always wanted to do this) and take one of the trains back from L.A. Much as I (used to) love flying, this way seems like it’d be more relaxing. I’m not bothered by delays if I don’t have an appointment to meet.

dhammer53

There's a tipping thread if you go back a page or two. You can also use the search box. I used the 1 - 2 - 3 dollar logic for tipping. Breakfast/lunch/dinner. Feel free to add to that. If service at a meal was outstanding, I added extra.

strickerj

Much appreciated! I’m still going through the Amtrak forum - spent most of my time on Delta up until now.

chakk

The Coast Starlight has a separate lounge car for use by Sleeping Car passengers. However, this car is usually removed from service for maintenance from early January to mid-March.

dicksboat

flitcraft You have mis stated the facts about tip withholding for Amtrak employees. While a nominal percentage of wages is withheld, it is not a tax payment. It is just a withholding amount that the employee can receive back when he completes his tax form. The employee can claim he earned zero tips and receive every cent back from the amount held out for tip income. The employee is not paying out of pocket for the privilege of serving you !

Tip all you want . It is a 100% free decision on your part and everybody else. However, you are telling us to do as you do, and that is blatantly wrong !
Amtrak states in it's literature that "tipping is not necessary", just as most airlines do. Look it up. The union employees are reportedly well paid with benefits exceeding the mean of other service employees. Sure, the long hours are hard, but they knew that when they signed up on the wait list for the job training and probationary period . You shouldn't think your fellow riders are "stiffing" anybody when they follow what is stated in Amtrak literature.

jackal

It is typical to go to the diner for meals and tip as you would in a restaurant (15-20% of the total as priced out on the menu), but should you prefer it, it is official policy that you can order dinner from your sleeping car attendant to be served in your room (whereupon you would tip your sleeping car attendant instead). Many persons with mobility challenges do this, but it's uncommon otherwise, and I personally find that a good chunk of the fun on a train is meeting other passengers over dinner in the dining car (and I'm introverted). But it is an option.

flitcraft

I don’t think I misstated the law in this situation, unless there are have changes in the regs in the last few months. I don’t want to get into the weeds on the IRS regs, though I am a lawyer. What I was referring to in my post is that large employers with tippable food service employees (Amtrak certainly qualifies) are required to impute 8 % of the gross food service sales as tips and report that amount both on the employee’s W2 form (in Box 8) and to the IRS. Withholding for the worker is based on that allocated imputed tip amount. If the employee actually earned more than the imputed 8 % they are required to add that additional amount to their tax returns and pay tax on the gross of the imputed and extra tips. If they received less than the imputed amount, they will be taxed on the imputed amount unless they have records to prove that they received less. (And, candidly, in my practice I never heard of a wait-staffer who had those kind of records!) In addition, the tippable employee must pay social security and Medicare taxes on the total imputed and “extra” tip.

So, it is absolutely the case that not tipping an Amtrak wait-staffer leaves them paying imputed tax on money they never received. Frankly it is irrelevant whether they are ‘well-paid’ or not; they pay taxes on their salary and additional taxes on their tips, whether they get them or not. You are right that tipping, like all social behavior, is a matter of personal choice. I am sorry if I implied otherwise. I just wanted to point out to Amtrak newbies, who might not realize that these are tippable jobs to the IRS, the consequences of their choices.

By the way, since you asked me to look it up, on the Amtrak website here’s what Amtrak has to say on tips: “Tipping is certainly not required but it is a much appreciated way to let employees know that they have made your trip more enjoyable.”

SCEflyer

I am having great difficulty understanding your point. Are you saying that if I receive poor service, or have to deal with a gruff attitude from an otherwise reasonably compensated employee, and do not leave a tip as a result of their attitude, I am responsible for any tax consequences that might affect them.

BOLDERDASH!!!

jackal

You're reading pretty far into what flitcraft stated...

I also don't see anything untrue (certainly not "balderdash") about his/her post. IANAL, but assuming he/she is correct (and I have no reason to doubt that), then, yes, if you do not tip, you not only deprive them of income but do cause them to incur additional expenses.

You are free to choose to do that. If the employee's service warrants you making that choice, that's fine (and goodness knows I've encountered my share of Amtrak employees who have no right to be working in the service sector). But there is nothing ridiculous about being aware of your choice's consequences to the employee in question.

SCEflyer

Let's look at it another way. If a server does not provide acceptable service, and I choose to not leave a gratuity, they are effectively being penalized twice; once by not receiving the tip and then having to deal with the tax consequences on income that they did not receive. The employee could easily avoid this conundrum by simply providing acceptable service. Many do but some don't.

I frankly avoid going to the diner for breakfast and lunch. I bring a some fruit and pastry on board with me for the morning and rely on the attendant to deliver my lunch. I go to the diner for dinner, and usually find that the experience is either very good or very bad. In the case of the former, I leave what many servers have told me is very generous.

I have ridden the full length(s) of all of the current LD routes, as well as a few that have been cancelled, except for the Sunset Limited. I will take that trip in early '18, and then I will probably swear off of Amtrak, and instead concentrate on private car tours and the Canadian when I feel like taking a train trip.