seat38a

This was my first time booking my trip with miles and points ever. Since my brother and his wife would be away for Christmas, my parents and I decided to go on vacation rather than spending Christmas at home. So couple of months back, I cashed in my United MP miles for three one way business class tickets on Air Canada LAX to YVR and for the return trip, I cashed out my Amtrak Guest Rewards points for two roomettes on Amtrak's Coast Starlight train from Vancouver to Los Angeles Union Station.

I will separate out this trip report into the following sections:
Air Canada Business Class LAX-YVR
Amtrak Coast Starlight Day 1
Amtrak Coast Starlight Day 2

seat38a

After having Christmas Lunch, we drove over to Union Station where we parked our car in the underground long term parking and then headed up to Pasasauraus Transit Center which is located on the eastern side of LA Union Station. My dad bought the bus ticket for the FlyAway Bus and we jumped on the 2:30PM bus to LAX. The traffic on the 101 was bad but once we got on the 110, it was smooth sailing all the way to LAX.

We were dropped off right in front of Air Canada's checkin area at terminal 6. Two agents who were working the counter both vied for our attention. I could tell its been slow for them and they just wanted something to do. The agent that checked us in checked our passports, and even double checked our Global Entry number in the system before printing out our boarding passes and directing us towards security. When we arrived, security was light. We entered the TSAPre line which was clear all the way to document check. Now at the X-ray belt, we encountered people being stupid.

Between entering the security line and grabbing our stuff off the belt took no more than 5 minutes total. I asked my mom if the $100.00 per person that we paid for Global Entry was worth it and she just laughed. We walked down to concourse to find the Maple Leaf Lounge. Unfortunately we missed the elevator and after asking one of the airport employee's we were able to double back and find the elevator up to the lounges.



The LAX Maple Leaf Lounge is SMALL. The lounge wasn't that busy when we arrived but I can only imagine what kind of CF it must be during busy times. I just don't understand how they can accommodate all the business class passengers, Star Alliance Gold and the Maple Leaf Lounge membership holders in this small room. Food and beverage here were just blehhhh. Two types of soups were available along with three salads. Assorted beers in cans were in a ice bucket and while the hard alcohol was self serve, the choices were not premium. Other beverages were available in what looked like a kitchen sink being used to ice the drinks.

There was one guy who decided to take up one whole long section of couch by lying down on his stomach while doing whatever on his computer. While the Maple Leaf Lounge was not busy when we arrived, what this guy was doing would probably get himself called a douche bag during busy times in the lounge. My parents nibbled on some of the items but at 4PM we decided to leave the Maple Leaf Lounge and head over to the United Club in terminal 7.

Since terminal 6 and 7 are connected past security, it was really convenient! The new United Club is literally located at the end of the connector between the two terminals. At the club check-in desk, our boarding passes were scanned and then we were welcomed. When we arrived upstairs, I noticed that the crowd was very family heavy this afternoon. Many people were in summer outfits as well and only all made sense when the flight to Maui was announced a little bit later and half the club emptied out.





United sent me an email a while back saying that the United Clubs would have special food items available on Christmas Day. At the LAX Club, the buffet area had been changed around a bit by adding jars of motzerella cheese and salami, assorted cookies, assorted breads, pumpkin soup, and a hot chocolate bar with whipped cream and toppings. Many of the items were the usual items but just plated to look nicer than usual. The food and ambience was thousand times better in the United Club than at the Maple Leaf Lounge. My mom also mentioned how it was nicer at the United Club than the Maple Leaf Lounge we were at earlier.


Since boarding for our flight Air Canada AC 557 was scheduled for 5:20PM we left the United Club and walked back to terminal 6 and our boarding at 5PM. When we arrived at the gate, the FID started to flash boarding, so passengers including ourselves out in line, the gate agent who had a nasty attitude came over and rudely told everyone to "MOVE." I yelled back "FIX YOUR DAMN BOARD!" The rude nasty agent walked away and the other agent came by and said that the FID board could not be changed.



Boarding eventually commenced in a chaotic fashion. The rude agent called group 1 to board but the line marked for both group 1 and 2 had group 2 people blocking group 1 passengers so the rude agent decided to yell "GET OUT OF LINE!" to the group 2 people and then told group 1 passengers to just go around them. Anyways, it was a total sh*& show. When we finally arrived at the aircraft door, we were greeted by the flight attendant who turned out to be in charge of all French announcements aboard todays flight. The three of us took our seats at 2A, 2C, and 2D.


The only pre departure beverage offered was bottled water after boarding had been completed. A very multi-culteral and politically correct safety demonstration which pretty much featured every group in Canada except the First Nation people was shown on the individual monitors before pushback from the gate. Just before we pushed back, the French speaking FA came through business class with the dinner menu.

Once we pushed back and the engines were started, we pretty much had a straight shot to the runway and quick takeoff to Vancouver. The airport just did not seem busy at all today with most of the cargo ramp full of aircrafts sitting around. Unlike United and American, the seat belt sign was turned off just after 10,000 feet. Ryan the purser came on the intercom and made his announcements regarding the inflight service. He shut the curtain to the business class galley and began preparations for service in business class.



The French speaking FA came through the business class cabin and took dinner orders. My parents and I all decided to go with the chicken option which was General Tsoi's Chicken according to the menu distributed before pushback. After taking our dinner orders, the French speaking FA went back to the coach cabin and we didn't see her again until landing. 15 minutes after dinner orders were taken, Ryan came through the cabin with hot towels which was then followed by the drink trolley. I ordered a gin and tonic which was served with warmed nuts in ramekins. The gin on todays flight was tanqueray gin which I'm not a big fan of. The US 3 serve Bombay Sapphire Gin which is more premium but I guess AC decided to go cheap with the booze.


Once the drink service was completed, Ryan came back with the meal trolley. Before placing the meal tray on my tray table, the foil on the main course was removed which was a nice touch. The bread basket which contained wheat or white dinner roll was offered from which I grabbed a white dinner roll.


The main course was actually pretty good! The salad was fresh and went well with the olive oil and balsamic dressing. For dessert, tiramisu cake was offered already plated and on the tray. All in all the food wasn’t bad at all. I’m not sure if I would wan’t to eat this same thing regularly but as someone who is flying Air Canada for the first time, I thought it was pretty good.

Once I was done with my meal, the tray was cleared away. My parents and I waited for coffee and tea but none were offered. After all the meal trays were cleared, Ryan went to the rear galley and we did not see him again until he came back to prep the galley and cabin for landing. Not sure if I hit the call button he would have come back or not but I did not try.

Landing was uneventful and we taxied quickly to our designated gate. Once the aircraft doors opened my parents and I were 2,3 and 4 off the plane. We walked directly to immigration where the machine could not take me and my mom's picture but had no problem taking my dads picture. Airport staff directed to the line for non Canadians to see a immigration officer. After waiting about 10 minutes, our turn came up. The immigration officer asked us a few question before letting us through.

I checked the FID for our baggage carrousel and headed over to collect our bags. On our way to the baggage carrousel, we passed by the immigration secondary check holding area which was VERY BUSY. Obviously the people in the holding room did not answer the questions to the immigration officers satisfaction during the initial screening.

Once the belt started, our bags were one of the first 10 to come out. We collected them and headed out to the exit area, where we handed over our slip from the machine at immigration and headed out to the arrival meeting hall. I followed the sign out to the station for the Canada Line train to take us into Downtown Vancouver.

More pictures of Air Canada flight AC 557

iceblueshoes

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

worldtraveller73

It always seems like mayhem in the regular lines at YVR International Arrivals. I think it's mostly the asian flights as they are all timed to arrive at or near the same time.

seat38a

Amtrak Coast Starlight Day 1
We got up at around 3:45 AM to shower and get ready for our 5:30AM Amtrak Thruway Bus from Pacific Central Station in Vancouver to Seattle’s King Street Station to connect with the Coast Starlight Train 11 to Los Angeles. Once we were ready, we headed downstairs to checkout and then the agent came out and flagged down a taxi for us.

The taxi driver put our luggage in the trunk and after a short hello, we were off to the station. We arrived at Pacific Central Station about 4 minutes till 5AM. I paid the $9.50 CAD rounded up to $10.00 + $2.00 tip for the ride from the Sheraton Wall Center to the Station. Once the taxi fare was settled, the driver unloaded the trunk and we headed inside.


Inside the station, one of the security guards who was working this morning, directed us to grab a US Customs form and then pointed us to the section of the station where all of the busses depart from. My parents and I headed to the bus section after thanking the security guard for her help.

After waiting for about 15 minutes, another security guard came into the station and announced boarding for the 5:30AM Amtrak Bus to Seattle. We headed out to bus stand 6 which was where our bus was waiting. The driver took our bags and then told me that there was customs forms behind the driver’s seat if we needed it and also that he would be coming through before departing to scan our tickets. After acknowledging that I understood, my parents and I headed up into the bus and found ourselves seats.


Our bus departed exactly on time and on our way to Seattle made two stops, one in Richmond and one in Surrey to pick up passengers. After a quick 5 minute drive from the finally pickup stop, we arrived at the border check, where everyone had to get off the bus with their belongings including the luggage in the hold and go through immigration and customs check.

Our bus was the only one here at this time, but another bus arrived behind us while we were going through immigration. While there were about 5 people ahead of us, it took a bit of time because couple of those 5 people had extra QA session with the immigration officer. Not sure why, put one of them was sent to the cashier which I’m guessing she had to pay some sort of fee or fine.


The immigration officer called us up and after a few basic questions, like how long were we in Canada and if we were brining back any food items, he handed back our passports and cleared us through. After a quick bio break inside the immigration facility, everyone was back on the bus and we were on the 5 freeway heading down to Seattle. My parents slept and I kept going in and out of sleep because the bus was getting too warm. It rained A LOT during our ride down to Seattle and our bus driver drove like a pro. I mean I could hear the rain beating down on the bus.


We arrived at King Street Station 5 minutes before 9AM. After collecting our bags and tipping the driver, we headed into the station which was already crowded with passengers for the Coast Starlight. Unlike at LA Union Station or at other stations that we’ve began our trip on via Amtrak, at Seattle King Street Station, everyone has to get in line, a separate line for coach and another one for sleeping car passengers. About 25 minutes before scheduled departure, the conductors arrived and began scanning tickets and then giving out seat checks or room checks to passengers. Then we got in line again at Gate 4 and after another 10 minutes of waiting, we were allowed to board the Coast Starlight Train 11.


There was a sign on the platform directing sleeping car passengers to the right after entering the platform. My parents and I found our sleeping car 2130, and headed upstairs to roomette 5 and 6. Having been in a roomette before, I already knew the best way to store my stuff to maximize space and after boarding had slowed down to a trickle, I headed downstairs to do some picture taking.

Our train was too long for the platform so in order to board the coach passengers in the last car, the train pulled forward just enough for the last car to be on the platform before finishing boarding. We pulled out of the platform on time from what I remember and we kicked back and relaxed for the 30+ hour ride down to Los Angeles.

A short while after leaving Seattle, Shawn, who is the LSA in the dining car made announcements regarding lunch reservations. He started taking reservations at the very first sleeping car so by the time he arrived at our roomettes, the earliest time available was at 1PM. The options for eating in the Pacific Parlour Car was all reserved and not available by the time our turn had arrived.


While waiting for lunch, I went over to the Pacific Parlor Car and ordered two Moscow Mules, one for my dad and one for myself. The Moscow Mules are $14.50 each and comes in a copper looking mug which you can keep as a souvenir. The drink tasted fine but at $14.50 I thought the cost was a bit steep.

The dining car was running behind schedule for lunch and Shawn was making announcements telling people not to show up until their reservation is called over the intercom and also to come into the diner and wait at the door until you are seated. 1PM reservations was finally called and my parents and I headed over to the dining car and waited at the door as we were instructed to do so over and over again.

We were seated together with a lady from Business Class that was traveling to Bakersfield after visiting Seattle. Seating in the dinning car aboard Amtrak Trains are community seating and unless your traveling with 4 people in your group, changes of dining with a complete strainer is very high. Lucky for us, except one gentleman on the Sunset Limited, all of our dinning car companions have been very pleasant.




I ordered the Amtrak angus steak burger with cheese and bacon added. To drink, I went with a Diet Pepsi and a side salad to start. My dad ordered the same as me except he ordered a coffee on top of the Diet Pepsi. My mom ordered a Diet Pepsi, a salad to start and the steamed mussels main course.

When our waiter delivered the food, he forgot my salad, my mom’s soda was never delivered but instead she was given a bottled water. My dad got his Diet Pepsi but instead of the coffee, he was given a bottled water. The four of us looked at each other and laughed. Our waiter did not bring us any cups for the sodas as well so we had to ask for them and my missing salad the next time we got his attention. The poor man just seemed easily confused.

At least our main courses did arrive correctly and as always, Amtrak does not disappoint with their burgers. Since no fryers are available on the train, all burgers and and sandwiches are served with kettle style potato chips. Once we were done with our main course, we had to flag down our waiter again to place orders for dessert. The four of us all ordered the pecan tart which according to our dining companion said it was excellent when she had it on a different train. Since I love pecan pie, the choice was pretty clear. (Mom had the cheese and fruit plate)

We excused ourselves from the table and headed back to our roomettes once we were finished with our lunch. While we were having lunch, our train pulled into Portland Union Station where people got off but also more people got on. Shawn made an announcement over the intercom apologizing to the sleeping car passengers that they would not be able to get lunch in the dining car and also to the coach passengers who they were not able to accommodate. Sleeping car passengers who boarded in Portland were entitled to lunch, which is included in their ticket price but for whatever reason only the dining car crew knows, shut down the dining car without accommodating at least the sleeping car passengers that had just boarded.

Shawn came through the sleeping cars again, thing time taking dinner reservations. He started first this time from our sleeping car and we were able to get a 6PM dinner reservation. While waiting for dinner, we killed time in our roomette napping, browsing the internet on our iPhones and about 30 minutes before our dinner reservation, I went to the Parlor Car and bought a bottle of white wine, which Veronica, the Pacific Parlour Car attendant, put in a ice bucket and filled it with ice for me to keep the Chardonnay nice and chilled.


I poured three glasses for my parents and myself and left the bucket in my roomette before heading to the dining car when the 6PM reservation was called by Shawn. For dinner, we were seated with a lady who was heading back home to Glenn Wood Springs. She would be connecting on the California Zephyr in Sacramento in the morning. She was a pleasant lady and we had a nice dinner conversation with her.



For dinner, the whole table ordered Amtrak’s version of the Surf and Turf which included the Amtrak’s Signature Steak along with a scallop and shrimp cake. The entree is served with a choice of rice, mashed potatoes, or a baked potato and green beans. The steak comes with a side or mushroom bernaise sauce which was way too salty. The steak was good as always and the the seafood cake was ok but definitely full of more fillers and seafood. My parents and I started off with a side salad and bread but our dining companion only had a dinner roll. Diet sodas for everyone during dinner.

Once our plates were cleared away, dessert was offered. I went with the Greek Yogurt Cheesecake this time since I didn’t want another heavy and rich dessert like the pecan tart I had for lunch. We all finished and departed the table together after wishing each other a safe journey home.



After lounging around my roomette after dinner, I headed downstairs to the communal shower to shower up and change clothes before bed. No one was using the shower so I went inside locked the door and showered while trying to stabilize myself while the train was rocking back and forth. It’s a bit tight but bigger than the private showers inside the deluxe bedrooms. It’s a bit hard to prevent the shower door from literally hitting your ... on your way out of the shower and into the small dressing area.


At 10 minutes before 10PM, I called our sleeping car attendant to come over and convert my roomette into sleeping mode. Since I was the only in roomette 5, only the lower seats were converted and the upper bunk remained stowed. I closed the door to my roomette got ready for bed and while sitting in bed, I used the small tray table to start writing this trip report.


When our train arrived in Klamath Falls Oregon, I went downstairs to walk around a bit and take pictures before heading back up to my roomette to continue writing. Little before midnight, I put away the iPad, shut off all the lights and went to bed.

More pictures from southbound Amtrak Coast Starlight Train 11 in a Roomette.

seat38a

Thanks for reading! Part 2 is now up.

Actually there was no mayhem. It was only secondary immigration which is in a separate room but with big windows for everyone passing by can see was BUSY. The regular immigration lines were fine.

seat38a

Amtrak Coast Starlight Day 2


I woke up today just as we were crossing over the bridge over Susan Bay. I knocked on the door to my parents roomette and only my mom was just getting up. My dad was already up and in the Pacific Parlor Car looking out the window. While my mom was getting dressed for breakfast, I went to into the Pacific Parlour Car to see what was being served for breakfast. I was surprised to find out that the Parlor Car was offering a breakfast buffet with scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon and French toast.




My mom wanted French toast and was disappointed to find out that the dining car was serving pancakes, so it was a nice little surprise to find out that the Parlour Car was serving French toast. So we changed plans and decided to eat breakfast in the Pacific Parlour Car instead of the dining car. Veronica let us choose whichever table that we wanted and then she came over to take our drink orders and gave us three empty plates to help ourselves to the buffet. When we got back to our table, orange juice and coffee were waiting for us, all served in real glass and coffee mug. The breakfast food was good and the French toast with syrup was just what we needed this morning. It was also nice that we didn’t have to share a table with anyone in the Pacific Parlour car. While I do like company, it was just too early for chit chatting with strangers.



After breakfast, we headed back to our roomettes to just chilax. When we arrived in Jack London Station in Oakland, I went outside the train to watch the private train being coupled to the rear of our train. Because of the private car coupling, we stayed in Jack London Square Station for about 25 minutes, which gave me plenty of time to visit the business class car. After we departed Oakland, I decided to take a shower and get dressed for the day but the train came to a stop and then the power went out. Since I already know that many of the things like the toilet does not work on a train without power, I went back to my roomette and waited until the power came back on. The conductor came on the intercom to explain that the private car that was attached in Oakland had a piece of equipment that wasn’t properly secured and it set off a warning by one of the trackside detectors that our train passed by.

With the power restored, I headed back down to the communal shower to shower and change my clothes. The tracks were a bit rougher than yesterday night when I showered so I was a bit harder to lather up and rinse without falling over. Once I got back up to my roomette, announcements were made regarding lunch reservations and Veronica came through starting with our sleeping car taking lunch reservations. My mom didn’t want the chicken wrap which was being served in the Parlour Car so we took the 12:30 reservation in the dining car.


When we arrived at San Jose Direrdon Station, I went off the train for some fresh air and picture taking. Before all aboard was called, I headed back up to my roomette to look out the window and post pictures on Instagram. Time flew by quickly and it was time for lunch. Shawn made an announcement for 12:30 and we headed over to the dining car and waited at the entrance after entering. Shawn sat us on the other half of the dining car with a passenger who was traveling in Business Class. She was a pleasant lady who boarded in Portland and was heading down to Solano Beach in San Diego.





For lunch, my parents and I started out with a salad and Diet Pepsi. For our main course, my dad had the steamed mussels and my mom and I had the burger with cheese and bacon. Once we were finished, the lady that was dining with us headed back to her seat but we still had dessert before leaving. My dad and I had the pecan tart and my mom just had couple of bites of my dad’s pecan tart.


After we were finished, I begrudgingly left a tip for our less than stellar waiter and headed back to the Parlor Car. Earlier in the day, Veronica refilled the ice in the ice bucket which contained our leftover Chardonnay from yesterday. I brought the bucket which contained the wine and the wine glasses and my parents and I finished the rest of the wine as our after lunch treat.







Shawn came around later on for dinner reservations. I picked the 5PM reservation for the Parlour Car. When I talked to Veronica earlier, she told me that only the lamb shank was available for dinner. After consulting with my parents, we decided to have our final meal aboard the Coast Starlight this trip in the Parlor Car. While waiting for our dinner reservation time, I continued writing up this trip report. About 15 minutes before dinner time, our train reached the California Coast section of the route so my parents and I decided to go to the Parlor Car and wait for dinner reservation to be called. At 5PM Veronica served us in the Parlor Car. We started out with drinks and warmed dinner rolls to start. According to Veronica, all of the salads were gone so there was no more side salad. Then shortly afterwards, our main lamb shank course arrived. Everything was served in real chinaware and not plasticware like in the dining car. The braised land shank was fork tender and was served with mashed potatoes and green beans.

For dessert, my parents shared a pecan tart but I decided to try the chocolate raspberry tart instead. I have to say the chocolate raspberry tart was not my favorite. The tart was made with dark chocolate which I’m not a big fan of and raspberry which is meh to me. I knew I would probably not like it, but as a blogger, I wanted to try it for the photo opportunity. Other diners seemed to love it very much.


After we were finished, we left a well deserved tip for Veronica and headed back to our roomette after wishing Veronica a Happy New Year. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I got off the train in Santa Barbara to take some pictures and get some fresh air. Santa Barbara is the last fresh air stop before reaching Los Angeles. For the rest of the trip, I spent the time in my roomette writing up this report on my iPad Pro during our last stretch into Los Angeles which is not the most scenic part of the trip.

This concludes my trip report from 2017. Thank You for reading and Happy New Year!

More pictures from aboard the Coast Starlight Train 11 traveling in a Amtrak Roomette

Loose Cannon

Thanks for the Trip Report. Last year I took the Coast Starlight from Salinas, California to Los Angeles, California. What kind of plane was used for your flight from LAX to YVR?

seat38a

It was a Airbus A320. Unfortunately from the gate that the flight departed from, there was no way to see the plane.

Seat 2A

Thanks for the nice report, 38A. I'm glad the Pacific Parlour Car managed to make the trip south - it really adds to the overall enjoyment of the ride. Here's hoping for more Amtrak rides in your future. ^

seat38a

Thank You! It was you and CMK10's previous trip reports which got me doing Amtrak Sleeper trips since 2014. So far have done:

Sunset Limited LAUS to NOLA
Coast Starlight North and South
Empire Builder PDX-Chicago
Southwest Chief ABQ - LAUS

aquamarinesteph

Great trip report! I'm now off to research travel via Amtrak. They no longer service my city, but it looks like a fun excursion!

seat38a

Thank you! Just remember though Amtrak is not the Orient Express. Staff aboard the train are hit or miss, equipment can be rattling but as long as you go without expectations of the Blue Train or Hiram Bingham, you should be fine.

BlackSkyuk

Great report, like the photos.

camsean

I love train travel, so thanks for posting.