[HN Gopher] Amtrak relaunches US Rail Pass - Travel the country ...
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Amtrak relaunches US Rail Pass - Travel the country for 30 days for
$299
Author : chirau
Score : 69 points
Date : 2021-06-21 14:08 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.businessinsider.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.businessinsider.com)
| dragontamer wrote:
| Train Rides seem to be ideal for any trip less than 4 hours.
|
| You don't have as much security concerns, you have far more
| legroom, and the constant ability to walk around the cabin at all
| times (often to the dining car where you can get overpriced beer
| / light meals, but... better than nothing at all). Hour-for-hour,
| a train ride is far more comfortable than a plane ride.
|
| However, once we start looking at 4-hour or 8-hour train rides,
| the idea of a 2-hour or 3-hour plane ride just starts to make
| more sense, even with 30+ minutes of security + many minutes of
| "Taxi'ing on the runway" involved. Flying at 500mph just makes
| more sense than train rides at 50mph.
|
| --------------
|
| An exception is when the ride itself is part of the journey: if
| you want to see the entire countryside, the train is superior.
|
| Planes fly over everything and are often high up in the clouds,
| so you don't get to see the whole ground.
| CPLNTN wrote:
| Living in Europe and traveling by train for 7/8 hours every two
| months for work. What kind of shitty train does only 50mph?
|
| I would say the convenience it's highly dependent on the
| destination. Here the train station it's often near the city
| center while to get to the airport you need additional
| transportation, As you said you have more legroom but also
| there is enough space to use a laptop and actually work
| connected to Wi-Fi. I'm not limited in what and how much I can
| carry with me, and the train is much quieter than a plane. And
| finally, the train is much less stressful and traveling time
| doesn't really matter when is the company's time.
|
| I would say that if you don't have an airport in a 30km radius
| from the destination, the train still wins around until 8hours
| trips. Above, I would consider travelling with the airplane.
| weimerica wrote:
| When I did my post-secondary Eurotrip I purchased the Euro pass
| and scheduled my train travels to be overnight such that I
| could wake up in a new city. Leave Sweden to wake up in Berlin,
| leave Berlin to wake up in Nurnberg, etc.
|
| Made for a great form of travel IMHO. Got to wake up and watch
| the sunrise over the countrysides was beautiful. Though I do
| love your point, I'd love to travel the "Wild West" regions via
| train.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Agree. (And bring your own food.)
|
| I would love to see someone come up with a few US Rail Pass
| itineraries for those of us needing a hand to hold.
|
| It would seem to be a rather fun thing to blog. It's almost a
| puzzle of sorts to keep it to 10 trips, within 30 days,
| maximize the tourism potential (whatever that means) with
| Amtrak lines. Bonus points for things to see at each
| destination, food, cheap places to stay....
| dragontamer wrote:
| I have to imagine that just running along the Northeast
| Regional is the big one. Its the most profitable line of
| Amtrak for a reason.
|
| Norfolk Virginia is just a short bus-ride to Virginia Beach
| and serves as either the starting point, or ending point of
| the journey.
|
| Travel north to Washington DC, then Philadelphia, then New
| York City, and then Boston. That takes you across a major
| cultural center of the USA that pretty much covers the
| founding of the country (Philadelphia being the original
| capital of the USA and the location of the Liberty Bell and
| original Continental Congress. Wash. DC as the current
| capitol, a beach trip just for giggles, and NYC for plays /
| New York talk shows / food / etc. etc.)
|
| The train is ridiculously optimized for New York City /
| Washington DC, with a dropoff point in Union Station Wash. DC
| and Penn Station in New York City. Both are connected
| underground to the greater subway systems, so you pretty much
| have access to the entirety of both cities from the train
| alone. (In contrast: an airplane ticket to either location
| will still need an Uber / Taxi to bring you into the city
| proper).
|
| Union Station in Wash. DC in particular is less than a 1-mile
| walk from the US Capitol building, a bit over 1-mile to the
| Smithsonian proper.
|
| While Penn Station is literally next to Madison Square
| Garden, so you're able to just get out and enjoy some
| basketball events. You're on Manhattan Island proper, and the
| subway will take you to any reasonable tourist attraction.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| I would counter that the Starlight Express on the West
| coast as well as the California Zephyr between Emeryville,
| CA and, say, Denver, CO are probably two of the more
| stunning routes for the scenery?
| RosanaAnaDana wrote:
| Southwest Chief is the king of western Rail routes. Air
| conditioned car and the phenomenal almost alien beauty of
| the desert southwest. No reason to take it past ABQ
| however.
| dragontamer wrote:
| That's a good point.
|
| Northeast regional is pretty much traversing over the
| megacity that is the WashDC -> New York City area. You're
| looking at people and culture, and probably need to plan
| your route very carefully (Ex: to ensure you actually
| have something to do in NYC, you might want to buy some
| Broadway tickets, or find a ticket to your favorite talk-
| show host).
|
| In contrast, California Zephyr / Starlight Express has a
| lot more rugged mountains, stunning coastlines, and
| nature to explore. This is a longer route but you
| traverse across much more "nature" so to speak.
|
| So it depends what you want to see.
| HWR_14 wrote:
| Trains are also great if you can sleep on the go. Board a train
| at night with no real wait. Settle in and sleep. Wake up
| halfway across the country. As long as you want to stop and
| explore (possibly small) cities along the way it's a great way
| to travel.
| jdhn wrote:
| >You don't have as much security concerns
|
| For now. I feel that it's only a matter of time before the TSA
| gets involved, and that train ride that was hyped up as being
| quicker than a plane ride will suddenly no longer be as quick.
| nrclark wrote:
| From my experience taking Amtrak in California, a 30-day pass
| sounds just about long enough to cover the delays on a single
| ride.
| asguy wrote:
| What years was this? I've ridden the Pacific Surfliner a bunch,
| and have only had minimal hiccups. And a bunch of interactions
| with the mentally unstable, but that's not Amtrak's fault.
| RosanaAnaDana wrote:
| I've taken the Starlight enough times to just plan an 8 hour
| delay into the trip.
| jefurii wrote:
| Back in the 90s I travelled all over Japan using a similar
| railpass (seishun18kippu). It was a really relaxing and enjoyable
| way to spend a vacation, but then Japan has lots of cool stuff to
| see within easy distance of train stations. Some of my best
| memories of Japan are from those journeys.
|
| Japan's system was a lot easier to use than the Railpass though:
| reservations were not required, you just took whatever seat was
| available, and Japanese trains are structured so there are a lot
| more seats.
|
| Gallery of posters for the service:
| http://www.satou3.com/railways/18kippu2.html
| usr1106 wrote:
| $299 for 30 days sounded to good to be true. I used it nearly 30
| years ago and it was something like that.
|
| But it's really $499 after the introductory offer ending already
| the day after tomorrow. And it's limited to 10 trips, which can
| be problem if you also want to do some shorter day trips e.g. in
| the Northeast.
| listenallyall wrote:
| Up until a few years ago, AirAsia had a similar program. Flight
| routes were designated in 1, 2, or 3 points, and for just about
| $280US you got about 30 points to use in 60 days. You had to plan
| in advance and be willing to fly at very off-peak times, but you
| could easily visit a dozen cities all over SE Asia and get a
| value worth double of what it cost. Really wish they would bring
| that back!
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(page generated 2021-06-21 23:02 UTC)