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[Choop]

is thinking amtrak cheap a sign that i might be in the 1% because good christ two round-trip tickets for less than half the cheapest solo flight? because elsewise i never would have thought i qualified. my income sure don't speak to that

[littlefallsmets]

Amtrak's brilliance is in taking short-to-medium-length trips around the Northeast. Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo, Philly, DC, Baltimore, NYC, etc.

I can take a train from Penn Station Manhattan to Albany or Utica and it will be cheaper than the gas and tolls, more or less the same length of time, and I will not have to drive my car.

Now, if you're dealing with multiple people or going outside of the Northeast and eastern Upper Midwest, it kind of sucks... but if you're doing a medium hop around the Northeast, it is the tits.

When my dad pays $1200 for a three-day sleeper trip from Utica to Los Angeles via Chicago, one-way, because he is a'scared of flying, it is madness?

But if you're just bopping from New York to Boston or whatever with three or four changes of clothes in a small suitcase, it is the best thing.

[Mr Trout]

Amtrack cheap? Really? From Penn station in Baltimore to Penn in NYC it is $40-110 each way depending on time of day. Bolt bus, which has free wi-fi and picks up and drops off at the same locations, is $7-15 each way. 

[littlefallsmets]

Cheaper than driving or flying, anyway.

Buses and I don't get along so I wouldn't know for buses.

[theinevitable]

yeah, gas from here to Chicago and back ends up being like 80-90$. An Amtrak ticket is around that price, Megabus is often like 20$ each way.

[pmcd9]

If you rode on the Amtrak you might meet an interesting fella like Clay.

[wombat]

Last I did it, Amtrak between NY and DC was more expensive than flying, but worth every penny. I am going next week, will report back.

[jay-ell]

I have limited experience with both flying and riding the train, but between the two, I really prefer Amtrak. It takes as long as driving, but it's much cheaper than flying and it's much more relaxing than any of the other options. Haven't tried it with kids yet, but we're considering a trip to Baltimore with the offspring pretty soon and may train it up.

I just wish there were a decent route to Toledo from here. We'd have to go to DC and change trains, then take another train to Toledo from there. We may do it on a longer vacation and plan layovers in some of the more interesting towns along the way, but when we're going for Christmas and we only have 6 days, we can't afford to spend two of them traveling each way.

[pmcd9]

For me, there is nothing more relaxing than traveling by car.  I've driven all around this country and I love it.  I've never been to North Carolina though.  Need to drive that Mid Atlantic corridor someday.  Wish I could afford to drive to Choop's party then keep on driving east and then north all the way up to the DC area.

[Nabubrush]

We're going to take a quick trip up to Seattle to watch the Ravens game with the family - all 4 brothers, Dad, and my nephew. I am leaning toward taking the train - I've never done so (that particular trip).

[jay-ell]

I like to drive moderate distances -- 5, 6 hours at a stretch. But the 12-hour drive to Toledo and back, twice a year, with two kids in the backseat...not so much. It'd be much nicer to take a train so we could actually spend that time interacting with the kids instead of letting them zone out to videos and occasionally yelling at them to stop fighting.

We took the kids on an Amtrak from our town to a neighboring town once, just for fun. It cost $20 for all 4 of us and lasted about 15 minutes. I was afraid that BooBear would be scared or overwhelmed, but both kids loved it. It was a test drive for a longer trip in the future; we might try an hour-long ride soon, and if that goes well, book some tickets to see Pedro's brother in Baltimore next spring.

I love Amtrak.

[theinevitable]

Sometimes I worry that I am a "TMI" person, and then someone tells me all about their girlfriend's weird skin rash/infection when I ask "how are things going with that girl you're dating?"

Just got an update: it wasn't a rash, just really dry skin. PHEW! I was up all night worried about that one, dude. Thanks for filling me in.

[pmcd9]

two kids in the backseat..

[smick]

We're going to take a quick trip up to Seattle to watch the Ravens game with the family - all 4 brothers, Dad, and my nephew. I am leaning toward taking the train - I've never done so (that particular trip).

It's nice, and it drops you off walking distance from Safeco field.

[Nabubrush]

It's nice, and it drops you off walking distance from Safeco field.

I wondered about that - since we probably won't be staying the night it'd be nice to just meet there. I guess with everyone having smart phones it won't be too hard to find each other.