I am curious how busy the weekday morning, unreserved trains are between NYC and DC. I can get a great deal, but trying to decide whether the extra $30 to guarantee a seat at 7:30 a.m. is worth it.

Those trains originate in Boston, not NY, so they could ARRIVE at Penn already full! I would pay the extra $30, especially if it's around a holiday or other college break. Also, business class is often worth it just for the peace and quiet. Not to mention the free drink!

It costs extra for a reserved seat? Hm. I had no idea.

Anyway, I can guarantee you a seat if you do this: wait for the train on the LOWER level of Penn station. Familiarize yourself with the gate numbers before the train is announced. Keep an eye on the screen. As soon as they announce the gate, rush to it...you'll beat out the people on the top floor, who are all waiting in line for one narrow little escalator. I always wind up being one of the first on the train this way.

The economy class of each Amtrak train is entirely either "Reserved" or "Unreserved." The term "reserved" just means that they promise not to oversell the train, it doesn't assign a specific seat (like an airline).

On unreserved trains, the economy class cars can be packed really tight. Paying $30 extra to ride in Business class avoids economy class altogether and guarantees a seat.

The most economical choice, of course, is to ride on reserved-economy trains.

Great advice Suzanne. I read that somewhere else today.

As a sidebar, if you're a AAA member, you can get a 10% discount, depending on the times you're traveling. You can save some money and the $30 becomes a moot point.

And if you're a Veteran & join Veteran's Advantage (details in Amtrak's webpages) you can save 15% and could have saved 50% on most coach thru Dec 16 - a deal that might be reinstated. VA costs only $20/year.

If you are actually in CT you may wish to board BEFORE NYC, as many passengers exit & you can snag a good seat before arriving passengers board the train.

Amtrak has lots of special discounts, it pays to dig around.

In addition to the ones mentioned above, they offer a discount for AARP members (you have to be over merely 50 to join, for $12) and there are always assorted specials advertised not only on their home page but also through the "Rail Sale" link that appears on the first Reservations screen.

Kids under 16 go half-fare, and High-school students and their parents can travel half-price if their guidance counselor signs a form attesting that they're going to visit prospective colleges. (We weren't asked to actually produce the form when we picked up our tickets, though we did have it with us.)

I'm actually using a 20% discount connected with the El Greco exhibit. By avoiding prime times, I was able to find a $115 r/t between DC and NYC.

I go via Amtrak "rail sale" fares all the time and currently round trip NY- DC is $53.00 and is RESERVED .

Budgetqueen - you've given a great help to everyone using the NYC-DC track. I just plugged into it and got a great deal also (plus it's reserved)!!

This has been a great, informational site with two good tips. Thanks to Suzanne and Budgetqueen.

Hey, what am I, chopped liver? I mentioned the "Rail Sale" link last night!

I'm not seeing that specific route this morning. But I've used Rail Sale before. Unfortunately, they are usually not available on the busy Northeast Corridor.

Hi again

Mike under the Rail sale I clicked on rail sale. There it says that discounts apply along the routes and to find other stations I selected 79 (NYC - Charlotte) and clicked "Save my Selection" at bottom of screen. Then on the next page it gave me NYC - DC and a price of $26 one way. For return - you'd select 80 Charlotte - NYC. Hopefully this helps cause I found it a bit tricky to start with.

Anonymous - sorry I didn't notice your great idea first! And it is a great idea!!

Great tip. It doesn't help me this time, but definitely something I will use in the future.