Amtrak from Boston to NY
 

Thanx for previous help.
We're from UK. Taking Amtrak from Boston South Station to NY Penn on a Monday in May 2008. Taking Acela train about 10am, we will have two luggage cases. Can we reserve seats? and when is the latest you recommend that we book on-line?
George

Acela is an all reserved train, but seats are not assigned. To get the best fare it is best to book about 60 days in advance.
Also, FYI, Amtrak has announced that in May 2008 (no date has been announced yet) all service between New Haven and Boston will be suspended for four days due to bridge replacement over the Thames River in CT. You need to stay tuned to this as it may affect your travel plans depending on when you will be travelling.

As joe mentioned, it is not possible to reserve specific seats. You might want to reconsider taking the Acela, since it costs so much more and doesn't save a significant amount of time.

Agree that the Acela is a waste of money. The train can go faster but the much of the track system is so old they don;t really allow it. In my experience it only saves about 15 minutes over the regular metroliner.

And do watch for the construction mentioned above. If they do that they put you on a bus to go around the no service area - and it may take forever. In that case you might want to just take the luxury bus or fly.

You can buy "business class" tickets on the non-Acela trains, which will give you guaranteed, though not assigned, seats. Slightly better accommodations for less money than paying Acela rates.

Thanx about the bridge repairs delay. When do you think I should recheck on the actual dates for these repairs and what is the possible 'luxury bus'

I had to go to Boston 1-2 times per month for most of this year and found that airfare was always comparable to the train. Over the past few years, I've also had experiences with massive delays on Amtrak due to the congestion in CT. If you pay the upcharge for Acela, they don't reimburse you if the train is delayed, so you may as well just buy on the regional train or fly. Spend your $$ elsewhere.

This is the "luxury bus." It uses the same roads as Greyhound, so you can choose whether you want to pay for the extras, or go basic Greyhound.

Oops, THIS is the luxury bus:

http://www.limoliner.com/