Question re: Amtrak from DC to NYC
 

I am in the process of planning my family's trip to DC and New York this summer. We are flying into DC on 6/29 and home from JKF on 7/10. On July 5th I would like to book Amtrak between the two cities. Does anyone know what the difference is between reserved coach seats and business class seats are. The price difference is about $120.00 for the four of us.

Any advise from someone who has taken this trip would be helpful. It does not appear that we can check luggage. Is there much room to store your bags(I am not very good at traveling light).

Thanks

Only difference is there is more leg room in the business section. Also, you may get food, but I am not confident of that.

There is room to store luggage above you, but if the train is full, luggage space fills up quickly. I'd sugges an "off" time to avoid it being too crowded.

Realize that "reserved" does not mean assigned seats, so there is no guaranteeing all four of you can sit together.

Thank you Mike. We were looking at traveling late AM, maybe 10:30 or so. On some of the trains it was called unreserved coach and others said reserved coach? As long as we can sit 2 together that is OK.

Business class is more comfortable, has some token amenities, the only time I took it all the nourishment that was offered was a coupon for a beverage in the general food car.

The train cars often (but not always) have a space at the back of the car for larger pieces of luggage, otherwise it's just the overhead, which is more generous than an airline overhead.

I haven't taken Amtrak in ages though -- for $20 each you can take the Chinatown bus, which DOES have that huge under-the-bus storage, though you have to handle your stuff by yourself.

You have no guarantee of sitting 2 together, either. On Amtrak, "reserved" simply means that you will get A seat, there are no seat assignments in either business or coach. Unreserved trains often end up with standees. And many of the trains between DC and NYC originate south of DC, so will already have passengers when you board.

Reserved trains guarantee a seat, unreserved do not. I don't believe any unreserved trains originate south of DC, so the only factor is standing in the long line to get on the unreserved.

I would do the reserved, to make sure everyone has a seat. If you are with little ones or seniors, you get to board first in DC.

The Chinatown buses are a nightmare and shouldn't be considered by tourists.

Unreserved coach means that they sell more seats than are available on the train. If all coach seats are taken, you may end up sitting in the dining car the whole way. Reserved coach means only the number of seats available on the train are sold (though no actual seat reservations as mentioned earlier). For your family, I would at least choose reserved coach to guarantee a seat somewhere. The coach seats are similar or better than airplane coach seats. I don't think business class is really worth the extra money for you, unless you need to travel at a particular time. Be first to get on the train for best seats available.

What isn't coming through here is that the trains that specify "reserved seat" are probably the Metroliners, which go a bit faster, look a bit more like airplanes, and stop at fewer stops. The ones that say "unreserved" are older and stop at more stops, essentially "local" vs. "express. HOWEVER: that difference is sometimes more in name than actuality, in that sometimes Metroliners get delayed and sometimes the "unreserved" trains just go trundling on through with half the passengers. July 5th, in particular, as the day after the long 4th weekend, may have more traffic than other days.

Business class on a NON-Metroliner long-range train means you are seated with a little more room in the car behind a snack bar (so you don't have a lot of people tramping through), you may have TVs (but no earphones, BYO), and you get free non-alcoholic drinks. Woo.hoo.

Business class on the Metroliners is a little spiffier, with club-y seats, etc.

It's not a long trip (4 hrs.) -- not sure how much difference A vs. B would make, but you did need to know the difference between Metroliners and "regular" trains.

That's not correct. There are reserved, non-Metroliners running on the Northeast Corridor. They are often trains originating from South of DC or beyond the corridor. But you can take a reserved train that is not the more expensive Metroliner or Acela.

Forgot to mention the Acela, which is supposedly the plus-express that outdoes the Metroliner for speed. Sometimes it actually does. And 4 hrs. is the longest this trip is supposed to take, while the Acela theoretically does it in 2 3/4.

Re: baggage and sitting together. If you have enough baggage to check it, consider a couple of possibilities: first, I believe both DC and NYC have checked-baggage facilities so in theory at least you should be able to check some bags through IF you want to. Advantage: not shlepping it; Disadvantage: it can take a LONG time to be reunited with it at the end of the trip.

BUT: A trick I inadvertantly have discovered is that if you avail yourself of the services of a RedCap (or whatever they're called now) with checking and/or shlepping bags, they often get you down to train-side before everyone else, get you seated and comfy, etc. Tip them well and enjoy the ride.

Okay okay -- maybe I didn't make things 100% clear, MikeT. There are longer-range all-reserved trains that originate south of WAS, but not a lot of them per day, believe me. (Also, some of them have cars between WAS and NYP that revert to unreserved.)

When I referred to "business class" on non-Metroliner long-range trains, it was those trains I meant.

Just get coach seats. They are as good as 1st class seats on a plane - very roomy! But you still have to go to the cafe car to get a snack.

Since you are getting on the train at the end of the line, you will have no problem finding seats. It's the people who get on after (Baltimore, Wilmington) who sometimes have trouble. It's not definite that you'll all be able to sit together though. There are no seat assignments no matter what train you take. There are 4-seat areas though (2 seats facing 2 seats) that are ideal for groups of four, and people tend to shy away from these when traveling alone (who wants to sit facing a stranger for hours?). Prople at Union Station line up at the gate to get on the train, so get there early and you should be ok.

Your biggest problem will be luggage. There is pretty limited space for it. It's best to bring something with wheels that you are able to lift over your head. I haven't had any experience with the baggage handlers...very few people use them.

There are 3 types of trains on this route. In order of speed, they are: Acela (very fast & new, all business class), Metroliner (all business class) and Regional (older trains). Some Regional trains are reserved and some are unreserved (which can overbook) but both cost the same. If I were you, I'd get tickets on a Regional reserved, since the time difference between the fastest and slowest trains is only 1/2 hour. Buy the tickets a few days to a week ahead of time to guarantee a reserved train.

I agree with pretty much everything suzanne said -- except waiting until a week ahead to buy your tickets. That might work most of the time, but July 5 is likely to be a very busy travel day; there's no sense in taking the risk of being shut out of the trains. Eek, you might have to take the Chinatown bus!

Please realize that these trains are often packed - every seat taken - esp on weekends/holidays. And people literally run onto the train to find seats.

So, if you want to get seats together definitely get to the station early - you want to be the first to board. Be ready to move quickly with your luggage and grab the first seats you see together - don;t worry if they're frontwards or backwards or near the toilet or etc. Just grab them. Then you can have one of the party - and the luggage hold them - if you want to scour the train for better seats.

Agree there is no real advantage to business - the regular seats are generous and reasonably comfy. Also, realize that the toilets on the train are often not pleasant - so avoid use if at all possible. Additionally the food is ghastly as well as expensive. With kids you may want to bring your own snacks and drinks on with you.

Our strategy for getting seats together as a family is to have one person dash ahead while the others are bringing up the rear with the luggage. On trains, this involves skipping the first car where people are boarding, and board the next car up, moving forward until the requisite (for us) 3 seats are found, and reserving them with sweater, backpack, whatever. But we are very light travelers, rarely taking much more than an airline carryon (but that's a topic for another thread).

Thanks for your replies. I just want to make sure we have seats and are not standing for 3 hours. My choices are $205.00 for 4 reserved coach seats on Regional service, same price for unreserved coach Regional. $325.00 for 4 business class Regional. For Metroliner it is $512.00 for Acela $588.00.

There does not appear to be any checked baggage service for any of these trains.

If I want to make sure we have seats and room to store our luggage, should I just go ahead and reserve Business class. The prices have gone up a bit since I first started looking.

Thanks

Don't know what leads you to think there's no baggage check on these routes -- if you go to the info for the two stations (Union Washington and Penn. Sta. NYC), they both say they have baggage facilities. In fact, they have a new announcement re: checked baggage at http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...mtrak/am2Copy/
News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1093553973 973&ssid=181

The idea of getting a RedCap to get you boarded early seems like a good one to me, and a lot cheaper than the expensive seats.

Just get the 4 reserved coach seats. They are quite comfortable for people of any height (unlike airline coach).

If you have one rolling bag/person you can just put over your seat, otherwise there is plenty of space at the end of each car for extra luggage - especially sisnce you are at the beginning of the line.

In Washington, DC, you will get the train at Union Station, near the Capitol. It is located directly above the Metro subway station (Union Station) on the Red Line. Easy access, good elevators and escalators.

In New York, you'll be arriving at Penn Station, at about 30th and Broadway. There is a subway connection to many of the trains under Penn Station. BEWARE, however, that unlike Washington DC, there is not necessarily operating elevator and escalators in all New York train and subway stations -- so if you have lots of luggage, you may want to just go outside and get a cab to your hotel.

Rick in Maryland