Southwest Chief Trip Questions

I would be catching it in Winslow most likely. Going west is a no brainer - sleep all the way to LA. East to Chicago - any suggestions about a good way to break up the trip into interesting segments?

Are there passes like there are in California so you can do it economically?

My friend is in Albuquerque - if I caught it in Winslow I assume she could catch it in Albuquerque and we'd be able to hook up that way?

Thanks!

As for passes, you may want to check out the 15-day rail pass. But it only covers coach, not sleeper. Coach is generally cheap enough that you won't need the $450 rail pass. For instance, if you wanted to spend the night in ABQ, and Kansas City, the three segments would only cost $229. Now, round trip, that would be $458 - so you'd save $8. Only, on your return, you'd likely not need to stop in KC or ABQ again, so the straight fare from CHI to WLO is only $160 for a total of $389 - so you wouldn't save with the pass after all.

Those are just some fares I came up with for the end of this month. If the coach fares increase, then you could get blacked out of using the pass - which are only available for "a certain number of seats" on each train.

Also, the pass mentioned only includes 8 segments - computed as each time you board and detrain each train or bus. As an example, if you go from Winslow to ABQ that is 1 segment. After a few days you want to go from ABQ to St Louis, but since you need to take 2 trains (ABQ to KCY and then KCY to STL), it's 2 more segments. Then you want to go to CHI the following day, that's another segment. You just used 4 out of your allowed 8 segments.

You may want to price both the cost of each individual trip vs the cost of the pass. Maybe it's less.

"My friend is in Albuquerque - if I caught it in Winslow I assume she could catch it in Albuquerque and we'd be able to hook up that way?"

Yes.

I'm planning to go coach; I end up sleeping in a recliner half the time anyway. I've never ridden a train so it's all new to me

Question - I am on amtrak's site and I click "round trip' and see $73 WLO to LAX and $160 WLO to Chicago. Does that mean the whole trip ticket is $160 to Chicago? If I were to stay on the train 32 hours? And the whole cost to/from Los Angeles would only be $73?

On the longer trip, if I wanted to break it up, I would price one way segments? And compare to a 15 day pass where I could purchase x segments and use them on any day a train is available?

Thanks

When I visited Washington state, I went coach to/from Barstow and LA, then sleeper to/from LA and Tacoma. I didn't fancy sitting in coach for almost three days. Since you're planning to break up the trip, coach would be good not to mention cheaper. But I'm confused by your question about California. Are you thinking about visiting some places before catching the train back to Chicago?