First Amtrak Trip in 6 Years, Couple of Questions

Hello AU! After not having taken a trip on Amtrak in 6 years, last year I got a hankering to take a train trip an renewed my guest rewards membership. Unfortunately there aren't a large amount of opportunities to take the train in my new location (SW of Pittsburgh, PA) at least short points runs. So over the last year, I've taken advantage of some non travel offers through AGR and had managed to accrue ~14,000 point. After poking around on the new rules for points redemption I decide to see if I could get a weekend trip somewhere with my eldest daughter, who is a huge fan of trains (I started her early, check my old post for her first trip on Amtrak at 9 months old). I finally settled on a trip in October to DC, since shes seven now and has a huge interest in museums. Since we're from Oregon, we've never seen the nations capital, and it seemed like a fun and educational trip.

Since my folks recently moved here from California, and they have never been to DC, I invited them to come along as well. I decided to go for a roomette, so my daughter could get the free meals and have a place to go if she feels overwhelmed, and since it was points, I figured what the heck why go coach? My parents couldn't justify the $100 difference in cost between coach and sleeper, so they are going coach and will just eat in the dining car. So my question is, is it possible to still have breakfast/dinner with my folks even there coach and we're first class? By that I mean would the sleeping car attendant be able to arrange that if requested or would that be out of line?

My other question is if the observation car is available to both coach and first class? I ask because I remember when we took the Coast Starlight the Pacific Parlor Car was first class only, and wasn't sure if the same held true for the observation car. I'm sure that these are pretty basic questions, but after a few hours of browsing here and searching Google I couldn't find anything definitive, I'm probably not using the right terms in Google.

Finally, any little known, can't miss stops in DC while were there? We're really looking forward to the trip, I can't tell if my daughter is more excited for the Smithsonian or the Capitol Limited

Thanks in advance for any and all help and advice!

Pat

The lounge car is open to all passengers, on every train its offered on with the exception of the sleeper section lounge car on the auto train.

Short points runs no longer exist. The 100 point minimum per segment is no longer available. I remember doing a few weekend special runs where I turned $12 into 400 points in less than 3 hours round trip. All travel points now accrue as 2 points per dollar spent on Amtrak travel. That trip would now get me 24 points, or less If the price of each segment is rounded down.

Phager: nice trip! Yes, your folks can join you in the Dinner, just tell the LSA how many will be in your party when they take meal reservations, the Sleeper passengers get first pick on sign up.

As for riding in Coach vs. a Roomette, $ 100 difference for two people is a good deal when you consider that two meals for two people are included with the roomette plus you get the lowest Coach Fare when you book a Room.

Dinner and Breakfast in the Diner is a la carte for Coach passengers and the meals can easily add up to $80 to $100 for the two meals so they should just book the Roomette.

Plus you get to use the Club Acela in Union Station in Washington if you have a same day Sleeping Car ticket!

Check it out, it's very worth while if the Sleeper price is only $100 difference!

In addition to the Auto Train sleeper lounge, the other sleeper-only lounge is the Pacific Parlor Car on the Coast Starlight. If you have enough, you should consider getting a room.

@BCL, I didn't realize that the short runs for points had gotten knocked out in the AGR 2.0 revisions, thanks for the info. I have to say, what I've read about the changes, I'm not a big fan. It seemed easier to plan things when it was set up in a zone based system.

@Bob Dylan, the Price difference for my folks was $82 for both of them in couch each way, versus $186.50 in a roomette for both each way. To them, it didn't make it worth it, since it looks like the CL only does "brunch" outbound from PGH and dinner inbound from WAS (unless I'm misunderstanding the dining options thread in the Amtrak FAQs sub-forum), so they couldn't justify $100 each way for one meal.

I'm with you though, even at $100 each way I'd rather get the sleeper for the extra perks and since I don't take the train that frequently, I have no qualms about spending a little extra for those extras. But in the end it's their money and retirement, and they should use it as they see fit, I still keep telling them to stop being so frugal, since they can't spend it after they're gone, and I personally couldn't care less about an inheritance, they doled out enough money on my brother and I over the last 42 years, so have fun and get the upgrades!

Thanks Phager, We felt exactly the same about our parents and finally convinced them to travel, buy themselves new cars, nice clothes etc.

My dad has passed but my mom is still going strong @ 92 and tells us that she's really glad we convinced her to enjoy herself with her hard earned money!

Hopefully you can convince them to at least try a Roomette one way between WAS and PGH, West bound would be best since you get Dinner and the Club Acela included, Eastbound on #30 Brskfast/Brunch is much more reasonable to pay in the Diner!

They will want to be rested so they can enjoy DC, so the Sleeper is a must. Coach over night is rough, especially with noisy people (snoring, headphone audio up loud, children restless, people talking, etc.), also some people insist that the curtains are pulled all the time so looking outside in the morning at the River rapids below Connellsville may not be possible. My children keep telling us to enjoy our retirement, only God knows how long we will live or be able to travel, so don't regret not doing so.

Phager said:

@BCL, I didn't realize that the short runs for points had gotten knocked out in the AGR 2.0 revisions, thanks for the info. I have to say, what I've read about the changes, I'm not a big fan. It seemed easier to plan things when it was set up in a zone based system.

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I'm not a fan of the loss of the minimum points, but I benefitted from it. However, the zone system did seem to encourage using the points for as long a trip as possible. The current system makes sense in a way. I just did a short round trip for 1600 points that would have cost 11,000 points under the old system. Also, a child care costs half the points save when it would be lower than the 800 point floor.

Here's hoping your parents have an absolutely splendid trip from PGH to WAS in coach and don't experience any of these reported situations:

• Not being able to find seats next to each other,

• Not being able to find two seats even in the same car,

• Getting a seat close to a small child that can't seem to cry itself to sleep,

• Getting a seat close to an adult or young adult with equally irksome behaviour,

• Finding that the cushion of the only available seat is sopping wet from some spilled liquid, or

• Finding that the commode in the restroom is out of commission because of excrement-filled diapers.

The extra $100 for a Roomette may be good for more than just a couple of included meals. Just my 2¢ worth.

Lonestar648 said:

They will want to be rested so they can enjoy DC, so the Sleeper is a must. Coach over night is rough, especially with noisy people (snoring, headphone audio up loud, children restless, people talking, etc.), also some people insist that the curtains are pulled all the time so looking outside in the morning at the River rapids below Connellsville may not be possible. My children keep telling us to enjoy our retirement, only God knows how long we will live or be able to travel, so don't regret not doing so.

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Well, it's not quite overnight since we'll be leaving PGH at just after 5am, but I get your point . I think I'm going to send a link to this thread to my mom, she's pretty persistent, and my be able to convince dad to loosen the purse strings.

I understand why it's so hard for them to spend. They've spent their lives scrimping and saving to provide there family with great memories, and to bail us out when we hit rough patches. After so many years, it's hard to change habits, they've gotten better but it's still hard to get them to splurge.

Well, my parents decided to get the roomette! As luck of the draw would have it their in the same car both ways and across the hall from us. Now for a little disappointment. I had emailed my congressperson for a White House tour, and it looks like the tours are Tuesday through Saturday. The train gets in (if on time) at 1:05 Saturday and the tours run through 1:30, so no tour for us. I'm pretty sure there is more then enough beyond the White House to keep us occupied for three days!

The list of excellent things to see and do in DC is almost endless. It is only tempered by the weather, and your tolerance for walking around. The circulator bus is pretty popular. Don'y know where you are staying, so I can't sketch out anything in my mind, some of the top attractions can be pretty crowded, and some of them (like the Washington Monument) have time slot ticketing you can do online, even though it is no charge.

We'll be staying at the Liaison Capitol Hill. I know we're going to want to hit up the various Smithsonian museums, the Lincoln memorial, Vietnam memorial (my father served on the USS Wasp, and I have an uncle who never made it home), the Washington monument is high on the list so I'll do the ticketing thing so Rhiannon can take the elevator to the top.

When we looked at visiting DC last year, I remember seeing a trolly tour so I'm going to re investigate that since it sounds like fun. It's fortunate that I'm not that far from DC so this will serve as a good scouting mission for a future family vacation.

Liason is nice. Very good restaurant last time I was there but not cheap. It is a short walk from Union Station I have stayed there and at the Hyatt Capitol Hill directly acreoss the street. Also consider Newseum, Int'l Spy Museum, Holocaust Museum (free but advance resv online), Smithsonian Air and Space. I actually really like the Air and Space extension out at Dulles, but until the Metro gets there in the future, its a haul without a car. My niece used to live about 3 blocks from the other side of Union Station so I would stay at one of those 2 hotels whenever I went down to DC. Now they moved to a suburb of NYC, no fun visiting a place I've lived in my whole life.

When you arrive in DC, ride the Circulator Bus that circle the Smithsonian museums and the national monuments. It's $1 per ride or free within 2 hours if you choose to make multiple stops. A SmartTrip card is useful for everyone.

http://nationalmall.dccirculator.com/

The Metro is fairly safe to ride, but beware they are shutting down segments for track work.

I was there last week and had a great time.

CCC1007 said:

The lounge car is open to all passengers, on every train its offered on with the exception of the sleeper section lounge car on the auto train.

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what about the PPC?

Excellent decision on your parents part. Congrats on getting rooms so close together also.

Be sure and visit the Capitol which is right in front of Union Station, it's a fascinating place.(contact your Congress person or Senators office in advance for a VIP Tour.

Another great Free sight is take a ride on the Metro (buy Day Passes) to Arlington National Cemetery to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and to watch the changing of the Guard.

Also, while not a National Monument, there is an Urban Wal-Mart a couple of blocks from Union Station (99 H St NW) in case you need any Supplies. The fascinating part to me is that it is located upstairs in a commercial building, and that the prices are the Same as the Wal-Marts here contrary to the Popular belief that Big Cities and the Northeast are more expensive for everything!

Your a better walker than I am. The Capitol is right in front of Union Station, but its more than a half mile walk.

Well, I contacted my Congressman to arrange the Capitol tour, I also booked 4 tickets for the Washington monument. I was surprised to see that there were less then 50 tickets available for Sunday the 16th, glad I booked them.

I was really leaning towards doing a bus tour of DC, but I really think that it'll eat too much of the limited time we have, so we'll plan on doing that on another trip. In my opinion those 4-6 hours would be better spent on visiting the museums and memorials over blowing past everything but four or five stops. I'm going to do research on Arlington and the changing of the guards so we can time that out as well. I'm really wishing I could get 3 or 4 more days off there's so much I'm going to miss, but I just need to keep telling my self that this is more of a recon and we can always plan a longer family trip next year!

So much to see and do, so little time!

Your plan to recon our Nations Capital, and then return, is excellent since Washington has so many must see places! ( I didn't even mention the Zoo,Old Alexandria and Georgetown)

norfolkwesternhenry said:

CCC1007 said:

The lounge car is open to all passengers, on every train its offered on with the exception of the sleeper section lounge car on the auto train.

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what about the PPC?

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I think PPC on the CS is open only to sleeper psgrs, except during the wine and cheese sampling times, when any passenger can attend for the price of $7.50.

But maybe that has changed to only sleeper psgrs for the w & c -- although they still have to pay the three quarters of a sawbuck.

chakk said:

norfolkwesternhenry said:

CCC1007 said:

The lounge car is open to all passengers, on every train its offered on with the exception of the sleeper section lounge car on the auto train.

Click to expand...

what about the PPC?

Click to expand...

I think PPC on the CS is open only to sleeper psgrs, except during the wine and cheese sampling times, when any passenger can attend for the price of $7.50.

But maybe that has changed to only sleeper psgrs for the w & c -- although they still have to pay the three quarters of a sawbuck.

Click to expand...

Wine and cheese is only for sleeper or business class passengers now.

So here's a new random question. We're boarding in PGH at around 5:30a and as mentioned I'm bringing my super excited 7 year old daughter. I'm planning on putting our larger carry-on in the luggage rack downstairs and bringing a small bag with essentials to the roomette to keep the noise level down. My concern is keeping Rhiannon relatively quite, at least until after breakfast (around 6:30a I'm assuming?). I'm thinking of bringing a tablet with headphones for her to play some games and read, does this seem reasonable? I've already talked with her about having to make a real effort to be quite until after sunrise, but we'll see how that really plays out when she's all excited in the moment.

The same holds true for the return trip since we disembark around midnight, clearly we're going to have to keep it down when we get off the train, but I don't forsee that being as big of an issue, since she'll be beat after a full day of touring the Capitol and exploring DC. She'll probably pass out after dinner

Also, is anyone familiar with Momoyama in DC, my daughter would love to have some sushi that's not a California roll, and it seems to get some good reviews, so we're thinking of doing lunch there on Sunday. Or recommendations on other quality Sushi bars in the area that would be better to go to.

Phager said:

Also, is anyone familiar with Momoyama in DC, my daughter would love to have some sushi that's not a California roll, and it seems to get some good reviews, so we're thinking of doing lunch there on Sunday. Or recommendations on other quality Sushi bars in the area that would be better to go to.

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I have a similar problem with my grandson, almost 6. He is a tiras de pollo gourmet and wants something different than the usual. Pfft!