Just booked SWC and have a few questions.

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bpb1970

Train Attendant
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
Messages
15
Hello all! Great forum!

We had a family bedroom on the CZ from CHI to SF a few years ago and other than a few hiccups (5 hours late and running out of pretty much every menu item) we really enjoyed it. Since then we have been slowly but steadily accumulating AGR points hoping to use them for either the SWC or EB from Chicago for our family of four. We ended up with 68K points. After figuring what dates would work for us next summer we were more than pleasantly surprised to find two bedrooms available on the SWC for 69K points in early August. I ended up buying 1K points for $37 which posted almost immediately and spent less than five minutes on the phone booking the trip. The phone rep gave us bedrooms D and E in car 0330. She said the SCA should have them in suite format when we arrive. From what I understand under AGR 1.0 it would have been 80K miles for a bedroom suite? If so then I'm a big fan of AGR 2.0.

Some questions:

1. We plan on heading to San Diego on the day we arrive. I could not add rail travel using AGR points because it was another 6K points. I can buy 4 coach seats for $129 on the Pacific Surfliner. Is that train ride worth it or should we just rent a car? I'm worried that kids and wife will be all "trained out" by the time we arrive. We will be in SD for 4 days but will probably be staying where a car won't be needed. I'm also worried about the SWC being late and missing the connection. When we took the CZ a few years ago it was 5 hours late so we pretty much lost a whole day of vacation by the time we got to our SF hotel. It looks like there are multiple PS trains. Would they just put us on the next PS train if we missed our scheduled train?

2. How does the abbreviated breakfast work on the morning of arrival since the arrival time is 8:15AM? Will they bring us breakfast to our room on that morning? I'd rather not eat breakfast at 5AM but 7AM would be great.

3. I brought some beer on the last trip which worked out well considering how much they charge on the train. This time I would like to bring a couple of bottles of wine. Do they allow you to bring your own wine to dinner?

4. In case we do rent a car are there rental locations near LA Union Station? We will be flying home a week later from LAX so it might be best if we just uber it over there to rent a car.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Stay with the Surfliner since you won't need a car in San Diego. The ride along the Pacific Coast is a nice one. If the Chief is running late, you can bail in Fullerton, or take any Surfliner from LAX since Coach Seats are Unreserved except during the Thanksgiving crunch.( Biz Class guarantees your seat, and is worth the Upgrade cost on these Trains, but since they're reserved,if you miss your connection you'd have to rebook @ LAX.)

Breakfast on the Chief is an abbreviated Menu, and has a very Limited Early Service time due to the Crew having to have the Diner in order upon arrival @ LAX.Your SCA,will be busy preping the Sleeper the same way, so may be too busy to bring Breakfast to your room, you can ask ahead of time.

You can consume your own Private Alcohol in your,Sleeping Car room only, bringing Alcohol into the Diner not purchased on the train is not permitted.

However you can,discreetly enjoy your private stash in the Sight Seer Lounge if you have a passable container. ( ie a Yeti,Amtrak Cup etc), just don't openly show your Booze,Beer or Wine in the Lounge.

There are Car Rentak Desks in the Station next to the Elevator to the Metro Lounge past the Amtrak ticket Counters. Enterprise,will pick you up during business Hours,they have a downtown office, not sure about others???

You don't want to drive in LA or I-5 traffic if you can help it. There is an Airporter Bus that runs from the East Side of LAX( Union Station) to the Airport, the other LAX.

You could also take the Subway also but this is more time consuming and requires changes. ( and Rent Cars cam be pricey @ the Airport which is crazy busy!)
 
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Sounds like a great trip.

First, your SCA may or may not have the rooms in suite format. If not, then inform your SCA when you board. From what I understand, a "special" key is needed to open the adjoining door.

I have traveled on the Pacific Surfliner only as far as Solana Beach and the scenery was fabulous. For me, there is no choice between driving vs train. Train always wins. I believe that coach seats on the Pacific Surfliner are unreserved, so that if you miss your connection, you can take a later train. I personally, would go business class, which is reserved, with nice perks.

If the train is on time, breakfast will be very early. I am not sure if the SCA will have time to bring breakfast to your room while preparing for arrival in LAX. It is something that you would need to ask your attendant. (however, I guess someone else on AU will respond)

No, you cannot bring your own wine into the diner. You may consume your own alcohol only in your own room.

I believe there are rental car agencies located in LA Union Station.
 
I concur with what the other posters say.Driving out of LA is no picnic and I would not rent a car around there unless I had a really good reason to do so. The train trip is beautiful and far less stressful. If the Southwest Chief is on time, breakfast is served between 5 and 6 am only. If the train is late, then they will serve later. Don't be concerned about missing a connection to San Diego, as there a numerous trains to choose from.
 
Renting a car at the Station is expensive, plus the hours are limited as well as the car inventory, but you do miss the high surcharges at the Airports. Save a couple bottles, you will need them after driving in LA. You can really see the coast, everyone can move around, and there is no worry if the SWC is late.
 
The traindown to San Diego goes right along the coastline - sometimes within feet of the water. Because coach is unreserved on the Surfliners, if for some reason you miss your connecting train, as said you can get off the SWC in Fullerton or LAX and you can catch the next train. (There are many.)

I also try to avoid driving in LA whenever possible. From Union Station, you can take the Flyaway Bus nonstop to the airport! Even though I’m not driving the bus, for me that’s enough stress on the freeways.
 
I’m in San Diego now and travelled on the SWC and Pacific Surfliner to get here. The train ride from Los Angeles to San Diego is definitely not to be missed. I traveled in a roomette and then business class on the Surfliner which provides guaranteed seats. If you’re taking coach, you will be in a less crowded train if you take a train number in the 500 series which originates in LAX. The 700 series starts north in San Luis Obispo, so it is likely to be more crowded which would be best to avoid if you’re looking for seating together as a family.

As another poster already said, the breakfast on the SWC on arrival day into LAX is from 5-6 am. The cafe in the Sightseer Lounge is open a bit later than that, but you would have to purchase your food there. Based on my experience with the service car attendant, I wouldn’t plan on breakfast being served in your room, but you can count on being asked to let she/he make up your room early morning starting at around 6:45 before arriving LAX. Because the diner is closed at 6, your attendant wouldn’t be able to serve you in your room at 7 even if they wanted to.

I hope you and your family have a great trip to San Diego. It’s a wonderful place that all of you will surely enjoy. Plus, getting there and enjoying all of the spectacular scenery enroute is half the fun.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
Two things I wish I knew when taking the SWC:

La Junta has a Safeway about 1/2 block west of the station.

in ABQ, most of the crew will go to the grocery store just outside the station about 1 block away to grab some food from the deli. There is also a small lunch counter in the ABQ station.

I did not do the La Junta jaunt, though we did walk around downtown for a bit. I did follow the diner car crew to the ABQ store and got some items like jerky and some adult beverages.

To note: we were early at both stations and were there for about 45 minutes to an hour, we just had to be back to the train 10 minutes to posted departure time.

My dad and I decided to skip breakfast prior to the LAX arrival and we had breakfast after exiting the train because we bought snacks in ABQ.

LAX has a flyaway bus from the train terminal to the airport The cost was under $10/person.
http://www.lawa.org/flyaway/content.aspx?id=10152
 
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