rmgreenesq
Lead Service Attendant
Greetings Gang:
I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the Auto Train for June and have a few questions about the booking process.
1. I'm booking two roomettes on the way down. I understand that in order to get two rooms across the hall from each other, I need to call Amtrak, book this over the phone, and request two roomettes across the hall. Will Amtrak hold this reservation and let me go to South Station to pick up the tickets or will they insist on a credit card number and purchase the tickets? Since the free tickets by mail is gone, if I give the agent a credit card, can I pick up the tickets at Lorton the day of the trip or will I have trouble getting into the parking lot? Is this such a good idea?
2. I'm trying to decide between booking a bedroom and the family bedroom for the return trip. There are three of us in the party: One 6' 6" 300+lb person (c'est moi), One 5'4" adult, and one 3' five year old. Amtrak.com will sell me a bedroom for this trip, but I'm wondering if all three of us will fit. The five year old has her heart set on sleeping on the top bunk. Would the two adults in this party fit on the lower bed of the bedroom? From the photos on Amtrak.com, the lower bed does not look all that big, but I've never been in anyting bigger than a roomette. Any experience from the field?
3. Anybody on here driven down to Lorton from New England before? Once the possibility of heavy traffic in Hartford, NYC, Baltimore, and Washington is accounted for (NJ Tpke skips Philly) it appears that we would need to leave Central Massachusetts at about 2:00 am in order to get to Lorton by 11:00 am. BTW do we need to be there at 11:00 am or would noon or 1:00 pm work? Should I decide to drive down the night before, are there any cheap motels in the area that this board would recommend?
As alawys any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Rick
I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the Auto Train for June and have a few questions about the booking process.
1. I'm booking two roomettes on the way down. I understand that in order to get two rooms across the hall from each other, I need to call Amtrak, book this over the phone, and request two roomettes across the hall. Will Amtrak hold this reservation and let me go to South Station to pick up the tickets or will they insist on a credit card number and purchase the tickets? Since the free tickets by mail is gone, if I give the agent a credit card, can I pick up the tickets at Lorton the day of the trip or will I have trouble getting into the parking lot? Is this such a good idea?
2. I'm trying to decide between booking a bedroom and the family bedroom for the return trip. There are three of us in the party: One 6' 6" 300+lb person (c'est moi), One 5'4" adult, and one 3' five year old. Amtrak.com will sell me a bedroom for this trip, but I'm wondering if all three of us will fit. The five year old has her heart set on sleeping on the top bunk. Would the two adults in this party fit on the lower bed of the bedroom? From the photos on Amtrak.com, the lower bed does not look all that big, but I've never been in anyting bigger than a roomette. Any experience from the field?
3. Anybody on here driven down to Lorton from New England before? Once the possibility of heavy traffic in Hartford, NYC, Baltimore, and Washington is accounted for (NJ Tpke skips Philly) it appears that we would need to leave Central Massachusetts at about 2:00 am in order to get to Lorton by 11:00 am. BTW do we need to be there at 11:00 am or would noon or 1:00 pm work? Should I decide to drive down the night before, are there any cheap motels in the area that this board would recommend?
As alawys any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Rick