S
Savannah
Guest
Booking a trip for my father and I. We're going to a wedding in December from Savannah,GA to Dallas,TX. My dad hates flying and neither of us have ever used Amtrak before. I figure why not try now and take a few days of taking in a view of some of the scenery. The wedding is on Saturday the 9th of Dec, so I figured a few days of travel just to be safe should suffice.
There are three route options for us according to the website, leaving on Tuesday December 5th:
TRANSFERS
OPT 1: the transfer layover time in DC is est. 8hr,58 min before departing to Chicago at 4pm. That's fine with us as we have some family friends in D.C. we can have brunch with for a bit before going back to the station. The second layover in CHI is est. 5 hours. We don't know anyone there but I figure that's a good amount of time for me to get us an Uber or Lyft to get breakfast/lunch in a nice spot in Chicago before we depart at 1:45pm for the final ride to DAL.
OPT 2: Arrival in DC est. 7a. Only 3 hr, 53 min est. layover time in D.C. can still get breakfast somewhere with family friends close to the station before the 51 Cardinal departs to CHI at 11am. Arrive in CHI at 10am next day, only 3hr 45 min layover time. With us not being familiar with Chicago I'm not sure if that's enough time to get a quick bite somewhere without risking being late for the 21 Tex. Eagle departure at 1:45.
OPT 3: Arrival at New York Penn Station at 11am. 4 hr 40 min layover. Would that be enough time to have a quick lunch with a relative somewhere near Penn Station before the 3:40pm departure to CHI? Final layover in CHI would be 4 hrs est, so would that be enough time to get a quick bite for brunch before the 1:45pm departure to DAL?
Sorry for the multitude of questions, how long does it take to check in at the D.C., Penn, and CHI stations if we leave? I don't anticipate it being as thorough of security as airport TSA, but I wanna make sure if we do leave during the layover to meet and have lunch with someone, is it enough time for us to pass through security to make our transfer train? And just as a backup option, do the stations in D.C. and NYC have dining options? Doesn't have to be fancy just something for us to be able to meet our friends and family and catchup for a bit before leaving. Chicago I'd be ok with a dining option in the station since we don't know anyone there. But if the layover is 5 hours like in OPT 1, I wouldn't mind getting some fresh air and checking out a quality local spot close enough to the station to Uber and back with enough time to leave. Obviously I don't know how often or long delays are, so this could totally screw up the website's estimated arrival and transfer times in turn screwing up any of our side plans in our transfer cities.
As for the return trip no worries on that, we're probably just going to take the Greyhound back since it's a 1 day trip and much cheaper (almost 1/2 the price of Amtrak). I'm sure I forgot something to ask, but any help would be much appreciated! Oh and one more side question, what are options for charging my phone on the train? Are there outlets on coach? Is there complimentary WiFi as well for when my cell phone goes into dead spots passing through rural areas or is it something you have to pay for? I hadn't used Greyhound in almost 18 years until earlier this year and was pleasantly surprised there were two outlets per two-seat to plug in electronics as well as on-board WiFi. Just need to know if I need to stock up on some external usb batteries for our phones. I personally plan on sleeping most of the trip anyways. I have my earphones and just ready to relax. My dad is more of the guy to stay awake and look out the window for most of the trip.
There are three route options for us according to the website, leaving on Tuesday December 5th:
- 98 Silver Meteor/Savannah to DC - 29 Capitol Ltd to CHI - 21 Texas Eagle to DAL. Would arrive in DAL estimated at 11:30am, Friday Dec 8th
- Silver Meteor/SAV to DC - 51 Cardinal to CHI - 21 Texas Eagle to DAL. Same expected arrival time as above.
- Silver Meteor/SAV to NYC - 49 Lake Shore LTD to CHI - 21 Texas Eagle to DAL. Same expected arrival time as above.
TRANSFERS
OPT 1: the transfer layover time in DC is est. 8hr,58 min before departing to Chicago at 4pm. That's fine with us as we have some family friends in D.C. we can have brunch with for a bit before going back to the station. The second layover in CHI is est. 5 hours. We don't know anyone there but I figure that's a good amount of time for me to get us an Uber or Lyft to get breakfast/lunch in a nice spot in Chicago before we depart at 1:45pm for the final ride to DAL.
OPT 2: Arrival in DC est. 7a. Only 3 hr, 53 min est. layover time in D.C. can still get breakfast somewhere with family friends close to the station before the 51 Cardinal departs to CHI at 11am. Arrive in CHI at 10am next day, only 3hr 45 min layover time. With us not being familiar with Chicago I'm not sure if that's enough time to get a quick bite somewhere without risking being late for the 21 Tex. Eagle departure at 1:45.
OPT 3: Arrival at New York Penn Station at 11am. 4 hr 40 min layover. Would that be enough time to have a quick lunch with a relative somewhere near Penn Station before the 3:40pm departure to CHI? Final layover in CHI would be 4 hrs est, so would that be enough time to get a quick bite for brunch before the 1:45pm departure to DAL?
Sorry for the multitude of questions, how long does it take to check in at the D.C., Penn, and CHI stations if we leave? I don't anticipate it being as thorough of security as airport TSA, but I wanna make sure if we do leave during the layover to meet and have lunch with someone, is it enough time for us to pass through security to make our transfer train? And just as a backup option, do the stations in D.C. and NYC have dining options? Doesn't have to be fancy just something for us to be able to meet our friends and family and catchup for a bit before leaving. Chicago I'd be ok with a dining option in the station since we don't know anyone there. But if the layover is 5 hours like in OPT 1, I wouldn't mind getting some fresh air and checking out a quality local spot close enough to the station to Uber and back with enough time to leave. Obviously I don't know how often or long delays are, so this could totally screw up the website's estimated arrival and transfer times in turn screwing up any of our side plans in our transfer cities.
As for the return trip no worries on that, we're probably just going to take the Greyhound back since it's a 1 day trip and much cheaper (almost 1/2 the price of Amtrak). I'm sure I forgot something to ask, but any help would be much appreciated! Oh and one more side question, what are options for charging my phone on the train? Are there outlets on coach? Is there complimentary WiFi as well for when my cell phone goes into dead spots passing through rural areas or is it something you have to pay for? I hadn't used Greyhound in almost 18 years until earlier this year and was pleasantly surprised there were two outlets per two-seat to plug in electronics as well as on-board WiFi. Just need to know if I need to stock up on some external usb batteries for our phones. I personally plan on sleeping most of the trip anyways. I have my earphones and just ready to relax. My dad is more of the guy to stay awake and look out the window for most of the trip.