30 Day Rail Pass suggested itinerary?

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Hi there! I stumbled across this forum while researching the Amtrak USA Railpass and I thought I'd post here for some advice.

I want to get a 30 Day Rail Pass to use in August to travel around the states, starting by going from New York-Chicago and ending up in Montreal at the end of the month from where I'll be flying out.

I really want to go on the California Zephyr out of Chicago as I've heard it's amazing, but I also really, REALLY want to visit New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville which are obviously in a different direction.

I've come up with the below itinerary which goes from Chicago to SF on the Zephyr and then back across the country again on the Sunset Limited before heading back up to the north east to finish in Montreal. It involves some flying and bus legs to cut down on travel time in places and so ultimately I'm only using 10 of my 12 allowed segments.

But I'm wondering if this itinerary is going to be completely punishing and is too ambitious? Can anyone offer any assistance? Thanks in advance!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2

Dep. NEW YORK, NY

3.45pm (Lake Shore Limited)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3

Arr. CHICAGO, IL (Rail pass segment 1)

9.45am

MONDAY, AUGUST 6

Dep. CHICAGO, IL

2pm (California Zephyr)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7

Arr. DENVER, CO (Rail pass segment 2)

10am

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8

Dep. DENVER, CO

10am (California Zephyr)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9

Arr. EMERYVILLE, CA (Rail pass segment 3)

4.10pm

Thruway bus transfer to SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Rail pass segment 4)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 12

Fly from SAN FRANCISCO, CA to LAS VEGAS, NV

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14

Fly from LAS VEGAS, NV to TUCSON, AZ

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16

Dep. TUCSON, AZ

8.15am (Sunset Limited)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17

Arr. SAN ANTONIO, TX (Rail pass segment 5)

4.50am

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19

Dep. SAN ANTONIO, TX

6.25am (Sunset Limited)

Arr. NEW ORLEANS, LA (Rail pass segment 6)

9.40pm

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22

Dep. NEW ORLEANS, LA

1.45pm (City of New Orleans)

Arr. MEMPHIS, TN (Rail pass segment 7)

10pm

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25

Greyhound bus from MEMPHIS, TN to NASHVILLE, TN

MONDAY, AUGUST 27

Fly from NASHVILLE, TN to WASHINGTON DC

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29

Dep. WASHINGTON DC

10.20am (Northeast Regional)

Arr. PHILADELPHIA, PA (Rail pass segment 8)

12.12pm

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30

Dep. PHILADELHPIA, PA

Arr. NEW YORK, NY (Rail pass segment 9)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31

Dep. NEW YORK, NY

8.15am (Adirondack)

Arr. MONTREAL, QC (Rail pass segment 10)

7.06pm
 
At this very instant you can get the Megabus from Memphis to Nashville for 3 dollars. Of course that price changes quickly. You might want to check that out. Megabus is usually cheaper than the dog.
 
Take MegaBus if you at all can from Nashville to Memphis. The Memphis Greyhound Station was just moved from downtown out to the airport which was an hour and a half bus ride into downtown on a Sunday afternoon. I didn't take MegaBus because the youth hostel in Memphis was outside of downtown and the one daily MegaBus arrived after the last local bus was scheduled to leave.

The Nashville Greyhound station is also slightly less convenient while the MegaBus Stop is right at that downtown transit center as well.
 
Wow, so many replies already, thanks!

I'll definitely look into the Megabus, that's an awesome suggestion.

And Johnny - I did check with Amtrak and the connection from Emeryville to SF is counted as a segment on its own. I wasn't too impressed with that, but thems the rules. :(

So at a quick glance - this schedule doesn't look too punishing? I've never undertaken so much long distance travel before, so not sure how tiring it is. Especially as we'll be in coach class seats, not sleepers (although we may upgrade to sleepers for some legs I think).
 
It can be very gruelling - if you didn't break it up! It looks like you have some good balance of over night stays in some popular cities. Keep in mind that you will be travelling in coach, so your "shore time" will be very important to get cleaned up and well rested.
 
Another idea I've had: Rather than stopping in Denver, I'm considering taking the Zephyr straight through from Chicago to San Francisco upgrading to a sleeper car, as it works out to be $200 cheaper:

CHI - SFO: $586 for a sleeper room

As opposed to:

CHI - DEN: $381 for a sleeper room

DEN - SFO: $413

TOTAL: $794

Can anyone recommend (or discourage) riding the Zephyr in its entirety, with no stops? Is it enjoyable, or would I better sticking to the original plan of splitting the trip up with a stop in Denver?

Johnny - I'm already 2 segments under my allocation with this itinerary as it is, so I don't really need to save any.
 
Another idea I've had: Rather than stopping in Denver, I'm considering taking the Zephyr straight through from Chicago to San Francisco upgrading to a sleeper car, as it works out to be $200 cheaper:

CHI - SFO: $586 for a sleeper room

As opposed to:

CHI - DEN: $381 for a sleeper room

DEN - SFO: $413

TOTAL: $794

Can anyone recommend (or discourage) riding the Zephyr in its entirety, with no stops? Is it enjoyable, or would I better sticking to the original plan of splitting the trip up with a stop in Denver?

Johnny - I'm already 2 segments under my allocation with this itinerary as it is, so I don't really need to save any.
The entire route is very scenic and if you don't mind staying on the longest train without stops, it is enjoyable. If you don't have plans in Denver, there is not much of a need to stop there. It is a great train to get a sleeper on. Since you have extra segments, why are you flying SFO-TUS. Take the CS and SL. That is my best suggestion.
 
Hi,

One of the problems with the railpass is that it is only valid for travel when the coach seat price is at base level. Like airlines, the Amtrak seat prices rise on each train as more seats are sold. I would be surprised if all the trains you require are still at their lowest tier, for August 2012.

The railpass will always be valid in conjunction with a sleeper, you just pay the sleeper supplement price.

On busy (higher priced coach seat) trains you CAN still use the railpass, but you need to pay the difference.

All seats must be booked, so the sooner you can decide on your route the better.

I very much enjoy long distance on Amtrak, and think the non stop trip from Chicago to Emeryville is the finest... no need to break your journey.

I am not sure whether the railpass would be valid for the whole of your last trip, as it is a USA only pass, not Canadian.

Ed :cool:
 
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Thanks for all your help - managed to book my trip today, and changed it a little bit from the above but I think it works pretty well now.

One note for anyone who might be interested: you CAN use the RailPass to go into Canada, although there seems to be some confusion among Amtrak booking agents about it. The first lady I spoke to said NY to Montreal on the Adirondack was included on the RailPass, then the second woman I spoke to said no it wasn't. I complained and she double checked for a looooong time and then changed her mind and said yes it WAS included. So just be aware when you call up - push the point if they say you can't do it! :)
 
Thanks for all your help - managed to book my trip today, and changed it a little bit from the above but I think it works pretty well now.

One note for anyone who might be interested: you CAN use the RailPass to go into Canada, although there seems to be some confusion among Amtrak booking agents about it. The first lady I spoke to said NY to Montreal on the Adirondack was included on the RailPass, then the second woman I spoke to said no it wasn't. I complained and she double checked for a looooong time and then changed her mind and said yes it WAS included. So just be aware when you call up - push the point if they say you can't do it! :)
It can be used for all Amtrak services, but not the joint Via-Amtrak services. So the Maple Leaf can only be used until Niagara Falls, NY because then it becomes a Via train while the Adirondack and Cascades services are allowed because Via plays no part in the running of them
 
It can be very gruelling - if you didn't break it up! It looks like you have some good balance of over night stays in some popular cities. Keep in mind that you will be travelling in coach, so your "shore time" will be very important to get cleaned up and well rested.
+1.

I did a thirty day trip in 2005 before Amtrak and VIA Rail suspended sales of the North America Rail Pass (which covered both the US and Canada). I wrote about the trip here. If you're in coach, it really helps to break up the trip so you can alternate nights on the train and nights off the train. There are more than enough interesting places to stop along the way, so don't be afraid to trim down your trip if it gives you more time to explore cities along the way. That said, I regretted spending only 24 hours each in Chicago, Denver, Vancouver and Toronto.
 
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