First-time LD trip LAX->VAC

[Bjartmarr]

There's a good possibility I will get to take the CS (coach) next week from Los Angeles to Seattle, then a connecting bus to Vancouver. I'm kind of excited.

The train is scheduled in Seattle at 8:37pm, with the bus leaving at 9:15 and arriving in Vancouver at (ugh) 12:20am. What are the odds that the train will be very late? If I arrive on schedule at 12:20, I'll want to have a hotel room reserved and ready; if the bus is four hours late, then I'd rather not pay for a hotel and I'll just go ahead and start my day.

I'll have my (boxed) bike with me in checked baggage. The schedule says that there is checked baggage service at VAC, but the route finder says that no checked baggage is allowed on the 8914 bus. How does that work? Will I need to gather my bike at SEA and load it onto the bus myself? (The one time I've checked bags on the CS before, it took 45 minutes for them to unload the bags in LAX; not sure if that's normal but I'd rather avoid that stress while trying to make the bus connection.)

How likely is it that I will end up in one of the renovated cars that have electrical plugs in every row? If it's an old car, if I ask very nicely, might the seat-assigner be willing to put me in a seat with a plug? Or are they just totally sick of people asking?

I was thinking of leaving on Monday but my schedule is flexible. (I'll be paying with AGR points.) Are some days less crowded than others?

 

[zephyr17]

Only the Cascades trains have checked baggage service, and since it crosses an international border, they only accept baggage where you accompany it on that train. Also, the checked baggage at Vancouver is handled by the Amtrak crew themselves, the VIA agents don't deal with Amtrak baggage.

Bottom line, you have to claim it in SEA and wangle it onto the bus however you can.

Almost all cars have electrical at every seat now. The chances of getting one that doesn't is very low.

The Starlight has a pretty good ontime record these days. The chances you will be 4 hours late are remote.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Coach? Aw man, even the biggest seats are still not that great for sleeping. Maybe you should've gotten a Roomette deal with a buddy, and split the prices. Worth it in the long run, you get the Sleeper Lounge (PPC) with wine and cheese tasting, meals included, IIRC free water and drinks, all that. Hopefully they didn't cut too many amenities.

 

[Bjartmarr]

Thanks for the responses.

Cascades? Woah, I didn't notice those. Rather than taking the bus, will they let me spend the night in SEA and take the Cascades to Vancouver early the next morning on a single one-zone AGR redemption? If I have to pay for a hotel anyways, I might as well get a good night's sleep and an extra train ride out of the deal.

Yeah, coach. This trip is solo, a roomette costs $650, and I'm saving my points for a trip to Maine next spring. With earplugs, I'll survive.

 

[neutralist]

Thanks for the responses.

Cascades? Woah, I didn't notice those. Rather than taking the bus, will they let me spend the night in SEA and take the Cascades to Vancouver early the next morning on a single one-zone AGR redemption? If I have to pay for a hotel anyways, I might as well get a good night's sleep and an extra train ride out of the deal.

Yeah, coach. This trip is solo, a roomette costs $650, and I'm saving my points for a trip to Maine next spring. With earplugs, I'll survive.

That will be a two trip itinerary in the system so I am afraid it will take two redemptions.

 

[the_traveler]

However, I believe the Cascades to VAC is a special route for a reduced AGR redemption.

 

[CHamilton]

However, I believe the Cascades to VAC is a special route for a reduced AGR redemption.

Yes, that's right, but you might want to pay cash rather than using AGR points, since SEA-VAC is not very expensive. Check http://amsnag.net/ since sometimes the trains are less expensive than the Thruway buses.

 

[Karl1459]

I have done PDX-LAX several times by coach. Not as nice as a roomette for sleeping but way better then sardine class airplane and airport seats.

As this is your first LD consider taking snacks and a couple of meals worth of food. The diner is decent food and often good company but may fill up and only odd seating times available, the lounge snack shack food is prepackaged 7-11 type stuff and a bit pricy.

Whether or not official policy Amtrak has seemed to consider pillow/blankets as "personal items" not subject to carry on limits. If you do stay the night in Seattle (or Portland) you might consider checking some of the extra comfort stuff as the Cascades do not have quite as much room as the superliners.

The times I have rode the PDX and SEA passengers northbound, and LAX passengers southbound tend to be assigned to the last coach so you have a fairly stable neighbor seat base.

Have fun.

 

[SubwayNut]

If you book to weeks ahead 'Saver' fares on Amtrak Cascades from SEA to VAC are $31 (guess it went up from $29 when I was out there in April).

Also you have two options on Amtrak Cascades since these trains have bike racks. You can reassemble your bike in Seattle and reserve rack space when you book your Amtrak Cascades reservation for $5 extra (it aslo seems that this $5 unboxed bike fee can also reserve your bike space on a throughway bus?) or assume that Amtrak will check you bike through in LA to VAC with your bike staying in its box overnight in SEA before being loaded in the box into the baggage car on the morning Amtrak Cascades?

(I don't know if this scenario would actually work. Once I went CHI to NYP with my bike and decided to spend 23 hours in WAS going via the Capital Limited, CHI had no qualms checking my bike through to NYP on the LSL and it was waiting for me when I arrive in NYP an afternoon later on a Regional).

 

[tonys96]

Coach? Aw man, even the biggest seats are still not that great for sleeping. Maybe you should've gotten a Roomette deal with a buddy, and split the prices. Worth it in the long run, you get the Sleeper Lounge (PPC) with wine and cheese tasting, meals included, IIRC free water and drinks, all that. Hopefully they didn't cut too many amenities.

The free W & C tastings have stopped. I hear they MAY do paid ones, that are open to coach pax also.

 

[zephyr17]

If you book to weeks ahead 'Saver' fares on Amtrak Cascades from SEA to VAC are $31 (guess it went up from $29 when I was out there in April).

Also you have two options on Amtrak Cascades since these trains have bike racks. You can reassemble your bike in Seattle and reserve rack space when you book your Amtrak Cascades reservation for $5 extra (it aslo seems that this $5 unboxed bike fee can also reserve your bike space on a throughway bus?) or assume that Amtrak will check you bike through in LA to VAC with your bike staying in its box overnight in SEA before being loaded in the box into the baggage car on the morning Amtrak Cascades?

(I don't know if this scenario would actually work. Once I went CHI to NYP with my bike and decided to spend 23 hours in WAS going via the Capital Limited, CHI had no qualms checking my bike through to NYP on the LSL and it was waiting for me when I arrive in NYP an afternoon later on a Regional).

Amtrak won't check baggage through to VAC unless you are ticketed on the same train your baggage will be on. That is unlike most of the rest of the system and mainly because it crosses an international border, although the fact that Amtrak doesn't have station staff at VAC and baggage handling is done exclusively by the train crew may have something to do with it, too.

 

[domefoamer]

Luggage on the SEA>VAC bus isn't "checked," but it is stored in the lower compartments, so it's not going to be in your lap. Art the border, it may be checked in in a different sense. My family got little scrutiny last spring, except for the apples my wife had been carrying (five of them, in her heavy suitcase). She thought it odd that Canada wasn't concerned about her oranges, but I explained that they don't grow citrus up there. ;>

The last night arrival is an inconvenience, and crossing the border by train is easier. But there are some benefits: when you reach the customs desk, the bus is their only business, so service is swift. Spending even half the night in Vancouver can be a deal, too. Late last March, I shopped the big internet site and scored a true four-star hotel for $59, with free upgrade to a suite! The Century Plaza was truly the best hotel I've stayed at in the past ten years, and one of the cheapest. Summer rates will be much higher, I'd expect.