Newbie questions Crescent - NEC

[dodiemae]

I'm a newbie, used to ride the train to Little Rock when I was a kid but that was before Amtrak existed! I have learned a lot from this site, but now need some specific advice:

I'm planning our trip from Charlotte to Providence in late October for a wedding and wondering what the best route would be. We can't afford a sleeper, will be riding coach all the way but hoping we might luck out and get a roomette after we board (Crescent leaves CLT at 1:26 AM). The online reservation defaults to CLT-NYP-PVD but I'm wondering if it would be better to do CLT-WAS-PVD - would this maybe offer more of a chance for a vacant roomette, since that run is 8 hours instead of 12? Or is the whole thing a crap shoot and one is as good as the other? Either combination has about a two-hour connection so I'm not sure if that makes a difference as far as WAS vs NYP. The NEC has a better on-time record, so should I get on that sooner rather than later?

Also - what kind of train is the Crescent (20)? And the NE (176)?

I have not yet made the reservations and now that I know about Guest Rewards, is there anyone who wants to refer me so we both get extra points? And would I maximize our points if I book our tickets separately, or will that make it harder to get seated together on a crowded train?

Any other tips for getting the best possible price? I can get the senior discount for my husband and the student advantage for myself but wonder if there is a place to find a coupon code to do even better.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as we get closer to travel dates, but I need to book these tickets very soon! Thanks for all your wonderful advice.

 

[AlecL]

I would do CLT-NYP-PVD.

As far as the sleeper availability, booking the Crescent to WAS instead of NYP doesn't affect your chances. The train doesn't pick up any new passengers from WAS on so there would be nobody booking a roomette from say, PHL-NYP. It will either be available to WAS and beyond or it won't be available at all. Plus, if you do get a roomette, and you're booked all they way to NYP on the Crescent, you get to stay in your roomette longer.

The Crescent is a long distance train with Amfleet II cars. The coach seats will be MUCH roomier on the Crescent than the Northeast Regional which operate with Amfleet I cars. The seats on the Crescent are designed for people to sleep overnight in. Expect them to be comparable to a lazy boy recliner you might find in someone's living room. The seats on the NER are not terrible by any means, but they won't have the leg rests and the foot rests - I'd rather spend more time on the Crescent than the NER. Both are single level trains. The Crescent Will have a full service diner car and a café car. The NER will only have a café.

So with all that being said, CLT-NYP-PVD seems like the better option to me. The only reason I'd consider transferring in WAS instead would be because Union Station in DC is about 50 times nicer than Penn Station in New York. But you can weigh those options.

Seating is unassigned, at least until you get to the train. On the Crescent the crew will assign seats at train side, on the NER the seating is unassigned period. So reserving the tickets together won't really gain you any advantage as far as sitting together. However, nor will reserving separately get you any more Amtrak Guest Rewards points. I'd just book together to make it easier to keep track of.

As far as price, availability is the name of the game. As the train fills up, the price is going to go up. If you're somewhat flexible on the dates, pick a range and check all the dates within that range for the best price. Booking well in advance generally helps price wise.

If you'd like, send me a PM and I'll refer you to Guest Rewards. Remember, each passenger will need their own account with a separate email address.

Hope this helps!

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Welcome to the best forum going! Most of your questions were answered but will make a couple of suggestions and a correction! (Missed the AGR referrals by that much! Story of my life! :lol: )

One of our members, Paul M. developed a great tool for checking railfares/sleeping car charges for up to 30 days, it's amsnag.com, check it out! (it wont have any discounts which only apply to rail fares for each of you, not sleeping cars, but you can get that @ amtrak.com once you find something you want to test book!)

The Crescent leaves Charlotte @ 200AM, arrives WAS @ 1010AM, New York (NYP) 2 200PM. The rail fares seem to be $75 each (minus any discount) to WAS, $110 to NYP. The Regional on #176 are $43 each minus any discounts (at this time, they can go up/book ASAP!) Sleepers to WAs are $206-$300+, to NYP they seem to be $206!!!!-$270 which is a betterdeal for two since it would include a room, breakfast and lunch. You can also use the Club Acela in WAS or NYP if in sleeper, if in Coach you wait in the bullpen with the crowds! If you can afford it the sleeper to NYP is a good deal!

As to booking your rez,if you use a sleeper only the first name on the rez will get credit for the room AGR Points, both would get rail fare points !(minimum is 100 Points each)Also consider getting the CHASE AGR Master card, its a great way to rack up points for free rail travel, hotels, rent cars etc. includinga nice bonus just for signing up

If you want to go on the Carolinian it Leaves CRL @ 700AM, arrives WAS @ 4:30PM, NYP @ 643PM. It does have Coach and Business Class seating (worth it) but no Diner, just a Cafe Car and you would get to Providence either about 11PM/Midnight depending on which regional you takke, or even 700AM if you took #66 North out of WAS or NYP! Most people dont think Business Class is worth the extra money on the NEC Regionals! (but the Carolinian is!) Nice trip, hope this helps!

 

[the_traveler]

I agree with Jim, mostly!

I also do not find that BC on a NE Regional is worth it. Except if you take #66 or #67. These two trains are overnight trains, but do not offer sleeper service. Also, the BC class seats provide MUCH more room than on any other Regional.

(And if you do take #66, I would connect at WAS. It departs WAS around 10 PM instead of 3 AM at NYP!

It is similar with #67, which arrives NYP around 2 AM instead of the 7 AM in WAS!)

 

[jis]

If you are coming in on the Carolinian and taking 66, you could save much crowd, hassle and confusion by changing to 66 at Richmond Staples Mill, though you would miss out on the action at Washington union Station. The layover would be almost 4 hours.

 

[amamba]

$43 is the low bucket fare from NYP - PVD. That is a great price, IMO!

 

[lapradem]

I agree with the poster who recommended the Crescent all the way to NYP. Coach seats on the Crescent have TONS of room - very nice - and the diner is so much better than the NER cafe - breakfast is pretty reasonable and decent tasting. Book early to get a low rail (coach) price, and keep checking to see if bedroom prices drop - sometimes they drop a lot a week to several days prior to the trip if there is a lot of availability (and, of course, if it is solidly booked - those remaining rooms will be high dollar). The key is to keep checking the web site.

You want a big amount of points up front, get the Chase MC for guest rewards. They have been running some BIG bonuses for getting the card (we used our signup bonus last year to get 5 trips on the Acela for the family - WAS to BOS - seems to me the up front bonus was 30000 points or more). Join AGR first, then after you get one of the special offers for the card with lots of extra miles (check the AGR website frequently to see your offers), go ahead and get the card - use it enough to qualify for the bonus and then decide if you will keep using it. Remember - if you have booked your trip with cash (i.e. not miles) and not gotten your tickets printed yet - you can always cancel and get a full refund, then book the same trip with miles. Very easy to book with miles if you are only booking coach.