Sleeper as a single traveller DC to SF

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Marie

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I will be spending 3 weeks in the US in August/September and I would like to take the train from DC to SF. I have already done some research on the Amtrak website and on the internet but it seems like it is obligatory to always buy the whole room when booking a sleeper as opposed to coach class. I will be travelling by myself which means that it would be very expensive plus I would have a spare bed in the room, wasting that space.

Do you know any solution to this problem? Are there forums where people who have similar itinieraries can share a room? In Europe this is totally normal and I've done it in many countries, I don't mind sharing a room with a stranger.

Alternatively, has anyone done the coast-to-coast in the coach class and would you recommend it?? If I understand correctly, the showers are only accessible to people who have a ticket for a sleeper so that would mean almost 4 days without a shower I suppose? Are there any possibilities to lie down somewhere and stretch once in a while (even if it's on the floor) if you're tired of sitting?

Thanks a lot for your help!
 
If you are a single person and would like to get a bed, then you have to book the entire Roomette. Otherwise you would need to travel via Canada, where the Canadian (Toronto-Vancouver) still offers berths and cabins for one. Nevertheless this isn't necessarily cheaper than buying an entire Roomette between Chicago and Emeryville.

If you choose the coach option, then bring earplugs, a pair of extra socks and (most important) an inflatable neck cushion. With that you will be able to sleep quite comfortably without needing to lie down.

So my question would be: Why don't you do a stopover in Chicago and a stopover in - let's say Glenwood Springs instead of booking a roomette?

This would split a 4 day journey into three single overnight trips.
 
FYI: all of your meals are included if you get a roomette/bedroom.

I absolutely discourage anyone from traveling long distance in coach (especially Chicago - the west coast), as you don't have privacy, no access to showers, and no free meals.
 
I have travelled extensively in Europe and Asia via rail and the roomettes and hard sleeper in those places are much more comfortable for longer train trips (2-5 day trips) than coach in Amtrak, and I love Amtrak.

I would either break up my trip into overnight trips in coach with hotel stays in Chicago and en route to California. That is how I did a circle around the US last year and it was a very good time. Or you can simply pay for a roomette, which would probably be about the same price as the coach trip plus hotel rooms. And your meals are included in Sleeper so that is a big savings.

The upper berth in a roomette doesn't sound all that comfortable for anyone over average height so don't accept the upper if you do end up sharing a roomette.

Or maybe just go coach on the Capital Limited from DC to CHI and then roomette on the California Zephyr.

The things I miss in Amtraks coach is the lack of a flat surface to sleep on and no shower or a place to wash up. I know Amtrak has a sink in the toilet but it just doesn't seem like a place to wash up in.

Just my two bits.
 
While it is true that in Europe (and maybe other parts of the world) you can reserve a bed on the train and share that room with others, Amtrak is not like that. Amtrak sleeper rooms are treated similar to a hotel.

When you get a hotel room at (say) Hilton, Marriott, Best Western or some other major hotel chain, do you not pay for the complete room even if it has 2 double or queen sized beds? Do the hotel ever also rent that same room out to 1-3 other guests, or is it only rented to you? This is what Amtrak does also. If fact (like a hotel room), the cost of the room is the same for either 1 or 2 passengers.
 
Back to the original question, no, there certainly is not an official roomette "share" service, and I have never of an unofficial one.

As Traveler pointed out, Amtrak rooms are treated as hotel rooms. There are historical reasons for this, in the post-WW II era, before the subsequent general drop in demand for rail service as the Interstate system developed and fast air travel became the norm, demand shot up for private accomodations and dropped for open sections, which were the shared accomodation. The original roomettes were private accomodations for ONE. They didn't have an upper berth. Railroads stopped ordering new equipment with sections, and largely withdrew the service. By the time Amtrak came along, sleeper accomodations were almost all private, and Amtrak continued that. Even Slumbercoaches were private.

Long distance coach on Amtrak is much more commodious than most coach accomodations in Europe. The seats are roughly equivalent to First Class (domestic) airline seats and recline a long way with very generous pitch. Think more of a recliner than an airline seat. You don't have to "sit up", you can lounge back a long way in those seats. But they don't lie flat, and they aren't as comfortable as, say, couchettes in Europe, for sleeping.
 
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If the OP is traveling this August/September, the window will have pretty much closed for access to low buckets by now. It's too close. But it can't hurt to check Amsnag.
 
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There are hostels in Denver, Salt Lake City, and Chicago. It should be fine to sleep in coach for one night but I would not do two.
 
I have seen people stretch out at night in the Superliner Lounge Car across the 3-seat chairs that can be found in that car. But, those who have done that are typically awakened at dawn by foot traffic to the diner or cafe section of the lounge purchasing breakfast.

For sleeping in coaches, I also carry a sleep mask and a small blanket and extra pillow, in addition to the ear plugs, which usually allow me to get a decent night's sleep in coach. I can handle one night in coach, but for two or more straight, I would break up the trip with an overnight in a town enroute if I could not afford or obtain a roomette (previously known as "Superliner economy room").
 
One option would be to use coach on your first night out from Washington. Then grab a roomette for the train from Chicago to San Francisco but only as far as Denver, then move to coach for the final night on that train. This should keep costs down, and will give you one good night's sleep plus a shower and dinner and breakfast on the Denver segment.
 
I have travelled quite a bit across the U.S. in coach and have really enjoyed. It's not perfect and no showers is a bit of a problem but nothing that can't be handled. I also spend a great deal of time in the lounge but still sleep in my seat . Sleeping in coach can be uncomfortable but it can be done.
 
I agree with stntylr that sleeping in coach on the CZ can be done. Perhaps my best night of coach sleeping was several years ago on the CZ from GSC to EMY. I was TOTALLY out, but perhaps with a little help from the two Vicodin I had taken at bedtme for the discomfort from the fractured collarbone I had received the day before on a ski run at Copper Mountain. :unsure:
 
Thanks a lot for those replies! Since I'm on a limited budget I'll have to reconsider my travel plans but this already helped a lot.
 
Marie said:
Thanks a lot for those replies! Since I'm on a limited budget I'll have to reconsider my travel plans but this already helped a lot.
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Check out the rail pass, it saves me lots and I too am on a limited budget. I travel only in coach and find that sleeping is doable. I take benadryl with me just in case I need something to put me to sleep, but usually just the rocking of the train works for me.
 
OP did revisit a GREAT idea tho, a board for those traveling alone in sleeper, to share cost, like the old share-a-ride bulletin boards at college unions, or dorms. Now all of that ride-sharing is done online, duh.

Someone with the time, web skills, hosting storage, and desire could easily create a web space, and basically copy any one of the hundreds of commuter ride-share request boards. Might even take a percentage or small flat fee.

Everybody wins. Amtrak, both passengers.

Who's gonna step up?
 
Who wants the liability for pairings gone bad?

And you had best not use the word Amtrak or pictures with the words Amtrak on the equipment too much, or you'll find Amtrak shutting you down right quick.
 
chakk said:
I have seen people stretch out at night in the Superliner Lounge Car across the 3-seat chairs that can be found in that car.
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There is a reason we call those "people" Lounge Lizards! Why should they deserve 4 seats on the train (3 in the Lounge Car and 1 seat in coach) when they only paid for 1 seat? :huh: The SightSeer is for the use of all passengers at anytime, so why should they use 3 of them? If 1 person can do it, why not 2 or 3 or 4 or 15?
Until Amtrak starts offering to sell seats in the SightSeer, and that person has a ticket that says "1 SightSeer Lounge seat"', my opinion is that it should be available for all passengers to SIT for a few hours at a time in ONE seat! (And I do not consider sleeping - especially stretched out on 2 or 3 seats - between 11 pm and 6 am to be a few hours!)
 
Currently I am without income, so I mostly travel coach. Being 6'2" tall, aged 61, and with a weak back, I do like to get flat sometimes, and have slept on the floor and also in the lounge. I am sorry if this annoys those wealthy folk who live exactly by the rules and regulations. The OP has decided to look elsewhere for her travel needs, in my opinion a coach trip mini adventure aboard Amtrak, even sleeping in the lounge, would be a good way to go!

Ed :cool:
 
It's not just the "wealthy folks" in sleepers, it's also the folks in coach who are inconvenienced. When I travel in coach (yes I sometimes do) and see people sleeping in the lounge car, they are essentially saying "I'm better than you are!" because they got a flat bed and you don't.

And if 1 does it, are 2 OK? How about 3? Where's the cutoff, or should all 300+ passengers try to fit into the lounge car to sleep? Or must some poor slobs have to sleep in their seats (which their ticket says is what they purchased)?

Why are those people "special" (and are exempt from the exact rules and regulations) and yet you call those in sleepers "special"?
 
the_traveler said:
It's not just the "wealthy folks" in sleepers, it's also the folks in coach who are inconvenienced. When I travel in coach (yes I sometimes do) and see people sleeping in the lounge car, they are essentially saying "I'm better than you are!" because they got a flat bed and you don't.
And if 1 does it, are 2 OK? How about 3? Where's the cutoff, or should all 300+ passengers try to fit into the lounge car to sleep? Or must some poor slobs have to sleep in their seats (which their ticket says is what they purchased)?

Why are those people "special" (and are exempt from the exact rules and regulations) and yet you call those in sleepers "special"?
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Well for me, if the person beside me wanted to go into the lounge to sleep, that would give me two seats to stretch out on. Looks like a win/win for us. I think as long as they are up and back to their seats before the sun somes up, they are fine in my opinion which does not even get you a cup of coffee.
 
And if someone in coach wants to use their cell phone or to look out the window at night, where do they go? Yes some people use the phone at night (4 am PT is 7 am ET!) and you're asked if you need to use the cell phone during the night to go to the lounge - so you don't wake up those sleeping. And I for one like to visit the lounge during the night. One such example Is the decent of the Cajon Pass on the westbound SWC - which occurs around 5 am usually.
 
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I don't mind those who wish to sprawl out in the lounge at night....so long as there is enough room for those who would like a place to sit. If not, then the lounge lizards should be made to wake up and/or move. I occasionally wander to the SSL during the middle of the night myself. I love to look out at night to see the lights of the towns and farms we pass by.
 
AlanB said:
Who wants the liability for pairings gone bad?
And you had best not use the word Amtrak or pictures with the words Amtrak on the equipment too much, or you'll find Amtrak shutting you down right quick.
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I know Alan, I get that part, and there are creative ways around ALL of that. The "pairings" gone bad can be dealt with too. There are numerous reasons NOT to do it, but that's true of everything.......
 
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