Stations closest to airports

[Rail Freak]

I have AGR Roomette Reservations from West Glacier to St Petersburg & the chance of missing the EB/CL connection could cost me my Roomette from Chi to ORL. I dont do overnight well in coach!!! So, what I'm thinking is taking the 20k points I'm using for a 2 zone Roomette from WPT-STP & making another 2 zone award reservation to somewhere in the central zone, then flying to Tampa from there. NOL is my 1st thought but that arrives late & the airport is quite a cab ride away from the station! I'm open for all suggestions! The more train time the better!!!

Thanx

 

[FriskyFL]

Milwaukee Airport station comes immediately to mind.

 

[crescent2]

I think we both need wool socks for our cold feet!

It's been a long time since we flew to NOL, but there are shuttles that go from the FQ hotels to the airport. It's my understanding there's now a streetcar line that goes from the Amtrak station to the edge of the FQ. I don't know how much cab fare this would save, but it's just something I'm throwing out there. The FQ is an easy and fun place to spend a day without renting a car if you don't mind two overnights there. Probably not what you had in mind though!

 

[the_traveler]

Well, there's good news and bad news.

If you take the EB east, there's a station at the Milwaukee airport, but the EB doesn't stop there. You would have to get off at Milwaukee (downtown) and catch a Hiawatha to Milwaukee (airport). Another option is once in CHI, catch one of the Lincoln Service trains to STL. Although Amtrak is not at the airport, Metro Link stops right outside the door and the route ends at the airport. And of course the CHi airports, but they involve a few blocks walk to the El. (These are all 1 zone.)

If you take the EB west, PDX has a MAX connection to the airport. (The MAX stop is 1/2 block from Union Station, in front of the Greyhound terminal.) Connecting to the CS, there is a station right at the Burbank airport - but I'm not sure if the CS stops there. And there is of course LAX (the train station) with a connection to LAX (the airport) via the Flyaway bus right from the train station. (These are both 1 zone also.)

 

[BCL]

Not sure about the question as asked, but as far as stations that are closest to airports go, I guess theire's Newark Airport station, which uses the same code as the airport (EWR).

I use a station (OAC) sometimes that's close to Oakland International Airport. One could walk across the street or take the ramp to an airport shuttle. The free San Jose International Airport shuttle (actually VTA route 10) stops at the Santa Clara (SCC) station.

 

[Rail Freak]

I guess I wasnt clear. I'm thinking of canceling my cash ticket WGL-WPT & my AGR ticket WPT-STP, then using the 20k point roomette 2 zone award(WPT-STP) on a long 2 zone trip (west zone to central zone). Then flying from where ever that city may be back to Tampa. Just trying to avoid 2 consecutive nights in coach if the EB/CL connection fails, still getting a lot of train time but flying back home.

Maybe WGL-NOL or WGL to DAL thru LAX

 

[colobok]

I have AGR Roomette Reservations from West Glacier to St Petersburg & the chance of missing the EB/CL connection could cost me my Roomette from Chi to ORL. I dont do overnight well in coach!!! So, what I'm thinking is taking the 20k points I'm using for a 2 zone Roomette from WPT-STP & making another 2 zone award reservation to somewhere in the central zone, then flying to Tampa from there. NOL is my 1st thought but that arrives late & the airport is quite a cab ride away from the station! I'm open for all suggestions! The more train time the better!!!Thanx

I don't understand. If EL is late they will book you for the next day into Roomette because you have a guaranteed connection. So what is the problem?

 

[Notelvis]

Memphis and New Orleans both offer the possibility of using local transit to get to the airport from the train station. In both cases you're looking at catching a streetcar to a separate local transit hub where you would then get a local bus on to the airport.

Memphis would be the safer option of these two (in terms of not having the connection blown by a two or three hour late train) for a same day connection. You would want to book an afternoon flight.

One other option you might consider would be seeing if you could fly from Jackson, MS. Southwest serves Jackson and you might find something affordable to Tampa with them. If you go to Jackson, you are faced with getting a cab from the train station but I've read online that the cab fare is in the $20-25 range for downtown to the airport..... not terribly unreasonable when you consider that you'll have time for an extra Amtrak breakfast which you would miss if you got off in Memphis.

I have done the Memphis local transit to the airport before...... I'll be trying it in Jackson on a trip next month and can be more accurate for you in terms of cab fare after July 15th!

The easiest 'gets' between train station and airport in Amtrak's AGR Central Zone are in Milwaukee (shuttle bus from train station to airport) or St. Louis (light rail direct from Amtrak station to airport). Chicago is next best...... just a short few blocks from Union Station to CTA trains to either O'Hare or Midway.

 

[fairviewroad]

I have AGR Roomette Reservations from West Glacier to St Petersburg & the chance of missing the EB/CL connection could cost me my Roomette from Chi to ORL. I dont do overnight well in coach!!! So, what I'm thinking is taking the 20k points I'm using for a 2 zone Roomette from WPT-STP & making another 2 zone award reservation to somewhere in the central zone, then flying to Tampa from there. NOL is my 1st thought but that arrives late & the airport is quite a cab ride away from the station! I'm open for all suggestions! The more train time the better!!!

Thanx

I don't understand. If EL is late they will book you for the next day into Roomette because you have a guaranteed connection. So what is the problem?

The problem is that the next day's train might not have any available sleeping accommodations. They won't evict someone from their room just

because there were mis-connects from the day before. If the next day's sleepers aren't sold out then it's not a problem. But you wouldn't know

that until you're too far into your journey to change things.

 

[fairviewroad]

OP, if your end goal is simply to get to Tampa, then probably ending the Amtrak portion of your journey in Chicago

would be the safest bet. Lots of flight options from ORD and MDW, and no Amtrak connections to worry about.

If you want to maximize your two-zone reward, followed by a flight, then probably NOL is your best bet.

 

[tomfuller]

Fly from Chicago (either airport) to Reagan National and take the Washington Metro from the airport station to WAS. You might have to transfer from one Metro line to another.

You could also fly to BWI which also has its own Amtrak station.

 

[Rail Freak]

OP, if your end goal is simply to get to Tampa, then probably ending the Amtrak portion of your journey in Chicagowould be the safest bet. Lots of flight options from ORD and MDW, and no Amtrak connections to worry about.

If you want to maximize your two-zone reward, followed by a flight, then probably NOL is your best bet.

My goal is to redeem my points for the most train time possible, plus play tourist in Glacier Park. So fairviewroad, I think we are on the same page!!!

Thanx Everyone

 

[colobok]

I have AGR Roomette Reservations from West Glacier to St Petersburg & the chance of missing the EB/CL connection could cost me my Roomette from Chi to ORL. I dont do overnight well in coach!!! So, what I'm thinking is taking the 20k points I'm using for a 2 zone Roomette from WPT-STP & making another 2 zone award reservation to somewhere in the central zone, then flying to Tampa from there. NOL is my 1st thought but that arrives late & the airport is quite a cab ride away from the station! I'm open for all suggestions! The more train time the better!!!

Thanx

I don't understand. If EL is late they will book you for the next day into Roomette because you have a guaranteed connection. So what is the problem?

The problem is that the next day's train might not have any available sleeping accommodations. They won't evict someone from their room just

because there were mis-connects from the day before. If the next day's sleepers aren't sold out then it's not a problem. But you wouldn't know

that until you're too far into your journey to change things.

Then request the roomette one more day later, or 2 days later, whenever it's possible and spend some time exploring Chicago.

 

[Rail Freak]

I have AGR Roomette Reservations from West Glacier to St Petersburg & the chance of missing the EB/CL connection could cost me my Roomette from Chi to ORL. I dont do overnight well in coach!!! So, what I'm thinking is taking the 20k points I'm using for a 2 zone Roomette from WPT-STP & making another 2 zone award reservation to somewhere in the central zone, then flying to Tampa from there. NOL is my 1st thought but that arrives late & the airport is quite a cab ride away from the station! I'm open for all suggestions! The more train time the better!!!

Thanx

I don't understand. If EL is late they will book you for the next day into Roomette because you have a guaranteed connection. So what is the problem?

The problem is that the next day's train might not have any available sleeping accommodations. They won't evict someone from their room just

because there were mis-connects from the day before. If the next day's sleepers aren't sold out then it's not a problem. But you wouldn't know

that until you're too far into your journey to change things.

Then request the roomette one more day later, or 2 days later, whenever it's possible and spend some time exploring Chicago.

Then it requires more points! WPT - STP (Roomette) = 20k pts /// WPT - CHI then Chi - STP =35k pts