Travelling from Australia - Baggage Allowances

[Jodwhy]

Hi there

We (2 of us) are travelling from Australia for 2 months in May & June 2008. We have booked 5 trips with Amtrak starting in Seattle and ultimately finishing in Washington, DC (2 are long trips with sleeper accommodation, the other 3 are shorter trips in coach). All train travel will be finsihed by the end of May, the rest of our travel is then by air. We have been looking at the baggage allowances and are a bit concerned/confused about the differences with train and air allowances. We will be bring one suitcase each in line with our air travel (62 inches) but having read the Amtrak site for allowances, have noted that theirs is only 32 inches. It's not the weight restrictions which concern us (because we are planning to travel light initially so we can shop) but the actual size of the case is a bit of a worry for us. Are the allowances strictly enforced?? If so, can anyone give us tips on what other options may be available to us?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Jody & Trish

 

[PRR 60]

How ya doin', Jody & Trish (that's American for g'day),

No worries about the luggage. The allowances for Amtrak are actually more generous than those for United Airlines International (which I suspect you are using). The UA baggage allowance is a total dimension (W x L x H) of 62 inches. Amtrak permits checked bags of up to 36 inches in all dimensions. In other words, up to 108 inches with a maximum dimension of 36 inches on any side. The maximum size for carry-on is 28" x 22" x 14". Even that is larger than United permits to be checked. Basically, if you can check it on United, you can easily check it or carry it on Amtrak.

Hope you enjoy you enjoy your stay in The States, and please come back here if you have any more questions about your Amtrak plans.

Bill

 

[the_traveler]

Welcome to the forum!

The allowances for baggage size and weights for luggage on Amtrak are not strictly enforced - unless you are checking the bag or ask for assistance from a crew member or such. If you can easily move it on your own and it is a reasonable size, there is a low chance you will be questioned about it.

An example is the "limit" is 50 pounds, but if your bag weighs 57 pounds, but you carry it on the train and have no problem moving it, I don't expect that you'll be questioned about it. If your bag is 42 inches long, as long as you can store it yourself, there should be no problem. (On the other hand, they may question it if it is 80 inches long!)

I would say that if you have no problem getting it on the plane, you'll have less trouble getting it aboard Amtrak!

If you have any more questions, we will try to help!

I hope you enjoy your holiday!

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Is that 62" the total of L + W + H of the bag you're planning to check on the airline?

For some bag sizes, it often makes sense to check the bag on a plane and take that same bag as a carry-on on the train.

In coach, the 28" x 22" x 14", 50 pound maximum, times two carry-on bags per person, should not be any problem, and note that purses, briefcases, laptop computers, etc, don't count towards those two bags.

In the two-level sleepers, I think I've read elsewhere on these forums that the space available in a sleeper compartment may not accomodate all of those carry-ons, in which case there is some luggage rack space outside of the room that may be useful; the single level sleepers have more space in the room.

The 3' x 3' x 3', 50 pounds max, three bags per person of checked baggage (in addition to the two carry-ons) is only available at some stations and on some trains.

If one or both of those sleeper trips are on trains bilevel trains that don't offer checked baggage, you might want to carefully make sure that your luggage will fit on those trips. (And remember even on trains that do offer checked baggage, not all stations along that route offer checked baggage service.)

 

[Jodwhy]

Thanks heaps guys... I We think we were getting confused about the "total" size. The airline websites just say 62 inches (although I have since found one that says 62 inches when u add the L + W + H), so I now understand..... I think, just gotta get the tape measure out & make sure our cases are actually 62 inches! ;o) We are flying with US Air, Delta & American but they all have the same sizes so from what you guys have said we should be ok.

Now we can chill out and look forward to a fabulous 2 month trip around the good ol' US of A!

Thanks heaps again for your advice, it is greatly appreciated.

Jody & Trish