Upcoming Amtrak Cascades trip

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saxman

saxman

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May 18, 2004
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Well I think I'm about to book my next Amtrak trip leaving on Feb. 23rd, and I have a few question about connection and stuff.

I'm going to fly into San Francisco and I have my choice of catching BART up into San Fran either all the way to Richmond or go to DT San Fran and go to one of the bus stops there to take me to Emeryville. So if I take BART, is there a station stop near the Ferry Building or Pier 39 or any of the other thruway bus stops? Which stop is best?

I can also take BART from the airport to Millbrea and catch Caltrain up to San Fran. I see I can get the bus from the Caltrain station to Emeryville as well. All these options cost within $1 of each other I believe.

Next I'm going to ride the Capitol Corridor from EMY or RIC to Sacramento, arriving at 10:20 pm. From there, I'll catch the Coast Starlight to Portland. I could get the Starlight in EMY, but I want to ride in an Amtrak California train. After getting to Portland, I hang out in the city for a while and wait for Amtrak Cascades at 6:15 pm to Tukwila. This is so I can get to the Sea-Tac airport as I see there is a connection there. I'm flying out that night at 11:50 pm.

I'm trying to find bus connections from Tukwila to SeaTac, but they only come by during Sounder Transit commute times. Do I need to walk? How far? Is there a better connection to Seatac, say from Takoma or Seattle King Street. If the Starlight is late into PDX, I may just stay aboard to Seattle or Takoma. Starlight doesn't stop in Tukwila.

One last question. I want to use a Select Tier business class upgrade on the Cascades. Last time, I tried to use it, it sold out. I am willing to pay the $12 extra for the upgrade if it may be soldout. Can I get a refund, if I present my upgrade coupon if the class is not sold out?

Chris
 
saxman66 said:
One last question. I want to use a Select Tier business class upgrade on the Cascades. Last time, I tried to use it, it sold out. I am willing to pay the $12 extra for the upgrade if it may be soldout. Can I get a refund, if I present my upgrade coupon if the class is not sold out?
Chris
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No, that's the whole point of a space available upgrade. If the space is available, then you can get the better seat. If Amtrak can sell the seat to a willing buyer, then you loose.

So if you buy a ticket, you own that ticket. There will be no refund if/when you present your coupon.
 
San Francisco International to Amtrak? The best route depends on the amount of luggage you are lugging.

With a reasonable amount of luggage, your best bet is BART to Embarcadero ($4.95 one way). The Embarcadero stop (Market at Drumm) is at the door of the Hyatt Regency Hotel which is a Thruway stop (San Francisco Financial District or SFF). Most Thruway busses make the SFF stop, but for those which do not, the Ferry Building stop is just two blocks east (to the Ferry Building) and one block south to the Amtrak stop (the Amtrak Ferry Building stop is located just south of the actual Ferry Building).

Will you be carrying lots of stuff (more than a carry-on or so)? If so, forget BART (big pain with lots of baggage) and take the SFO Airporter bus directly from the airport to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco ($14 one way). The extra cost will be worth saving the aggravation of hauling bags on and off BART.

I would avoid using Richmond. Although Richmond is a common-stop for BART and Amtrak, it is not in the best of areas and you will board the Amtrak train well after the bulk of riders and may find the best seats taken. You will be much better off using EMY via the SF Thruway bus, plus you will get a nice ride over the Bay Bridge as part of the deal.
 
PRR 60 said:
San Francisco International to Amtrak? The best route depends on the amount of luggage you are lugging.
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I will not have alota luggage. Just a small roller bag and a little carry-on. It's worked fine for the NYC subways and everything else the past few weeks. I'm also considering Caltrain for $3.00. Even less than BART.

Chris
 
How important is visitng "San Francisco" for a little while to you?

Instead of riding Caltrain to San Fran, you could ride it to San Jose, ride the Capitol Corridor train from there to Oakland or Emeryville, and transfer to the Starlight there.

If you're riding in coach, you'll get a better shot of getting a good seat on 14 in Oakland rather than Sacramento, and in either case (coach or sleeper), there's a decent chance that your train's 11:59 PM arrival could be a 1:00 AM arrival. I'm sure you'd rather be sleeping on a train at 1:00, rather than waiting in a train station.
 
I would disagree about the bulk of the good seats being taken by Richmond. This would be the case normally during the week in the "rush hour" period; however, later in the evening and if he would be taking the train I am thinking of (last out on a weeknight) ridership is fairly light and good seats would be easy to come by.

There are two places you could get the bus from accessable by BART 1st is the previously mentioned Embarcadero station. Second is getting off at Powell Street and getting the bus in front of the SF Shopping Center on Market between 3d and 4th Streets.
 
tp49 said:
I would disagree about the bulk of the good seats being taken by Richmond. This would be the case normally during the week in the "rush hour" period; however, later in the evening and if he would be taking the train I am thinking of (last out on a weeknight) ridership is fairly light and good seats would be easy to come by.
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Unless the train you are thinking of is the Coast Starlight, then no.
 
Well I've finalized my itinerary.

I'll be flying into SFO the 23rd. I'll take the BART up to Embarcadero, and walk to the Ferry Building where I will catch the bus to Emeryville. I'll will catch the Coast Starlight from there and skip the layover in SAC. I'll arrive at PDX and wait there for the last Casades to SEA, and spend the night and catch another Cascades to Vancouver, BC for the day and return to SEA. I'll fly out that night from SEA on a redeye to Chicago.

Be expecting a trip report next week. Hopefully I'll get some of my business class upgrades.

Chris
 
rmadisonwi said:
tp49 said:
I would disagree about the bulk of the good seats being taken by Richmond.  This would be the case normally during the week in the "rush hour" period; however, later in the evening and if he would be taking the train I am thinking of (last out on a weeknight) ridership is fairly light and good seats would be easy to come by.
Click to expand...
Unless the train you are thinking of is the Coast Starlight, then no.
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The Starlate doesn't stop in Richmond though, and in the case of 11/14 I'm sure most of the good coach seats are gone before San Jose. I was speaking strictly from the point of the Capitol Corridor which does.

Knowing the plan as it is now I would have made a different suggestion. It would be to take BART to Civic Center and transfer to the F Market Street streetcar line on the street and take that directly to the Ferry Building. It would add $1.25 to the trip but the route is nice and the cars are nicely restored as well. I would recommend (and I realize it's probably too late to make the suggestion) a visit to the Ferry Building it is a beautifully restored market with some nice places to eat but they can be a bit pricey but it does close around 6 PM.

As for skipping the layover in SAC I would say good choice, I've been on a 4 year layover there and there isn't much to do at the time you'd be in town.
 
Good choice on the day trip to Vancouver, by the way. Seattle to Vancouver is the only section of the Cascades to offer full dining-car service. The food is quite good (and the menu is unique to the route), but a little bit pricy. I usually have breakfast on the morning train to Vancouver, but I skip the dinner ($16 minimum) on the trip back. The food in the "bistro car" isn't bad either.

If you're looking for information on the border procedures, check out this link: http://www.viacampus.ca/cgi-bin/webforum-2...uest&path_page=
 

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