Using the Rail Trip Planner on Amtrak's Website
Here is the Amtrak website. Really, you don't have to pay attention to what's at the right hand and bottom sides of the homepage. We are going to deal with the Rail Trip Planner. Click on Reservations.
Then enter the departing city. In this example, I put in a station in the Detroit area, which is Dearborn.
Enter the arrival city. Here I put in Chicago Union Station as "Union Station, IL."
Then select the month and day you will be going. I selected 6/16 and 6/18 because we are on vacation then.
Select the time. Since I would leave early I would pick 6:00 in the morning.
If you want, choose the number of passengers and click Next.
And it says in red text "Problem with Station or City Name: We found more than one station that matches the text you entered. Please select your desired station from the drop-down list, or click the 'Station List' link and select a station from the list provided. Then, please resubmit." The reason for that is because Amtrak isn't always up to date on the names of most larger stations, hence it dosen't list Chicago Union Station as "Union Station, IL." So from the drop down list, we select Chicago Union Station and click Next.
The reason why I chose Dearborn and Chicago Union Station is because the Wolverine serves these cities and runs 6 daily trains. For the departing train, you can choose the first option, which is to take Wolverine train #351, #2 is train #353 which is the same Wolverine and #3 is #355 still Wolverine. The cost of all three is $29 which is very cheap. For the return train, first option is #350 which costs $29 too. #2 and #3 are #352 and #354 respectively. Both cost $41, a little more expensive. For all 6, the only amenity is a Cafe Car, which may be either a Horizon Fleet or an Amfleet I. You can only upgrade on #350 and #355. For the 4 remaining, it's all sold out but not the reserved coach seat.
Then select the hotel, rental car and activity (optional). Type in your name and (optional) your Amtrak Guest Rewards number.
Type in your phone and credit card numbers as well as your email. Then click Purchase, print out the ticket, wait for your departing date and on that date pack your suitcases, head down to the station and all aboard! So here you go, how to book a rail trip on Amtrak's website.
Here is the Amtrak website. Really, you don't have to pay attention to what's at the right hand and bottom sides of the homepage. We are going to deal with the Rail Trip Planner. Click on Reservations.
Then enter the departing city. In this example, I put in a station in the Detroit area, which is Dearborn.
Enter the arrival city. Here I put in Chicago Union Station as "Union Station, IL."
Then select the month and day you will be going. I selected 6/16 and 6/18 because we are on vacation then.
Select the time. Since I would leave early I would pick 6:00 in the morning.
If you want, choose the number of passengers and click Next.
And it says in red text "Problem with Station or City Name: We found more than one station that matches the text you entered. Please select your desired station from the drop-down list, or click the 'Station List' link and select a station from the list provided. Then, please resubmit." The reason for that is because Amtrak isn't always up to date on the names of most larger stations, hence it dosen't list Chicago Union Station as "Union Station, IL." So from the drop down list, we select Chicago Union Station and click Next.
The reason why I chose Dearborn and Chicago Union Station is because the Wolverine serves these cities and runs 6 daily trains. For the departing train, you can choose the first option, which is to take Wolverine train #351, #2 is train #353 which is the same Wolverine and #3 is #355 still Wolverine. The cost of all three is $29 which is very cheap. For the return train, first option is #350 which costs $29 too. #2 and #3 are #352 and #354 respectively. Both cost $41, a little more expensive. For all 6, the only amenity is a Cafe Car, which may be either a Horizon Fleet or an Amfleet I. You can only upgrade on #350 and #355. For the 4 remaining, it's all sold out but not the reserved coach seat.
Then select the hotel, rental car and activity (optional). Type in your name and (optional) your Amtrak Guest Rewards number.
Type in your phone and credit card numbers as well as your email. Then click Purchase, print out the ticket, wait for your departing date and on that date pack your suitcases, head down to the station and all aboard! So here you go, how to book a rail trip on Amtrak's website.
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