It’s 8 in the morning and I’m sitting on the train in Minot, North Dakota while we stop for refueling, restocking, and restaffing.
Since I got on at Union Station in St. Paul, Minnesota at 10:15 last night, I’ve been sitting on the Amtrak attempting to sleep and eagerly awaiting my arrival in Portland, Oregon – another 26 hours from now.
But I’m equally excited to appreciate the beauty of the US from the windows of the train. My final destination is San Francisco to visit a friend, so I decided to break up the two train trips with a night in Portland.
This is my first time on the Amtrak, my first long train travel in the United States. If you don’t know, the US is not known for our use of trains. After spending so much time in Europe, utilizing the extensive public transit system to get anywhere I need to go, I wanted to experience train travel in the US and see how it compares, and if it could be used to replace some plane travel in such a large country.
My Experience on the Amtrak…
So, what is my experience like? Well, like I said it’s only been 10 hours. I’ve been through one night, and I have a whole day and another night to go, but so far I’m loving it.
Being the budget traveler that I am, I chose to pay for a coach seat….on a 36+ hour ride. Two nights on the train and one day. When I boarded at Union Station, the conductor checked my eTicket, then gave me a slip of paper with my train car (the same one for everyone going to Portland). As I walked down to my train car, another train attendant stopped me to check my slip and issue me a seat number. 27!
I walked onto the train, found a spot for my backpack in the luggage area, then climbed the stairs. Clearly the train attendant was being kind, because my seat was in the exit row, which means tons of leg room and nobody in front of me. I also had a window, nobody in the seat next to me, and a seat that reclines with a leg rest (as do all the coach seats). Compared to a plane seat, this is like a mix between economy plus and business. Once we started moving, the train attendant came to check on me and see how I liked my seat.
My first night wasn’t the best, I will admit. Mostly, I was cold. I took a melatonin and slept a bit on and off with a sleeping mask on, but we did make stops in the middle of the night that were hard to sleep through. That’s when I would have appreciated a sleeping car :).
If you do pay extra for a sleeping car, you get all of your fancy meals included. A friend of mine who recently took the same Amtrak route enjoyed his sleeper seat and said the food was great – three courses (?!) – and they seat you at a table with three other people so you can make friends if you’re traveling alone.
For those with coach or business seats, there is no food included, so you’ll probably want to pack some of your own! There is a tiny cafe where you’re able to purchase some hot food, snacks, coffee and other beverages. It’s nothing fancy though. The lounge was very nice however! It’s full of floor-length windows and chairs facing outside so you can pass the time reading, working, journaling, playing cards with your travel partners, or talking to other passengers. (Writing after the fact now) This is where I spent most of my time and it was perfect. I didn’t mind that I barely got any sleep at night!
Once I got to Portland I got a call from Amtrak telling me my train trip the next day would take place partially on a bus due to wildfire damage to the bridges. It didn’t sound great, but I didn’t think too much of it. I checked in at my awesome hostel and went to hang out with my roommate from my first year of college :D. Three years ago I visited her on my road trip and it was a blast. I only stopped in Portland to give myself a break between train rides, but it ended up being an unexpected blessing.
The next day, I boarded the train with my business class ticket (I decided to “splurge” so I could get some sleep) and had a nice seat for about 6 hours. Around 10pm, we stopped and the train conductor told us to exit the train and stay socially distanced. But as soon as we got to the buses, we realized every seat would be full. The next 7 hours (overnight) were not pleasant, I’m just gonna be honest. I’ve done several overnight bus rides on my previous travels, but none have been like this. The buses were packed. There was almost no empty seat, the seat in front of me was so close there wasn’t space to move, and I was touching the woman next to me the entire time. In COVID times, it was very uncomfortable. Surprisingly, everyone had a fairly positive attitude, so it wasn’t as bad as it could be.
As soon as we got to Sacramento, we transferred back to the train and three hours later my friend was picking me up from the station. I was *exhausted* to say the least, but proud of myself and the experience I’d already had.
Would I do it again?
Yes, definitely. But now I’ll look for potential obstacles that could cause situations like switching to a bus for significant portions of the trip. I also know it’s important to break up the travel. For 4 nights, I barely got any sleep and was around a lot of people. From previous travels, I know this almost always results in a cold of some sort for me. And as I’ll share in my next post…that inevitably illness ended up being COVID for me.
Train travel is so much more relaxing than plane travel. There’s no security, you don’t have to fit your liquids into 3oz. Containers or fit them into plastic sandwich bags. There’s no ear-popping or nasty fumes and it’s not nearly as cramped (as long as you get to stay on the train ;)). You’re allowed to walk around, and there’s plenty of space to do so. There’s a lounge and there are no seatbelts to keep on. As someone who has flown many, many times in my life, due to having a flight attendant mother, I will always prefer train travel if it’s possible. I don’t like flying and it’s much less environmentally-friendly. I like knowing I can support different forms of transportation in the US, because we all know we need it.
Cost…
This was a very spontaneous trip for me. I booked it a week before I left. So I know the prices were not as cheap as they normally are. Overall, I paid $281. This included a coach seat for 36 hours from Minneapolis to Portland, and a business seat for about 18 hours from Portland to Emeryville, California (near San Francisco). I recently got the Amtrak credit card, so I paid using that, which means I’ll get 3x the points and a 20% rebate for anything I buy on board. I got the card very recently, so I haven’t been able to use it much. However, once I spend $1000 within 90 days, I’ll receive 20,000 points which could pay for a sleeper car a pretty long distance!
Things to note:
*You’re supposed to wear a mask the entire time unless you are actively eating or drinking, or you’re in your own bedroom with the door shut. They make this announcement several times and I think it makes total sense being so close to many people for an extended amount of time.
*There was no WIFI on my trains. Some train routes do have WIFI, but it will have the little WIFI icon under amenities when you’re booking. My phone hotspot has worked for most of it, but of course, it’s slow and unreliable :).
Advice:
*Download some podcasts, audiobooks or music before you leave! Bring a book. Pack some food if you get a coach seat.
*Get the Amtrak credit card (if you’re in the US). Right now, if you spend $1000 in the first 90 days, you’ll get an extra 20,000 bonus points, which is almost enough to get a sleeping car for the whole journey I’m taking from Minneapolis to San Francisco!
Water Bottles / Recycling and Waste
There are water fill up stations near the bathrooms against the wall, so you can use your own water bottle!
There are recycling areas for bottles and cans, but most of the waste goes to trash. I’m also not sure how well they’re utilized. From what I saw, most people put their waste from the cafe in the trash. I believe the cups are compostable.
So, tell me. Have you taken the Amtrak before? Would you do a 36+ hour train ride across the country? What questions do you have?
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