Would you are taking a 13-hour prepare trip as a substitute of a six hour drive? I did. I took an Amtrak prepare from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay, which is about about 400 miles.
I dwell in Los Angeles and had elective surgical procedure within the Bay Space. I opted to take the prepare from Los Angeles to San Francisco for my surgical procedure. I took the Coast Starlight between these two California cities. This plan labored for me however won’t work for the typical traveler. This is what it is advisable to find out about taking the Coast Starlight from LA to San Francisco.
Value Comparability: Flying vs. Taking The Prepare Between LA and The Bay Space
I first thought-about flying. Relying on the time of 12 months that you just go and the way far upfront you make your reservation, roundtrip economic system airfare between LA and the Bay can run anyplace from $200 to $500.
Amtrak one-way tickets from LA to the Bay run $50 to $100 for coach, $75 to $200 for enterprise class, and $275 to $400 for a roomette. You’ll pay extra for a bigger bed room, which has extra room and a personal rest room.
Usually, you’ll get a greater deal on Amtrak when you ebook farther upfront. This large value distinction alone usually makes individuals go for a flight. It is also simpler to sit down in coach for an hour than 12-13 hours with out a designated place to lie down. That is why touring in a sleeper automotive is right, even when you don’t fall asleep.
I Traveled With Factors
I had 25,000 Amtrak Visitor Rewards factors and that lined my prepare ticket. If I might paid money for my ticket it will have value about $600 roundtrip for my roomette.
Is The Roomette on The Amtrak Coast Starlight Price It?
If this journey is for medical journey, it’s price it. You will be on board for 12-13 hours, and your roomette ticket consists of meals, drinks, and a spot to sleep along with snug and personal seating. You don’t have to examine luggage so you possibly can take meals and different objects from dwelling into your roomette to make the journey extra snug.
As you possibly can see from my footage, the roomette is not spacious. However since I wanted to unfold out after surgical procedure and required further time to get round, I used to be glad I selected Amtrak regardless of it taking twice so long as a flight or highway journey.
Whether or not you’re recovering from surgical procedure or simply want slightly extra time to maneuver round, normally, the prepare presents extra freedom of motion than planes.
A Snug 13 Hour Journey
The journey time on the Coast Starlight is 12 to 13 between the 2 cities. You’ll be able to see virtually all the west coast in a full day and a half. Along with your non-public room, breathtaking views will be discovered within the statement automotive, eating automotive, and the image home windows between these areas.
Whereas Amtrak brochures say that the roomette matches two individuals, it is simply sufficient for one particular person. Two individuals will get sick of one another earlier than you are out of LA County. If touring with a companion, contemplate upgrading to the usual bed room.
Every chair has an excellent smooth pillow, so I used to be glad I had each to myself. The drugs I used to be on after my surgical procedure saved making my physique temperature plummet. That’s how I found the attendant would deliver you blankets when you requested them.
Eating Onboard The Coast Starlight
The sleeper automotive has devoted attendants who will take your reservation for every meal, the place you possibly can eat within the eating automotive or take your meals again to your roomette.
The eating automotive is just accessible to passengers who’ve bought a sleeper automotive (roomette or bed room.)
There are totally different objects supplied for lunch and dinner. If the dinner menu is not that interesting, particularly when you’re a vegetarian or vegan, the Amtrak kitchen usually has leftover salads and different vegetarian objects left from the lunch shift. All you must do is ask if they’ve any left.
However to offer you a head’s up: breakfast is just served when you slept on the prepare. Regardless that you are boarding at 9:30 AM, have breakfast at dwelling or take one thing with you if you do not have time. You can also make your lunch reservation between 11 AM-1 PM.
Picture credit score: Rachel Presser.
On-board Menus Revealed in Advance
When your journey date will get nearer, examine the Amtrak web site for the present menu on your route. The menus range by route and alter seasonally. Pack meals earlier than the journey if nothing sounds interesting or meets your dietary wants. The fantastic thing about touring with Amtrak is which you can deliver loads of food and drinks. Take that full-size jar of keto peanut butter when you should.
Water and low are free in any respect hours of the day on the high of the sleeper automotive. Nevertheless, there are not any microwaves or mini fridges within the roomettes or bedrooms. Your meals objects have to be sturdy sufficient to sit down in your cabin all day.
Beautiful Views Exchange Wi-Fi
Not all Amtrak trains have Wi-Fi and the Coast Starlight is likely one of the trains with out it. Should you plan on getting any work carried out, you may want to take action offline. You will have to obtain any motion pictures, ebooks, music, and different recordsdata earlier than you board if you wish to entry them in your journey. There are retailers within the roomette, though you must deliver an influence strip if you wish to cost greater than two gadgets at a time.
Or you possibly can simply look out the window: you may see a complete new facet of California. Test with Amtrak upfront of your journey when you’re undecided in case your prepare may have Wi-Fi.
The primary half of the Coast Starlight’s route follows the Pacific Ocean, which is totally breathtaking. It is a view that is finest taken in behind the expansive home windows of the statement automotive or your non-public window, relatively than seeing a tiny sapphire from a aircraft or having to deal with the highway.
As soon as the prepare hits the journey’s midpoint in San Luis Obispo, the ocean will get swapped for miles of mountains, chaparral, and agricultural fields. It isn’t sensible when you have different choices, however it exhibits you elements of California that always get glossed over, regardless that it is colossal. You will really feel such as you’re within the B-roll of a Clint Eastwood film.
The Coast Starlight Runs Gradual – This is Why
Even with American infrastructure being worse for the wear and tear, it appears weird that it will take twice as lengthy to journey by prepare between two main cities as it will to drive or fly.
The prepare has to maneuver like a snail on Valium due to a bitter settlement between freight operators. As soon as the Coast Starlight strikes out of Lompoc and extra inland, the pace should scale back to fifteen mph, and it stays like that for a number of hours.
Just a few hours may very well be shaved off the lengthy journey if this settlement was modified. Infrastructure enhancements would additionally enhance the pace. However that is in all probability why most individuals simply drive or fly if they should journey between these two tech and leisure hubs.
What You Want To Know About Amtrak’s Disabled Entry Automotive
Since I had mobility restrictions post-surgery, I made a decision I wanted to ebook the Disabled Entry Automotive for my return journey. I wanted help with my baggage and needed to keep away from stairs. Disabled Entry Automobiles on the Coast Starlight are on the bottom stage and embody a personal rest room.
The non-public rest room connects on to the room the place you may eat and relaxation, solely separated by a curtain. The disabled entry automotive was extra spacious than the common roomette and had an additional seat.
Once I made my Amtrak reservation on-line, I did not see an choice to get an accessible automotive. There’s one accessible automotive on the Coast Starlight however it’s essential to name Amtrak to ebook it. It is annoying that disabled vacationers want to leap an additional hoop to do that, and it will be good if there have been extra accessible sleeper automobiles.
Don’t Neglect to Tip
It is customary to tip the attendant on the finish of your journey. I tipped extra generously for particular help. My room attendant the disabled automotive assisted me with getting meals from the eating automotive and an Amtrak Crimson Cap assisted me with dealing with my baggage dealing with.
The Verdict
There are undoubtedly extra handy methods to go between LA and the Bay Space however I appreciated the snug roomette after touring post-op with 23 stiches. Now that I’ve seen the unimaginable sights on the Pacific coast and inland valleys, I in all probability would not do it once more for an essential enterprise journey or see buddies within the Bay.
But when I have to go below the knife for a process I am unable to get in LA, I will be in that sleeper automotive asking for extra baked brie empanadas.
This text was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
