posted
Having some extra AMTRAK points to get rid of I want to splurge and get an exciting Christmas gift for myself and ride 1st-Class roundtrip on the ACELA Express to Boston, but wondered if there was a particular scenic difference if riding from DC's Union Station vice NYC's Penn Station? Is there an advantage of riding the entire Acela Express route WAS-BOS or is it better to pick up the route in NYC-BOS? I will be in the DC area and can easily go from there or to NYC, whichever is going to give the best experience for my one and only time ride on the Acela!
I have hotel reservations pending for 2-nights in Boston and need to make my decision and make the reservations for tickets by Monday so any advice would be greatly appreciated!
THANKS!
Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Both the Washington-to-New York and New York-to-Boston portions of the Northeast Corridor have their scenic highlights. Between Washington and New York City, the obvious highlights are the notably high and/or wide crossings of the Gunpowder, Bush, Susquehanna, Schuylkill, and Delaware rivers; there are also some nice cityscapes here and there, particularly in Philadelphia. Between New York City and Boston, the obvious highlights are the ocean views in Connecticut, and the views of Manhattan and other boroughs of New York City as you depart to or arrive from the north; there are also some nice river crossings, and nice views of various towns and small cities. So I'd say that the entire route is definitely worth doing.
Moreover, note that it'll cost you the same number of Guest Rewards points whether you do half the route or the whole route, so why not get the most for your points in terms of scenic experience, Acela experience, First-Class experience, and free meals? Note also that all Northeast Corridor trips on Amtrak, Acela or otherwise, are unusually expensive as Amtrak trips go, whether you're paying in points or dollars; so as long as you have the choice, I'd strongly advise against squandering your 10,000 points each way on a mere 231-mile-each-way trip. Don't forget what you could be getting for those points on other portions of the system, particularly if you were traveling in a sleeping car room with one or more other persons. (In that situation, the flat points fee covers both transportation and accommodations for all passengers that the room accommodates.)
Whatever portions of the Northeast Corridor you may have viewed in the past, it's worth viewing them all over again from an Acela train car. Because the windows are roughly twice as high as those of Amfleet cars, your experience of the scenery will be a fresh and much improved one. One thing you should do is make sure your entire trip is in daylight, allowing also for the possibility of some minor delay; this would mean nothing later than the 9:00 a.m. departure from Washington, and nothing later than the 9:15 a.m. (weekdays) departure from Boston. (On Saturday, your latest possible departure time from Boston on an Acela is 8:10 a.m., and on Sunday there's no acceptable Acela departure time from Boston at all for viewing the whole route: the first one leaves Boston at 11:10 a.m., which would spoil your last hour or so of sightseeing coming into Washington, although if you had to you could make up that last bit of sightseeing some other time on an Amtrak Regional train or a MARC commuter train.)
Be sure to take a seat on a different side of the train each way, so that you see everything. In order to avoid having the sun in your eyes, you could sit on the northwest side of the train from Washington to New York and the southeast side from New York to Boston; coming back, you could sit on the northwest side from Boston to New York and the southeast side from New York to Washington.
Here's another important point that I just verified with Guest Rewards: The 10,000 points you'll be paying for your Acela First Class trip could also cover an extension of your travel within the Northeast Zone--i.e., as far south as Richmond or even Newport News, and as far north as Portland, Maine (although you'd have to pay for your own transportation between Boston Back Bay or South Station and Boston North Station). So, assuming you're starting from Salisbury, North Carolina, you could buy a cash ticket on the Carolinian from Salisbury to Richmond Staples Mill Road Station, lay over there for about three hours waiting for northbound train 66, and then begin your Guest Rewards travel on that train. Since you'd be taking the last Richmond-to-Washington train of the day, and since your specific intention would be to take an Acela train north of Washington rather than a Regional train, I assume that your overnight stay in Washington wouldn't be counted as a stopover. (And I would hope that if it was a weekday, they wouldn't try to force you to take the first Acela departure out of Washington at 5 a.m.) Southbound, the free travel to Richmond might not be worth it, you might want to just take that evening's Crescent back to Salisbury; but you'd have the option of a free trip to Richmond, an overnight stay there, and then the Carolinian to Salisbury, if such an itinerary served your purposes in any way. As for the north end of your journey, unfortunately the possibility of an extension to Portland wouldn't be of much value unless you were actually interested in vacationing in Portland rather than Boston, since you'd be forced to make both the Boston-to-Portland and Portland-to-Boston trips in darkness to avoid having your layover in Boston counted as a stopover.
Here's one tip that just popped into my head, by the way: In order not to have your trip spoiled, be sure not to throw your ticket stub away after your ticket is collected! Ticket stubs of passengers riding through New York City are usually inspected after the train departs Pennsylvania Station, although the conductors almost always fail to alert such passengers of that fact when their tickets are first taken.
Have a great trip!
Posts: 86 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Wow! I'm glad you found this forum. Welcome. You know your stuff and I think you'll have a lot of fun reading and sharing here.
dmwnc1959 -
I concur that taking the longer trip to maximize the value of your points would be advisable.
If you're looking for a hotel in the DC area you might want to consider the Olde Towne Inne in Manassas, VA. It's an older motor hotel type place but it's A) Considerably cheaper than hotels closer to DC and B) a short two blocks walk from the downtown Manassas rail station where you can catch VRE commuter trains in and out of the DC (and your Acela train to Boston).
Another hotel possibility would be the Henry Clay Inn in Ashland, VA. It is literally across the street from the train station. It is a little pricey and getting there would involve 'Carolinian' to Richmond and then a change to a regional train for the last 10 minute hop.
Be sure to let us know how your trip was when you return.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
you could buy a cash ticket on the Carolinian from Salisbury to Richmond Staples Mill Road Station, lay over there for about three hours waiting for northbound train 66.
I'm not sure of the Layover but if you stay in Richmond stop or visit the newly renovated Main Street Station in the Shockoe Bottom District, lots of History and good eats.
If Nature and your schedules co operates, One of the best view I ever saw of Manhatten was 4:30 a.m a June morning a full moon over Mid-Town not a cloud as the train comes out of the tunnel traveling north. Best time to travel North of New Haven is sun rise and early moring following The (LI)Sound between Old Saybook and Westerly RI.
Posts: 516 | From: New Haven, CT USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
THANKS for all the wonderful insight everyone.
mpaulshore, there was so much information you gave I had to print it out and read it twice. Wonderful to have options! Extending my vaction an extra day to overnight in DC will not be a problem, and I love taking the night tours in DC this time of year to see the Nations Capital decorated for the holidays. I've was on Train 66 earlier this year but heading towards Newport News on a trip to Virginia Beach. Upgraded to Business Class only to find out it was just like regular coach but half the people spread out over the car to make it feel roomier...ha!
Looks like I have a decision to make. How much fun is this going to be! Yeehaa!!!
THANKS again...
Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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