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I've booked my June trip to Seattle and am scheduled to ride the Sunset Limited to LAX, then bus it to Bakersfield, commuter train it to Sacramento and continue to Seattle via Coast Starlight.
The Starlight leaves LAX at 10:15, and the Sunset is scheduled to arrive at 10:10. Amtrak Guest Rewards would not allow me to book that connection, nor would they allow me to lay-over in LAX to take the Starlight the next day.
If... I say IF the Sunset is early, I could jump straight onto the Starlight, instead of taking the bus/commuter to catch up to the Starlight. Anyone know if this is allowed?
smitty195 Member # 5102
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I'm 99% certain that this is not allowed. Since it's an AGR ticket, you must be ticketed to get onto the Coast Starlight. The only other way on is to buy a separate ticket, but that sorta defeats the purpose of using AGR points.
I don't like the "no overnight" rule when using AGR. Many trains have unreliable connections, so it's wise to stay overnight in a hotel in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, etc......
I've taken the bus to Bakersfield and San Joaquin from there many, many times. The bus ride truly isn't bad. It's over before you know it. The buses are new MCI or Prevost models (run by Coach America on the LAX-BFD run), and you leave the LA valley, cruise over the Grapevine, land in the valley, and a little while later you're at the BFD Amtrak station where your train will be waiting for you. I usually fall asleep on the bus, or watch a movie on my iPod----and the bus trip comes and goes very quickly.
My only complaint about the San Joaquin trains is that they do not use the California Cars that were part of the newer "Surfliner" order of cars. What this means is that the seats do not recline on most cars on this train. They tend to use the "Surfliner" cars on the short Capitol Corridor trains (as well as the Superliners), which I have never understood since the SJ trains are a much longer run. For people with back pain problems, those stiff, upright seats get very uncomfortable after a few hours.
If you are traveling Coach on the Starlight, if your Sunset Limited arrives into LAX in time to catch #14's departure, maybe you can ask the Conductor on that train how much a coach ticket will cost you to go from LAX to SAC, and then resume your AGR reservation from there? This way, you won't miss the daytime coast views that #14 provides. It's probably not too bad of a fare from LAX to SAC, so that might be a possibility.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Smitty -
I agree in regard to the AGR redemption. It's hard to move past planning itineraries to maximize the 'bang for your buck'. AGR is a great tool but sometimes I'm inclined to sacrifice quality for quantity.
Mike Smith Member # 447
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Doing a quick Amtrak look-see, it would cost an additional $111 for the wife & I to travel coach to Sacramento. If I did that, I might be able to persuade my sleeping car attendant to let me jump into my sleeper early, instead of waiting until 11:59 pm in SAC.
I guess we will wait and see if the Sunset arrives early on June 20.
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