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When I was young and single, I managed to cover most of Amtrak's long haul routes. The only gaps missing were San Francisco to Los Angeles, Portland to Spokane, one of the Silver routes through Raleigh, NC, and anything south of Orlando.
I could have filled in the gap of Porland to Spokane last year but unfortunately the cost of the sleeper was prohibitive compared to the same from Seattle so I ended up going that way again.
But all being well my family and their cousins will be doing LA to Oakland (+thruway bus connection) and back again over Thanksgiving! Ten of us in total so any tips on how/who to ask to be seated together in LA? I'm assuming southbound we'll be lucky to be seated together, unless an entire car empties out at Emeryville.
palmland Member # 4344
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Geoff, two options (short of bribery) I can think of. Sign up for the new business class being offered. I believe all seats are in the lower level of one car.
Or, have all agree to meet in the sightseer lounge regardless of which car they're assigned to. There they can enjoy the view and at least be a lot easier to talk with each other.
It is ironic that when I was much younger you could call up the friendly local agent and ask for 10 seats to be assigned together (on reserved seat trains). Now, with the aid of computers, Amtrak is unable to assign seats.
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Thanks, though unfortunately the business class is only an experiment and is due to end this coming Wednesday.
It did occur to me that maybe this counts as a group: sadly not (>=20), but Amtrak Group sales did advise to just turn up early at LAX and be at the front of the line. Not an option for a bus transfer to Oakland on the way back though.
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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quote:Originally posted by Geoff Mayo: Thanks, though unfortunately the business class is only an experiment and is due to end this coming Wednesday.
Having said that, looking through the sleeping accomodation ($170 for roomette - bargain, though I won't be partaking), business class came up on 29th November. $91 vs $61 for standard seating. Did they extend the trial?
yukon11 Member # 2997
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I fired off an e-mail, to Amtrak, a few days ago. I asked if the Starlight Business Class will be extended beyond Sept.
They replied. Coast Starlight Business Class will be extended for the holiday periods. It will be available Nov 20-30 of this year. Also, from Dec 18 to Jan 3 of next year. No information beyond Jan 3.
Richard
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Thanks, Richard. That Nov 20-30 window is when I was looking at so it makes sense now! But another $120 each way when two of the four of us are kids is probably not worth it. Solo, or with my wife only, probably would be worth it.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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Geoff, I agree. $120 for a number of passengers would get expensive. However, noting that LA to the Bay Area is about 12 hrs. on the Starlight, I would be tempted to consider a daytime roomette instead of BC, but I know that really would be quite expensive.
Are there just 16 seats for business class? I also heard they are regular Superliner seats (?), nothing special.
There are some negative reviews on on the internet. Smallish seats, no reading lamps, small windows, and people constantly traveling the stairs to use the rest rooms. How fast do the 16 seats fill up?
Maybe Amtrak should consider a separate car for BC. I have enjoyed riding the Cascades in business class.
Richard
George Harris Member # 2077
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Not sure if it works when the train is the Starlight, but when the train was one of the San Joaquins if you turned up at the Ferry Building early you could get on a bus earlier than the one designated for your train assuming seats available. We did that more than once, catching a but aimed for one of the Capital trains. My wife is a real bug about being early for thingsso quite frequently we would be at the Ferry Building station over an hour before needed for out bus across the bay.
If that is doable just get on a bus that is linked to one of the earlier Amtrak California trains which will enable you to be toward the front of the line in Emeryville. Alternatively, go upstream. Get on the train at Martinez so that when the major departure of people happens at Emeryville you can shuffle yourselves around before the boarding crowd gets on.
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Thanks George, those are a couple of good ideas.
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