Guest post from Kaylea
I thought about taking the train for years before I booked my first trip, but every time I did a search through a travel agent website, the trip came up costing a lot more than I wanted to spend.
Looking back, I am sure I missed out on some wonderful experiences, and could have saved a lot of money on some of my long road trips, if I’d had a better understanding of the Amtrak system.
If you’re living with a train enthusiast who’s eager to take a ride on the rails; or, if you’re looking for an alternative to driving or flying for your next family trip, these tips will help you keep more money in your wallet.
1. Plan ahead….way ahead!
My experience with train travel is that the best prices are available four to six months in advance, and the cost can double over the course of that time. Yikes!
2. Learn the routes that serve your town and your destination.
Whether you live in a major rail hub or only see a train a few days a week, trains follow set routes – certain cities, certain times. Use the Amtrak route guides to figure out what trains serve your area and your desired destinations.
If you know what routes you’re interested in, you’ll be able to more easily identify the sales and options that apply to you. You can travel to a larger hub and change trains if a point-to-point option is not available – just make sure that your luggage will be permitted on each train in your itinerary!
3. Flip the trip – focus on the journey, not the destination.
Amtrak doesn’t go everywhere, and it’s often not the cheapest way to get from point A to point B.
When planning your next family vacation, ask yourself, “Where can we go via train?” You can cross the country with lines like the Empire Builder or the California Zephyr, or take a day-trip to a point of interest. Consider going half-and-half — take the train on your way there, and then fly home.
Pursuing a train trip without first determining whether your destination is well-served by train routes could be seriously expensive!
4. Join Amtrak Guest Rewards.
This is the Amtrak equivalent of frequent flier miles, and you can accrue points with each trip. You can also earn points via Amtrak partners, like hotels, airlines, car rentals, and online merchants.
I always join the frequent guest programs when I travel, but I don’t travel often enough to accumulate very much at any given company. The option to transfer points from other frequent guest programs is useful in this case.
Scraping together what I have scattered around has helped me to build my points totals more quickly. And if you don’t end up becoming a frequent train rider, you can redeem for gift cards or give your points away to a friend.
5. Plan a SmartFare trip.
Taking advantage of sales is an obvious tip, but Amtrak’s SmartFare sales are a bit trickier to plan around.
Amtrak posts their coach SmartFares weekly, typically at a 25% discount. Sounds good, but here’s the tricky part: your trip has to take place within the next few weeks! This is a challenge for vacationers, since there’s no guarantee that a desirable destination will be on the markdown table at the time you’re planning to travel.
One way to get a handle on SmartFares is to read through the history of the specials and sales offered over the last year. If you visit a train travel resource like RailServe or Amtrak Unlimited, and scroll through the history of what’s been posted, you’ll get a sense of what might be available for you.
Since SmartFares are coach fares, this approach may be more suitable for a day trip or single overnight than a cross-country journey.
I keep a list of a few destinations for which I’m watching for SmartFares to pop up – in my case, that’s our state capital of Springfield, the water park resort area called Wisconsin Dells, and the city of Galena, a walkable historic town. Using these inexpensive fares for a short trip is a great way to get your feet wet before deciding to take a longer ride.
Traveling by train has other advantages beyond simple economics. You can focus on your family instead of watching the road. You can move around the train and hop off at longer stops to stretch your legs. And the availability of bathrooms, sightseeing cars, and a café car keeps everyone traveling comfortably.
By train is our family’s favorite way to travel, and I hope it will be an enjoyable and economical option for yours as well!
Kaylea is a Chicago writer and technologist. Together with her husband and two daughters, she has taken seven overnight train trips in the last four years. Her e-book, Family Travel by Train: Riding the Rails with Kids Five and Under, is available via the Kindle Store.
Nice article! family train travel is a fun and economic way to make new family memories. I can’t agree with more!
We’ve often thought of taking the train for some farther away vacations where we don’t care for driving. Does anyone know if getting on the train is like taking a flight, as far as the TSA goes? We choose not fly because of the TSA now, and we were wondering if it is the same for trains. I have not been able to find much information on it.
For the security/TSA question, there is some security and trouble sniffing dogs esp. at larger stations, but there is no set screening or x-ray machines or invasive stuff like flying. You can bring liquids and such, no problems. At the large train stations like DC they reserve the right to search a few random bags by hand, but it’s nothing like the airport.
Thank you! I don’t mind security at all. It’s just the screening machines and invasive by hand “screening” that we don’t want to be part of. I don’t care if they x-ray my bags/search my bags. A hassle, but not personal invasion like a pat down.
I thought awhile ago that I had read that the TSA was in train stations. Was that false? Or was it something that they hoped to do, but haven’t implemented yet?
(And my apologies for you having to answer this twice! I didn’t see your reply comment above!)
It’s okay to answer it twice, I love sharing the joys of trains as transportation! Yes, the personal patdown stuff is so invasive now and the screening is so inconsistent!
TSA is officially doing some of the security that’s at the train stations, but that’s more of a budget change (using federal instead of local funds/police) basically since TSA was created and tasked with all public transportation safety. But they don’t have actual check points or anything. It varies by area, for example, at my local small train station in Virginia there is no visible security. In DC’s Union Station (which is HUGE) just 2 months ago, there were a few law enforcement officers (I don’t know if they were claimed by TSA or Metro police, etc.) and two dogs wondering around, no stopping, searching, or checkpoints although an occasional sign referenced that they may search bags at random. It seems they’re there at this point as a deterrent and to act on any tips they might get, but in general, they don’t do anything but observe.
This article describes it some: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/tsa-expands-duties-beyond-airport-security.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Hope this helps! 🙂
Thank you again. That article was interesting, although it did heighten my concern again. Sounds like anything could happen, which is rather what I was afraid of before. But at least there are not permanent security measures in place for them like the airports.
I really think my family would enjoy traveling by train. We’ll have to see if we work up the nerve to give it a try now! 🙂
I can’t say enough good things about the Auto Train! If you are on the East Coast and headed for Orlando (Disney, etc) its an easy way to bring your car along. The kids love sleeping on the train, and I love missing the traffic. Food is great too!
We have been talking about taking a trip to NYC in July 2015 and since we have some play in our days, this may be just the way to get there!!
Great post. We travel somewhat frequently. I’ve thought about taking a train instead of flying or driving based on articles I’ve read here and there, and it looks like a great option. But I’ve never put any effort into researching it. Thank you for the inspiration.
I always take the train to NYC, it’s cheaper than flying and you don’t have to be there early. I love it! I also like that there’s more room, usually a seat to myself and I can take my own food and drinks.
I am SO glad to read this! Our family is planning our trip on Amtrak next summer since we will be headed to DC, where you don’t need or want a car anyway. I am looking forward to it so much and love these tips–Thank you!!!
I love using trains anywhere I can, it’s harder in lots of the US than in Europe though! Using it to DC / Philly / New York are no brainers if you can! Happy to give tips if anyone needs! Most also now have free wi-fi and electrical outlets and a good bit more leg room–to give you more possible creature comforts than you can imagine vs. car or plane! You can bring your own food and drinks and no charge for bags! I hope many more consider this over planes so we can continue to expand rail!
For security/TSA questions, there is some security, but no set screening or x-ray machines or invasive stuff like flying which can be a big perk for some. I don’t care about TSA or the screening, but I like the legroom and bringing my own drinks!