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Amtrak — Not So Fast

For years, I have been interested in trying out this AutoTrain from Sanford, Florida (just north of Orlando) to Lorton, Virginia (just south of DC) … and I finally did it. I’m glad I did it; however, I can’t say I would do it again UNLESS I splurge and stay out of the coach area–here is what I can tell you.

Here are some of the key take-aways from my trip:

  • Arrive early, get your car checked in, and then just relax. The check-in lines got really long if you get there closer to departure. But, do bring a lunch as the Food Truck will set you back after waiting for a long time to get your food. And, the mini-store’s costs were outrageous.
  • Here’s the thing: you’re allowed to bring food and drinks on the train … do it if you’re traveling coach because the microwave dinners they sell you just aren’t very good.
  • We encountered a few “no electricity” situations that I found odd–it caused us some delays. But, just try to be laid back and not be in a hurry.
  • If you find your seats sitting by younger kids, be ready for a noisy trip. I couldn’t believe I forgot my earplugs and it made for a loud trip as the parents just didn’t believe anyone was on the train other than their kids–it was a free-for-all until they finally fell asleep. Morale of the story: bring earplugs.
  • The cost of a microwave dinner was $16 … and if you’re a big guy like me, it wasn’t nearly enough. Again, don’t rely on the train for dinner if you are a coach rider … it just isn’t worth it.
  • I don’t know if it was just my coach seats; but, I don’t think the coach seats I was sitting on have been changed since the creation of train-time. They were great if you were just wanting to sit and read … horrible if you wanted to sleep. The train ride was 17 hours and I think, overnight, I got 2.5 hours of sleep.
  • One thing I was surprised with is you never were told where you were at during the train ride. It would be great if Amtrak added a feature like the airlines industry has where you can see a train on a map and know what city you are going through. Throughout the trip, it just felt Amtrak was always looking for ways to keep things at a minimum and low-cost.
  • The most annoying part of this journey is their random system once you arrive to your destination. We had to wait nearly 2 hours to finally get our car–and the waiting area is packed with no seats available at first. It got to a point where people would jump for joy when their can number was called so they could gather their car and get on with their trip. Apparently, you can pay extra to get your car off as one of the first 30 cars–if you have a time table to work against, you might as well pay the extra because it is the luck of the draw whether or not you will get your care in 15 minutes or 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Would I do it again? Probably not UNLESS, as I mentioned, I went the higher-end way of traveling and got the nice mini-bed, dinner served, etc. I will say the bathrooms were clean and available. I will also say that I found most of the Amtrak personnel friendly and accommodating. I did think more people would hang in the Lounge area but, unfortunately, the prices of the drinks were very expensive and so people in coach are there for a reason–to keep their costs down.

If you decide to give this a try, heed my warnings: 1) Get there early, hand off your car, and then enjoy your own picnic lunch; 2) If you go coach, be ready for a tougher night and do bring your own cooler of food/drinks; 3) Enjoy having your car at your final destination; but, be prepared to have to wait for it; 4) Be ready for the entire adventure to take about 20 hours all said and done; And 5) If you have the money to spend, go ahead and treat yourself to the upgrades they have available–you’ll probably enjoy the trip much more than I did.

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