Passenger Trains > Dumb but real question about riding Amtrak coach

I have meeting in SE PA coming up and Amtrak MIGHT be an alternative to driving.  Multiple options out of North Carolina to Wilmington DE who's travel times are close enough to driving to make Amtrak a legitimate option.  Not worried about price/food/anything like that - simply looking at a means to get from Point A to Point B in a reasonable amount of time.  Out of my 4 options (Floridian out of Southern Pines, Carolinian out of Cary, Meteor and Palmetto out of Fayetteville), The Silver Meteor gets me into Wilmington in a time frame I need to get there  - I need to be at our office about an hour from Wilmington by 2PM and I don't want to give up my Sunday just to ride the choo choo, so sleeping on the Meteor works.   So, here's my dumb question.  When I board the Meteor at damn near 1AM in Fayetteville, has the conductor earmarked certain sections for enroute passengers or is it just a get in where you fit in and snuggle in next to someone sleeping situation?   Just curious as to what to expect if I do decide to go this route.  Might be able to pencil whip the old expense report to get Roomette which are currently available at $533.  Return trip would be on Palmetto in business class. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/25 09:55 by scraphauler.

scraphauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have meeting in SE PA coming up and Amtrak MIGHT
> be an alternative to driving.  Multiple options
> out of North Carolina to Wilmington DE who's
> travel times are close enough to driving to make
> Amtrak a legitimate option.  Not worried about
> price/food/anything like that - simply looking at
> a means to get from Point A to Point B in a
> reasonable amount of time.  Out of my 4 options
> (Floridian out of Southern Pines, Carolinian out
> of Cary, Meteor and Palmetto out of Fayetteville),
> The Silver Meteor gets me into Wilmington in a
> time frame I need to get there  - I need to be at
> our office about an hour from Wilmington by 2PM
> and I don't want to give up my Sunday just to ride
> the choo choo, so sleeping on the Meteor works. 
>  So, here's my dumb question.  When I board the
> Meteor at damn near 1AM in Fayetteville, has the
> conductor earmarked certain sections for enroute
> passengers or is it just a get in where you fit in
> and snuggle in next to someone sleeping
> situation?   Just curious as to what to expect
> if I do decide to go this route.  Might be able
> to pencil whip the old expense report to get
> Roomette which are currently available at $533. 
> Return trip would be on Palmetto in business
> class. 

Get the roomette....

I have never been there, but in that scenario. conductor will likely tell you what seat to sit in .

scraphauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have meeting in SE PA coming up and Amtrak MIGHT
> be an alternative to driving.  Multiple options
> out of North Carolina to Wilmington DE who's
> travel times are close enough to driving to make
> Amtrak a legitimate option.  Not worried about
> price/food/anything like that - simply looking at
> a means to get from Point A to Point B in a
> reasonable amount of time.  Out of my 4 options
> (Floridian out of Southern Pines, Carolinian out
> of Cary, Meteor and Palmetto out of Fayetteville),
> The Silver Meteor gets me into Wilmington in a
> time frame I need to get there  - I need to be at
> our office about an hour from Wilmington by 2PM
> and I don't want to give up my Sunday just to ride
> the choo choo, so sleeping on the Meteor works. 
>  So, here's my dumb question.  When I board the
> Meteor at damn near 1AM in Fayetteville, has the
> conductor earmarked certain sections for enroute
> passengers or is it just a get in where you fit in
> and snuggle in next to someone sleeping
> situation?   Just curious as to what to expect
> if I do decide to go this route.  Might be able
> to pencil whip the old expense report to get
> Roomette which are currently available at $533. 
> Return trip would be on Palmetto in business
> class. 

Long answer it depends so it helps to find someone with experiance on the route. I can only answer for my experiances traveling on coach on the Crescent boarding at both Gainesville and Greensboro. 

Some crews will assign seats no matter what so you are unlikely to have to climb over someone, but you're unlikely to get a double seat to yourself or even a window. Other crews will allow you to find an open seat "to your right" or "to your left" depending on your ultimate destination. You still aren't guarenteed a seat to yourself or a window, but you have a fighting chance. on the Crescent I more often than not was able to pick from a limited area of available seats, but LD trains run more full these days.

If you can choose your seat at all and you have to sit next to someone, look at the destination tags above each seat pair and try to sit next to smeone who is getting off before you, the more before the better.

Neck pillows and sleeping masks are your friend. The seats are large enough that one can curl up facing away from a single serving travel buddy provided you are an easy sleeper. Single person coach travel is a roll of the dice. Pairs almost always get put together and avoid this problem entirely.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/25 10:25 by mbrotzman.

If you need to be there at a certain time, don't take Amtrak

Posted from Android

I would spend the extra and get the roomette. Even if it comes out of your pocket. Totally worth it. Overnight in coach is only for those with a high tolerance for inconsiderate passengers yaking on phones or listening to music/movies all night in coach. Zero common sense among passengers for behavior and courtesy towards others.

Posted from Android

cabsignaldrop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would spend the extra and get the roomette. Even
> if it comes out of your pocket. Totally worth it.
> Overnight in coach is only for those with a high
> tolerance for inconsiderate passengers yaking on
> phones or listening to music/movies all night in
> coach. Zero common sense among passengers for
> behavior and courtesy towards others.
>
> Posted from Android

Agree. The roomette can be worth it. Not only for the comfort, but for avoidance of the unfortunate number of inconsiderate passengers today. I've gone by Coach overnight, and it can be perfectly okay, although less comfortable and a bit more tiring. But on a few trips in the past, adjacent passengers were very inconsiderate, and that really affected things. Even despite train staff attention and warnings to them. One once finally settled down only after warnings and when seriously threatened with removal from the train by the conductor. 

I just had a short trip in Coach from Chicago to South Bend, Ind. on the Floridian at the tail end of a longer one in a roomette . The coach was quite full, even on a Monday in late October. Pleasant, pretty quiet and subdued overall, except for the guy in the row right behind me. Who spent nearly 30 minutes out of Chicago recording his regular podcast out loud for everyone to hear, whether we wanted to or not. Several of us nearby were getting increasingly irritated and ready to grab the conductor during her next pass through the car. He had avoided her by starting just after the ticket lift in our car, and continued while she was occupied elsewhere with tickets and other start-of-trip tasks. Fortunately (for us all, and for himself), he finished his dialogue a few minutes before the conductor passed through again. Nobody said anything to her, and there was no more podcasting done before I got off at South Bend. But if there was, everyone in adjacent rows was primed and ready to complain to train staff.

Sad to say, people are just not as courteous and considerate to others when they travel today as in past. And one notices that especially in Coach. On airplanes too. Sadly, for all of the rest of us. Welcome to life in the 21st century.

MC



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/25 12:45 by ironmtn.

Roomette is the only thing I would consider.  You'll be glad to have spent the money.

-John

ironmtn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sad to say, people are just not as courteous and
> considerate to others when they travel today as in
> past. 

Sadly, travel has nothing to do with it. It is a general disregard for civility and consideration and respect for others everywhere.

My advice -- don't take coach for ANY overnight trip, if you can avoid it.  Sleeper
is so much better.

More advice--- your train might be on time, or 8 hours late.  It's an absolute coin toss.
Make up your mind if you're willing to take this risk. 

Forget comfort and amenities. If you care about when you get to your destination, the most important consideration is time-keeping. The northbound Carolinian and Palmetto are much more likely to be on-time, or close, than the Silver Meteor or the Floridian by the time they reach North Carolina. And as you say, the Meteor would be a middle-of-the-night departure. I'd take either the Carolinian or Palmetto depending on where you live. Southbound, the Carolinian, Palmetto, and Silver Meteor are equally likely to be on-time at the NC-Virginia border. But not the Floridian, which sometimes is so late into DC from Chicago that it departs late. 

Coach in the middle of the night doesn't bother me at all, anymore than flying in economy class transatlantic. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/25 13:55 by ctillnc.

No matter which class of service you choose, the bigger question is how much of a tolerance do you have for late trains? I wouldn't bet the farm on any commitments within the same day of scheduled arrival.

irhoghead Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No matter which class of service you choose, the
> bigger question is how much of a tolerance do you
> have for late trains? I wouldn't bet the farm on
> any commitments within the same day of scheduled
> arrival.

Yet, I just completed three Amtrak segments - Floridian South Bend,Ind. to Washington DC; Acela Washington DC to Newark NJ; and then Floridian Chicago back to South Bend, after flying back to Chicago (I had to be back home earlier than trip by train would have allowed, and had an appointment in Chicago). All three segments spot on time at my destinations, to the minute. With generally good timekeeping for enorute stops as well. An initial delay on the eastbound Floridian due to a a debris strike at La Porte, Ind. for about a 30 minute delay starting out. But through the night we steadily regained that, and by Pittsburgh the next morning we were back on time, and kept to it after that, including through the mountains over Sand Patch. 

Watching the asm.transitdocs map / app lately, timekeeping overall has been good. Lots of green on the map on almost any given day. I wasn't worried for my trip at all before I left, and in actuality there was no reason for concern later.

That's far from any concerns about arrival "within the same day of scheduled service". Ridiculous. But consider the source. "irhoghead" bellyaches about Amtrak almost anytime he can, often rather excessively. Just his mentality. Sometimes highly separated from actual reality. It does get tiring....

MC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/25 15:05 by ironmtn.

I'd agree overnight travel by Amtrak in coach is a crap shoot.  Especially with the public we have these days.

I have not been on Amtrak recently, so disclaimers apply.  Thanks to train scheduling at Pittsburgh, if I'm heading west, it's an overnight trip.  On the trips I did make to Chicago, I got lucky as a single traveller, and had a pair of coach seats to myself.  Passengers settled down rather quickly out of Pittsburgh, and when the lights went out on my return trip from Chicago.  I have a vague recollection of zonking out until Cleveland, woke up again at Alliance, and kinda kept one eye open until I reached Pittsburgh.

It helped the Capitol Limited had Superliners running.  Not sure how overnight in Amfleet II would work out, but from what I'm hearing of the new equipment...

KurtBWNews Wrote:
----------------------------------------
> It helped the Capitol Limited had Superliners
> running.  Not sure how overnight in Amfleet II
> would work out, but from what I'm hearing of the
> new equipment...

I've slept overnight in both and it ain't that much different.

ctillnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Forget comfort and amenities. If you care about
> when you get to your destination, the most
> important consideration is time-keeping. The
> northbound Carolinian and Palmetto are much more
> likely to be on-time, or close, than the Silver
> Meteor or the Floridian by the time they reach
> North Carolina. And as you say, the Meteor would
> be a middle-of-the-night departure. I'd take
> either the Carolinian or Palmetto depending on
> where you live. Southbound, the Carolinian,
> Palmetto, and Silver Meteor are equally likely to
> be on-time at the NC-Virginia border. But not the
> Floridian, which sometimes is so late into DC from
> Chicago that it departs late. 
>
> Coach in the middle of the night doesn't bother me
> at all, anymore than flying in economy class
> transatlantic. 

I WANT to be in Kennet Square PA around 2pm Monday. I HAVE to be there for an evening dinner and event by 6pm. I’m in Pinehurst - locally in Southern Pines only option is Floridian to DC then Acela or Regional to Wilmington. Gets me to Wilmington too late. I can go to Cary and catch the Carolinian, but it too gets into Wilmington too late. I can go to Fayetteville and catch the Palmetto or Meteor. Palmetto is too late, but the Meteor with its 927AM SCHEDULED arrival works, so is the only option, as like I said, I am NOT going to waste my Sunday by going up a day early just to ride the Choo Choo.

I can either get on the train in Fayettenam at 1257 AM (or whenever it shows up) and catch a couple hours of ZZZs (I can sleep ANYWHERE, and usually only get 4-5 hours a night anyway) or I can leave around 5am and drive up - I’ve driven this trip multiple times - I found the 5 AM window GENERALLY times up to miss the worst of the traffic in DC, Baltimore, etc. My other regular destinations of Jacksonville or Atlanta don’t lend themselves to using Amtrak - Jacksonville is fine scheduled arrival wise, but it’s 8 hours if on time then I still have to get to/from stations. I can leave my house and be at 500 Water Street in 5 hours, 50 minutes. If if 95 is a mess, I know enough “back routes” I can still get the in 7 or less. And Atlanta is just a non starter - drive to Cary and big layover in Charlotte or drive to Charlotte. No thanks, I’ll just drive to Atlanta.

Based on feedback received here, I’ll give an Amtrak a shot. May be one and done, may be my new norm. We shall see. Meteor Car 9810, room 8 on way up, seat 11A business class on Palmetto way back, $711 round trip fare. Will let you know how it goes.

Edit to add - I just booked this / trip in THIS Monday 11/3, return Thursday 11/6. So this is about as close to a “walk up” reservation you can get. And obviously I was able to get a room up and biz class seat back with no issue. Seat map for biz back on Thurs show car only about 65% full. And the $711 fare is in line or cheaper than comparable last minute air options.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/25 07:22 by scraphauler.

GOOD.   Sleeper going north is the only option if you don't want to be dozing off in what looks to be a long day.

Do report on your experience!  I am booked on the Meteor to Savannah November 20.  Yes, I am getting back on the horse.  Flying home on Jet Blue.

Well, 15 or so hours before departure and Amtrak sends me an itinerary change. Schedule unchanged, change in accommodation. Went from Roomette 8 in the 9810 car to bedroom A in the 9810 car.

Begs the question in their revenue management, why would someone with zero AGR miles/points be awarded what I assume is an upgrade? Dumb luck? Form of payment? (RR credit card and we have lines that are tenants on Amtrak owned property). Just curious, I’m used to rarely seeing anything of any real benefit from my lowly Silver Medallion status on Delta.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/25 06:53 by scraphauler.

scraphauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, 15 or so hours before departure and Amtrak
> sends me an itinerary change. Schedule unchanged,
> change in accommodation. Went from Roomette 8 in
> the 9810 car to bedroom A in the 9810 car.
>
> Begs the question in their revenue management, why
> would someone with zero AGR miles/points be
> awarded what I assume is an upgrade? Dumb luck?

Probably a screw-up on their part. They may have over-booked the roomettes, or yours became bad-ordered. Luckily for you there was space available elsewhere on the train besides in coach.