Do Amtrak have sales/offers

michele-p

Thanks all for the replies. I called Trailfinders yesterday, but they could only offer the same price as Amtrak, and they would have to add a surcharge.

The express service is more than double the price of the cheaper service, for around 40 mins quicker travel. Anyone any experience of both services? Is the express worth the extra.

I'm used to traveling the East Coast mainline here, so not much luxury there!

callum9999

michele-p wrote: »

Thanks all for the replies. I called Trailfinders yesterday, but they could only offer the same price as Amtrak, and they would have to add a surcharge.

The express service is more than double the price of the cheaper service, for around 40 mins quicker travel. Anyone any experience of both services? Is the express worth the extra.

I'm used to traveling the East Coast mainline here, so not much luxury there!

The Express is a business class train whereas the Regional is economy. It will therefore have comfier seats and will be less crowded.

While I haven't used this specific route, I personally wouldn't even consider getting the Express at those prices (the random dates I just checked quoted $54 for Regional and $158 for Express) - particularly if you're happy enough with 2nd class in UK trains. It's only 3 hours and while the Acela is more comfortable, I've yet to travel on an uncomfortable Amtrak train (not that I've travelled that extensively on them) so I'm sure it will be fine.

martindow

I used the regional train a few years ago. Because the carriages are larger than UK trains it seemed very spacious and fairly comfortable - certainly much more pleasant than a plane.

It is not worth paying a large supplement for the Acela unless the time saved is very important for you. I think Acela is aimed at business travellers and priced accordingly.

dondo

michele-p wrote: »

Thanks all, this will be a one off journey, part of our mad adventure!
We fly into New York for 4 night, train to Washington (heard it was quite a scenic route, and just priced it again flying, it's cheaper on train!) Then we fly to Buffalo to visit Niagara, fly to Boston, then pick up a car, head to the White Mountains, Arcadia National Park, Maine coastline, finally fly back from Boston to New york, and back to the UK.

Phew!

We have most internal flights booked, managed to use some avios points for one of them. I don't fancy the bus, as apparently the New York to DC road trip can have quite heavy traffic.

I'll check out the flyertalk link above thanks.

The full price is $104 for us both, around £64 so not a lot for a 3.5 hr journey!

I spent 2 summers working in Maine in the mid 90's and loved it there. Acadia national park is fantastic, especillay going up Cadillac Mountain and Bar Harbour is worth a visit (especially on July 4th for their fireworks)

michele-p

I think I'll hold off booking for a month or so, and just keep an eye out for any vouchers/codes. No need for luxury, so we'll be happy with the cheaper option.

Dondo, we'll be in Bar harbor for 2 nights, sadly not July 4th though, we'll be home by then.