Amtrak Beginners Guide | Everything You Need To Know To Ride The Train

Just an extra tip if you don't mind to add to all your wonderful information. When it comes to people asking about whether they can warm their food on the train... If you are traveling in a group of two or more; so that you are not carrying all your stuff by yourself; Amazon sells portable food warmers that you can use to heat up any food... some only come with a car type power plug, so you would need an adapter for it, but others come with both that and a regular plug type power cord. You can use it to heat anything from soup to sandwiches to fried chicken... burger and fries....etc....

The both of you do a great job!! Would the two of you ever do a hints video of hints suggested by viewers? Here is a little tip I use for sleeping on Amtrak. For a month before my Amtrak Adventure, I train my sleep pattern using "Ambient Sounds of Amtrak" for 6-10 hours in length as found on "YouTube ". This allows for less stress when you try to sleep on the train and mentally prepares you for rest.

Happy 51st birthday Rob! Allie, I hope you had a very special day yesterday!

So glad I found your channel. You guys are doing amazing explaining details. As a retired engineer and conductor for UPRR and working Amtrak 21 & 22, delays are to be expected like you mentioned. Amtrak will operate on rails with freight trains. Dispatchers are good at placing freights in a siding well ahead of Amtrak, but when these trains don’t fit in the siding, or they go into emergency because of broken air hoses, hot wheels meaning brakes or journals are stuck. Trains will slow or stop for the repair. Amtrak will get stuck behind these trains. Lastly. If there is a train vs car collision, expect to be taken off the train if it’s a bad situation or if its ahead of you, could be hours and I mean hours for the area to get clear depending on severity ! I can’t stress enough, traveling by rail IS NOT air travel. These attendants and conductors, are overworked and are just as stressed as you when issues happen. Plan for it, prepare for it, and expect it !!

In regards to the train being late - if you at a station where the train originates, ( not in the middle of the route) usually they will be on time because that is where the train set starts the trip. If you plan to get on the train in the middle of the route, the train can be late because of issues " upstream ". Also if you getting on the train where it starts the route the time of departure is when the train starts to move, not when the boarding process starts. From my experiences the boarding process starts about 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time. When booking a ticket , do that as soon as you know you are going to travel. The cheapest tickets do not allow you to change tickets and charge 25% of the ticket if you cancel. For a small amount extra one can get a ticket that you can cancel or change for no charge. About $4.00 more on my trips to NYC or about $$39.00 vs $ 35.00 . Well worth it for peace of mind and last minute changes.

As usual. Great advice!

Such valuable information. You guys are great!

Found your videos just in time! Going on my first train trip tomorrow morning and it's nice to get an idea on what to expect. Thank you for sharing your experiences :)

Just wanted to thank you for the chance meeting the other night. You are both as genuine in person as you are on the channel. Although an Amtrak excursion will have to wait because of my current geography, I will share this with my mother who has become an Amtrak fan in recent years. Merry Christmas 🎄 and Happy New Year 🎊

We will be on our first Amtrak-trip next week on the Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to Boston. It has always been a kind of a dream for us to make a overnight-Journey in an Amtrak sleeper-car so we’re absolutely excited. Your videos have been so helpful for us, thanks so much!

Great video. Thanks very much much!

I'M A TRAVEL ADVISOR AND I CAME ACROSS YOUR CHANNEL ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO AND HAVE WATCHED AND POSTED YOUR INFO ON MY EVENT PAGE & WEBSITE. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING MY SMALL GROUP FROM NY TO THE GRAND CANYON! I APPRECIATE THE INFO, SUGGESTIONS AND VIDEOS TOO! THANKS...

One thing people should learn how to do is 'how to pack.' I always see people getting on trains and airplanes loaded down with bags. I never check bags; I learned my lesson. I have traveled to different countries, 43 states, 3 Canadian provinces. One carry-on. For families it's a bit different but I still will guess that those loads can be lessened. It's a lot less headache.

Very helpful thank you!

Loved the Empire Builder last year! Going Via Rail across Canada this Summer...then Amtrak down to Seattle!

We are already planning our next three trips on Amtrak. And I'm happy to report that I just bought one of your cool T-shirts! Merry Christmas!!

Heads up. Sunset limited east now only serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, break, lunch. Westbound lunch, dinner, break, lunch, dinner. Did roundtrip last year and got dinner before arrival in new orleans at 9:40. Also got breakfast 1st morning back to l.a. They cut 2 meals out of trip but charge same. Confirmed on phone. Guess whole train going to need to grab a sandwich in houston and eat breakfast before boarding heading back west! Seems silly we would all be foodless for the evening.

I saw one video on here with a very novice couple. They were in the big beautiful NYC Moynihan train hall and saw a check baggage drop off and stood in line to be told their train didn’t have it checked baggage. I think they were on a north east regional to Boston. 😂 videos like these are good for the novice Amtrak traveler!

You always pointed out having a roomette / sleeper.. how about take the challenge by traveling coach on these long amtrak rides. Not everyone might have the luxury of spending so much cash on a sleeper room. Just a thought to consider. ;)

Saved to ‘watch later’ for future use!