The Don'ts of Amtrak Train Travel in the US

I enjoyed your video I am from Australia and I would love to do a train ride from San Francisco to Chicago and maybe back another route maybe go by coach rough it up a bit any recommendations thanks David

Can illegal people travel in the Amtrak do they ask for papers and can you show your ID of passport ?

I had an assigned seat. They do that when all the seats are reserved. The guy next to me was asleep (really) across both seats. I couldn't wake him up until I kicked him on the ankle kind of hard. We apologized to each other in the morning.

If you read this, Wolter, THANK YOU for this fantastic set of tips! Going on an Amtrak trip tomorrow and this info is so helpful.

The main advantage to business class is its quiet and the assigned seat…I travel amtrack often…I hope they get the very fast trains for the northeast corridor on line soon…they will have to upgrade trackage and signals but going 200 mph would be great…

This is more " you shouldn't ". Have at it. God bless

Dude I had to slow your video down to 75% speed to tolerate you. Slow down, you're almost manic.

Been on a train before many times. Great advice. I followed them all the time. 😊

I've had some really nasty and rude conductors on my train trips.

People on overnight trains.Wash up put on their pajamas have their own pillows and blankets and get a good night sleep in coach😊
I usually travel in a sleeper but did experience this on a overnight from Atlanta to New York City.
😊 The romance and adventure of Amtrak travel... pre COVID 😊

You are clueless.
I was raised traveling with my parents on the train. I AM A RAILFAN!
I fall asleep as soon as the train pulls off ,I put my music on and usually wake up just before my train arrives at its destination unless I'm traveling cross country. I sleep most of my trip and wake up early because arrival in LA is usually around 4:30 a.m.
I wake up just before crossing Lake Pontchartrain.
Don't EVER accuse someone of faking that they are asleep! For many of us,it's the rocking of the train that is soothing!
Full traditional service dining chefs do not use a microwave!
You need more education about Amtrak travel.
Things have changed post COVID but you are way off on your evaluations!

If you don’t board in L.A. Chicago, NYC, Philly, or D.C. you sh@& out of luck when it comes to good seats 💺 buddy.

If I have a trip planned from GA to CA. My trip changes trains in DC and Chgo. Do I have to worry about missing connecting trains?

DON'T expect to get anywhere on time.

Good advice. Get familiar with the Amtrak app. Book ahead and save. The long routes can be several hours late. The conductors are extremely helpful. Get a 30 day pass and see the country with 10 stops along the way. The short trip from Denver to Rocky Mountain national park in an observation car is epic. You will meet interesting people. Great for retired with no deadlines.

Hi there, I am just new to this Amtrack adventure. I am just researching for our next trip to the USA. Loving your video as you are very honest! I love the fact that you can take 2 bags with you. I also think if you are in no hurry, as we will be to take the train! Thanks Wolter!

Thank You For Sharing 😁

Chicago Dog?! Yum. 😋

Thx u 4 sharing

NUMBER 1 rule….don’t even think about getting anywhere on American trains.

Is there another company other than Amtrak that I can buy tickets from? The price of a sleeping cabin is a disgrace on Amtrak

Another don't... Don't use the Amtrak toilets/bathrooms (or whatever you call it). They are absolutely disgusting. I used to use Amtrak to travel to NYC from New London, and the toilet floors were ALWAYS covered in urine and toilet paper. No towels, and the air dryer didn't work. Expensive as hell. One way trip from NYC to NL was $200 for a 130 mile trip (probably more now). Oh so slow. I can drive to NYC in about 3 hours on I95. Acela takes about 3.5 hours.

Most of your don't boil down to "Don't be selfish and self-centered." "Be kind and share the space." "Respect the rights of others...this is not your private car."

Don't take Amtrak if you have to be somewhere on a certain day at a certain time.

Dont travel amtrack, very bad customer service. Plus Rasics employees.

I love to travel Amtrak, and will never travel by bus ever again. I’m rarely on airplanes ✈️. The trains will rock back and forth, and relax you whereas buses have the worst of mankind going up and down the aisles, and the drivers rarely do anything about problems occurring on their busses. I’ve been lucky to have an extra seat most of the time on Amtrak to stretch out and enjoy the scenery, and I do put my backpack on the seats. If the staff tells me they need the seat, then I’m okay with moving my bag out of the seat for another. Trains will have a food car, and you are seated in any open seat that’s available by a staff member. I love to bring my own food to eat that’s healthier and tastes wonderful.
The staff doesn’t go through every car very much and you have more freedom if the trains aren’t full.
I haven’t checked the price of sleeping cars, but I can easily sleep in a window seat with my pillow.
It’s too bad Amtrak and busses doesn’t allow 🦮 service animals or pets to be emotional support animals in car next to you.

Urban cities are always last. Amtrac sucs

And if you are going too nyc or Newark, you will always be last arriving

Aweful train service

Amtrac Very Racist service

Rule 5. Make sure you check the ticket over your seat matches your ticket. Mine was for New London Connecticut, the girl in the seat in front of me got off in Philadelphia but I almost got thrown off in Philly until I showed my ticket and pointed out the girl on the platform. Word to the wise

I take business class because it is refundable. The trips I usually take on Amtrak are, in fact, business. But the trips get last-minute cancelled.......a lot. It's worth the extra expense for me.

Great tips to use on my return home!

AD yeastsoingool.

Some more:

Don't expect every station to have checked baggage service. Some do not offer it, even on trains where it is available. Look up your start and end stations before taking your trip to make sure you can check bags.

Acela trains now have assigned seating. Don't expect to just walk in and grab a seat; your ticket will have a car and seat number. Sleeper accommodations are also assigned.

Don't expect the cafe to stay open all night. On most long distance Amtrak trains it closes somewhere around 10 pm; the crew will announce the closing time. Northeast Corridor trains are an exception; the cafe on those DOES stay open all night, except during the layover in New York City if your train has one.

Don't be surprised if you are asked to show your ticket again. On some trains that's routine. On the Northeast Corridor you will be asked to show it again if your trip goes through New York City and continues on the other side. (On many of those trains there is a crew change in New York.)

If you are a coach passenger on one of the long distance trains, don't expect to be able to have a meal in the dining car. If you are in a train with traditional dining (a dining car with a real kitchen that prepares food on the train rather than serving pre-prepared meals) you MAY get offered a dining car seating, but it's not guaranteed and you may not get much choice of timing if you are offered one. (If you DO get the offer, take it at least once for the experience.)

Don't worry if you get sleepy and want to rest, even at 10:30 am. Contrary to what the video says, some of us DO sleep then, especially if the night before the trip was a nervous affair with little sleep. But make sure the seat next to you is free of stuff so somebody can sit there if needed.

And some dos:

Do download the Amtrak app for your smartphone. Even if you have a paper ticket, your ticket will always be available on the app. That saved my bacon once in Minneapolis-St Paul: I decided to get off the train for a bit and check out the station (that's one of the extended stops) and forgot to carry my paper ticket -- but I DID have my phone, and therefore my mobile ticket, so I was able to reboard without any hassle.

Do join Amtrak Guest Rewards. You'll earn points that you can use to buy future train trips and other things. If you have the app and log into your Guest Rewards account, you will be able to see all your upcoming tickets (not just your current trip) and your travel history.

Do consider using Bid-Up. If a fancier seat is available than the one you booked, you will get an email a couple of weeks before your trip offering the opportunity to bid for the upgrade. (Possible upgrades are coach to business, coach to roomette or bedroom, roomette to bedroom, and business to first (Acela). You will sometimes be able to get a premium accommodation on the train for much less than the normal price.

Most of all... do enjoy your journey!

Can you get wheelchair onto the train.?
Hi

So embarrassed that i never took Amtrak to DC living in Philly my whole life. I always drove and complained about traffic jams. It wasn't until 2019 that I did. I will never drive to DC again.

I plan on buying a rail pass this spring and travel the U.S. for a week. Any advice.

✝️🤍😇🔯🕊️🐑🧄🌎🌍🌏🪐🌠🔭🌲🦅🇺🇸🍀🤍✝️Holy Psalm 91 Jesus and KathrynMiller say Thankyou for sharing ✝️🤍✝️Jesus is Glad President Biden signed for money for Amtrak 🤍✝️🦅🇺🇸🍀🍀🍀

Don't disrespect anyone ❤

This was super helpful!!!

😴 💤 We know that you aren’t asleep! 😂

High speed rail in Spain 👍👍, Rail service USA 👎👎

😂😂😂 1970s train service...

Amtrak at least on the west coast started charging people a one way ticket for taking up another seat.

Thank you 🙏 This is giving me good information of what I want to know before I book an Amtrak ticket.

By the way, are the train conductors very understanding of people with autism and mental disabilities? They probably are. But I still always worry about that! I’m thinking about getting a lanyard that says I have autism so please be patient with me. I can get a little turned around at times because of the way my mind is. But if the conductor is aware of this, I will feel more comfortable. That way I’ll know they’ll explain things clearly to me, so I know exactly what to do.

I notice you said they put something on your seat so the conductor knows where you get off at. So that way I guess they know to wake you up when you’re getting close to your stop. When you say they don’t announce every place where people need to get off at does that mean sometimes they don’t even stop and you have to pull a chain or they may just stop without announcing? I was a little confused about that.

Also, I was thinking about having just Amtrak’s be my whole vacation. What I mean is instead of taking the Amtrak’s from Florida to Boston and staying in Boston for a couple nights before heading back, that I would just go from Florida to Boston and then just come right back. So another words I wouldn’t stay at a hotel in Boston or anywhere. The whole vacation would be on Amtrak’s. Because that does seem like a fun way to spend a vacation. Of course I may decide I want to stay in Boston for a couple of nights. Who knows. I’m just getting ideas. I’m just wondering if anyone else has done what I’m thinking about doing with just having the Antrack being my whole vacation and not staying at a hotel anywhere?

One thing that I’m going to do is book everything on one round trip ticket. Because I know I’ll have some connecting buses and trains. But I feel if I book the whole round trip together that I won’t have to worry so much about missing my connecting trains and buses. I go on the Amtrak’s website to pretend I’m going to book a ticket just to get an idea. It basically has me on one of the end tracks buses first. Then I get on one train that takes me about halfway to New York City. Then another train to New York City. And then a bus to Boston. And then to get back it’s pretty much the same. I was also surprised at how low the tickets were. I was expecting them to be closer to $1,000 to go this far and back. But I’m finding they are around $400 or $500.

People walking in the bathroom barefoot 😮

We have an Amtrak stop here in Kingman, AZ but what looks to be a depot is actually a museum that you have to pay to enter. I have seen people boarding that train at 3:30 in the morning.

Does Wolter ever breathe?