Hi,

Yeah i might have to do that. I thought all train rides that took that long must have rooms or at least sleeping quarters associated with them. Was i wrong? Would they make you sit in a seat for 5 days?

Thanks.

There are a limited number of sleeper cars. Some people will sleep in seats.
It is generally more expensive than airfare as well. But if you can get a cabin, it can be a nice trip.

 

Hi again,

One more LITTLE problem came up.

I went to find out some schedules and pricing for flights and found out two things, one very important and the other silly.

First a little silly but seems to be true, i think travel agents are more of a pain then anything.

Second, and very important to me, when i go to get a flight of course i want round trip because that is the cheapest. But the requirements for that are so strict it's frightening.
First, you MUST specify your take off date and time (no brainer there) but then you MUST also specify your return date and time.
Now of course i have no problem with the take off date and time, but how do i know exactly what day i want to return?
AND if you miss that return day (day before or day after let's say) then you might have to pay almost the same fee as you did for the ticket in the first place. That's nuts. So if i chose 1 week stay i MUST return after 1 week, and if 2 weeks stay, same thing, and if 3 weeks and i decide to return early well that's going to cost me.

Any way to deal with this?

Thanks.

Now, you are entering the nuts and bolts of ticket buying, not travel. There is a system and it is going to depend on your knowledge of the airlines and the policies. Here is ONE approach.

Say, you want to travel Newark (EWR) to Los Angelas (LAX). Depart 4/22 and return 5/22 but you really don't know when you want to return.
Go to Southwest and punch in those dates. You will see a number of flights and, importantly, THREE types of tickets: Business Select, Anytime, Wanna Get Away. The last category is the cheapest.

Now click "View Fare Type Benefits" to see the difference between the types of tickets.

Note that the cheapest fare is non-refundable. But, for Southwest, this does NOT mean that your $$$ is gone if you do not use your return flight. It, in fact, means that you can change your return flight and apply all of your $$$ to the new flight. You have to cancel your return flight (some reasonable time before flight - I think 24 hours). You then get a cancellation code and you use that code to pay for your new return flight. Any difference in the price between the two tickets is a credit or a debit. They don't care and you do it all online.

The credit does not last forever and you will have an expiration date to use the funds - as I recall, it is about 10 months.

Of course, the cheapest tickets go first, so if you have to change at the last minute to a day later, all of the cheap tickets may be gone.

If you go with the highest price tickets, you get your $$$ back.

Now, go back and change it to ONE-WAY. You will see the exact same "departing" tickets at the same price as your round trip. For Southwest, the round trip tickets are not, inherently, cheaper.

That is Southwest, another airlines has another approach.

 

There are a limited number of sleeper cars. Some people will sleep in seats.
It is generally more expensive than airfare as well. But if you can get a cabin, it can be a nice trip.

Hi,

Oh wow i am glad then someone mentioned this. I dont think i could exist in a single seat for 5 full days. Yikes.

 

Now, you are entering the nuts and bolts of ticket buying, not travel. There is a system and it is going to depend on your knowledge of the airlines and the policies. Here is ONE approach.

Say, you want to travel Newark (EWR) to Los Angelas (LAX). Depart 4/22 and return 5/22 but you really don't know when you want to return.
Go to Southwest and punch in those dates. You will see a number of flights and, importantly, THREE types of tickets: Business Select, Anytime, Wanna Get Away. The last category is the cheapest.

Now click "View Fare Type Benefits" to see the difference between the types of tickets.

Note that the cheapest fare is non-refundable. But, for Southwest, this does NOT mean that your $$$ is gone if you do not use your return flight. It, in fact, means that you can change your return flight and apply all of your $$$ to the new flight. You have to cancel your return flight (some reasonable time before flight - I think 24 hours). You then get a cancellation code and you use that code to pay for your new return flight. Any difference in the price between the two tickets is a credit or a debit. They don't care and you do it all online.

The credit does not last forever and you will have an expiration date to use the funds - as I recall, it is about 10 months.

Of course, the cheapest tickets go first, so if you have to change at the last minute to a day later, all of the cheap tickets may be gone.

If you go with the highest price tickets, you get your $$$ back.

Now, go back and change it to ONE-WAY. You will see the exact same "departing" tickets at the same price as your round trip. For Southwest, the round trip tickets are not, inherently, cheaper.

That is Southwest, another airlines has another approach.

Hi,

Oh thanks for that info.

Now when you say that round trip ticket is the same price as one way, do you mean that the entire price is the same.
For example, if round trip is 300 then one way is 300 too? Or is one way 150 so that coming back it is 150 and that's still 300 total?

Thanks really.

 

I think the ticketing process is a little bit misleading. I purposefully say “think” because I’m not sure how common this is. I believe this is what booking a flight on Jet Blue is like.

You search for a round-trip ticket and the prices look great! But if you were to book that ticket, you’d find the price shown IS ONLY FOR THE FIRST LEG. Once you select an outbound flight, you have to select a return flight. And they show you the cost for that flight. Once you’re done, only then does the price for the entire trip is shown.

It becomes obvious after you’ve done it once but when researching flights, don’t be misled.

 

Hi,

Oh thanks for that info.

Now when you say that round trip ticket is the same price as one way, do you mean that the entire price is the same.
For example, if round trip is 300 then one way is 300 too? Or is one way 150 so that coming back it is 150 and that's still 300 total?

Thanks really.

No, a round trip ticket is not the same price as a one-way ticket on any airline that I have ever flown.

When you said:

Second, and very important to me, when i go to get a flight of course i want round trip because that is the cheapest.

I am saying that round trip is not, necessarily, the "cheapest" in the context that you used it in. That is the Round trip price can be exactly the same as a one-way TO ticket + a one way FROM ticket.

Put another way:
p(RT)=p(T) + p(F) - d. For Southwest d (discount) = 0. Different airlines may use different values of d.

Additionally, I was illustrating that the change fees that you mentioned:

AND if you miss that return day (day before or day after let's say) then you might have to pay almost the same fee as you did for the ticket in the first place. That's nuts.

Do not apply equally in all cases. Those issues can be very much airline dependent.

I would also add that, if you know your destination and departure city, you may find that you do not have as many airline choices as you might think. Sure, flying between two major cities will usually offer service by more than one airlines, but markets have become extremely lean and efficient from an airline POV since when you last flew.

Edited to add: Major cities are frequently accessible from multiple airports. Part of the ticket buying behavior in such cases normally involves checking tickets from different airports and balancing that with price and convenience of access to different airports.

It can be very complicated and sometimes annoying, but if you don't end up flying after all this, we are going to anesthetize you and ship you via UPS next day

 

All this talk of Flying, my wife was stewing all week over the amount of points we lost at Local Market. She said something like 20,000 points disappeared and we never claimed any. Now my wife isn't the type to complain directly, I'm to busy at work and home so I blew it off, normally I'm the one bothered about things. She called me this morning saying she called the Corporate Office, afterward they said we would or should have enough to claim 3 Airline Tickets. I'm thinking she went "Angry Black Woman" on them or she had such a sweet apologetic voice that they couldn't resist.

I think the former, plus if you speak to her on the phone, you would never know she is black. Well spoken intelligent, well mannered spirit.


kv

 

All this talk of Flying, my wife was stewing all week over the amount of points we lost at Local Market. She said something like 20,000 points disappeared and we never claimed any. Now my wife isn't the type to complain directly, I'm to busy at work and home so I blew it off, normally I'm the one bothered about things. She called me this morning saying she called the Corporate Office, afterward they said we would or should have enough to claim 3 Airline Tickets. I'm thinking she went "Angry Black Woman" on them or she had such a sweet apologetic voice that they couldn't resist.

I think the former, plus if you speak to her on the phone, you would never know she is black. Well spoken intelligent, well mannered spirit.


kv

 

Hi,

Yeah i might have to do that. I thought all train rides that took that long must have rooms or at least sleeping quarters associated with them. Was i wrong? Would they make you sit in a seat for 5 days?

Thanks.

They have roomettes and bedrooms. If you really want to splurge you can get the family room which is huge. The nice thing about the family room is you get a window on both sides of the train. Nice thing about bedrooms is that you have a private shower / toilet. It is just a bit larger than the head on a 40 feet sailboat (if you have ever been).

But the roomettes are just fine i it is just you. You need to share a toilet and shower with other folks but I don't think I have ever had to wait. For two people (especially two that are not couples or older couples) I would recommend one bedroom or two roomettes. Roomettes are fine for one but a bit cozy for two. And one of you would need to sleep on the upper bunk.

No matter what you get, all meals are included with all rooms.

Here is what I would do. Take the Capital Limited to Chicago. Then the Southwest Chief to LA. The the Coast Starlight to Sacramento. Then the California Zephyr from Sac back to CHI. Capital limited back to DC.

You probably have other options to get to Chicago from NYC too.

If you decide to do this let me know and I can clue you in on more resources. I suggested getting a pass but I have never done that and would not want to steer you wrong there. There is a website where you can ask questions to the experts on the subject.

It is not for everyone but I just love it. Even passing through the seemingly endless plains of the Dakotas are fascinating to me. I could sit there and watch the coutry pass bay the whole trip.

 

They have roomettes and bedrooms. If you really want to splurge you can get the family room which is huge. The nice thing about the family room is you get a window on both sides of the train. Nice thing about bedrooms is that you have a private shower / toilet. It is just a bit larger than the head on a 40 feet sailboat (if you have ever been).

But the roomettes are just fine i it is just you. You need to share a toilet and shower with other folks but I don't think I have ever had to wait. For two people (especially two that are not couples or older couples) I would recommend one bedroom or two roomettes. Roomettes are fine for one but a bit cozy for two. And one of you would need to sleep on the upper bunk.

No matter what you get, all meals are included with all rooms.

Here is what I would do. Take the Capital Limited to Chicago. Then the Southwest Chief to LA. The the Coast Starlight to Sacramento. Then the California Zephyr from Sac back to CHI. Capital limited back to DC.

You probably have other options to get to Chicago from NYC too.

If you decide to do this let me know and I can clue you in on more resources. I suggested getting a pass but I have never done that and would not want to steer you wrong there. There is a website where you can ask questions to the experts on the subject.

It is not for everyone but I just love it. Even passing through the seemingly endless plains of the Dakotas are fascinating to me. I could sit there and watch the coutry pass bay the whole trip.

Hi,

This sounds interesting but how much we talking here? I saw ads for around 200 bucks across country on train.
How much would a roomette thing cost you think?
I dont think i would want to have to skip to another train, just take one train from here to there.

Thanks.

 

When I see this your signature is just below this .gif, it's fitting. Even when she looks as if to pass out or throw up, she's sexy.

Marvel Jessica Jones character.

kv

Edit: BTW, do they treat your luggage and items when traveling by Train, like the TSA at the Airport?

 

Edit: BTW, do they treat your luggage and items when traveling by Train, like the TSA at the Airport?

It's not like airports but most larger stations do have checked bag service.

Some people carry a lot of baggage on the train. That first train was just about all baggage cars.

Security depends on the station. Some have little or no security but most stations have at least spot checks.
http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/klamathfalls.htm

 

Hi,

Just thought of something...

If we are on the train for 5 days, we probably need a washing machine ha ha. Or change of close for 5 days.
How is this mitigated?

 

I believe 5 day train trips have showers and you always have your suit case.

 

Hi,

Just thought of something...

If we are on the train for 5 days, we probably need a washing machine ha ha. Or change of close for 5 days.
How is this mitigated?

Why do you need 5 days worth of clothes? You are barely moving for 5 days. One or two shirts a pair of pants. Maybe an extra pair of pants in case one gets stained and you are picky. Maybe a few changes of underwear.

No one is going to care or even notice what you wore the day before.

And you can leave your tuxedo at home.

 

I think I'm liking this train trip rather than flying. My wife wants me to board a boat out on the sea I might as well jump on a rocket and be launched into space. At least if I die it's splat or boom, in a boat your shark bait, starve to death, drown ok not bad but you're doing it with thousands of people freaking out all over the place. Nope not me nada chance.

Train, I'm liking it, kick back computer in hand movies walk occasionally hmm, ya.

kv

Edit: Can't wait to see Europe, I understand you can do most of it on Trains.

 

Hello again,

I just discovered another option i didnt realize was possible ... BUS.

What do you guys think? Is a bus possible?
Trip time only about 3 days to LAX from Newark NJ. Fair reasonable at 200 USD.

Any good?

 

Hello again,

I just discovered another option i didnt realize was possible ... BUS.

What do you guys think? Is a bus possible?
Trip time only about 3 days to LAX from Newark NJ. Fair reasonable at 200 USD.

Any good?

The bus is an adventure. You can do it, many people do, but it won’t be comfortable and the quality of your traveling companions is very hit or miss.

 

Sorry, this thread has progressed beyond my comprehension. While I respect individual decisions, I cannot personally understand not flying. I used to travel by bus while in college, but now would rather have to sleep on an anthill than have to ride on a bus!

Travel busses are vastly different from excursion busses. You can get up and stretch on a plane; not so on a bus. Potholes are much more common than air turbulence. There are toilets, but they get really nasty. I don’t think they have sinks to clean up. Many stops are at small stations. You can get snacks, but no food. And many are in rural areas that don’t accept plastic. So you need to carry cash. And I wouldn’t carry cash when riding with people who take buses.

IMHO

 

Hello again,

I just discovered another option i didnt realize was possible ... BUS.

What do you guys think? Is a bus possible?
Trip time only about 3 days to LAX from Newark NJ. Fair reasonable at 200 USD.

Any good?

Just bring along your copy of "Prison Life" and you will feel at home.