All about the Autotrain

[lisa-upnorth]

not to rain on any parades but it would be rare to have a price go down.They usually rise and sell out
I love the roomettes but it stinks that they costs so much!!!

 

[chartle]

When I made my reservations on May 22nd for mid-Dec it cost was the same down and back. I opted for a bedroom South bound and coach North. Last night I upgraded to a bedroom for the trip North and it went from $287 to $415.In just a litle more than 2 weeks! Oh well at least we get to travel in style.

just started to book a trip for our coming trip, we are going to drive but this is just a test.

Well this is what I got.

Close to 2 and a half times for the return.

 

[shadowryter]

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

 

[NJRRK]

I did the same dates just out of curiousity.

I added 2 roomettes for the northbound trip plus AAA discount and came up with a less than $200 more.

That shows the freakiness of Amtrak ticketing.

 

[ibcnu]

We are going to Florida via AutoTrain in August. My daughter goes to college in Orlando and we are taking her car down, staying at Disney, then she'll go off to college my younger D and I will fly home (leaving hubby home to work, this trip).

We rented 2 roomettes (the 3 of us). If was cheaper than 1 bedroom. We also got in on the $19 kids fare. The total for 2 adults 1 child, 2 roomettes, and an average size car was $609.

You really have to play with the dates and definately book early. I noticed that weekends, including Fridays, were higher than the middle of the week.

We are also planning on traveling down for Christmas. The price going down to Florida the week before Christmas is astronomical. We may opt to drive down as the prices on the return after Christmas but before New Years is more in line with what we are paying this summer, so we may opt to return via autotrain. This August will be the test, we've never taken the autotrain before.

 

[maciec]

We are getting ready to book, I think, the auto train for our October trip. I have gotten 3 prices. For the 4 of us and our suburban to travel:

Family bedroom - $1,936 rt
2 roomettes - $1,579 rt

While I was on the phone with Amtrak I decided to put the roomettes on hold. When the lady came back to me she said that the total was $1,190! I verified everything with her and it was all in order. Neither one of us knows why it went down in price when she put it in held status.

 

[JenniBB]

We are going to Florida via AutoTrain in August. My daughter goes to college in Orlando and we are taking her car down, staying at Disney, then she'll go off to college my younger D and I will fly home (leaving hubby home to work, this trip).

We rented 2 roomettes (the 3 of us). If was cheaper than 1 bedroom. We also got in on the $19 kids fare. The total for 2 adults 1 child, 2 roomettes, and an average size car was $609.

You really have to play with the dates and definately book early. I noticed that weekends, including Fridays, were higher than the middle of the week.

We are also planning on traveling down for Christmas. The price going down to Florida the week before Christmas is astronomical. We may opt to drive down as the prices on the return after Christmas but before New Years is more in line with what we are paying this summer, so we may opt to return via autotrain. This August will be the test, we've never taken the autotrain before.

We are booked in coach to Orlando from Alexandria, VA (not taking the auto train).
Total price for a family of 5 is $679.
We travel Aug 22-30.

 

[shadowryter]

We decided to add another day to our vacation so I had to change our Auto Train reservations. In doing this I saved a little over $200 as the bedroom for one day later on the way back was less. Can't figure it out since it is a weekday but I'll take it. We're headed South on Dec 2nd and returning on the 16th, 3 adults.

 

[Marshay]

We are driving down to WDW tomorrow but taking the AT back. Both are firsts for us (driving and AT, not WDW).

I heard that with the intense the Northeast has been having that some of the trains are delayed due to the tracks and heat. I wonder if this has been happening on the AT.

I'll report back when we return in 2 weeks.

 

[jad215]

I'm being lazy and not going to read through all 46 pages (I did read the first one though!), we are taking the autotrain for the first time on October 8. I thought I read somewhere that there is a shuttle from the Lorton station that takes you over to the shopping area in Lorton and brings you back to the station if you didn't want to sit and wait in the station if you got there early. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks in advance!

 

[nono]

I'm being lazy and not going to read through all 46 pages (I did read the first one though!), we are taking the autotrain for the first time on October 8. I thought I read somewhere that there is a shuttle from the Lorton station that takes you over to the shopping area in Lorton and brings you back to the station if you didn't want to sit and wait in the station if you got there early. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks in advance!

I only know of this offered at the Sanford end of the line. I hope someone else can help you out with this!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

Far as I know this is only offered in Sanford. There is no shuttle from Lorton.

 

[jad215]

Far as I know this is only offered in Sanford. There is no shuttle from Lorton.

Okay, great thanks! I must have remembered incorrectly and it was Sanford that I read about. As usual someone on here knows the answer!

 

[labdogs42]

I think I'm going to try the Auto Train for a trip with DH, DS and DMIL the first week of December. I'm SO excited!

 

[Marshay]

I think I'm going to try the Auto Train for a trip with DH, DS and DMIL the first week of December. I'm SO excited!

Good for you!! Like I said in the other thread, we just came back last week on our first AT experience (one way from Sanford to Lorton, 4 coach seats) and it wasn't that bad...parts of it were really enjoyable -- the seats to sit on, the dining car, the snacks, walking around, the scenery...our only complaint was the actual sleeping in the coach seats since we were each with a child. All the other adults in our car had 2 seats all to themselves...they looked a lot more comfortable than my DH and I.

So we booked the AT for our November trip and got a really cheap price for the Family Bedroom ($300) (previously they wanted around $630.

We are also planning to go in May again but I just checked those prices and the cheapest I can find is the $600 again...not sure what we'll do.

 

[POOHsie]

We are also planning to go in May again but I just checked those prices and the cheapest I can find is the $600 again...not sure what we'll do.

I think that is the time of year the snowbirds are returning north for the summer from their winter in Fla. I hear the trains are pretty full then. Not many bargains. Maybe March or June would be less full and cheaper.

 

[labdogs42]

I booked it -- Auto Train, here we come! I rode it once when I was about 15 and DH's last AT trip was when he was 3, i believe. We're all very excited about it. DMIL and our 5 year old DS will be along for the ride as well. We went with the coach seats. I'll let you know how it went when we return in December!

 

[Kazzy1548]

We will be there in 3 weeks, for our first trip on the auto train. Can't wait. I will try and give you a report on how it went.

 

[lpizzuro123]

We LOVE the autotrain. I am just signing on here so I can read about everyones experience and look for some good rates. We have done this many times and will be heading down again this coming October.

Linda

 

[POOHsie]

We LOVE the autotrain. I am just signing on here so I can read about everyones experience and look for some good rates. We have done this many times and will be heading down again this coming October.

Linda

Our family is ecstatic about going this year. We haven't been in a decade. We are going the last 2 weeks of September. I got my reservations at the end of June. IMHO, I wouldn't wait for good rates. Autotrain really doesn't have specials because it is so popular. Tickets start out at their cheapest levels the farthest out you book (I think 1 year), then get more expensive the closer you get to departure date as the seats get sold. Also, in my case, I have an SUV (over-size) and there is only room for so many of the over-size vehicles, then I am blocked from going at all. That happened to me once trying to go south at Christmas-time.