All about the Autotrain

[shafke]

We will be taking the auto train next August.
The prices for the roomettes are double what we paid in Feb this year.
I checked various dates in the coming months and the price on the roomettes has been fairly constant. What are the chances the price on the roomettes will come down. We'll be travelling on a Thursday so I don't expect the train to sell out.

Also, what is the deal on the return trip. The trip north is about 50% more than the trip south.

 

[Marshay]

We will be taking the auto train next August.
The prices for the roomettes are double what we paid in Feb this year.
I checked various dates in the coming months and the price on the roomettes has been fairly constant. What are the chances the price on the roomettes will come down. We'll be travelling on a Thursday so I don't expect the train to sell out.

Also, what is the deal on the return trip. The trip north is about 50% more than the trip south.

not sure the reason but when I booked our Family Room at 11 months out for January, I was surprised by the cost. Much higher than I expected since I booked at the earliest.

Well, about 1-2 months later, the price went down and I was able to call them back and get a credit.

I asked the agent why and he said, "well, Amtrak thought they could book the train at the higher price...when it wasn't filling up as they expected, they lowered the price."

Now that may not be true but makes sense to me. Also taught me to always book at 11 months (or earlier) and keep checking prices to see if anything comes down.

As for the return trip being more $$$, I've heard (and our family used to do the same thing), that many people will save money/time and drive down to FL on their own. They are excited to be going on vacation and the drive seems quicker that way. Kids are excited or they even do the drive all night long and arrive in FL the next morning.

But for the return trip, many folks are sad to be leaving, waaaay too tired to drive back and may even have to work on arrival day or next day. So they book the train for the north route.

Hence, northbound train costs more since there is more demand for it, so they can charge a higher price.

I'd be curious if there are other reasons. I know the snowbirds definitely affect prices when they "migrate" for the season, too.

 

[bdcp]

hey, I'm in Ashburn, too, the Farm. Small world.

Yeah, we don't leave that early -- too much waiting for us. Guess we are just lucky b/c we've always had all the choices for dining times (gone 4 times).

We lived in the Farm 95-03. We're now near Brambleton. This will be our 4th Autotrain trip (Oct) as we drove our first time, flew the second and one trip we just did a cruise so my trips in my sig don't add up lol. We'll go to Ashburn IHOP and then head over to be in Lorton before noon.

 

[famouschinesec]

We will be taking the auto train next August.
The prices for the roomettes are double what we paid in Feb this year.
I checked various dates in the coming months and the price on the roomettes has been fairly constant. What are the chances the price on the roomettes will come down. We'll be travelling on a Thursday so I don't expect the train to sell out.

Also, what is the deal on the return trip. The trip north is about 50% more than the trip south.

What specific dates are you looking at? Is the trip north on a weekend?
I checked Aug 2nd and yes the roomettes are ridiculously expensive. If you know you are going to take the train whether you get a room or not, then I would book now in a lower level reserved seat. Lock in the "ticket" price and the price of the vehicle. So for Thurs Aug 2nd I show 2 adult tickets at $192 and the price of an oversized vehicle at $169. They might go down a little bit, but more than likely they will go up. These are the rock bottom prices that I see throughout many dates. Then just keep checking the price of the rooms.
When I started planning a trip back in February, for a northbound train in late October, the room prices were in the same crazy price range that the computer is now showing for next August. I ended up booking a room for a day later than we really wanted because it was half the price. Sure enough about 2 months later the price went down, and I was able to re-book for the day we really wanted and receive a $40 credit. The prices have stayed the same since.
What seems to be the "lowest" price for a roomette is $129, and for a superliner bedroom $292.
Just remember when you make a reservation, you will pay for it in full, but until you are actually ticketed, it is fully refundable; so if you can afford it now and definitely want to book the train, I would make reservations now.
Hope that helps.

 

[BearHawk]

I found the same price difference for June 2012. Cost much higher coming north, than going south. Didn't matter which day of the week I chose.

 

[famouschinesec]

I found the same price difference for June 2012. Cost much higher coming north, than going south. Didn't matter which day of the week I chose.

In June, it might be the snowbird factor. All those retired folks that went south for the winter. Can't see that in August though. I really think in both cases, it's just Amtrak seeing how much they can sell a room for, and I would expect the rates to come down.

 

[bdcp]

I found the same price difference for June 2012. Cost much higher coming north, than going south. Didn't matter which day of the week I chose.

It's always more expensive one way than the other. June is actually late for snowbirds to be returning. Most head south in Oct/Nov and north in Apr/May. June is just a big time heading north because schools in the south get out earlier (May) than those in the north (mid-late June) which means more kids heading north than south in June, especially the first three weeks.

 

[kdka421]

Just got back from our first trip on the Autotrain, left yesterday from Sanford and arrived this morning in Lorton.

Notes from our trip:
We only traveled one way (S to N) because our trip down was canceled due to Irene.
Our train started boarding passengers at 2:30pm, left right on time (4pm), and got in early due to decreased freight traffic due to the holiday weekend. We got in to Lorton at 8:05am. They started deboarding cars around 8:30am, and ours was off by 9am. So in terms of travel time, it was great.
In terms of comfort - we had coach seats, not sleeping cars - and we all found it almost impossible to sleep. We had brought full size pillows with us (they provide small pillows which don't really do anything), but just couldn't get comfortable at all. I had the added disadvantage of my leg rest not working properly, so it only went up halfway, which made it even harder to get comfortable.
We got lucky with our train car - we were in on the lower level, the last passenger car, which only sat 12, so it was us 4 and a family of 5. (We were a little surprised that our party of 4 on the lower level was seated with a family with 3 kids, I thought they mostly kept kids to the top level - but the kids were pretty well behaved.) There was nothing behind us, so we didn't have foot traffic going through our car all night. But when I was sleeping, every time someone opened the doors, the noise of the doors woke me up...so not ideal if you are a light sleeper.
The food was actually better than I expected for train food It was definitely decent.

If anyone has any questions at all, I can try to answer!

 

[lindap1]

Hubby is wondering about security checks and things like that. Can anyone let me know what the steps are and how secure the trains are?

 

[MinnieGi]

Hubby is wondering about security checks and things like that. Can anyone let me know what the steps are and how secure the trains are?

There is no security check line. At boarding time you just walk right on.

It is soooooo hassle free compared to the airport!

 

[shafke]

There is no security check line. At boarding time you just walk right on.

It is soooooo hassle free compared to the airport!

And you can bring whatever liquids you want on board.

 

[kdka421]

Hubby is wondering about security checks and things like that. Can anyone let me know what the steps are and how secure the trains are?

There is no security check line. At boarding time you just walk right on.

It is soooooo hassle free compared to the airport!

Yup - no security checks at all. Our trip was maybe only full, so I don't know if they might do this if the train was packed, but they also didn't enforce any sort of limit about how many bags you could bring on board.

 

[bdcp]

We feel the trains are secure as they do not stop to pick up or discharge passengers in between Lorton and Sanford. We've always felt perfectly safe.

While they don't search/x-ray bags, there are restrictions about what you can bring onboard. Mainly pertaining to weapons, chemicals, etc. Amtrak can do random searches/checks if they choose to.

There's also no reason to carry a lot of luggage onboard. I'm pretty sure the allowance is two bags per person which can be a lot for a family to schlep. You'll see people carrying a small roll on bag with another bag with pillows and blankets.

 

[lindap1]

thanks for the replies. He just wants to make sure it's safe. So then the way they check is random, meaning, the guy infront of you could get checked and the guy two people behing you won't ( and he could be the one bringing a weapon onboard) Don't really like to think that but 9/11 is here and things like this worry me.

 

[bdcp]

thanks for the replies. He just wants to make sure it's safe. So then the way they check is random, meaning, the guy infront of you could get checked and the guy two people behing you won't ( and he could be the one bringing a weapon onboard) Don't really like to think that but 9/11 is here and things like this worry me.

I've never seen anyone checked/searched at the auto train stations. what I said is, Amtrak CAN do searches. Amtrak Stations also have bomb sniffing dogs that are walked around people and their luggage. Amtrak has their own "police" and they do check the id of the person whose name is on the ticket when you check in. There are also a lot of invisible security actions going on out of sight.

I have never heard of any problems onboard and I've read a lot of reviews. We feel it's completely safe.

 

[disneymarie]

I can not understand if you are a Disney traveler and not going one way, why the same price can not be both ways. Round trips, then fill up on the snow birds? We are driving down and I would much rather do a round trip. It is crazy to spend well over $3,000 for us when the 5 Airtran would be $950 round trip...ds's want a train experience though. There is why tooo much spread on the differences.

 

[bdcp]

I can not understand if you are a Disney traveler and not going one way, why the same price can not be both ways. Round trips, then fill up on the snow birds? We are driving down and I would much rather do a round trip. It is crazy to spend well over $3,000 for us when the 5 Airtran would be $950 round trip...ds's want a train experience though. There is why tooo much spread on the differences.

Maybe because Amtrak isn't concerned with whether or not you are a snowbird or going to Disney. They provide transportation and the fare is based on demand.

BTW, snowbirds aren't going one way either. They go down to FL in the fall and return up north in the spring. Just because their round trip is spread out doesn't make it any less a round trip.

 

[disneymarie]

Hubby is wondering about security checks and things like that. Can anyone let me know what the steps are and how secure the trains are?

As far as weapons, they can not be taken on board.

 

[lindap1]

thanks for all the responses about the safety of the auto train. Now onto the next ? I have...lol
We are driving down the day before and I have asked this before, but now I have it narrowed down....where would you recommend we stay....Comfort Inn (around the corner from train) or should we drive down the road to woodbridge? Big differences in prices for some of the hotels. I love Hampton Inn but I can't seeing paying 140 for a night in a "hotel". 15 more sleeps and we (meaning...me and my daughter) are sooooo x-cited!

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

thanks for all the responses about the safety of the auto train. Now onto the next ? I have...lol
We are driving down the day before and I have asked this before, but now I have it narrowed down....where would you recommend we stay....Comfort Inn (around the corner from train) or should we drive down the road to woodbridge? Big differences in prices for some of the hotels. I love Hampton Inn but I can't seeing paying 140 for a night in a "hotel". 15 more sleeps and we (meaning...me and my daughter) are sooooo x-cited!

Linda, my sister and I leave just 4 days ahead of you. With the AT practically in my back yard you would think I would have tried it before now, but this will be our first trip and we are really looking forward to it.

What it really comes down to is what is more important to you when deciding where to stay. As I've said before, either choice is good; it just depends on what you want.

If you want a place close to the Auto Train to minimize your travel once you get to the area, then the Comfort Inn at Lorton is where I would recommend you stay since it can't get much closer to the station and there is a full-size grocery with a pharmacy nearby for any last minute needs, limited but available dining options, plus two gas stations with reasonable prices for the area. The only negative is there is not a huge amount of shopping/dining options.

If you want a location where there is tons of shopping/dining options and gas stations with somewhat lower prices, then going down the road to the Potomac Mills/Woodbridge area would probably be best since it offers a Target, the Potomac Mills outlet mall, and more restaurants than you can shake a stick at. The only negative about going to Woodbridge is traffic heading south in the afternoon frequently gets backed up to a crawl at the Occoquan River (just past the AT exit) and beyond from merging traffic, and if its a weekday, rush hour traffic (or weekend, getaway traffic).

When I travel I try to stay as close to my destination as possible so I know what I would do in your place (Comfort Inn), but your needs may be different, so it really depends on what is more important to you. Both are good choices.