My Fiance is Dad Booked us two upper level coach seats to California from Louisiana and I am a little nervous. This will be my first time to use ANY kind of public transportation. I am a little worried about sleeping arrangements because l know we have to sleep in out seats, are they at all comfortable and how easy do they make it to sleep, do they turn down the lights or anything like that?
And any other tips you have would be really great.


Thanks

l can not comment on what sleeping in coach will be like (I've heard it can be a little stiff, though), but l can say that u should have a very pleasant, & relaxing trip (with a good view of the scenery as well from the upper-level of Amtrak is Superliner cars).

Taking Amtrak is usually very comfortable & enjoyable although the only drawback is that it can tend to run a little (sometimes a lot) behind schedule since it operates its trains over the private freight railroads (and thus, is often times held up by construction or time sensitive freight trains).

In any event, u should have a good trip so l would not be too worried. By the way, l am guessing that u will be riding aboard the Sunset Limited?

Whoa - Your first travel experience is the Sunset Limited? You will be spoiled for anyhting else - that is a luxury ride even in coach.

The long-haul Amtrak trains have big coach seats that lean way back, they r designed to be slept in. It might be a little hard to get used to ur first night, so turn in early. Yes they dim the lights.

Here is how u pack.
- Luggage to be checked. You wo not be able to get to it.
- An overnight bag to leave at ur seat, changes of clothes etc.
- Small fanny pack or bag for ur valuables, that u can easily carry with you.

As soon as the conductor takes ur tickets, get up & explore the train. You will find a real dining car, serving real food, first class. Prices r somewhere between Dennys & Applebees. You will also find a lounge car that is for u - spend a lot of time in it! Downstairs they sell drinks & microwave junk food, but do not spoil ur appetite!

One thing about overnight Amtrak trains - they can run late. Very late. It is a fabulous ride but u will enjoy it a lot more if u just accept that it will very likely be very late - 5, 7 hours or even more. It is just the nature of long-haul passenger trains on freight lines.

Most Amtrak riders r super good folks. On a long-haul train like this, people will be very sociable & friendly. That is kind of unique to long-haul Amtrak trains. Just so u know, people r not like that on airplanes, buses or short haul trains. There r not many seats in the diner so u will be seated with others usually.

Enjoy ur trip, lots of us r envious of you!

It will be fun!

it is fine the seats are good and comfy big a lot of leg room they recline allot but l do not think Beyond 120 degrees. the light are half tinted and clear l would bring a light to read if interested and if you have problems with light bring a blindfold maybe ear plugs but the most noise you hear is from people walking from car to car. l would for your next trip get a roomette Little more fun and all your meals are free.

Amtrak is cool. It is slow but comfortable. The sleeper seats are pretty nice. Have fun.

My wife & l take the Coast Stralight out of San Jose twice per year to visit relatives in Seattle. Amtrak is a great experience, its more like a rolling hotel than anything else l can describe.

Tough l think ur Fiance is Dad should have sprung for a Sleeper Berth for u two, but probably trying to be old fashioned & polite to ur parents, thought Coach would be more ''Proper.''

The good news is, if they have the space available in the Sleepers, u guys should upgrade, (which they can do while on the train).

The good thing about that, is all of ur meals will be included in the ticket fare.

From California to Lousiana, is definately going to be a long haul, & u guys r going to be pretty tired of those coach seats by the time u get there.

We did the Coach thing the first time l took my wife on the train. Have not done Coach since. We r willing to pay the extra $$ to have a little privacy, & an actual bed to sleep in while the night hours go by.

The views r really great, & do not forget u camera. As the other folks have told you, being on the train is a totally different, (and better experience in our opinion), than flying.

The food is really good, & the staff is excellent. No complaints there.

But depending on where u live in California, u should also experence the Coast Starlight run from ur town into Seattle. When the train gets above Redding, it will be dawn as u r crossing Lake Shasta, & it will be daylight as the train approached Dunsmuir. So u get a wonderful ride through extreme Northern California, & nearly all of Oregon.

If u spend ur all of ur time at ur seat, & do not visit the Observation Car, u r missing half the trip.

At any rate, check into the upgrade l mentioned, & definately enjoy ur trip.

When l used it from Denver to Oakland it was quite confortable. Reclining seats (better than on aircrafts), lots of leg space. l am sure, you will enjoy it.

l rode amtrak about three weeks ago from portland oregon to winona minnesota, took 41 hours.

yes, the seats r comfotable, they do turn down the lights at night, however l found sleeping to be impossible cause the thing is constantly moving around.

when l got to my destination my bed was calling.

take a long a duffel bag full of food, like a big duffel bag, cause if u have to buy food it is quite spendy, & u can bring ANYTHING to eat.

a beer is like $4, a cheesburger is 7.25, stuff like that.


Other than that l just hanges out most of the time in the lounge car & most of the people seemed cool & would tell ur their life stories, where they were from, where they r going to.

as far as public transportation goes it is NOTHING like riding the city bus as u may be thinking of public transportation, the people who ride amtrak r of MUCH higher caliber.


EDIT- l noticed somebody suggested getting a sleeper car, POINTLESS do not do that, it is like 300 bucks more per person, & u still can not get much sleep cause of the constant movement. l talked to somebody who had a sleeper & that is exactly what they told me.