Amtrak Tips And Tricks | Beginners Guide

hey guys welcome back to the channel today i am sharing with you some tips if you are headed on your very first amtrak train ride [Music] all right guys let's jump right in so one of the very first things that you want to do is if you have a smartphone is to download the amtrak app now on the app you'll be able to keep track of your ticket and any delay information and anything like that and also any information about the route that you are going to be on so definitely smart to go ahead and download the amtrak app next thing you need to know is that so you'll be thinking um about using the restroom on the train restrooms are all on the lower deck so if you're in a train that has two decks you're going to be going downstairs um to go to the restroom they are also in the cafe cars now keep in mind that the restrooms on the train think basically the size of a bathroom on an airplane and um they are pretty tight space for the most part there's a few of them that are a little bit bigger and some are actually a little bit smaller like the ones in the cafe are real small um really about the size of an airplane one or even a little bit smaller which is kind of crazy but you know it's enough it's got everything that you need in there the other thing about the restrooms is that they're not as clean or kept as clean as the ones on a plane so just keep that in mind if you want to bring some wipes with you to wipe down seats or anything like that you can bring those or use what's in the bathroom for you next is that you can actually bring two free checked bags now you don't really want to travel with probably that much stuff unless you're moving but you do get two free checked bags anything on top of that is going to cost you i think about 20 or so or more if you're bringing more than two checked bags you're also allowed to bring two carry-on bags to free carry-on bags with you as well now you don't want to bring too much with you onto the train because you do have to keep track of it while you're on the train so if you're getting up to go to the bathroom or you're getting up to go to an observation car or the cafe um you're going to want to keep track of your things you're not just going to leave them sitting there like you would say like on an airplane just because you're going to be so far away from your items so keep that in mind when you're bringing when you're planning what you're going to pack and what you're bringing on your train wide ride with you next is that um you you can save a little bit of money by bringing your own refillable water bottle they do have different stations um inside of the cars where you can refill your water bottle they provide you with water that you can drink do not refill them in the bathroom sinks first of all you can't fit them in there and second of all it's not good water to to drink so use the water stations that they have set up for you in the train that'll save you some money on having to buy bottled water on the train next is to be careful in between cars because when the the train is moving and you're moving from one car to another car uh there could be a lot of jostling so make sure you use there are handles make sure you use those i almost fell the very first time i went through because i did not realize it was going to be shaking that much so um there are like i said grips and handles that you can hold on to and you can even use hands-free you can just tap with your toe to have the door slide open there's on the bottom and then there's also on the top so you could use either your hand or your foot down below um to get the doors to open in between the cars and they only stay open for so long so don't just stand there because they'll close on you next is to make sure to use the observation car if the train that you're on has an observation car definitely take the time to go down there you can have food there or you can just hang out there really nice view and you can see there's windows all the way down the sides but there's also windows up above as well and you get really nice views and it's a really great place to just kind of sit and relax and some you know kind of a change of scenery from just sitting in your seat now sitting in your seat let's talk about that for a second um first of all the seats are very comfortable they are bigger than in an airplane and you get a ton of leg room guys that is probably my favorite part as a matter of fact i'm 5'4 and there was almost too much legroom which is really crazy if you think about it i had to put the foot rest down in order to reach my legs all the way out because there was so much legroom between you and the seat in front of you and even as they lean back because the seats laid back and then the bottom comes up so it's almost like you're laying down in the coach class seats um so if you're on a long ride but you didn't want to pay for a round then you can lay the seats back quite a bit and they are pretty comfortable if you wanted to sleep there don't forget to bring snacks with you on the train sometimes there could be issues with like their card readers we were on a train once and the card reader wasn't working so they weren't serving meals in the cafe and they were not accepting cash either so there was no way to purchase food while you were on the train so it's important to go ahead and bring some snacks with you and you know if you like sodas bring some sodas with you because otherwise you'll be you know if you're not able to purchase them on the train then you're kind of out of luck because even when the train stops sometimes you either don't have enough to stop enough time to get out and go get something or um you there's no place for you to even purchase something even if you did have enough time to get out and go um explore so definitely bring some snacks with you you know some goodies just like you would maybe even on a plane at this time there are chargers or so outlets in the seats so you can actually plug in your computer your phone charger anything that you need to charge up you can do that at your seat there are two at each uh at each two seats so basically one per seat but if you're used if you're sitting by yourself with two seats then you would obviously be able to use both of the outlets for yourself um next thing is to find out if the train has open seating or if they set it for you have been on both kinds one is open seating where you just walk in and you just pick a seat and sit um the other option is if they assign the seats to you which we've had that as well and um on that one what you can do is be as you purchase your ticket if you are going to if they have a train car the train cars have upper and lower you'll be able to choose between the two again keeping in mind that the restrooms are on the lower level so if you don't want to walk up those narrow stairways then you would definitely want to be on the bottom it's also probably going to be a little bit quieter down there because there's no you can't go from car to car in the lower level so definitely going to be a little bit quieter down in that lower level they do have a wi-fi on some of the trains so make sure the different lines um offer wi-fi some of them do some of them don't so make sure you check on that before you take off so that you'll know and you can be prepared there are some uh some places where they do travel where there is not even a phone signal because the trains do pass through some pretty rural areas of uh america and so there isn't a phone signal in some of those places there are also um smoke breaks so if you are a a smoker uh you would be able to have you would be able to get off the train at these little bit longer breaks which are usually about 20 minutes but if your train arrives early to the station then you still get that a lot of time plus whatever time uh however early you came in on top of that so it would be a little bit longer and they'll let you know before you get off the train how much time you have and once you when you have to be back on board in the event that you would want to explore the nearby area depending on how much time um that you have to do that um if you have an overnight or if you have a long day it would be a really good idea to either bring a warm jacket or a blanket and then you'll also want to probably bring a travel pillow with you as well so that you can be nice and comfortable in that seat if you were to recline it for like an overnight a quick overnight or if it was you know like i said a long day and you wanted to be able to lay down and and rest a little bit and then also bring some entertainment with you because unlike a plane a long flight there is no entertainment um a mass entertainment on the plane so there's no like tvs or entertainment centers or anything like that so you would need to bring either books and headphones and you know if you have trouble with sounds you could bring earplugs and things like that so keep those things in mind as you're packing your carry-ons for the trip and then um just enjoying the scenery uh you're gonna see parts of the u.s that you wouldn't normally be able to see because you can't see them from the road and the train does go through lots of different towns that you wouldn't normally get to see if you were driving um and doing a road trip across or up and down the u of the us so these are kind of all of the tips that i could think of of all the things i learned from the very first time that i went on amtrak if you've got some other tips make sure to share those down below in the comment section and if you have any questions as you prepare for your first trip on amtrak also leave those down below in the comment section i hope this was helpful for you as you prepare for your very first amtrak trip um if you enjoyed this video make sure to give me a like don't forget to subscribe to the channel for more videos on our amtrak travels and we'll see you on the next video

Channel: Grounded Life Travel

Views: 465,929

Keywords: amtrak tips and tricks beginners guide, amtrak tips and tricks, amtrak train travel, first trip on amtrak, amtrak travel guide, dining options on amtrak, sleeping on a train, amtrak overnight, amtrak train, amtrak cross country, amtrak comfort, amtrak cross country train travel, amtrak crescent line, amtrak sunset limited, amtrak texas eagle, amtrak coast starlight, amtrak empire builder, amtrak california zephyr, amtrak observation car, amtrak 2020, amtrak guide

Id: 2MIVxzdEavQ

Length: 11min 7sec (667 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 17 2020