Seeing The Country With Cheap Train Tickets
I know that rail travel isn't fashionable anymore, but I still really enjoy it. Don't get me wrong ? when I have to get somewhere quickly, I prefer to take a plane. Nonetheless, for most of my trips I'm in no particular hurry. I'd rather get a cheap train ticket and take my time getting their than to pay an arm and a leg to travel on a plane.
The great thing about cheap Amtrak tickets is that you can find them at the last minute without a significant increase in price. I travel between San Francisco and Portland a lot, so this is pretty important for me. If I have a long weekend to take a trip down there, I might not be able to find a cheap airline ticket at the last minute. Sometimes, I can save over a hundred dollars on travel by taking the train. Although it takes longer, I still think it's a good deal. I can relax and read a book on the train, and don't have to worry about the hassle of security and canceled flights.
You can find cheap train tickets almost anywhere. There are third-party vendors in most regions that will give you discounted tickets if you know where to look. They vary a little bit from season to season and route to route, but often you can get where you need to go for about 50 dollars. In a time where airline tickets can cost 10 times that or even more, this is no small bargain.
Another thing that people don't think about is, for short distances, buying cheap train tickets makes more sense than flying on an airplane. With the airline, you have to get there two hours early, wait in line, check in your baggage, check out your baggage, and go home. This may sound strange, but flying from Portland to San Francisco only takes a few hours less than taking a train there when things run badly at the airport. Flights sometimes get cancelled, leaving you stranded at the last minute. Trains can be pretty slow, but they always leave in the end. Planes, on the other hand, don't.
One of the perks of cheap train tickets is sightseeing. I've always loved the coastal trip up and down from Seattle to Las Angeles. Sometimes I just take the train to ride it. It can be a great way to spend a week or so, taking short stops along the way and just enjoying life.
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