Travelling across country

[Oboy]

Hey guys. I'm looking into travelling cross country next spring. I spoke with Amtrak and they have a North America Rail Pass (which MUST include 1 segment in Canada) for $999 ($899 w/AAA) for 30 consecutive travel days with unlimited rides and stopovers. Travel during their off-peak period (10/16/07-5/22/08) is cheaper ($709/638, respectively).

My question is this: Is there a cheaper alternative to getting across country without flying or driving? I'm interested in seeing this great country of ours.

Thanks!

[dahammer]

Greyhound has a go anywhere rate of $99 with a 14 day advance purchase. How many are in your party?

[Oboy]

Greyhound has a go anywhere rate of $99 with a 14 day advance purchase. How many are in your party?

Two.

This does look like a good deal compared to Amtrak. $198 RT!

[Oboy]

I just spoke with Greyhound. They said with that fare I can't get on and off the bus at my leisure. But I did have them quote me a price from Philadelphia to Seattle for 7/10/07-7/31/07 and it was $398 for the first passenger and $199 for second. He did state that the route is determined by my departing and arriving destinations, so I can't select to go cross-country by way of whatever cities I want, it will be pre-selected. Of course this was true of train travel as well.

[AaronJB]

Amtrak does have sale fares that change every week in their hot deals section (http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/WeeklySpecials)

They're really not great now, but they change all the time. This may help; I have liked traveling on Amtrak and while the on-time performance may not be great, it is a pleasant way to see the country. The stretch that the Lake Shore Limited runs between Albany and NYC (a couple of hours or so) is absolutely gorgeous; it runs right along (literally) the Hudson River the whole way. Some of the routes heading out West (such as the Empire Builder) also go through gorgeous areas (the EB goes past Glacier National Park, for example.)

I think it's a really cool idea what you're doing. In terms of going to Canada, you could take the Maple Leaf from NYC to Toronto (that goes along the same path as the LSL mentioned above.)

[Oboy]

After having had the day to think about it, I decided that the bus won't be an option for me because there just isn't that freedom to get up and walk around like you can on a train. I have almost a year to plan this so that will help. I'll just keep my eyes open for specials at amtrak.com and we'll see what happens. BTW, the Empire Builder sounds like a great route.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I'll keep you posted...

[AaronJB]

I think you could definitely plan a great trip hand-in-hand with planned priceline/hotwire stops. Less freedom with that, though.

You could possibly do something like this:

1. Boston to NYC via Regional train.

2. Silver Meteor from NYC Penn to Miami.

3. Somewhat different Silver Star line back from Miami to DC.

4. Capitol Limited from DC to Chicago.

5. California Zephyr from Chicago to Sacramento, CA.

6. Short trip to San Fran.

7. Back to Sacramento and then from there, take the Coast Starlight North, heading along the Coast going up to Seattle.

8. Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago.

9. Long and winding Cardinal route from Chicago to NYC or Lake Shore Limited from Chicago-NYC.

10. From NYC, head North on the Adirondack (which goes along the Hudson, similar to the Lake Shore Limited's final last couple of hours before NYC) up to Montreal.

Just kind of throwing out a possible "outline" of a trip, and there would be stops in-between on each of the routes.

[AaronJB]

There are a ton of different combinations you could do, though. It depends on where you'd want to start.

[yellowdog]

Oboy,

cool idea! One thing you can do to save money is to look up the diffrent car rental companies. I know some have "free ride" deals. That is to bring back "one way" rental cars to it's original location. You move the car for the company for free but you get a car without paying. I know Hertz have this program, but I'm sure there's others.

Have fun!

Henrik.

[iamfrugal]

i have not been able to find out any info from Hertz about this free ride program...they said it may only be available at specific locations....800 number was no help at all.do you or anyone else know more. my area of travel would be orlando and fort lauderdale.thanks