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I am planning a trip to New York City, travelling from Los Angeles.
I will not fly. I hate it, will never fly again, ever.
I am looking at amtrak or greyhound. I want to spend 2 weeks in New York City not counting the time it will take to get there.
If i go Greyhound its cheaper but it looks like it will be a longer ride, plus more uncomfortable. If i go Amtrak more expensive but at least i get a bed.
Not sure what to do here. Just like some input from people with experience traveling by Greyhound and/or Amtrak.
I hate buses and I dont know how much you have been on them but they are the WORST! I had to take one from Munich to Barcelona because the Volcano cancelled my flight earlier this year. 18 hours on a bus was TERRIBLE. A train will be expensive but much more fun and comfortable.
Honestly though its the 21st century and the safest way to get there and BY FAR the fastest way is to fly. What did you hate about flying?
If it is fear go to the doctor and get some meds for it. If you just dont like dealing with the stuff like security, checking in etc.. It still will save you 2-3 days of travel! Fly an airline that has live tv at the seats, it will make the flight go by quick and I find that if people are afraid to fly it makes them not think much about the flight, for the price of a amtrak ticket with a bed will cost you could probably fly Biz class which is a great experience. You do a bed on Amtrak will cost over $1,500 when a flight could be as little as $300-400 in coach. Biz or First depending on the airline will be around $2,000.
I have taken Amtrack a few times on the auto train from Orlando-DC and a few from DC-NYC on the acela. The Acela was great but only a 3 hour ride. The Orlando-DC is overnight and it was nice, I would not want to do it for more then two days. I did have a cabin and its fun for the night but after that its not so great.
thanks guys, i think ill go amtrak based on your opinions.
FlyMIA i wont fly because I HATE the turbulence and youre basically in a pressurized tube with rockets on the wings loaded with fuel, 30,000 feet in the air. i am just not comfortable with that.
Ive flown to europe only because i wanted to see the running of the bulls. I just dont want to fly ever again.
i dont care about how good the food is but after my research people can sneak in beer which is what i want to do. i dont want to pay $5 for a can of beer.
i want to take two backpacks, 1 for clothes and aspirin etc. and the other with a case of beer and ice and a few snacks. i wonder if i will be confronted by amtrak employees if i do this. i really want to take beer with me to pass the time a little easier.
also, i assume bathroom is free and there are showers since this will probably be a 3 day ride.
i know these are a lot of questions but i appreciate the help.
Last edited by bradyischamp; 07-01-2010 at 11:05 PM..
Yes bathrooms are free and on the over night trains I have taken there were showers also.
fyi: that pressurized tube going 500mph at 35,000ft is safer then any bus. Turbulence is not dangerous at all its the same thing as a train moving with the tracks or a bus hitting bumps on the road.
Of course if you dont want to fly then you wont, the train is much better then a bus but those beds are expensive! You price it out yet? And when i did amtrak they didnt have much security that would bother you, plenty of bomb dogs and things like that. Not sure what their policies are.
i visited barcelona, sitges, madrid, pamplona and san sebastian. spain has some extremely beautiful women and extremely tasty tapas especially in san sebastian, that was seafood heaven. san sebastian is the best place i have ever been in my life.
that being said, viva espana. i hope they win the world cup.
torres needs to step it up a notch.
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