Why would we pay $200 for a 2 hour flight when we could pay $602 for a 20 hour train ride? You know 😉 ? That is the discussion my partner and I had when deciding how we wanted to travel from California to Washington.
You can obviously see what we chose, but the reason for it is because my partner loves trains and riding the Coast Starlight was a very unique experience when I did it in 2016.
During that trip, I took the Coast Starlight from Seattle to San Francisco – basically the opposite route as this one. I also took an Amtrak sleeper train on the east coast during the pandemic from Connecticut to Georgia:
So I was curious to see what this experience would be like on the same train, 7 years later on the same double-decker Superliner train, and how it would be different than my experience on the east coast Viewliner experience. So let’s see what happened!
Booking
Reserving our roomette was straightforward. We purchased our tickets on Amtrak.com, which included the cost of the seat for each of us and the additional cost of the roomette.
Once we did that, they assigned us a seat. I was surprised by that since the side of the train can seriously change your experience in the roomettes. I tried to see if something like SeatGuru for airplane seats exists for trains, but I wasn’t able to find anything (if you know of one please let me know!) So I crossed my fingers that we were on a great side for views. Generally you want to be on the west side of this train to see the best stuff 🙂 .
Check In & Checking Bags
I have the Amtrak app and they have a QR code just like an airline. I had that ready on my phone and we arrived at the Sacramento Valley Train Station and went to the check in counter. They asked for our names and we had to show ID and then they let us check our bags.
I thought strict weight requirements were for airlines and was surprised to learn that Amtrak has them as well. I guess that makes sense since it’s also a container for moving people and too much weight can slow it down, but I didn’t think of it like that until they made us hit a 50lb weight limit for my partner’s bag.
I thought the weight was cumulative like 100 lbs total for 2 bags distributed however, but nope! Luckily no one else was there waiting and we were able to quickly transfer 2 lbs to his smaller checked bag.
So you don’t make my mistakes, here are Amtrak’s checked baggage guidelines:
- 2 bags free per person
- Up to 50 lbs and 75 linear inches (length + width +height)
And for carry on baggage:
- 2 personal items per person and 2 carry on bags per person
- Personal items can be up to 25 lbs and 14 x 11 x 7 inches each
- Carry on bags can be up to 50 lbs. and 28 x 22 x 14 inches each
So I’ll be more careful if we have a big bag on Amtrak in the future. We use this travel scale to weigh things before a flight and now overnight Amtrak rides!
So the attendant gave us our tickets and bag tags – neither of which anyone checked 🙂 . They were fun to have though. We were told to head out to the track at a specific time, about 45 minutes before departure.
Boarding
An announcement came to head to the track and we did so. I’m glad we did because in Sacramento, the walk to the tracks was pretty far – about 5 minutes of walking. Then we waited. Our train was about 15 minutes late.
When it arrived, we had a fun time trying to find our train car. An attendant told us to go further to the front of the train and then another told us we’d missed the car. Each train car has several numbers on it – the one in the middle of the car indicates the car number, which is on your ticket.
The Roomette
We then told another attendant our room number (Room 6) and they directed us up the stairs on the Double Decker Superliner. We got to our room and it was…tiny 🙂 . I realized in that moment that the last roomette I visited on the Viewliner was totally different. Oops! The Viewliner is a 1 story train and is significantly bigger than the Double Decker Superliner.
The Viewliner had a toilet, sink and lots of storage while the Superliner has none of that. I was very glad that we’d checked my partner’s bags because there was no room for more stuff especially with the roomette in bed mode.
As a result, I would have these recommendations for anyone else booking a Superliner roomette: check all the bags you can! Also wear slip on shoes if possible because there is no room to easily put on more difficult shoes when the roomette is in bed mode either.
There is a trash can located under the right side seat’s arm rest and reading lights over each seat. One of ours didn’t work, but we didn’t end up needing it.
One of our neighbors mentioned that their bright overhead lights didn’t turn off, which was a problem because it’s inches from their face on the top bunk. They used a face mask as an eye mask. Pandemic ingenuity!
So basically everything wasn’t perfect, but we all made it work. We settled in and pulled down the top bunk to get ready for bed. To unfold that bunk you pull it from the ceiling and it clicks into place.
Sleeping
So the main question: Is it comfortable?…No 🙂 . I had warned my partner about this before our journey and I will warn you here: the roomette beds on the Double Decker Superliner are less comfortable than any lie flat airline seat I’ve experienced. I honestly don’t understand how mostly older people travel on trains like this if even my younger body can’t handle it.
I kindly describe the top bunk as “coffin like” because it has no window, is close to the ceiling and invokes my nightmares 🙂 . So my partner and I tried to sleep while sharing the bottom bunk for a few hours, but it was hard to fit two adults in there. So that only lasted a few hours before my partner generously moved to the top bunk. He didn’t think it was the thing of nightmares – YAY!
Morning
In the morning I awakened to snow covered trees and mountains as we went through Shasta National Forest. It was gorgeous:
Then I set about exploring our new home for the next few hours. There is a bathroom at the end of the hall and a shower…somewhere, but I didn’t investigate too hard. Next to the bathroom was a station where you can make your own coffee that was available until 11am.
Breakfast
I spoke to our roomette attendant and they mentioned that breakfast opens in the Dining Car at 6:30am, so after we got up, we headed there as the attendant put away our beds and made the roomette into 2 seats.
Breakfast is the only meal that isn’t determined by reservation times that you choose. So we walked into the car and an attendant told us where to sit. They have you sit on same side of the table as the person you’re traveling with and other side is filled with 1-2 strangers aka my kind of nightmare 🙂 .
There was a menu in the roomette so I could plan ahead what I’d be eating. Then you’re asked for your room number which you give so they know you don’t have to pay. You can order breakfast, a side and a drink.
I got French Toast, Pork Sausage and Orange Juice. The sausage was really good and the french toast was fine. One interesting thing we noticed is that the food comes up the dining car from a dumbwaiter in a lower level. Fun!
Viewing Car
After breakfast we checked out the viewing car, which was pretty. It’s almost completely glass to give great views of the scenery. During our visit, there were people camping out in there and sleeping across 3 seats for example, so we high tailed it back to our roomette where we could look out the window and not be surrounded by people 🙂 .
During the ride we went through these national forests and parks:
- Shasta Trinity National Forest
- Mt Hood National Forest
- Gifford Pinchot National Forest
- Crater Lake National Park
- Mt Rainier National Park
We enjoyed those views from the room and learned we could recline our seats (there’s a handle directly under seat), which was nice. We read, napped and chilled. A little after 10am another attendant came around to ask what time we wanted lunch and gave us 3 options. We were basically chilling and then eating – my kind of vacation 😉 .
Lunch
When our lunch reservation time came around, an announcement went out through the train and we made our way to the dining car and it was a repeat of breakfast except that there was a different selection on the menu than what we saw on the menu in our room. But we’re flexible so that’s cool. I got a Burger with a side of chips, a Diet Coke and a cake of some kind.
After eating all that, we went back to the room for more chilling until around 4:15 when an attendant came around to ask for our dinner reservation time. They gave us 2 options and then before we knew it our time was being announced.
Dinner
We made our way to the dining car in the first dinner seating at 5pm and were surprised to discover that we were so early that we didn’t have to sit with anyone else! Sweet 🙂 . Unlike at breakfast or lunch, there were actual (not plastic) plates, glasses, and silverware as well as tablecloths. Fancyyy.
We were originally told there were no appetizers available, but then later they said they did have them. Nice. We ordered the Coconut Crusted Shrimp and Salad appetizers, Atlantic Salmon and Pan Roasted Chicken Breast for entrees and the Chocolate Toffee Mousse and White Chocolate Blueberry Cobbler Cheesecake for dessert.
You get one complimentary alcoholic beverage with your meal along with still or sparkling water. Heads up that the sparkling water I received was flavored, which I wasn’t expecting.
The shrimp was shockingly crispy – I’m not sure how they accomplished that on a train. The ‘ancient grains’ that came with the salmon were also very good along with the chicken. Also the dessert was huge:
Tipping
I don’t know what the expectation for tipping is on sleeper trains, but here’s what we did. We gave the roomette attendant a $10 tip and then tried to tip at the restaurant, but we didn’t see anyone else doing this and it was an awkward encounter so maybe that’s not normal? Stupid US tipping culture just makes things more complicated. Let’s just pay everyone a living wage and get rid of this tipping garbage eh?
Arrival
After dinner, our tipping adventure and reading a bit more in the room, we arrived in Seattle! Our train was 15 minutes late, which seems pretty standard. I use RailRat to track my trains and have found it super helpful.
Luggage
In Seattle there’s a baggage carousel like in an airport at the back of the train station. There are signs with red letters indicating where to go. We went to the carousel and our bags came out less than 2 minutes later. We gathered our stuff, ordered a Lyft and continued on our journey 🙂 .
Conclusion
So was it worth it? With the additional cost and time of this route, I would recommend doing it once because of the gorgeous views you can’t see from another type of transit, but I won’t be using sleeper trains regularly. For me the roomette on this route is a bit too claustrophobic, especially if I wanted to travel for more than one day.
Another thing to note is that unlike other Amtrak trains I’ve been on, this one didn’t have Wifi. However, we did have LTE for more of the ride which was nice. Overall this was an interesting experience with gorgeous views and I’m glad we did it. If you’re interested in video from my trip I posted them on my Insta.
Have you experienced a sleeper train?
My partner and I took a roomette from NC to Tampa last Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the east coast route isn’t nearly as scenic 😂 especially since the only daylight hours were in Florida. We did have a tiny foldable sink in our room which I loved and I got a kick out of how much they could squeeze in a tiny roomette. But it’s true that the beds aren’t that comfortable, and neither of us slept well. It was an adventure that we chose because flights were just as expensive during the holiday but probably not something we’d do a lot. We also didn’t have nearly as fancy food on this trip as the super-long West Coast ones do; the food was just fine. We tipped both the attendant and the folks in the Dining Car, as we noticed others tipping there too.
I’m surprised you said you had a toilet in your east coast rommette. From what I recall while booking, the roommettes don’t have that, but there are a handful of bigger rooms that do (I passed them walking along the train). I didn’t mind having a separate toilet and shower and once again got a kick out of having a hot shower on a moving train.
All that said I’ve never flown business or first class so this is really my only travel experience that comes with things like food and showers and lie down beds and that made it extra special. I would be willing to do it again but preferably on a more scenic West Coast route!
Fair point – I went from CT to GA and the views were not great lol.
As for the toilet, I actually took a video where you can see the sink, toilet etc here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20i5ssIMLno
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad I’m not alone in my thoughts on the beds 🙂 .
A couple of weeks ago, just for the fun of it, I took an Amtrak train cross country from DC to Portland, OR. I was in a roomette all the way. I took the Capitol Limited from DC to Chicago (about 18 hours) and the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland (46 hours). I overnighted in Chicago before the second train because I didn’t want a significant delay to mess up my roomette reservation. I was actually supposed to take the longer Cardinal from DC to Chicago, which went through West Virgina and Virginia, but they called me in the morning that there was a problem with my room and they had to switch me to the Capitol Limited if I wanted to keep my roomette (which of course I did as that was the whole point of the trip!).
Dragon Gal didn’t want to go, so it was just me in the room. I felt for one it is fine, but would have been cramped for two. I had a backpack and gym type duffle bag and was able to get everything in the roomette. At night, I just put the backback under the bed and the duffle on the stairs. I actually slept pretty decently, especially toward the end of the trip (probably because I was tired from all the nights on train).
I did take a shower on the Empire Builder train (they are located in the first elvel on the Superliners). It was actually decent temperature and water pressure. But the door to the shower had a little trouble staying completely closed so I ended up flooding the changing area and the hallway outside! Ooops!
For my meals on the Empire Builder, I had 2 dinners, a lunch, and 2 breakfasts. I had everything you and your parnter had, plus I also had the caprese skewers appetizer. The Empire Builder splits in Spokane to Seattle and Portland – Seattle gets the dining car and Portland gets the obsservation car/cafe. So for my last breakfast I had to eat from the cafe (for free). That kinda of was a bummer, but I managed to eat an egg mcmuffin type sandwich and a bagel.
I wasn’t a fan at first of the communal seating at meals, but I grew to accept it and it gave me a chance to try to human and interact with people more. I did tip the dining attendants — either handing them the cash or just leaving it on the table. But I am with you, I wish it wasn’t such an issue in the US. Heck, just getting enough small bills was pain enough!
I do want to take a train trip again in the future. I heard the scenery on the California Zephyr (from SF to CHI) is amazing through Colorado. And I still want to try the Cardinal.
That’s so awesome!! I’m glad you had a good time and gave the communal seating more of a chance than I did 🙂 . I’m excited to hear if you do the California Zephyr – that sounds lovely.
I took an overnight train in Sweden, from Stockholm to Boden. It was a 12-hour train ride (it stopped briefly a few times); it would be an 11-hour drive or a 75-minute flight, and it left rather late at night (like 9pm) so most of the time was spent sleeping.
I was traveling with my boyfriend at the time and we got our roommette to ourselves, but they’re built to hold 3. I can’t imagine that though – when it’s in sitting mode it’s a bench along the wall facing in the direction of travel. There’s a window and a tiny sink and that’s it. If you’re sleeping you flip down one or two more bunks directly above the first bench (which becomes the bottom bunk). The top bunk is too close to the ceiling to sit up, and if the middle bunk was in use, no one could sit upright on either of the lower bunks.
So the room wasn’t really a place to hang out, but there was a cafe car that was a casual spot and we sat there when we weren’t sleeping. It was pretty when the sun came up but it was not fancy in any way!
Wow – that’s a fast train 🙂 . And woah – THREE bunks?! Unless that’s a super tall train I can’t even imagine. Wow. Very good to know – thank you for sharing! We’re planning a Europe trip mostly around trains for next year and I’ll keep that in mind.
I bought an Amtrak 30 day pass on sale a couple months ago for $300 (normal $500). It’s just coach seats but I still had a great time! Mostly brought my own food to save money and stayed with friends when I could. Luckily I am unemplyed and flexible because every train I was on was delayed lol. This was my first train experience and honestly loved it! I’m not normally a social person, but I met many interesting people and had graet conversations. Can’t wait to it again!
That’s so cool! I’m sorry the trains were delayed, but that’s lovely you met so many interesting people.
Thanks for this review! It was helpful and honest, you gave a nice description of both the good and the bad parts. I didn’t know about the communal seating for meals. I admit, my introvert self flinches at that idea.
I’ve always wanted to take a cross-country Amtrak, either the California Zephyr or the Empire Builder, and see the country that way. It sounds old-timey and romantic. Definitely something for my long-term FIRE bucket list.
Thank you! I did my best 🙂 . It’s definitely an experience and I did love the views.
Thought you would find this interesting. . . My husband used to be a baggage handler at American Airlines. The 50 lb weight limit is so the employees moving the luggage don’t have to lift more than 50 lbs. Moving the luggage into the bottom of a airplane is hard work (bending over, throwing heavy bags again and again) and it is for the safety of the employees.
Cool experience, I have always wanted to travel by train!
Oh wow!! That’s super interesting and makes total sense 🙂 . I was thinking more like the plane/train needs to have X total weight, but not having a bag be over 50 lbs so someone can lift it more easily makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing!
you can never predict what side of the train you will be on because when the make up the consist the cars may be in either direction.
I suspected that – thank you for confirming!