Planning Segments with Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass
Updated: Jul 30, 2023
Note: This is the condensed version of “Let’s get railed, planning segments with Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass” — read the full version here.
At the end of May 2022, I had the sudden urge to get the heck out of town.
I wanted to go on a grand adventure, at the bare minimum — and it’s a good thing I listened to my gut because a month later, my lung collapsed, and three months later, I was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (cancer). In a hyper-focused state, I planned a 12-day train trip with stops in New Orleans, LA, Portland, OR, Washington, DC, and New York, NY using Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass. Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass allows passengers to go on 10 rides, or segments, in 30 days for a fixed-rate cost of $499, although at certain times of the year, you can purchase a discounted USA Rail Pass for around $299. [Read ‘Multiple cities, multiple states with Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass; fixed-rate $499' to learn more.]
Convention Strike USA Rail Pass Route
Segment 1: Charleston, SC to Wilson, NC
Standard Coach Route Cost: $50 per passenger per June 1st, 2023 pricing.
Standard Length: 4 hours, 23 minutes
Using our individual USA Rail Passes, my sister and I were able to meet up in Wilson, NC before leaving for our first destination: New Orleans, LA.
I boarded the 90 Palmetto train at 9:15 am and arrived in Wilson around 1:38 pm. There was a minor delay, which should be expected with train travel, but it wasn’t too terrible.
Driving from Charleston, SC to Wilson, NC is faster, but Amtrak’s Palmetto line has reclining seats, outlets, Wi-FI, and a little cafe for passengers.
Segment 2: Wilson, NC to Greensboro, NC
Standard Route Cost: $23 per passenger per June 1st, 2023 pricing. Standard Route Length: 3 hours, 7 minutes
The trick and challenge with the USA Rail Pass is positioning yourself on a long-distance route. The layover in Wilson was opportunistic for meeting up with my sister, and absolutely necessary in order to get on Amtrak’s Crescent route (New York, NY to New Orleans, LA). We boarded the 79 Carolinian around 4:05 pm and arrived in Greensboro, NC at 7:12 pm. We did some last-minute inventory at a local Wal-Mart, had a small mental breakdown, grabbed some Italian food, and waited it out in the Greensboro Amtrak station for what seemed like an eternity because of a rail accident.
Segment 3: Greensboro, NC to New Orleans, LA
Standard Route Cost: $123 per passenger per June 1st, 2023 pricing. Standard Route Length: 21 hours, 30 minutes. We were scheduled to leave Greensboro, NC at 12:32 am, but our train was delayed for a couple of hours. The Greensboro train station was fairly quiet, and the bathrooms and other facilities were passenger-only and code-protected, which was a nice and unexpected safety feature.
We were originally scheduled to arrive in New Orleans at 9:02 pm, but we ended up coming in just a little after midnight.
Destination: New Orleans, LA
We spent two nights in New Orleans before hopping back on the train. It was everything that I wanted to be, as I’d been dreaming of going to NOLA ever since The Originals (2013) aired.
Segment 4: New Orleans, LA to Los Angeles, CA
Standard Route Cost: $142 per passenger per June 3rd, 2023 pricing (based on Sunset Limited availability). Standard Length: 46 hours, 35 minutes Our train departed from New Orleans at 9:00 am, but we were soon delayed after a semi-truck broke down on a rail intersection. We spent two days taking in the vastness of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before we reached California. Wi-Fi isn’t available on the Sunset Limited route, so we had to use a lot of mobile data for socials and streaming services until we hit the inevitable desert dead zones. Then, we had no choice but to live like the ancient ones and talk to our fellow passengers. We listened to stories about voodoo bloodlines and encounters with spirits in New Orleans, played an ungodly amount of UNO, and befriended the cafe attendant, who put us on to the best burritos we’ve ever had at the El Paso, TX train stop.
Layover: Los Angeles, CA
During the planning stage, I had a lot of hopes for our layover in Los Angeles, CA. It was originally supposed to be around four hours, but with delays along the Crescent route, and a few warnings from LA locals about leaving the train station, we decided to just wait it out.
Segment 5: Los Angeles, CA to Portland, OR
Standard Route Cost: $114 per passenger per June 1st, 2023 pricing.
Standard Route Length: 29 hours, 49 minutes
We left Los Angeles at 9:51 am, with an estimated arrival of 3:40 pm in Portland the following day.
The Coast Starlight route was one of my favorites and something that came highly recommended in my research. I spent a lot of time just looking out the window at the rolling California coastline, and fangirling over the fact that snow was still on the ground in June in the mountains.
Destination: Portland, OR
#TravelTok paved the way for a truly amazing experience in Portland. Our time was limited, so right when we got off the train, we headed to the hotel, showered, and then went to Portland’s International Rose Test Garden and unsurprisingly, picked up some great Italian food (an unintentional trend throughout this trip).
The next day, we woke up at 5 am and boarded the Columbia Gorge Express, which took us to Multnomah Falls. We did some hiking in the cold, wet rain and then went back to Portland and stuffed our faces with sausage gravy biscuits from the comforts of a pillow-top mattress we named Martha.
Segment 6: Portland, OR to Chicago, IL
Standard Route Cost: $151 per passenger per June 1st, 2023 pricing. Standard Route Length: 46 hours, 0 minutes We departed Portland at 4:45 pm and started our stint on Amtrak’s Empire Builder route. This was another breathtaking experience, although the pace of the trip was starting to catch up with us around this point. My sister woke up in tears after the retiree next to us started his day a 6 am with joyful conversation, sobbing, “I’m just so tired.”
Layover: Chicago, IL
Again, delays shortened our layover in Chicago, IL.
We were supposed to arrive at 3:55 pm but ended up coming in late. I was a little nervous about our layover, solely because it was originally 2hrs and 45 minutes, which really isn’t a lot of wiggle room when factoring in the promise of at least a 20-minute or so delay.
Segment 7: Chicago, IL to Washington, DC
Standard Route Cost: $105 Standard Route Length: 17 hours, 25 minutes We left Chicago with the knowledge that our long train rides were over after this last one. Naturally, we might have a different definition of a long train ride after this experience — either way, it felt great to be chugga-chugging back to the comforts of the east coast.
Destination: Washington, D.C.
I didn’t expect to love Washington, D.C. as much as I did, but it left such a great impression on me that I’m planning to return in the Spring of 2023 for a longer stay.
The food is eclectic and overall different, with an interesting divide between traditional comfort foods and innovative fusion. Experiences are fairly affordable when factoring in the multiple free experiences around D.C. such as going to the National Zoo or hanging out in the National Mall (plot twist: nothing to do with shopping).
I can’t recommend it more.
Segment 8: Washington, D.C. to New York, NY
Standard Route Cost: $31 per passenger per June 1st, 2023 pricing.
Standard Route Length: 3 hours, 16 minutes
We tested out a USA Rail Pass feature that we didn’t intend to — route rescheduling. After so long on the train, and hitting the ground running, our travel batteries were drained. We requested late check-out at the CitizenM and rescheduled our ride into New York within minutes using the Amtrak app.
Destination: New York, NY
I’m going to be honest — we slept the whole time we were in New York. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a waste because we ate some great pizza for lunch, and then some even better Alfredo at 1 am after waking up from a dead sleep, but we owe New York City a re-do.
Segment 9: New York, NY to Charleston, SC
Standard Route Cost: $110 per June 1st, 2023 pricing. Standard Route Length: 13 hours, 28 minutes. We were still fairly exhausted during our last segment — and the early departure time didn’t help much. The 89 Palmetto left Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station around 6:02 am and didn’t arrive in Charleston until a little after 8 pm due to delays, although it was originally scheduled for a 7:30 pm arrival. Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass allows for a truly creative and unique travel experience. Ultimately, you can plan something that looks entirely different from what I chose to do and still have a good time.
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