I'm looking for a train pass to take a tour around the country this summer but the only ones I can find are limited to internationals only. Does such a thing exist or do I have to pay each time I get on a train? If so its pretty pointless considering trains cost about the same as airfare and take ten times longer.

6/6/2007 3:22:16 AM

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/Page/Collection_Page&c=Page&cid=1081442674004&ssid=228

6/6/2007 3:53:52 AM

only problem is

Quote :

"What Valid Documents Do I Need? Passport: Must be issued by a country other than the United States or Canada, and bearing a non-immigrant visa. Permanent Residents: USA or Canadian citizens with valid passport living in other countries. Proof of residency required"

6/6/2007 3:56:47 AM

Yea i did not see that I'm sorry. What about the North America Rail Pass I know it goes into Canada but that would be cool too. And it said you only have to go into Canada one time.

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 4:07 AM. Reason : .]

6/6/2007 4:03:44 AM

Which would require me to have a passport and they are backed up until after school starts right now. I just really wish there was a way to move about this country in an affordable manner. There is no way and amtrak has a monopoly and they aren't even making money. Trains suck anyway.

6/6/2007 4:15:29 AM

you can get express delivery on a passport.. isn't cheap but i had mine in a few days

6/6/2007 12:16:22 PM

how much can they do you for?

6/6/2007 12:25:53 PM

by harnessing the power of Google, I found that it's an extra $60 plus overnight shipping costs

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_831.html

6/6/2007 12:31:43 PM

I've never been on a train. $1000 to travel anywhere for 30 days sounds fun. I wonder what the sleeper car upgrade runs...

6/6/2007 3:19:45 PM

ya 1000 is such a ripoff. I don't want to go to canada anyway. It would be nice if they let u.s. citizens on the 600 pass. Makes no sense. Nobody uses amtrak anyway. I don't understand why they WANT empty trains. Might as well fly for 1k.

i much rather pay an extra 1k and have the aircanada unlimited pass
https://www.aircanada.com/wallet/servlet/CTO5SearchServlet/familyPageDetail#purchase

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 7:11 PM. Reason : see]

6/6/2007 6:53:58 PM

The air canada thing is only for canadians...go figure. If anyone can find a flight pass for americans please let me know.

6/6/2007 7:24:33 PM

just rent a damn car.

you can rent a car for a couple of months for a few hundred bucks. Get one with 30+mpg and go. You will be able to go WAY more places that neither rail or air goes, and it won't cost you much more than a grand for rental+fuel.

6/6/2007 8:58:32 PM

Driving is alot of work and you have to spend more on hotels and stay in more sketchy areas. Also alot more dangerous. This country should be ashamed that its ENCOURAGING people to drive more and use more gas instead of public transportation. In europe i can pay 80 bux and ride the train anywhere for a week.

6/6/2007 10:07:31 PM

STFU. The train is slower than car and much more inconvenient for traveling around in the US.

6/6/2007 10:19:31 PM

Yea, when I went to Europe I used a Eurail pass and loved it. But Europe is a highly urban, tightly packed area with a rail system that has been invested in for almost two centuries.

Having traveled around Europe and having been across the US twice on summer long journeys, a car is the best way to do it. Driving is a lot of work if you are going 10 or 12 hours a day, but if you want to travel the country, it's only a few hours a day of driving and you can stop whenever and wherever you want.

I stayed almost exclusively in hostels and in hotels that were under 30 bucks a night. I also spent quite a few nights crashing with people I met that day.

This isn't Europe, get over it. Every European I met during my trips around the US rented a car to travel and loved it.

6/6/2007 10:33:47 PM

Listen to him and just drive it, you can map out specific spots you want to hit up/friends you want to stay with etc...

In addition, you can make random stops whenever you feel like it and driving is not that much work (if you do 4, 5, or even 6 hours). Hell you will see a lot more and meet a lot more people. With regards to hotels you would still have to stay in them on your train trip unless you plan on being on a train practically all the time.

Someone made a thread about driving around the country for twenty or thirty days recently in the lounge. I think it was ambrosia.

6/6/2007 11:04:25 PM

Thing is I don't want to spend any time in the sticks. What i'll probably end up doing is going on about 3 or 4 seperate flight trips and renting car while im there. Pretty much Chicago/midwest, California, Texas, Florida is about all i want to see. I mean if i was on a train i would stop at many more places but most of the places I would only go to if I happened to be passing by.

With a car
-you have to do all the work yourself.
-You can't rest and move at the same time
-you can get stuck in the middle of nowhere tired
-entire days of driving and seeing nothing of interest
-possible car trouble or even worse a wreck
-ga$

I've driven to toronto and back and it wasn't that bad because new york state is the only time you aren't passing through a city every hour but going west in a car is not cool at all.

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 11:39 PM. Reason : its borderline scary]

6/6/2007 11:35:46 PM

^ i mean i guess number 1,2,3,4 could happen if you didn't find a friend to go and you did no planning what so ever before you left.

Texas, California, Flordia, and Illinois doesnt equal touring the country this summer. Plus 5 and 6 are still a factor along with flight tickets and hotels.


How is driving west on interstates scary you go through medium to large cities at perfect intervals

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 11:48 PM. Reason : .]

6/6/2007 11:41:58 PM

Theres a day in the middle of the country where you don't see anything.

Even if you have people with you the person who is driving and not resting isn't going to be equally rested. On a train, everyones always equally rested and you can skip many nights of lodging by resting on the train.

Theres not much to see in the nations heartland. Not counting the east theres, chicago, minn/indianapolis,vegas, seattle, portland, cali, and texas. grand canyon, Yellowstone and yosemite, stlous/ozarks are not my type of thing but i'll count them as well. That STILL leaves a couple of huuge gaps as in a few days of driving and waking up, driving, sleeping is not fun let me tell you that.

6/7/2007 12:27:17 AM

wow. I mean, I will grant you Kansas and maybe Nebraska are pretty empty states. But even then, I went to Cawker City Kansas (look it up) and ended up going through a pretty awesome state park in Nebraska on the way to Chimney Rock. And I met a pretty awesome family at Applebees in Kansas. South and North Dakota both have a lot of cool stuff to see and do.

But dude, there is SO MUCH SHIT TO SEE in the midwest, it's insane. It's so apparent that you have no clue what all is out there, why dont you go get a damn lonely planet book on the US.

I've driven close to 20,000 miles all over the country just to see things, and haven't even come close to going to all of the REALLY cool places.

There's also a lot to be said for nothingness. Apparently you haven't really experienced it yet. Driving down a state highway in Montana or Wyoming and just stopping, getting out and listening to absolute silence in the middle of the day on a highway.

Not to mention the dozens of AMAZING state and national parks you forgot about, national monuments, toooons of historic sites, and plenty of small town destinations to make the trip worthwhile.

I mean, it's fine that you just want to be a lazy ass and go to some big cities so you can say you went there, then go out to the same kinds of bars, meet the same kinds of people you already associate with. But that's not exploring or adventure, that's just taking another vacation.

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 2:13 AM. Reason : .]

6/7/2007 2:12:25 AM

Quote :

"There's also a lot to be said for nothingness. Apparently you haven't really experienced it yet. Driving down a state highway in Montana or Wyoming and just stopping, getting out and listening to absolute silence in the middle of the day on a highway. Not to mention the dozens of AMAZING state and national parks you forgot about, national monuments, toooons of historic sites, and plenty of small town destinations to make the trip worthwhile. "

lol sounds fun but no thanks.

I don't like parks either and would stop at yosemite or yellowstone only if i happened to be passing nearby but would never GO there to go there. I won't be caught dead sleeping in the woods.

Like I said, I would LOVE to pay 600 like any non us resident (makes no sense) and stop pretty much everywhere but if i'm driving or flying I will only go to places I REALLY want to go to. I am so bad about being in the car too long that when i go to new york I have to always stop in dc and spend a few hours because I just can't be in a car for more than 5 hours without some reward. That policy wouldn't hold up crossing the country. A train is much more relaxing and like being on a ship but of course nobody rides it in america because it costs more than a drive and about the same as a plane.

I've driven through west virginia ohio michigan and ontario and you can have the midwest. It was neat seeing the amish in ohio but the nothingness drives me crazy. I'm an urban person and parks, ruralness is just not my cup of tea. Ohio is the worst place i've ever been to.

I know theres alot of shit to see in the rural areas but its not a high enough concentration of it out there to keep me from getting bored which is why I like cities. I've been to almost every city on the east coast and I can't say any of them were the same.

6/7/2007 2:39:59 AM

Hate to tell you, the train system in the US isn't what it is in Europe either. You can forget about this part:

Quote :

"A train is much more relaxing and like being on a ship "

The tracks here aren't well maintained, the ride is going to be bumpy, slow, noisy and there are a LOT of real fucking weirdos on a lot of the commuter runs. If you are expecting anything close to the experience of rail travel in Europe, you will be sorely disappointed.

Quote :

"I won't be caught dead sleeping in the woods. "

Who the fuck said anything about sleeping the woods? National parks have hotels too.

Basically you are a typical American tourist. Which means you are going to hate "touring the country" when you really just want to go to a few big cities and do the same shit in a different place. It's funny, we saw your same type all over Europe too. hahahahah

If you are a city person, just fucking fly to one place, stay there for a couple of weeks and fly home. What the hell is the point of going by train when you only want to go like 3 or 4 places anyway?

6/7/2007 9:43:12 AM

For $1000 you're better off driving. More comfortable and safer. Trains are great in Europe but stay away from Amtrak if you have any other options.

6/7/2007 11:36:29 AM