I'm leeeavin' (leavin')
On a midnight train to Georgia (leavin' on a midnight train to Georgia--woo woo!)
Okay, fine. So I'm not leavin' on a midnight train to Georgia. I'm leavin' on an 11 p.m. train to Chicago. Close enough. In Chicago we'll rent a car and drive to Minnesota for my new niece's baptism. There will be lots of Forced Family Fun, as well as a visit to one of my old college roommates along the way. A good time will be had by all. But what I really want to talk about today is Amtrak.
Now, my father is an airline pilot, so I have done more than my share of plane travel. And I used to have no problem with flying. It was my preferred way to travel. But now? God save me from the airplane. I can't be the only one to have noticed (can you hear the sarcasm?) that air travel really sucks the big one these days. The ridiculously early arrival time at the airport. The interminable waits at security, at which you have to take off your shoes. The over-crowded, claustrophobic, funky-smelling planes. The numerous connections. And the cost for all of this unpleasantness. Oh my God, the cost. It was going to cost us over $800 to fly to Minnesota. And I was assured by A. (who has driven from New York to Arizona more times than I can count) that the drive from here to Chicago is not particularly exciting.
Enter Amtrak. Oh Amtrak, how I love thee. $250 for two people to take the overnight train to Chicago (and come home). And then, after I made the reservations, A. found out he was going to have to go to some hearing for work the night we left and wouldn't be able to make the train. I started freaking out, being so accustomed to the total inflexibility of the airlines, thinking that we were totally screwed and out $250. But then I called Amtrak and was assured that they would just change our tickets to the next city down the line (which is about the same distance from our house as the city I had originally booked us out of), which had a later departure time, and hey, since it's closer to Chicago, we'll refund you $30 for your tickets, ma'am!
Can you imagine this kind of reaction from an airline? Nuh uh. No way. They'd be all, "Well, I guess we can change your tickets. If we have to. SIGH. The only flight available leaves at 5 a.m. That'll be an extra $1,000 per person and your firstborn child. And don't forget the extra charge to check bags." But Amtrak was pleasant. They were helpful. They were accomodating. And considering they were taking so much of my money, that's only right. Right?
So tonight, we will arrive at the train station half an hour before our train leaves, park our car for free, walk right onto the train, stow our bags (which are full up with liquids--wheeee!), and settle into our seats. A. will probably sleep. I will probably not, because I can't really sleep anywhere but in a bed. And at 9:30 a.m. we will roll into Chicago with an extra $550 in our bank account and four whole days of fun road trip ahead of us.
Amtrak, I salute you. You're affordable, relaxing, and best of all, not assholes. And God bless you for that.
13 comments:
I love the train. A lot. It's always late arriving, but so is the airplane. And, you don't walk off the train knowing you just picked up 75 strains of the plague from filthy, recycled air.
First of all, make sure you shout "Hi!" around 5 a.m. as you pass through Cleveland.
As far as the airlines, there's this great quote I've got on my wall that wasn't about the airlines specifically, but could be:
Instead of embracing innovation and strong user experiences as common values, in many cases the only thing we strive for is the standard of "not bad" or "good enough." Something has gone terribly wrong. We have forgotten how to complain about the right things, and started bitching about everything else.
My first thought: How is Kristin going to make it to 11 p.m. to catch her train? My second thought: Good work, sister! Now you have your money...and you must know how I feel about flying, right? I hate it, that's how. The train isn't bad. My mom and my sister took an overnight train from here to Michigan, and their only complaint was that they didn't spring for the bigger room (I have a hilarious picture of my sister sitting in her bed right next to their toilet). Have a great trip!
Wow; that rocks. I'm always bemoaning the lack of alternate transportation in these parts. The next best thing to driving is flying between cities. I'd love to take the train, but a 4 hour drive to Houston takes about 18 hours by train with an out-of-the-way stopover in San Antonio! Most disappointing.
I'm with you on flying, mostly because my response to turbulence seems to increase exponentially as I age: I used to love flying, and now it's a bonus if I don't shriek or weep at some point in the trip. Of course, this was exacerbated by a recent flight from Mexico in 20 passenger plane with 35 mile/hour gusts!
Happy trails--
Woot! Woot! Or maybe that should be Whooo-woooo! (train sound. get it?)
I hate to fly and have to do it for work. You're so lucky to take the train. Sure you're late, but you're NOT FLYING. That makes it all worthwhile!
Be safe.
My dad worked for the Burlington Northern RR for 40 years, so our family got free transportation on Amtrak. I haven't taken the train in almost 20 years, but I have fond memories of many, many trips in my youth. My little brother and I thought we were SO COOL because our dad WORKED FOR THE RAILROAD!! And on some of those trips he was actually the one DRIVING THE TRAIN!!
My dad is retiring from the railroad after 30 years of service!
Have a wonderful trip. Hello to the family.
Minnesota? Yah, you betcha! Maybe A. can go pike fishing, if you will be in the right part of the state. Have a nice trip!
Oh my gosh! Who knew? We don't have Amtrak in our part of the country, but if we did, I'd be sold!
Hope all goes well, or at least better than my last train ride. Husband thought it would be fun(it wasn't) to take a train from Seattle to Orlando, 4 days long...
Would've been fine I guess, if I hadn't woke up on the second day sick, with a fever.
I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Bon voyage! I hope trains still have bar cars and dinner cars like they did in all the old movies, so you can down martinis while saying things like, "Say, what's the big idea?"
oh how i have missed you! let me count the ways -- and number one is I traveled to my boarding (high) school and then college by train and I am weepy with envy.
could go on from there, but won't.
in the interest of self-respect.
have fun Kristin!
i'm still in shock that they refunded you some money.
have a safe and fun trip!
Post a Comment