Amtrak

I love Amtrak generally and booking on the website; but DO NOT BUY AN AMTRAK VACATIONS GIFT CARD! I’ve made multiple trips using the gift certificate and consistently spend an hour on the phone with incompetent staff trying to book. I’ve probably wasted four hours of my life trying to book a basic ticket that takes five minutes to book on the website. You are much better off forgoing the gift card and booking on the website. If you want to give a gift, do not tie up any money in the vacations gift card — it’s a horrendous process.

Had a blast. Myself and wife and 1^st time for my son daughter laws. And grandkids they loved it, and so did we. the train was awesome. Needed two dinning car’s.

I also love trains (I’m copying off of someone, I know, but I’m a real person, honest!) Trains are a great way to travel – it’s relaxing, it’s easy, you don’t have the hassles of an airport, it’s much more comfortable than a plane, and you can get up and move around. However, I never really had an opportunity to travel by train in the US until I met my wife, whose family lives around Mendota, Illinois. Mendota, for those of you who don’t have the train schedule memorized, is on the Southwest Chief route between Kansas City and Chicago, and practically drops us off on her folks’ doorstep. It’s fantastic. We most recently took the train over Christmas, because for those of you who have never been up in northern Illinois for late fall through early spring, the weather is just #$&(#^$&%@#@&)#%^#$^. We drove up last year for Thanksgiving and got stuck driving through a blizzard, and that was when I vowed I wasn’t going to drive that route between October and May ever again. (Which ended up being perfect, as we missed driving through the horrible weather that hit KC on the 28^th and 29^th of December. Funny enough, where we were wasn’t so bad. Go figure.)
Aside from the fact that I didn’t have to white-​knuckle it through blizzards and ice driving home, the trip was great. We traveled by train for the first time with our three-​month-​old, and the seats were wide enough to allow us to feed him without one person having to stand. The train was comfortable, and reasonably clean – it was much cleaner on the return leg, since it had just started out, than the trip out, when it had already been traveling since the day before, but they still did their best to keep it clean. The bathrooms on the way out were kind of gross, but, again, they had been in continuous use for almost an entire day at that time, so relatively speaking they were okay. They also had a changing table for our baby. We did not have lunch on the car, so I can’t comment on how the food stacks up, but the snack bar sandwiches were good, and the prices on snacks and coffee and such were actually fairly reasonable – they were a bit higher than you might find at, say, a convenience store for similar items, but for a snack bar with a captive clientele they were much less than I had anticipated, if that makes sense.
As far as ticket prices, we paid a little over $ 300 for the two of us (plus infant) round trip to almost Chicago. It was only that much because of holiday prices – other times we’ve gone it’s been closer to $ 200 for the two of us round trip. Union Station is also much easier to get to than the airport, and there’s much less of a hassle getting on than with a plane.
Overall, while I wish we were more like Europe and had more destination options for the train, I’m so glad we actually have a few trains in this country still.

I love trains. Our family took a trip to St. Louis by train when I was little and it started an obsession. We went to train shows, had model trains, and for a while there it was pretty much all things train.
It took decades to rekindle that love for trains, but the high speed TGV trains in France did the trick. These babies seem to float on at a couple hundred miles per hour, whipping across the country in just a few hours. How cool would it be to have the US connected that way?
But alas, we have Amtrak, which does NOT whip across the country. In fact, unless you’re fortunate to be right along a major route, you’re probably not inclined to use it. I have taken the Southwest Chief from KC to ABQ, but the only reason I took it was to relax and see the country a bit. Otherwise it would’ve been cheaper and more efficient to fly.
Despite a flight’s efficiency, a train is a relaxing and inspiring way to travel. While subject to the weather like anything else, Amtrak is pretty good about getting through any rain/​snow or anything else unless it’s a huge storm.
Most recently I hopped aboard the MO River Runner to STL for a work trip. It worked well, having the station drop me less than a mile from my hotel. I did biz class and the free coffee and roomy seats, along with some well curated music lists made for a great way in. On the train itself, the WiFi was pretty good from KC through about Jeff City and then took a notable dive. It was basically unusable until we crept up on the STL suburbs. Btw, this train stops a ton on the way to STL. Not too bad if you have something you’re working on, but if you’re dying to be somewhere I’d suggest driving.
The Amtrak employees were friendly throughout, bringing me a NY Times and coffee and being amicable to everyone.
If you’re reading this is KC, consider doing KC to Hermann MO, a small German town that has lots of restaurants and walkable shops, or the Southwest Chief to Chicago.

Great opportunity!

If you choose to use the overnight parking garage, be aware that we saw no signage telling you where the actual Amtrak station is inside Union Station. Luckily, we were able to ask an office worker and she took us right there. (FYI — it’s upstairs near Pierponts Restaurant) It’s a great way to travel, but a few signs would be greatly appreciated!
The train was comfortable and clean and the only negative we had was that there is no wifi on the route from Kansas City to Chicago. If you plan on visiting the dining car, know that you will need reservations. We enjoyed spending some time in the observation car just for a nice change of scenery.

I take the Southwest Chief from KC to Chicago about once a year.
They do a good job, the customer service is just OK, no one really goes out of their way to accommodate. But the ride is always smooth, the train is relatively clean. You get over sized seats in Coach Class which means you have room to stretch. And, there is the lounge car where you can hang out and talk to other passengers.
This is a great way to see America and it takes just as long to drive, so take the train and they will drop you off right downtown Chicago.

I’m writing this review while on the Missouri City Runner from Kansas City to St. Louis. For perspective, I’ve spent the last 5 years living in Germany, so my experience will be seen through that lens (i.e. taking a train to most any place that is beyond 1 hour’s drive from where I live)
Things to take away from this review, especially if you work for Amtrak:
1) Union Station is very nice. Y’all do good there.
2) Most of the staff on the train are polite and helpful, and even have character.
3) Exception is the dining car staff guy. Not a fan.
4) Free Wi-​Fi is awesome. Go Amtrak.
The station (Union Station, KC) was actually very nice. Centrally located, clean, and spacious with a nice décor. I did not stop to check out the café or any services, but they all looked very nice.
Boarding, however, was different (from Germany /​Europe). Initially walking in at 7:45 am for a 8:15 departure, I saw a line and instinctively joined it. I did not see any signs indicating what was where, but I was also hung over so may have missed them all. Either way, it was not immediately intuitive where I should go, and it was only the «all aboard’ broadcast and lack of movement in the line that I was in that indicated that I was in the wrong. Based off of what other people were doing, I was able to quickly fix myself. Boarding was quick and staff were readily available to answer any questions («Am I on the right train?»).
The train was fairly clean and I had no problems with seating except for the lady across the aisle playing Candy Crush on blast. It didn’t take long for me to move to the dining car, which was thankfully empty. Bathrooms, by the way, looked clean and stocked. I’ve read some reviews to the contrary, and feel obliged to comment on that aspect.
Things went downhill from there, but not drastically. I enjoyed sitting in the dining car and watching the countryside go by. I was dismayed to discover that outside food and beverages were not allowed to be consumed in the dining car. A 20 meter walk to the next car magically permitted me to sip at my beverage of choice. No idea why that was, and it doesn’t pass the common sense test. Either fix or explain, please.
Also, despite promises made by the conductor over the intercom, service was not with a smile in the dining car. Apparently the piece of paper and calculator between the coffee machines were fascinating, since that’s all the dining car dude cared to look at. No checking of people who sat in the dining car to see if they wanted anything (one might get a quick sale that way), no wasted effort (maybe a greeting when I come to the counter, or a thank you when I pay $ 5.50 for a canned But Light), and certainly no smile. Tip jar is empty? There might be a reason. If there was anything in it I would take it out and give it to the conductor, who made an effort to make my trip enjoyable. This is the only reason my trip gets 4 stars instead of 5. So far, at least.
The ride itself is nice. It is much more convenient than flying, takes roughly the same amount of time (once you factor in the drive to the airport, check in, security, boarding, deplaning, retrieving baggage, cab), is arguably more environmentally-​friendly, and it’s certainly nicer to be dropped off in the center of town instead of 30 miles outside of it. And much cheaper. Go Amtrak again.
In conclusion, I recommend Amtrak over airline travel, depending on your time available. Longer distances than what I did (KC to St. Louis) might justify a flight, but it all depends on how much of a hurry you are in. Again, much cheaper, much more convenient, and better if you are a student or business traveler who has to get stuff done en route (who likes stowing electronic devices anyway). Longer on time? Yes, probably. Worth flying? Not to me.

6 hours to get to St. Louis from Kansas City. I can drive it in 3.5 hours. I took this once and the trip ended up taking 8 hours. No lie. The train sat and sat on sidings. Yea I get it Union Pacific owns the rails and freight gets priority. Keep that in mind, lifeless goods and cargo get priority over you and your schedule.

Finally, I took the train to Saint Louis. Since I HATE driving and flying is just a bit ridiculous, taking the train makes the most sense. I’m glad that I did it.
While you shouldn’t expect glitz and glamour, the seats are comfortable and the travel is efficient. As of now, they don’t have wifi, but the conductor (are they called that?) tells us that it’s coming in the next couple of months. The bar-​car is pretty dang limited, but I don’t know what else to expect. From now on, I’d pack food for my travels and consider Amtrak trips BYOB.
The one thing that really was bothersome was how stale it was inside. Zero air circulation, and after 4+ hours on the train we were all gasping for breath. I don’t know how they’d solve this situation, but it’s certainly a negative.
Anyhow, with stations in both downtown KC and downtown STL, it’s super convenient for a cross-​state getaway. Also, it goes to Herman so you can get your Missouri wine drink on, and it goes through a couple of college towns. It was cool to see how much use this train was getting.
I’ll use the Amtrak again, definitely.

My wife and I took a quick trip to St. Louis to celebrate our anniversary. We hopped on the Missouri Rive-​runner at Union Station in KC. This being our first time on the Amtrak we were a little lost on the boarding procedures and what all to expect. We found the staff to be very helpful kind and funny. The trip is very nice and relaxing and although it is a little bit longer than driving from KC to STL but not having to deal with 1 – 70 traffic was well worth it. The train left promptly at 4pm and arrived 20 min early in STL.
Highlights were the wonderful staff. The 120 voltout let at each seat, Beer and wine served in the café car.
Recommendations for others would be to ride on the North side of the car so that you can see the river. Have you ID with you when you visit the café cart as they check id when marking a purchase on debit/​credit cards. Sit back and enjoy the views.

All right, I must say that I am fairly sold on Amtrak. Granted, I do travel for a living by air and work in aviation, so something a bit different is always welcomed. And I do know that my experience is not what everyone will experience. However, after my first roundtrip on Amtrak since I was about five years old, I like it.
My fiancé and I took the Southwest Chief roundtrip between Kansas City and Naperville for Thanksgiving — out on Tuesday, back on Saturday. Outbound started a bit rough with some disorganized and rude boarding at Kansas City, but once in seat, everything was great. The coach seats are very roomy, with plenty of recline and pop-​up leg rests. The windows offer some great, though sometimes dirty, views of the scenery. Even between Missouri and Illinois, the views can be enjoyable, so I can only imagine how great they are out west in the mountains or deserts.
We were also perfectly on-​time, and actually a bit early, on both routes. Amtrak is definitely getting better with their on-​time statistics, so hopefully this becomes the norm.
Union Station in KC is a bit of a clusterf&@k. The people aren’t all that friendly there. The organization is quite poor — people line up wherever they feel like for whatever train they feel like. Parking is $ 10/​day, which is a bit expensive for Kansas City (and definitely more than the airport). However, it’s easy in and easy out so I appreciate that.

Made the same trip on many occasions and it is usually a good time. Recently I traveled my standard route of Hermann, MO from Union station and back the same day. The day time trip was fine, but they now have Amtrak authorities that patrol the train at night. They are just itching to kick people off the train.
I suggest day time trips. Much nicer crew and no authorities with chips on their shoulders.

Okay, so I’ve mentioned the boys love trains. I hate flying, so this has become our way to get back to family in California and Oregon. I’m guessing we’ll have tried all their lines before we get back to the Left Coast.
So this is a review of the Southwest Chief, from Newton, Kansas to Fullerton, CA. This is Amtrak, so I didn’t expect 5 star anything. (Besides, been on enough Amtrak trains to be realistic.) That being said, the staff is nicer on this line than on the Texas Eagle. (Not as nice as the ones we had on the Coast Starlight, but still MUCH nicer than the Eagle.) We had one refurbished sleeper one way and a non-​refurbished on the other. The refurbished family unit was nice and clean. The non-​refurbished was less so. I always bring a can of Lysol spray with me so that I can wipe down all the surfaces and spray the fabric. Makes me feel better. The refurbished sleeper left very little grime on the towel, but the non refurbished… well, I used two towels before I felt better. We got on a 3 a.m. and the beds were already ready by our nice (but loud) steward.
The food is included in the sleeper reservations and it is decent. Think Denny’s, and you’re on track. (Sorry, bad pun.) The kids loved the small ice creams and sorbets.
The showers are tiny, but you get hot water. If we didn’t have kids, we’d splurge for the upstairs deluxe sleepers, since they have private restrooms/​showers. (Just bring some Glade spray.) But we’re stuck for now, so… bring Lysol and be careful using the group restrooms.
For those that get motion sick, this track was bumpier than the Eagle, which I was told was due to the fact that more of the line is shared/​used by freight lines. It made sleeping hard. Kids didn’t notice, but we did.
It was also really crowded, but I was told that is normal for summer. They get lots of Boy Scouts (who were polite, but numerous) and kids taking up all the seats in the observation car. Made me miss the Coast Starlight, which has a parlor car JUST for the sleeper customers. Hm. I just got home, and now I’m thinking of our next trip. Oh well. But you want to be able to be in the observation car at times, because they often give presentations on the scenery and the history of the area. You don’t get that in your room.
Hint: Heard lots of complaints on room assignment… if you are ordering a roomette, and you want to make sure you are UPSTAIRS (IE, not by the family car, which I would guess is normally noisy, or the bathrooms, which can be stinky), you want numbers 1 – 10. You’ll have to walk down narrow stairs to the restroom or shower, but then again, it’s quieter upstairs.

How do you get to St Louis when your wife has headed down there without you? You CHASE her by TRAIN! :) Yes, folks, transportation of yesteryear is still alive, but barely.
Would you believe that there used to be hourly trains going out of here to St. Louis and Chicago? Those days are GONE :(However, you can still get there from here and it’s a great deal.
I took the train last summer to St Louis. I suggest buying in advance as we tried to buy the route to Chicago for weeks, but it was sold out :(Anyhow, I easily bought it on-​line and showed up with the printout, which they scanned and gave me a ticket. People tended to line up in significant numbers 30 minutes before the train took off, but there is a waiting area in Union station for you. It is a bit of a walk to the train, so beware if you have heavy luggage.
Once I boarded the train, it was quite comfy and I didn’t have people sitting next to me on the way there or back. Of note, they have AC outlets so you can plug-​in your laptop, phones, etc. BEWARE: You travel through a lot of rural areas, so you’ll likely lose your wireless reception ¹⁄₃ — ½ of the time. So long phone calls or streaming off your phone will be quite unreliable. Enjoy staring out the window at the Missouri river, the trailer homes, and the prairies.
As far as food goes, they have a caboose with food, snacks, and drinks. The person working behind the counter is always friendly and chit chatty. Don’t expect much from the food as it’s reheated and not so good. I seem to recall having a gross dog and burger. It’s not remotely airplane quality food :(I STRONGLY recommend you bring your own food on the train with you. Prices for food and drink were not exorbitant.
Of note, the STL area is a bit shady once you come out of the station, so be a bit street-​smart at night.
I LOVE riding the train. I got a lot of sleep, caught up on some school work and reading, and enjoyed vegging out while watching the world fly past. I can’t wait to take it again! Much more relaxing than driving to STL and there’s plenty of public transportation in STL, so a car is not needed in the city itself.

***This review is for the KC-​Chicago line only. I’ve never taken the St. Louis-​KC run***
One of the things I love about Europe is the extensive rail network. It’s the best, most sustainable, most beautiful, and most direct way to see Europe. I could say all those things about America’s rail network, except that would be mostly a lie.
However, in the spirit of being grateful for small mercies, the KC to Chicago route is a great ride. It’s the same time it would take you to drive, but more than it would cost you to drive (not by much). Southwest may have occasional great fares, but Midway is a HORRIBLE airport to get in and out of, despite the fact that the airport itself is awesome.
The route up is lovely, the food in the dining car is not bad, the observation car is never too crowded, and you can lay out, sleep, play parcheesi, or just meet a new person. Traveling in sustainable, human scale and style. Yeah, if you haven’t, you’re missing out.

My partner doesn’t have time, or takes time, to relax very often. In my plans of a Chicago getaway I came up with a perfect way to *force* him to relax… taking the train. It was a shorter amount of time than driving and would give us the luxury of reading a book, napping or having a drink if we wished. This was my first train experience so it was all new and exciting to me.
Ordering the tickets was a breeze and extremely reasonable.
Arriving at Union Station at 7am was wonderful. It makes your mind wonder… if only we were pulling our Louis Vuitton steamer trunk, tipping our fedora’s to the doorman and having the wing tips polished up before the seven hour journey before us… but reality hits you in the head when you realize track suits, fanny packs and faces glued onto electrical devices are the world that we live in now! But still, it’s nice to fantasize. Aaaanywaay, walking through the grand Union Station is a beautiful way to leave the city. The lines and stress for the train is so much less than that of an airport. We departed exactly on time.
The ride itself was great. The sway and movement of the train was soothing and relaxing. The seats are a good size with tons of leg room. The viewing cart would easily take away any ones claustrophobia and having the snack and dining cart is a huge plus on a seven hour journey. The only downsides were not unique to train travel, they exist in any mass transit situations: –Children and kids being loud. –Human decency and common courtesy not being taught to a percentage of our society. –Not being able to control my surrounding temperature. But hey, this is the chance one takes when leaving the comforts of ones own house, and I’m not yet ready to begin my recluse lifestyle just yet!
The entire crew was really nice. There were a couple of employees that had a touch of sass, but I can’t say I wouldn’t also working with the public like they do. Every step of the journey was on time if not a little early. We both loved the train experience and would definitely do it again. Next time I would upgrade to business class if available in hopes of a little more quiet and with how cheap tickets were, it would be well worth it. My partner did relax, forced or not, and it was a perfect way to start and end a vacation. Whoo Whooo!

This is how train travel should work.
I live in central Iowa but we decided to take a leisurely trip to St. Louis by traveling to Kansas City and taking the Missouri River Runner instead of driving by car. I’m not sure we saved time, but my blood pressure remained low for the entire undertaking of getting to and from St. Louis.
I’ve traveled often on Amtrak and its frequently beleaguered by poor on-​time performance. This was not what I experienced on the River Runner. This thing performs like a Swiss watch. We left on time and arrived at our destinations along the route within a few minutes of the published times. You’ll enjoy some good scenery after you pass Jeff City along the Missouri River as well. This was all done for around $ 22 each way.
120 V plugs available, spacious seating. A hassle-​free and reliable method of traveling between Missouri’s two largest cities.

Amtrak is for people that are not in a hurry. We took the missouri river runner train to St. Louis from Kansas City.
We took the train for the experience. It was great to sit back and enjoy the ride. The ability to bring a cooler full of food and drinks was great. The trip takes around 5 hours. I can drive to STL in a lot less time, but we were not in a hurry. The ticketing process and service was great. Every Amtrak employee that we spoke with was very courteous and friendly.

I’m pretty sure the old troll hag working the counter at this place lives in a crawl space under union station. She tried everything in her power to disqualify a Amtrak gift certificate and make me feel like a complete drain on her life for trying to redeem it for an already booked trip. Unfortunately for her, I had already made multiple verifications with QUALIFIED, intelligent, helpful Amtrak employees that the certificate COULD be used for travel even though its handwritten expiration had already passed. Eventually she gave up after phoning multiple persons associated with Amtrak knowing that her plan to derail me was a failure.
The best part is coming home from my trip she failed to sabotage and the first face I see passing through the station is her troll-​like mug scowling at everyone and everything from behind the ticket counter.