Woo hoo! Or should that be, choo-choo woo hoo? Amtrak’s running another flash sale on its USA rail pass. With this pass, you can ride the rail across the country for a flat $449. That involves ten rides of your choice to more than 500 destinations through 30 days of travel. Each segment, then, would cost less than $45.
You need to buy the pass by January 25, and then you have 120 days (about four months) to start your first ride. After you embark, the clock starts running and you have 30 days to ride all the segments. There are no blackout dates, so you can include Spring Break travel in your rail adventure. Your travel might hopefully involve stopping at one of these beautiful train stations.
The pass is for riding coach, but no fear: these seats recline and so it’s not any different than sleeping on a red-eye flight. Plus, there is no middle seat and you have places to walk and stretch your legs on the train, like making your way to the cafe car or even, if your particular train has it, the observation car with a glass ceiling for spectacular viewing. The price of this pass is usually $499, so this represents a $50 savings. And if you’re interested in upgrading the coach seat to business class, this provides some guidance.
If you prefer to spend more to have a private experience, the roommettes and bedrooms on Amtrak let you close a door and have your own compartment (plus, meals are included and your seats will fold down to make a real bed with linens).
It may be your last chance to ride some of these cars before they’re retired; we’ll see a fleet of glowed-up trains on the rails by the early 2030s. There’s no special code to buy the pass. Using the Amtrak app lets you load your tickets and keep track (ha ha) of boarding information and any delays. For all the details, visit Amtrak’s page.