It’s been almost six years since I traveled from San Francisco to Denver with my kids on an Amtrak train. See my post here. My kids look so young!
Well, they’ve never forgotten those 34 hours on the overnight train. I said we will do it again. And then the years start passing, then Covid happened, and we made other plans.
But my kids keep getting older, and I’m running out of years to do this. So I decided to just book it.
We are booked on the Texas Eagle Amtrak train from Chicago to Dallas. It’s “only” a 22-hour trip. It will be me and my two younger kids in two roomettes. Each roomette has two seats facing each other and a large window. The seats fold down into a bed, and a top bunk pulls down from the ceiling.
I plan to listen to music, read, and watch the world go by.
Cost and Using Miles and Points
Riding in a coach seat on Amtrak is fairly inexpensive. The sleeper cars, however, are a different story. I wouldn’t call them a bargain, but the price does include all meals in the dining car. For this trip, the cost was ~$350 a person. Of course, I could fly from Chicago to Dallas for much cheaper (or practically free on miles). But, this train trip is more about the experience than just getting from Point A to Point B.
It is possible to use miles and points to book a trip like this. First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) offers two Amtrak credit cards (non-affiliate links). Currently, the highest sign-up bonus is 20,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points. (Back when Bank of America owned the Amtrak credit card, it had a sign-up bonus as high as 50k). The cost in points depends on the cash price. You can get an idea of the price in points by inputting your itinerary on the Amtrak website.
Alternatively, you can use Capital One miles to erase the purchase from your credit card statement, since the purchase codes as travel. Currently, the Capital One Venture Rewards card (affiliate link) has a 75k bonus, worth $750 in travel.
Readers, are you a fan of long-distance Amtrak train travel?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
So far Seattle to los Angeles, San Francisco to Chicago, los Angeles to Chicago and this year Seattle to Chicago.
The border hugging Texas train tended to be the least scenic and constant delays from immigration stops.
So far best has been the zephyr but looking forward to the empire builder
@Db Nice!
I just did the auto train in a roommette last month (twice) with my 11 yo and really enjoyed the experience…except the bathrooms…..
No scenery as it pretty much all at night.
But I liked not having to-do the driving!!
@HML I’ve always been curious about the auto-train! Glad you enjoyed it.
Long gone locomotive.
My husband and I did a trip from Denver to San Francisco over Labor Day weekend this past fall. It was so much fun. We actually booked too late to get a sleeper car, so we rode coach and ate at the snack car for the entire trip, but it was still fun. It was also pretty cheap doing it that way, but I definitely wouldn’t want to do more than one overnight without a sleeper car. The scenery we went past was beautiful. I’m sure we’ll do another similar trip again some day, but hopefully with a sleeper car this next time!
@Becky Sounds fun! I love that route. It’s probably the most scenic one that Amtrak offers.
Sounds like a good time. Thanks for the idea
@Deva It’s definitely a different experience from air travel!