I had some vacation time and I’ve never ridden a train before, so I thought I’d look it up. I’d seen a few YouTube videos and it looked like something I’d like. I’m not a fan of air travel at all.
I went to look up tickets and was shocked at the price. I could drive for cheaper and faster including my own stops. I could fly for cheaper and faster and wouldn’t have to pay for a sleeper car or hotel. It seems like there’s no benefit to taking a train at all. Even the hassle of flying is worth the time and money saved.
Ps and why does a sleeper car (the thing that had me curious from YouTube) $1000/night?!
I went from SF to Chicago for a few hundred dollars for a couple nights where I got my own cabin (probably 450 total — that might have been the price all the way to New York or just to Chicago, don’t remember). But I only booked about a month in advance. That was around 2019 so maybe prices have gone up radically since then?
But the long distance train experience in the US felt closer to a cruise than a sleeper train in Europe which I’m used to (all meals included, lounge carriage and so on).