On a recent trip to Florida, I was excited to try out Amtrak’s Auto Train.
By choosing rail travel and paying a fee to bring my car on board, I’d be able to have my vehicle with me at my final destination — a benefit of driving without the stress of hitting the road.
My friend traveled with me, and we chose to bring one car and book a private bedroom for two. Our ride wasn’t cheap at $1,586 one-way.
However, when we looked at an alternative — flying down and renting a car for over a month once we landed — it turned out to be the cheaper option.
The only other option would be to drive the whole way. To me, the idea of spending a full 24 hours sitting in traffic on I-95 only made this train trip way more appealing.
Although I was skeptical about my Amtrak Auto Train ride — and it did have highs and lows — it ultimately felt like a good value.
Here’s how it went.
Luckily, the journey is nonstop.
Amtrak’s passenger-only trains typically make multiple stops, which can result in longer rides as people get on and off.
However, Amtrak currently has only one Auto Train route in the US, which operates nonstop between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, DC) and Sanford, Florida (outside Orlando). The ride is just over 17 hours.
The limited stops meant this trip still required a few hours of driving for me, since I was traveling from farther north and heading farther south to the Keys.
Even so, I found it wonderful to spend most of my trip relaxing on the train and waking up close to our destination. Plus, I had the added comfort of knowing I wouldn’t miss my stop.
Each private room had its own attendant
We’d booked a private bedroom, which is a step up from a roomette and about double the size. According to the Amtrak website, these rooms are typically about 7.1 to 7.5 feet long and 6.6 to 6.8 feet wide.
It includes a single chair and a sofa (basically two wider chairs side by side) that transform into one of the two beds at night, plus a private bathroom.
Our room came with a personal attendant who helped us settle into our small space and brought us water upon arrival. We didn’t need much during the ride, but they were available to us if we did.
Since this was my first trip, I was a little confused about how we would pull down the beds, so I was relieved to learn that everything would be taken care of for us.
While we were in the dining car, our attendant transformed the seats into bunk beds. The next morning, while we were eating breakfast, he came in and rearranged the beds back into seating, giving us more room to move around and pack up.
It was nice not to worry about overpacking.
On the Auto Train, vehicles are restricted by size, not weight. This is great news for someone whose bag is always over the weight limit when I fly.
I was able to pack my car with everything I needed, basically using it like a suitcase.
Although I was also able to bring the essentials I’d need for the night on board with me, I learned that less is more. Since space in each room is limited, it’s best to bring only what you really need for the night.
This was especially important when the beds in the room were down, as it took away most of the floor space and made getting ready a bit of a challenge. It would’ve been even tougher if we’d been tripping over suitcases, too.
The food was better than I expected.
On this train, passengers in private rooms received complimentary meals.
I’ll admit I had quite low expectations for the food on a train, but I was pleasantly surprised. Our dinner menu consisted of four options: steak, chicken, salmon, or pasta. Each entrée came with a salad and a dessert.
Although the dining car was no Michelin-star restaurant, we found both the steak and the chicken to be pretty enjoyable. Also, to our surprise, we were each even served a complimentary glass of wine with dinner.
For breakfast, we were served coffee, tea, and juice alongside our meals. I had a spinach-artichoke quiche that was pretty good, though I wish the potatoes it was served with had been warmer.
The vibes of the dining car were pretty nice, too.
Although not as elegant as what I have seen depicted during the Golden Age of Rail Travel in the 1800s, the whole dining experience made me feel like I was in a black-and-white movie.
For dinner, tables in the dining car were covered in white tablecloths, set with rolled silverware, and adorned with vases of flowers.
At breakfast, the car was a bit simpler but still nice, with a banana placed at each seat and crumb cakes waiting on the table.
Everyone we encountered on the train was friendly.
Since space is limited, there are no private tables in the dining car. Passengers are seated with other parties to fill up the booths.
The age range of passengers varied from families with very young children playing peek-a-boo between courses to seniors toasting to another successful trip to young professionals in their 20s and 30s.
While waiting for their meals, everyone around us seemed to be discussing their travel plans with their tablemates. I found out that many passengers were regulars on the Auto Train who preferred it over other modes of transportation.
Laughter could be heard from nearly every table, and many groups of new friends were lingering so long after dessert that the waiters had to announce they could continue their conversation in another car, as they had to get ready for the next seating.
On the flip side, our bathroom was even tinier than I thought it’d be.
I wasn’t expecting a large bathroom in our tiny space, but it was even smaller than I thought it would be.
Its simple layout consisted of only a toilet with a showerhead above it. The toilet paper needed to be hidden behind a plastic flap to protect it from getting wet when the shower was turned on.
Toiletries, like body wash, were mounted on the wall, and two towels were stored at the top of the restroom area, way above the toilet.
We had a sink, too, but it was located outside the bathroom.
Showering was also a bit tricky.
I found there to be very little room to stand up and shower, as the toilet took up the majority of the space.
I saw a sign inside the bathroom recommending passengers sit to shower, to make the experience more comfortable. I can’t say whether that’s true, though, as I wasn’t ready to try for myself.
It was nice to have a bed, but sleeping on a train was pretty challenging.
The two beds in our room seemed designed to make the most of the space.
The upper bed was slightly smaller and had an attached safety net of sorts to keep people from rolling out of it. This made me uncomfortable as I wasn’t able to sit up.
The bottom bunk, however, was more spacious with room overhead, and it was much more pleasant to rest in.
Unfortunately, although I did get some sleep, I found myself tossing and turning all night long. My night wasn’t altogether unpleasant; I just couldn’t seem to get more than an hour’s worth of sleep at a time.
Some find that the gentle rocking of the train puts them right to sleep, but I am not one of those people.
Ultimately, the benefits of this ride outweigh any drawbacks for me.
Although I didn’t get much sleep on board, our overall experience in a private bedroom on the Auto Train was actually better than expected.
Our ride felt like solid value, especially since I was taking a longer trip and could avoid the cost of renting a car once we got to Florida, where I was staying for over a month.
The trip itself was just over 17 hours, but instead of sitting in traffic on the highway, we could spend time playing games, enjoying meals, watching downloaded movies on our laptops, and even getting some work done.
Unlike a road trip, we also didn’t have to stop to grab food, rest at a hotel, or use restrooms, which made this ride feel extra efficient.
As someone who tends to take longer trips and often needs a car at their destination, I would definitely take the Auto Train again. I’d also upgrade to a private room again, too, since I appreciated having a bed.
If you’re traveling for only a week, though, you’ll want to crunch the numbers. The cost of the Auto Train (and bringing your car on it) might not be worth it.
Business Insider reached out to Amtrak for comment.
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The post We paid $1,586 to book a private room and bring our car on the Amtrak Auto Train. For us, the pros outweighed the cons. appeared first on Business Insider.
