Take the Train to Thanksgiving Celebrations

With just 13 days until Turkey Day, now is the time to solidify your holiday travel plans. In most cases, last-minute flights to and from major cities during Thanksgiving week are far from a frugal option. Fortunately, travelers determined to get to grandmother’s house to share in a festive Thanksgiving feast don’t have to rely solely on the airlines. Amtrak is moving full speed ahead with a campaign to reunite families this Thanksgiving. The passenger train corporation offers 30 routes to more than 500 destinations in 46 states. With a single ticket you can visit the most popular destinations in … Continue reading →

Are You a Rude Rider?

Shortly after graduating from college I moved to Atlanta for a job. However, instead of finding an apartment in the heart of the downtown metro area, I opted to share a house in the suburb of Duluth with a couple of friends of friends. Thanks to MARTA (Atlanta’s public mass transit rail system) I was able to park and ride to work each day. My point of origin was the second to the last MARTA stop and my final destination was downtown, so I was forced to ride the rails for more than an hour round-trip. It was during my … Continue reading →

Spend the Summer Riding the Rails

Are you sickened by the prospect of spending $45 to store your carry-on bag in an overhead bin on a flight that already cost you an arm and a leg? Amtrak hopes you are. The national railroad leader is hoping the hassle and growing expense involved with flying to your vacation destination will prompt you to ride the rails this summer… and beyond. To lure frequent flyers to railroad tracks, Amtrak has been working hard to improve its services and amenities. “We are investing in our infrastructure to improve the reliability, safety and security of our operations,” said Amtrak President … Continue reading →

More Reasons to Ride the Rails

In my last blog I got the discussion rolling on why more travelers are opting to ride the rails this summer. Besides the price and flexibility train travel offers there are a number of other factors that make riding the rails an attractive alternative to flying or driving from your home in Boston to grandma’s house in Kentucky. Take a look: BAGGAGE This is huge for me (and I’m sure a ton of other parents traveling with children). If you are looking for a way to avoid paying the insane baggage fees nearly all the major airlines are now charging … Continue reading →

Reasons to Ride the Rails

Besides providing information on a few reasonable deals to exotic locations this blog hasn’t been the place to view many positive remarks about the airline industry lately. Instead, it has been a spot that fed up flyers could vent about rising airfares, skyrocketing surcharges, and insane baggage fees. If you are tired of complaining and are now focusing on looking for solutions, perhaps this blog can help. Today, we are looking at alternatives to air travel, beginning with our nation’s railways. When was the last time you traveled by train? According to travel analysts, train travel is making a comeback. … Continue reading →

Happy National Train Day

Tomorrow is National Train Day and I can’t help but think of my pre-schooler’s favorite train joke: What kind of train can sneeze? Ah choo choo. My daughter waits for the laughter to die down before informing her “fans” that she’ll be here all week. Okay, back to National Train Day. Whether you are a regular rider of the rails or not Amtrak is encouraging you to visit one of their stations tomorrow. The nationwide campaign includes live entertainment and activities for youngsters. Amtrak hopes the hoopla will inspire travelers to consider riding a train to their next vacation destination. … Continue reading →

Ways to Save on Summer Vacation—-Don’t Get the Massage

For the past several weeks I have been providing tips on how you can preserve your family’s summer vacation plans despite astronomical airfares and record high gas prices. The following tidbits are aimed at helping you save on the road as well, though one is a bit more tongue-in-cheek than the other. These days talk of a recession is on the minds and lips of practically every financial expert paraded on cable news shows; however there are some people in the world who don’t have to worry about pinching pennies during these tough economic times. And no doubt some of … Continue reading →

New Orleans Streetcars Back on Track

They are the city’s most recognizable tourist draws, but they have been missing from the landscape since Hurricane Katrina knocked them out of service more than two years ago. Now, they are back (partially) and visitors to New Orleans can once again board the historic streetcars to catch a live jazz show or head over to the French Quarter for a crawfish boil. The legendary St. Charles Avenue streetcar returned to service at 5:27 a.m. Sunday, exactly two years, two months and 13 days after Katrina’s horrific winds snapped transit poles like twigs. City officials say the return of the … Continue reading →

First Class Eats for Train Passengers

We all know airline passengers get the royal treatment in first-class, but what about high paying passengers who prefer to travel by train? Don’t shed a tear for them, it appears they are making out just as well as their high flying counterparts—especially when it comes to first-class cuisine. The travel world is a buzz with the news that one of Washington’s best-known chefs, Michel Richard, has developed a new menu for first-class passengers on Amtrak’s high-speed Boston to Washington route. For those of you who don’t watch the Food Network or don’t keep tabs on who’s who in the … Continue reading →

Amtrak = Luxury Travel

When I think of Amtrak, the first word that pops into my mind is NOT luxury (wait, maybe I’m thinking of Greyhound). Kidding aside, Amtrak, by all accounts, may be the first name in efficient rail travel, but five-course meals and personal butler service it’s not. Or is it? According to Amtrak executives, it is… and then some. Five-course meals, personal butler service… and mahogany interiors will all be available on several Amtrak routes in just a few months. The nation’s leading passenger train service is teaming up with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys to attach seven special GrandLuxe cars to regularly … Continue reading →