All about the Autotrain

[Vickie1016]

What time did you leave the NYC area. We will be traveling from northern NJ on a Friday. just curious if and where you hit traffic.

Thanks in advance

Two weeks ago we left on a Monday morning. We are in lower Westchester County. We were in the car at 6:30, stopped at Dunkin for coffee & were on the Parkway for 6:45. Reached the GWB by 7:00-7:15, no traffic at all.

We did have traffic on the Turnpike for construction but it was not that bad. Rest of the drive was no traffic. Arrived in Lorton approx 12:30 (with two bathroom breaks).

 

[monorailsilver]

For the NYC area we left Trumbull ct at 6am on a Friday this April and April 2013.

We did not have any delays getting across the GW or for that matter on the Merritt. If we left at 6:15-6:30-6:45 then we'd have traffic woes.

We were over the bridge by 7 and in jersey.

We arrived at Lorton at 11:10/11:20. I think it was 11:10

Ok I just looked at my texts to my sister. We left Trumbull at 6:01 am. At 6:51 we just passed exit 10 on the deegan and at 7:00 we were in New Jersey.

At 9:24 we arrived in Maryland.

At 11:07 we hit virginia and had 14 miles left.

 

[huggiebear23]

Thanks for all the reviews. I leave in 7 days for the train. I'm full of nervous energy.. I live in Long Island and I was planning on leaving at 5am just to be safe. Is that too early? The belt parkway is horrible. I just want to be out of New York ASAP.

 

[shafke]

Yes, the belt parkway is horrible as is the Staten Island Expwy. 5 AM should be OK but you never know with these roads. If you do not hit any traffic you will have plenty of time.

 

[huggiebear23]

Yes, the belt parkway is horrible as is the Staten Island Expwy. 5 AM should be OK but you never know with these roads. If you do not hit any traffic you will have plenty of time.

That's what I'm thinking. I would rather be there and wait. I want to go out and sit down to a nice lunch and not be so stressed to get there

 

[jbeyes]

I really encourage everyone to make sure they are signed up for Amtrak Rewards. Of course points can be earned through Amtrak travel (which we never did), but they have a feature where you can shop online at a lot of major retailers to accrue points in your account. We also opted to get the Amtrak MasterCard which awards points as well. Additionally, you can transfer points from other rewards programs (we did it with our Hilton points.) In just over a year of online shopping & taking advantage of special offers, we were able to get enough points to completely cover our family of four's roundtrip in a family bedroom with our car! It will be our first AT trip & we are looking forward to it.

 

[bdcp]

I really encourage everyone to make sure they are signed up for Amtrak Rewards. Of course points can be earned through Amtrak travel (which we never did), but they have a feature where you can shop online at a lot of major retailers to accrue points in your account. We also opted to get the Amtrak MasterCard which awards points as well. Additionally, you can transfer points from other rewards programs (we did it with our Hilton points.) In just over a year of online shopping & taking advantage of special offers, we were able to get enough points to completely cover our family of four's roundtrip in a family bedroom with our car! It will be our first AT trip & we are looking forward to it.

We're members of Amtrak rewards and have the MC. Our Feb trip, our roomette (DH and I) is paid for both ways with points. We only had to pay for our suv. When we first got the MC we used the points to go to NYC RT on the Acela. We've paid for several trips, and we always use our MC to pay so we get double points. We also pay for all our cruises using our MC and anytime we charge something. You can also buy points to fill in if you need to get to enough to use on Amtrak.

 

[huggiebear23]

Any recommendations about traveling to the auto train? Beltway or straight on the I 95?

 

[monorailsilver]

Any recommendations about traveling to the auto train? Beltway or straight on the I 95?

We did the belt way but it all depends on traffic.

 

[huggiebear23]

What's the difference?

 

[chefmb]

Hi. DS and I are taking the autotrain this Saturday (8/2). He checks into the Disney College Program Monday! I just talked to a friend who said to leave really early because the traffic on a Saturday in DC and Northern Virginia is really bad. I'm looking for some people with experience who can advise what time to leave to make sure I am not stressing about traffic! Also, can someone give good advice on where to grab lunch before checking in? Or if we get there really early, is there something close by to occupy our time for a little while? I think I read that the train station is really just a waiting area with a bathroom. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[huggiebear23]

Hi. DS and I are taking the autotrain this Saturday (8/2). He checks into the Disney College Program Monday! I just talked to a friend who said to leave really early because the traffic on a Saturday in DC and Northern Virginia is really bad. I'm looking for some people with experience who can advise what time to leave to make sure I am not stressing about traffic! Also, can someone give good advice on where to grab lunch before checking in? Or if we get there really early, is there something close by to occupy our time for a little while? I think I read that the train station is really just a waiting area with a bathroom. Any advice would be appreciated!

First off congrats to you son!! Secondly, if you go back a few pages there are great suggestions of places and shopping centers to eat at. Also, a super tip I just heard is you can check in before leaving your car. Have a safe trip!!

 

[monorailsilver]

What's the difference?

We took 295 straight thru from Baltimore to Alexandria. We have also taken the eastern loop because we always take the parkway from Baltimore to/from DC.

We chose 295 this past April because the loop has traffic. Surprisingly, there was no traffic on 295.

We just use the google and waze apps to get us thru.

 

[huggiebear23]

We took 295 straight thru from Baltimore to Alexandria. We have also taken the eastern loop because we always take the parkway from Baltimore to/from DC. We chose 295 this past April because the loop has traffic. Surprisingly, there was no traffic on 295. We just use the google and waze apps to get us thru.

Thank you

 

[Sadie22]

The end of summer is fast approaching. Don't expect no traffic on a summer weekend.

 

[bdcp]

Hi. DS and I are taking the autotrain this Saturday (8/2). He checks into the Disney College Program Monday! I just talked to a friend who said to leave really early because the traffic on a Saturday in DC and Northern Virginia is really bad. I'm looking for some people with experience who can advise what time to leave to make sure I am not stressing about traffic! Also, can someone give good advice on where to grab lunch before checking in? Or if we get there really early, is there something close by to occupy our time for a little while? I think I read that the train station is really just a waiting area with a bathroom. Any advice would be appreciated!

The problem with Saturday's in the summer is all the traffic heading to the NC beaches. I-95 south of DC can get very heavy/backed up. I agree, give yourself plenty of time. We, fortunately, live about 45 min from Lorton and don't have to get on I-95 at all. We take more local roads.

 

[huggiebear23]

Oh boy!! My train is sold out!! Anyone experience this?? What should I expect?

 

[Ngwira]

I would check in early to secure your meal time.

 

[bdcp]

Oh boy!! My train is sold out!! Anyone experience this?? What should I expect?

Lounge will be full, dining times will fill up fast and it will take longer to offload all the cars. We've been on sold out trains several times (heading south in Nov there are always lots of snowbirds) and that was before they removed a lounge.

 

[huggiebear23]

Lounge will be full, dining times will fill up fast and it will take longer to offload all the cars. We've been on sold out trains several times (heading south in Nov there are always lots of snowbirds) and that was before they removed a lounge.

Thanks. I should arrive fairly early to check in