Does Amtrak offer airline discounts?
 

Didn't know where else to post. For those in the NE corridor (and who are based in NYC or BOS) this could help.

I don't think that any Amtrak discount applies, but if anyone knows differently, I appreciate it.

Thanks

They would probably have to have a reciprocal agreement with each airline. Highly unlikely, I would think.

No need for Reciprocal...it would be more of a "Professional Courtesy" of sorts...

There you go.... ask to jumpseat in the engine!

Naw...I want the CABOOSE! :D

I traveled on them 6 months ago and asked about it.

Big negative good buddy.

A one way on Amtrak is pretty cheap from BOS-NYC. I used the midnight train once for an early show in LGA when I got my show time too late to hop a flight. I thought I might sleep a little on the ride, but stopping every so often was not very re****l.

A better option might be the bus. There are now several bus services going between South Station in BOS and Penn Sta. or Chinatown in NYC. Fares are in the $10 - $20 range one way. Some offer on board wi-fi, and other such ammenities, with trip times around 4 hours. Fung-wah has a bad rep after a couple accidents. Lucky Star and Megabus are two names I remember. There are several others.

The Globe had an article recently, yeah here it is... (thanks google)
Rediscovering the bus - The Boston Globe

Of course you have to get from Penn Station to the airport, which can take just as long or cost twice as much as getting to NY from Boston. :(

Heh, this was one of the hidden "perks" of working at Big Sky Airlines and being UTU (a train union). A couple pilots rode Amtrak from Chicago to Springfield and got some VIP treatment after telling the conductor they were UTU.

what is starting pay at amtrak driving trains?

Now THAT is the million dollar question LoL

Last time I was looking, starting salary for an Amtrak engineer was around $50k.

On a side note, a friend of mine is an engineer for CSX. His work rules are better than ours, and he still gets a pension. I feel a career change coming on...

I was jumpseating to my parents and sat next to the wife an Amtrak Engineer. Boy, I didn't say a word and all she talked about was erosion of benefits, pay cuts and concessions, younger people coming in all excited to conduct a train and accepting lower wages and worse work rules, etc etc etc. The similarities were astounding.

Doesn't CO have something set up with Amtrak since they are travel partners in the Northeast?

I don't know about CSX, but I can tell you that the vast majority of railway operators' work rules for engineers are NOT better than regional airlines' pilots. I got to speak with quite a few engineers for BNSF at a BBQ, basically their lives are always on reserve. The system they described is once they return to their home base, their name goes to the bottom of a list. As another train needs to go out, the top name is taken off the list and out they go, until your number comes up again. Might be 2 days, but might also be 10 hours. Not uncommon I guess to get in around midnight, only to get a call at 9am for a noon departure again, for 4 days. Not to mention you usually have to start as a rail car worker (tough, tough physical labor), and engineers usually earn 50-70k/ year maximum. They said 8 days off in a month is about average, sometimes less, sometimes more. Apparently UPR and WPR are very similar.

Amtrak used to be considered a much better place to work as an engineer, kind of like moving from the "cargo" side to "passenger" side of an airline, but I guess Amtrak is doing very poorly financially, and as a previous poster said, are slashing their salaries and work rules. The similarities do sound very strikingly close to the situation at the airlines, don't they?

Usually you have to start as a conductor to move to engineer. Not really sure what the pay is, but I know car attendants do pretty well (+50K) with tips and all. I've riden Amtrak quite a few times, and their trains are always sold out, even in the middle of North Dakota or something. Obviously related to gas prices. As far as getting a discount, the airlines would have to offer them discounts, and I don't think thats happening.

This thread goes to show you how low this profession has sunk in the recent years... Try comparing trains to airplanes 20 years ago... not to mention the pay.

How so? Comparing the two professions?

no future in the railroad business::rolleyes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/ny...l?pagewanted=1

I bought a ticket on Amtrak today from CT to Newark to get to work. The conductor saw I was in uniform and said she won't scan my ticket and that the cost would be refunded in a few days because it wasn't scanned. She said "we take care of our own, no charge."

Anyone know how much metro train drivers get?

The problem with driving a train is that you end up under the Railway Labor Act. I've heard its not all that great.

Someone feel free to correct me, but aren't pilot work/union rules connected to the Railway Labor Act as well?

You can almost hear the rush of air as that joke fly by you. :)

Yeah. But I got your "fly" pun...

If you think the seniority at your airline sucks, my old man has been a Union Pacific engineer since 1978 and still can't hold a 1200-1800 callout period. That's how their schedules work, reserve with a two hour call.

Amtrak Engineers start at 20.86/hr (training pay-no pun intended) when I was there. I don't remember top out and I don't have the pay scale in front of me. Top engineers can make WELL into the six figures! BUT the hours are rough. Even for those holding a schedule. Fun job though...

Aw man! The sarcasm got me!!

I've been thinking of making a temporary shift to the railroad for a year or two. Conductors make around $70k per year at most places, while engineers make roughly $80k-$150k hinging upon which company they work for. QOL is much akin to working at a regional airline from what I hear.

Be alot cooler if they still used kabooses.

Seniority is different on the railroad as well. Each domicile has it's own list. You may have been in one place for 10 years, but junior on the list. If the railroad furloughs, they do it out of the base that's losing the work. You may end up on the street while someone who's been there 2 years stays employed at another base.

All the RR contracts are different just like the airlines so that might not hold true everywhere.

I used to know some guys who worked for Norfolk Southern. They bid trips just like we do. The senior guys I knew would operate a train from Sheffield to Chattanooga, overnight, then operate it back the next day, day off, then rinse and repeat. Junior guys were on the "extra board". That was exactly as described earlier in this thread. You go to the bottom of the list and the railroad picks the next assignment from the top of the list.

I got bored once and spent some time on a railroad employee message board. You think airline pilots complain...... Every trainmaster was out to get you. Everyone in management sucks, the union sucks, etc. The best one I saw was BNSF was sending guys out on 4 day trips. One post said "*** do they think we are? Airline pilots? Those guys get paid for that stuff!". Another one I saw was two engines that stopped on a burning bridge forcing the crew to walk through flames out in the middle of nowhere. Both guys survived for a while waiting on a rescue which took several hours. They both died in a hospital within a few days. The burned out engines were towed back to a railyard and left for a while with everyone having to see where their buddies got burned up.

We had at least one guy from Netjets go to work for the railroad after getting furloughed. Last I heard he liked it.

If there's one axiom that can be counted upon, it's that people like to complain, no matter how well their fortune seems to be.

A friend of mine who commutes in the New York to DC corridor has used Amtrak a few times. Buy a ticket, travel in uniform, and (as a previous poster mentioned) more often than not, the conductor won't lift your ticket and you can get it refunded afterward. He said he's running about 50/50 so far, but knows guys who get the free ride up to 80% of the time.

I wouldn't use it as a routine commute, but in a pinch it might work out.