As an amputee with a prosthesis, I very much need the seat nearest to the bathroom.

If you’re traveling solo in coach it’s important to remember that you may end up next to a stranger. It can be awkward trying to sleep, with no middle armrest, if you turn or they turn and you suddenly find your head on a random shoulder (or vice versa). Thankfully, I was next to pretty nice people and we had great conversations AND respected one another’s personal space.

I have ridden thousands of miles by train in the U.S., mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. I would always choose a seat near the middle of the coach mainly for the smoother ride. The center of the coach is a pivot point between the bogies and rides better.

I agree that the views are poorer on the lower level of a double-decker; however, the center of gravity on those cars is such that there is much less “rocking and rolling” downstairs, which I find makes it much easier to sleep. I’ve noticed it also tends to be quieter downstairs because there are fewer people . I’ll almost always book a lower level sleeper and just go to the lounge or observation car when I want to take in the scenery. I guess it comes down to priorities. Thanks for sharing.

This is pretty much what I do whenever I travel via Amtrak. Here’s a route-specific tip: on the Pennsylvanian, you want a window seat on the right-hand side of the train if you’re headed from Pittsburgh towards NYC/Philly, and on the left-hand side if you’re Pittsburgh-bound. This is so you can take in the view when you hit the “World Famous Horseshoe Curve!”

I took the Blue Water 365 from Flint MI to Chicago. I sat in an accessible seat. I am blind and have arthritis. The seat back was straight and against the wall. It was tough on my back. The crews on the Blue Water & Southwest Chief were very helpful answering my questions. After a Greyhound ride from Kansas City, MO I am now in Arkansas.

I rode coach from New Orleans to B'ham in early October on the Crescent. Before boarding, everyone was warned it was a full train & all those travelling together should sit together between NO & Atlanta in 1 car. There were those who ignored the announcement & hoarded vacant seats until they were confronted by train staff to make room for others. I've learned to reserve a roomette for short rides between B'ham & NO in order to avoid confusion & crowding. The CA Surfliner can get so crowded where there's standing room only-especially on weekends.

I am thankful to have a roomette for a train where coach is sold out. I think a good video would be how to minimize problems if you don't have a choice but sit in these seats. Such as bring an extension cord and work with your seatmate for access to the power outlet

I prefer the aisle bulkhead seat next to the stairs for overnight coach travel! (1) 6' tall; (2) over 70, can elevate legs on the bulkhead for better vascular circulation; (3) diuretic med, multiple nocturnal bathroom trips. Once when I tried to negotiate getting that seat, claiming bathroom accessibility need, got seated on the lower level accessibility seats, & missed out on most of my sightseeing opportunities after sunrise.

I found their channel yesterday, I love it. They are very in depth about travel on Amtrak. They are one of the best You Tuber's. 2005 was the last time I traveled on Amtrak. I am a 3rd generation Chicago native, and I love train travel.

I agree that the middle of the coach is the " prime real estate. I would suggest bringing a 6 foot charger cable in car you are in an aisle seat. I usually score a window seat , but am happy to share the power with the person next to me. To avoid this if you are in an aisle seat, bring a power bank for you devices.

Thanks so much for sharing. I really enjoy your presentations.

Rob & Allie, thanks for the suggestions. I really enjoy and learn a lot from your channel. My wife and I have done the Southwest Chief (one roomette) and the Empire Builder (2 roomettes across from each other). Next week I am going by myself from Chicago to Little Rock and will be in coach. It is only 13 hours so I think I can tolerate coach for that amount of time.

I recommend the downstairs seats if you suffer from motion sickness. They tend to sway back and forth the least

Super helpful!!! I'm considering my first Amtrak trip this summer - Southwest Chief to the Missouri River Runner (26 hours), so I really appreciate your insight. Watching all of your beginner Amtrak rider videos now!! 😀

What I don't like is when I think I've picked a good seat by a window, and some chatty person sits next to me.

I was on 2 long Amtrak trips involving changing trains, and it could not have been more convenient.They put the long distance passengers (not many of us at all) in the last car on the train, so at the transferring station like DC, we didn't even have to move our carryon bags and belongings...during the stop, they just took our car off the end of one train and popped it on the end of the new train. As there were not a lot of us long distance travellers on there, we had a lot of room to spread out and no one really needed to be next to anyone in the seats.

We actually had 2 different people fall on us when passing down the aisles when in coach. 1 on me and 1 on my son. Woke us both right up.

Thank you for this information about coach seating. I am planning a trip that will include almost all coach seats.

Great as usual. Will use for MPLS to Chicago.

Good tips. Another problem with seats near the doors is that outside temp can be much colder so you get blasts of cold air, particularlly if others are getting on/off. Long trip riders generally get the window seats at starting stations.

This was very helpful

My 1st solo Amtrak ride is tomorrow afternoon. Im so nervous yet excited!!!!!

I rode the Amtrak from San Diego to La. Everything was quiet until a group got on going to Anaheim Stadium. Geez, they were loud, and I had on earphones

Thanks for the good advice. Most of my Amtrak trips have been 80 miles or less. But, planning to take some longer trips in 2024.

Great advice. A few points I didn’t know. One note is that I’ve always been assigned a seat boarding in Cleveland. 2 trains come in both directions all in the middle of the night. The staff maps the seats before quiet hours so the boarding process is smoother and quieter.

Great tips! No wonder the roomettes are popular…

Thanks guys!

Spot on about sitting near the bathrooms . The closer your row is towards the bathrooms will result in more people from the rear of the coach passing by. Because of that I pick a seat about two thirds of way back from the restrooms . The closer you are to the middle of the car, the better the ride. Too far back will result in a harsher ride, more noise from the wheels and as like mentioned, more noise from the door. In regards concerning noise , the noise cancelling headphones ( not noise reduction ones that do not work that well ) are excellent. One can also use those with no audio coming in and eliminate also most noises . Earbuds can sound great but do a poor job on cancelling noise - even though they are called noise cancelling.

Very good information Thanks

I was in bedroom B on a Superliner I on the Empire Builder and could hear the toilet flush next door in room C - it woke me up every time…since the dividers/“walls” between the rooms (or “suites”) are so thin. Other than that, though, great room - I also ended up in a backward facing class business class seat on a Horizon car right next to the restroom, but definitely wasn’t as loud as in the bedroom.

Good morning. One other thing. For the single level trains, avoid the seats near the door if possible, because you got the door with people getting on and off, then the bathrooms, the small luggage rack, and the vestibule door. So a quadra threat. Unless you're ok with noise and odors.

overall I’d agree with this if you could choose your own seat. the problem is that most times (on eastern long-distance trains at least, can't speak for the western ones yet) the conductor will indeed just assign you a seat on the spot and you kinda have to sit there. in fact, the one time they didn't do that when I boarded in New York, the crew that got on in Washington was furious because people were sitting all over the place. I have been lucky before when I’ve been able to switch in the middle after people get off but the if it doesn’t work out you don’t have a choice (they usually fill the windows first though so try to be near the front of the boarding queue). but if you are assigned a seat, the even numbered seats are aisles while the odds are windows. oh and one more thing I'd add is to try to stay as far as possible from the air vents because those get quite loud at night, louder than the white noise of the rails which is actually relaxing unlike the air vents.

I have Restless Leg Syndrome and actually prefer an aisle seat because I have to get up and move around quite a bit, especially at night. I I take meds for the condition but I still need to move about overnight. If it gets bad I need to pace. My condition has gotten worse since the last time I traveled Amtrak. So it wasn't a big issue ten years ago. This Fall I will be takng advantage of the Rail Pass so it will be interesting to see how I fare. Never thought I would see the day when I actually preferred an aisle seat. As for power I am packing a power pack that is capable of charging my phone many times over before needing to recharge. Shouldn't be a problem on a long trip.

Thank you so much for your common sense.

I reserved a lower-level coach seat several years ago on the north-bound City of New Orleans, and I rather enjoyed it. The time the train ran meant I was sleeping for the most part, and by the time the sun came up, we were in Illinois, which is flat as a pancake and without very many wooded areas, so not having an upper level seat wasn’t a huge loss. Also, the lower level seemed to be more quiet and intimate, and the passengers could get to know each other.

Nice video 👋

Very helpful

I completely agree with you about avoiding the bulkhead, and I'd also avoid seats near the staris on Superliners. However, I actually prefer sitting downstairs on overnight Superliner trips. It's almost always quieter downstairs than upstairs. There are fewer people and almost never any small children. A lot of times as a solo traveler it's easy to get two seats together downstairs so you can sleep easier. It is true that the views are better upstairs, but I really don't think it's as much worse as you imply.

Enjoyed your video, haven't been on a real (not excursion) train ride for 40+ years. Now that I'm retired, I would like to do some train travel. While my wife and I would probably do a room or maybe 2 roommettes, how do coach fares work? Do you pick an actual row and seat like an airplane or is it just a category and you can move around as/if needed?

Am a frequent Amtrak traveler and have experienced it all. When seats are pre-assigned it is usually at the first boarding and the attendant will tell you "It doesn't matter where you sit... all the seats are the same." [Meh!] In that case, you can usually move to another seat later in the journey... and take the overhead destination tag and place it over the new seat. [Sometimes not if you have a Meh! attendant; BUT smile and ask nicely to move to a window... usually works!] When there is freedom for seat selection upon boarding... try for the center of the coach and a seat with good window alignment. If you are single DO NOT place your bags on the adjacent seat as Amtrak is quite strict about this... which is reasonable as you paid for one seat.

I sit upper level window near the stairs. If I travel with a toddler I would sit lower level coach or get a roomette. I love Amtrak, but I am falling out of love with fellow passengers who, I believe, more and more are former Greyhound riders causing ruckus.

Since Rob likes to measure everything, did he happen to measure the width of the luggage storage in the sleeper cars? I was planning on bringing a skateboard (longboard) with me and was wondering if it would fit.

What do you do when you're handed a ticket with a seat number on it. I have had this happen on a Super Liner passenger coach. I always board from CLE to CHI,, not really a lot of choice. Any suggestion?

Thank you! Great info!

Love your channel.....Just took the empire builder and used some of your info to make trip great. The best advice i can give you about coach is to avoid it at all cost. Splurge for roomette. If you have to take coach expect a slightly better than greyhound experience. Temper your expectations and you will be ok

I’ve never been on one where they just let u pick. Every time I’ve got on at my station they give me a card with a number and my stop code I never go sit there I hate sitting with a stranger if I can’t help it I’m in the lounge car usually

Which Amtrak rail cars have better coach seats for overnight travel, amfleet ii or superliners.

If I get a window seat I want and then go to bathroom or to get food, go to observation car? Will that still be my seat when I go back to it or can someone else sit there?

How likely are the roomettes or even the bedrooms to sell out?

Is there more room n the luggage racks on Amtrak than on planes?

What about the actual sleep? So pillows. I have been imagining ehat the best kind of pillow wpuld be and i cant find it already made so thinking of making one. But perhaps you have mastered the position and pillow. It is going to bev near impoyto sleep upright, and i know my neices all ended up curled up on thr seat with their had off to the side. Didnt look great. How do you do it?

I had a seat on the lower level going from Libby Mt. to Everett Wa. There is a stop in Spokane Wa. where they separate some of the cars that go to Portland Or. The Spokane station has some very shady people hanging around there, it’s not safe. During the time of the stop there was a shady guy that got onto the train, he walked into the car that I was in. There was only one other passenger in the car with me, this guy walked all the way to the back of the car while checking us out then got off the train. He was looking into the luggage rack as well as the seats in the car. I had a blanket covering me and the bag that I was carrying, so he didn’t see anything. The stop in Spokane is around two o’clock in the morning, no one is watching for this kind of situation and this wasn’t the first time someone boarded the train that wasn’t a paying passenger.

do upper levels on Amtrak trains have bathrooms? or in the lower level only?

So if you get up to go to the bathroom , When you come back technically someone can take your seat ?

❤❤❤ !

Lord knows that I don’t want to be near the bathrooms. Thank you so much.

How full are the trains usually?

Does anyone know if Amtrak is super picky about baggage? Would a like gym duffel bag be okay? Dont got a suitcase

I plan on doing a trip from Buffalo to Glacier national Park sometime next year. I plan on doing coach. Can riders bring like a cooler for food? I know it's like a three day trip.

I’m confused. I’ve taken the silver meteor from Florida to Baltimore 8 times in the last 3 years. I was always assigned a seat when boarding. I have asked for an alternate (window seat) on a mostly empty rain and was told I couldn’t move , all seats were ldesignated” so how do you choose seats?

Are you still able to upgrade while the train is in motion when you're in coach? I used to do that tons of times, but haven't done train travel since Covid.

Observation car? Sounds like a really posh train ! 🙂

How do you check how full the train is close to when your trip is?

Sadly, the handicap seating is cheek by jowl with the lavs. Sitting elsewhere is possible but has challenges. Unt so weiter.

*It's wise to be wise ~ A.C. 2023*

I’ve never had a choice on which seat I could get when boarding Amtrak… the conductor seats people in a given area based on their destination it seemed.

Can you buy two seats and have a best of both worlds situation? Aisle seat and window, with no one around you?

How can you choose your seat

If you are on a cross country route, can you change your seat on the app, say midway?

I hate that you can't see how full a train is anyone on the app or website. Such a dumb idea to remove it.

Ick. Bathrooms. Lol. Thank you for your honesty.

is lower in the car less side to side sway?

So which of the two remaining coach seats that are left on the train DO you recommend? Lol.

Sounds like mid-car window.

Does amtrack assign the seats or I can seat wherever I want

What’re your thoughts on the coach passengers who bring their sleeping bags to the observation car and sleep on the floor? I definitely saw that but my thought is that they were respectful and didn’t stay there during the daylight hours (when people would want to “observe”).

Best advice is to not ride coach in the first place. Too many trifling people making noise and making the car smell like urine

You do NOT get to choose your seats in coach 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Avoid all of them. Buy a plane ticket, drive, or walk across the country in the dead of winter. You'll be better off.

You two have the same nose.

Better yet, stay the F home.