Amtrak Roomette, Bedrooms, and Seat Compared

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Published 2021-05-22
Ready for your own Amtrak Adventure, but not sure whether to book an Amtrak Roomette, Bedroom, Family Bedroom, Coach Seat, or something else?

In this video, you'll see each one, including the pros and cons of each option, and if you stick around to the end, I’ll even show you how much they all cost!

In this Guide to Amtrak, you’ll see the differences between Amtrak’s Coach and Private Rooms. You’ll get a sense of each of the five types of Private Rooms offered by Amtrak: Amtrak Roomette, Amtrak Bedroom, Amtrak Family Bedroom, Amtrak Bedroom Suite, and Amtrak Accessible Bedrooms.

You’ll see the pros and cons of each option and even see how much you might have to pay for each option on Amtrak.

I’ll share what you get when you travel on Amtrak, no matter what kind of ticket you booked as well as what comes with each step “up” in price and accommodation level.

Whether you want a Coach Seat, Amtrak Roomette, Amtrak Bedroom, Amtrak Family Bedroom, or something else, this video will help you narrow down the right choice for you.

For even more about an Amtrak Roomette, check out this video about the Amtrak Cardinal:
   • Amtrak Cardinal - Amtrak Viewliner Ro...  

For even more about an Amtrak Family Bedroom, check out this video about the Southwest Chief:
   • Amtrak Southwest Chief - Amtrak Super...  

For even more about an Amtrak Bedroom, check out this video about the Empire Builder:
   • Amtrak Empire Builder - 30+ Hours in ...  

And, while you’re at it, why not watch this video about the California Zephyr:
   • Amtrak California Zephyr from Chicago...  

Or, this one where a plane and train compete to see which is faster:
   • Train vs. Plane RACE Between DC and NYC  

Or, here’s one about Amtrak’s Acela:
   • Acela First Class Review  

Awww, shucks…why not just watch this playlist of train videos!
   • Jeb Brooks Train Videos  

0:00 Introduction
2:35 Amtrak Coach Seat
4:13 Amtrak Roomette
5:35 Amtrak Bedroom
6:30 Amtrak Bedroom Suites
7:06 Amtrak Family Bedroom
8:05 Amtrak Accessible Bedroom
8:39 Wrap Up

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And don't forget to take a look at my travel blog:
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Music:
Way Back When (Instrumental Version) – Gamma Skies
Lagom – Ooyy
Golden Crates – Dusty Decks
Burth Within Sight – Dylan Sitts
Mad Zach – Smartface
Let Me Know in Time – Tomas Skyldeberg

All Comments (21)
  • @vicfeb3
    I work for Amtrak, great job to have! I have a few tips for travel on my trains. If you can always get a bedroom! They are the best on the train. Try to avoid room E though, it’s the smallest. If you travel by coach try to go business class! Better seats by far. In a bedroom, after using the toilet rinse it out with the shower. The toilets are vacuum operated so don’t flush anything but bodily waste and toilet paper!! That goes for all of them btw. We’ve upgraded the blankets and pillows! They are much nicer now. Bring snacks too. By all means enjoy a meal on the diner, but snacks are a must. Enjoy the ride and know there are guys like me doing everything we can to make your trip safe and comfortable.
  • @Amtran727
    My brother and I shared a bedroom accomodation from Chicago to Los Angeles back in the summer of 2010. It was a great trip, since we traveled through so many states the scenery was always changing. I took the upper berth and slept like a baby. My brother took the lower berth and didn't sleep well either of the two nights we were on the train. He joked with me both mornings that as he sat up and looked out the window at 3am he could hear me snoring! My brother passed away in 2019 but i'm so glad we got a chance to take that trip together.
  • When I was a starving college student I went from L.A. to almost Chicago (Iowa) to visit family, I went Amtrak coach mostly because it was way cheaper and got me a hellova lot closer to my destination than flying. I was young and it was an adventure, made friends and had fun. I did a similar trip 30 years later and discovered my older body refused to sleep in the coach chair, coach seats gets all the noise from people going thru the vestibules, people talking, kids, even at night it can be significant, and 4 days in a coach chair (L.A. to Boston) was very hard on my body. Next time I will get the Roomette, no matter what the costs. The ability the lie flat in relative privacy, relative quiet and sleep is sooo worth it.
  • @frankmarone9540
    Discovered Amtrak roomettes about 10 years ago. Marvelous experience ! For me, the privacy compared to the chaos and "luck of the draw" of coach is well worth the cost difference. Meals are included, making the cost difference even less. You get a bed to sleep in and a personal assistant, usually free coffee, water, and some fruit. And you pass through people's backyards ! The sights are routinely amazing.
    Great review. Do it !
  • @seolferrosa
    I’ve traveled in both the roomette and bedroom, and I learned the hard way what happens when you are prone to motion sickness and your sleeping position has you perpendicular to the tracks (in the bedroom), as opposed to parallel to the tracks (in the roomette). Not feeling the need to get violently ill is a definite pro with the roomette.
  • @bb22602
    Love me some Amtrak!!

    One thing to remember about sleeper cars - for the price you pay, you are getting gas, food and lodging plus personal service from your car attendants. Yes, it's a bit spendy, but I think the money is better spent on a train than a sardine can of a jumbo jet. You might (MIGHT) get there faster by jet, but you won't have to take your shoes off, get scanned or wanded, fight over an armrest, and you will probably be a lot happier and more relaxed when you arrive.
  • @dooley-ch
    About 32 years ago my wife and spent almost 6 months in the USA riding the rails and yes we did everything from coach to the family room on one occasion when there was nothing else available. It was a magical experience that I will never forget. The thing I liked was the opportunity to meet such a cross section of America - we met dancers from Vegas, two oil guys from Texas, a jet fighter sales man and my favorite an 93 year old black lady from NY who was making her first trip to Alabama since she was 15 years old! It is disappointing though to find that the website is just as lacking in information to day as the travel brochures we got back then….
  • @timgraymatter
    My son and I just returned from a great trip on Amtrak. Our trip began with the Empire Builder from La Crosse, WI to Chicago. We took the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago to Boston in a roomette. Next, we traveled from Boston to DC on the Acela. After that, we hopped on the Northeast Regional from DC to Philadelphia to catch the Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh. We spent 29 hours in Pittsburgh, then boarded the Capitol Limited to Chicago in a bedroom. Finally, we rode the Empire Builder to La Crosse. To say we had a good time is an understatement!
  • @wendymccoy7698
    My husband and I have traveled both booking the roomette and the bedroom accommodations. I thought we would really like the bedroom option better because of the en suite bathroom. I actually feel perfectly comfortable in the roomette and really, using the common shower is roomier and not really used a lot.
  • @theflyinfoote
    I've done both the coach seat and roomette between North Dakota and Seattle, and if you can afford it, the roomette is completely worth it. More comfort, more private space, and just far more relaxing. Great video!
  • @larrypicard8802
    EXCELLENT video! You covered all the bases including sleeping in roomettes going the direction of travel. I'm now a retired sleeping car attendant (32 years) and can attest to your thorough explanation of Amtrak's different types of travel accommodationa.
  • Years ago, I called Amtrak and asked "Is it possible to get from Boston to Montreal by train?" The polite gentleman replied "If one is patient, anything is possible."
  • @donnaw1835
    I have traveled in a bedroom suite with my two kids ages 10 and 16 at the time. We went on the Sunset Limited in 2002, before hurricane Katrina took out the tracks, and so were able to travel from LA to Orlando. Three nights on the train! The food was great and two bathrooms a real plus. It was the trip of a lifetime.
  • @Largitas
    Very good rundown. One thing I'll add is that I travelled with someone in a wheelchair, so we had an accessible bedroom. Like the family bedroom, it spans the car so you have windows on both sides. We loved that.
  • @btownes5632
    GREAT VIDEO! Ive been traveling on Amtrak since for over 30years. Always been coach or business class. Coach does offer the "quiet car" which helps immensely. No talking on cell phones and no conversations above a whisper, "library like atmosphere".

    I just noticed that they have started allowing you to "bid" for an upgrade. I originally booked a coach ticket from NJ to BOS for about $65 and was sent an email regarding a potential upgrade. I followed the steps and "won" the bid. I was able to upgrade to a roomette for $60
  • @paprika1951
    I started to travel the rails again after I became an adult, having such vivid and wonderful memories of the PRR from my childhood. So many things tweaked my senses and made me smile - including the smooshed-flat-because-they-have-no-core toilet paper rolls in the roomette. And it occurred to me to wonder why people are so bloody squeamish about toilets in the rooms! I have never experienced foul odors and the like from an in room loo. In fact, the convenience far outweighed any misgivings
  • @edvaira6891
    I was amazed that you have only been traveling Amtrak just this past Pandemic year—You have done a MASTERFUL job pivoting from an exclusively Plane oriented Channel to a more broadly mixed Travel Channel!
  • Around 10 years ago I took Amtrak from NYC to Florida (a 19-hour trip) in a seedy train that I estimated may have been designed in the 1970's.
    I booked a roomette and in the old roomette there was a toilet and thank God. Seedy or not, I absolutely LOVED this trip! I'd never done long distance train travel before (before my father was too elderly to pick me up from the airport, I always flew.)
    I vowed that I would take an overnight train for another vacation trip but alas, I haven't gotten around to it yet (perhaps because 6 years ago I moved from Manhattan to a western state and that was plenty to take on.)
    "My dream" is that with our aging population that train travel will enjoy an upsurge in popularity and that Amtrak will receive subsidies from the government as trains do in other countries where the train system is more luxurious -- I live in hope that this will happen in my lifetime and I am in my mid-70's! What an optimist I am, huh?
  • @joanphilbin8210
    Hi, Jeb. I've traveled with Amtrak, a number of times. I had booked the roomette, and was happy with it until I was upgraded to a room! Whoa! What a difference! Regarding sleeping, the roomette did sway so I didn't really sleep that well, but enough to get me through the rest of the trip. When I was upgraded to the room though, I really slept so well that I thought I was in my own bed, at home, that's how great it was. I learned that with the roomette I was sleeping with my head to the rear of the train, and the feet toward the engine, and with the room, I slept with my head toward the window, on one side, and the feet toward the window on the other side. Fantastic!!
  • A nice, succinct summary. Of course, a lot also depends on how long you're going to be on the train. If one is traveling overnight or for a longer distance, a sleeper is probably the way to go. As I've gotten older, I've gotten to the point where I don't mind paying a bit more for added comfort on a longer trip.