I have read a few thread on taking Amtrak from Tuscaloosa.
Perhaps I can get a little more clarification or opinions?
We have taken Amtrak’s auto train to FL twice and thorougly enjoyed the trip. DH, who has no patience for travel, really enjoyed it. I guess we just like trains, so I don’t think DS would mind it all that much coming home for Xmas.
Would he have a problem getting to the station in Tuscaloosa? Would he need to book far in advance?
We were looking at two stations for pick up. One would be in Manassas, which is about a 4 hour drive for us. Also Philly, but with the Expressway delays, it usally take us about 3+ hours to get home. So in many ways, the Manassas stop would be less travel time for him.
I think if there were an absolute emergency, he could always fly, but looking at other options.
It is easy to take a taxi to the station.
Are you asking how far in advance would he have to book his Amtrak ticket? I don’t know. I don’t know how popular Christmas travel is. I’ve taken it one time and it had a lot of grannies on board who take the Amtrak to visit their grandchildren.
I had read some threads on this, and supposedly some UA parents/kids were going to give it a try. I was hoping to hear some of their thoughts.
Maybe they didn’t end up travelling Amtrak after all.
The station in Tuscaloosa is in an area that’s def “in transition.” Not sleazy, but sort of industrial. It’s not hard to find though. He could take a cab to the station. I know several students have used Amtrak. You might get more responses on the Facebook page.
You probably saw my response from last summer when my DH and DS took Amtrak from Manassas to Tuscaloosa and back. They enjoyed it (although it did get long). You don’t get a whole lot of sleep sitting up. The real problem was the fact that it was not even close to being on time. Going down, it left Manassas pretty much on time but arrived 2 hours late. Coming home, they were about 2.5 hours late - due to freight trains having the right of way. I could keep track of things with an Amtrak app. We only live about 30 minutes from Manassas, so it wasn’t a big deal. If you were having to drive to meet him, it might be trickier. I also don’t know how crowded it is during the holidays. My DS has flown home this year (T’giving, Winter Break and Spring break).
My son took Amtrak from Tuscaloosa to Newark, NJ in March. It was reasonable but he found the trip painful. It took a long time (noon until 3:30 PM the next day) and there was no wifi. He took a taxi from his dorm and I think the price was 176 one way!
Thanks for the responses. Looks like flying would be a better option. Something he has never done before, so I was looking at something he is more familiar with.
The travel is becoming more of an issue than I had thought, but we will work it out.
My son had not flown much before he went to UA last year. I took a CC suggestion, and when we went down for a visit (Bama bound, maybe), I had him take charge. He got the boarding passes, led the way through the airport, got us transportation etc. I was just the shadow. I think we even had a flight that went through Atlanta, so we switched planes. That gave him the confidence he needed. Fortunately, the Birmingham airport is quite small and very easy to navigate. The shuttles from campus to BHM during break times work well - especially if you can book flights that work well with the shuttle schedule (i.e. - don’t book a flight that leaves at 5 am). There are also lots of other kids going through the airport at break time - so he’s definitely not alone!
Yes, it was suggested we try this, but it costs a lot more to do this, which we don’t wish to spend at this time. Finances are going to be very tight as it is.
I think while we are at UA, we will head over to Birmingham and do a walk around the airport so it won’t be a total surprise; lots of learning curves ahead.
It’s very difficult to get lost in the Birmingham airport as the airport only has 18 gates and 4-5 baggage carousels. It’s nothing like LAX, Washington Dulles, or other large airports. I like the idea of dropping ones student off at the airport so they can walk through a typical check in process, though with mobile boarding passes it has become as simple as finding the correct security line. You can wait for them in the cell phone lot and have them call you when they have “arrived” at baggage claim. Airports typically have good signage and people working at the airport will generally know the location of certain features like terminals, restrooms, baggage claim, etc. Look at the monitors for specific information about ones flight.
When looking at the tome involved, flying is almost always going to be quicker and is usually cheaper. Many people I know used to drive 700+ miles to their winter homes and now fly because it’s so much quicker and is often cheaper. The cost of gas and maintenance required to drive 4+ hours to meet a train is going to be very similar to the $200 extra to fly roundtrip into a regional airport near ones home.