Amtrak vs Commercial Flights vs Driving
- Adam Garrett
- Apr 3, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 9
In this article, I wanted to share a chart to go over some of the pros and cons of train travel in the US vs alternatives of commercial flights & driving, highlighting the winners in each category considered in blue if there's a clear winner, & in tan when a clear winner is listed but it really depends on the situation.
Time Comparison Deeper Dive from South East VA
Here's a time comparison on a number of Amtrak routes, including stating if you can get there directly or indirectly by flying a commercial airline (far right), times it takes on trains, & comparative drive time:
Categories | Planes | Amtrak | Driving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Category Winners | 8 Category Winners (6 if you lump bag categories into 1) | 3 Category Winners |
Popularity for Long-Distance Trips | "Almost 90 percent of long-distance trips are by personal vehicle." | ||
Time | The longer the distance, especially on direct itineraries, the greater the time savings typically. Across short distances, especially multi-leg flying itineraries can be more time flying vs driving or direct routes on Amtrak. | Often takes longer than flying or driving, especially on long itineraries vs flights and when train routes can't get you somewhere directly. Less time needed before departure to be at the station than planes typically & less time going from the train station to the middle of a city typically vs going from the airport to the middle of a city. | Often takes less time than Amtrak, but more time than planes. In heavy traffic especially, driving can take longer on certain itineraries. |
Checked bags with no status | Unless flying on Southwest, using a credit card perk, or status, you'll typically need to pay for any checked bags. | Train travel with Amtrak provides 2 checked bags per passenger free. Additional checked bags are $20 each. | Depends on vehicle & passengers #. If it's just you, you'll often get plenty of room for bags, but if every seat in the vehicle is full, it may be a different story, though roof cargo carriers can help. The heavier the cargo, the lower your MPG. |
Carry on bags | In some cases, you'll need to pay for a carry on, i.e. many discount carriers, Jetblue basic economy, & United basic economy | 2 carry on bags free up to 50 lbs each | See ^ |
personal items | Most US airlines offer 1 personal item freely, including most discount carriers & on basic economy. | 2 personal items free up to 25 lbs each | See ^ |
Leisure/Productivity During Transit | Typically when you fly there will be a period at the beginning and end of the flight when you won't be allowed to use a laptop or similar device. You also need to turn your phone to airplane mode or off, but wifi-calling can help for phone calls. | If your Amtrak has consistent wifi and you have a full fledged table as is the case with certain business class seat configurations, your productivity levels can be potentially higher than they would be while flying or driving, especially if you use a multi-screen setup like I do. If you're in sleeper class, your ability to sleep will likely be superior to anything in economy class in the sky, though some business/1st class airlines have lie flat options. | In your own vehicle, you can have integrated features like built-in wifi, Android Auto or iOS CarPlay. That said, if you'll be the one driving, it would be illegal for you to do a number of work-related or leisure activities, such as watching something on your computer or typing up a paper. Voice to text on Android Auto or similar only goes so far. State laws vary also. |
Outlets | "Most first class and business class cabins will have power outlets and/or USBs for each seat... As for economy, it is much less common for economy passengers to have their own power outlets and USB ports. If there are power outlets, you may have to share them with other passengers. Also, sometimes the power outlets are only found in the first few rows of economy (in something like economy plus)." | Dual Outlets for Every Seat | Depends on vehicle; some vehicles have wall outlets, and most have typical car outlets. I use a car outlet to wall outlet converter in my vehicle. It's big & noisy, but it has multiple outlets and is rated for higher power consumption than most car to wall converters. |
Wifi | "Free basic WiFi service in select trains and stations throughout the country." Mobile hotspots are also an option in locations with signal. | Mobile hotspots or integrated wifi with your own vehicle are options, but if you're the one driving, your usage is severely limited legally. | |
Legroom, width, & comfort | economy class commercial domestic airlines typically have 28"-33" of legroom | wider, farther apart, much more legroom at 40" in coach, better recline than US airlines | Factors depend on vehicle, but if you're driving, don't recline too much since going to sleep would be bad... |
Middle seats | It depends on the plane configuration, but it's not uncommon for there to be middle seats, especially in economy class | No middle seats | Often middle seats, but typically not used |
safest | 3x more dangerous than flying | 40x more risky than flying | |
Higher negative impact than a gas powered car typically with 3 people in it | Best for environment | Highest Negative Impact if 1-2 people in it | |
Cost (depends highly on the route & the deal you're getting, but is likely the top reason why personal vehicles are most popular) | Typically higher cost than Amtrak, but it depends on the route, so if you'd consider Amtrak as well, it's good to do a price and time comparison, but keep in mind factoring in all costs like baggage fees | While Amtrak trains are typically lower cost than commercial planes in the same class of seating, that really depends. Sometimes, you can get from VA to FL for under a $20 flight. It's unlikely you'll ever get a deal like that on Amtrak. That said, a $20 flight would likely incur hefty fees if you wanted to take the 2 checked bags that would be free on Amtrak. With Amtrak, it's ideal for short routes or those who can maximize their time during the journey (i.e. writing, study, work etc.) because a commonly neglected cost factor is the value of time. | If you're driving a 20-year-old vehicle getting relatively high miles per gallon, and want to leave tomorrow for somewhere that you could drive in 3 hours with 5 people, your own vehicle might be the way to go. If you just bought a new gas guzzler for $50k or more and want to go to the same place solo, the cost of gas, maintenance, and depreciation drastically changes things. You can often reduce costs by using cruise control & going 55 MPH in 70 MPH zones, but most won't want to deal with the extra time involved. |
Options on points | many points options available | Amtrak points available in US, but highest values possible are under 3 cents per point on points that are relatively difficult to earn compared to airline miles. | some rental car points options available |
Mass Transit/Rental Car/Parking in destination | Ideal for a relatively distant location with high parking fees & plenty of mass transit. With some exceptions, often airports are outside of the city or on the outskirts of the city. | Ideal for relatively close location with high parking fees & plenty of mass transit. Often Amtrak stations are within the city. | Ideal for locations without good mass transit that isn't too far away since no rental car needed. In high population density areas, some hotels can charge over $60/night in places like DC for parking (& over $120/night in NYC), and then finding parking in those places if going from 1 place to another within city can be difficult. |
Sanitation | Between airline carriers there can be a big difference, and sometimes there is a division between 1st class bathrooms and economy etc. on planes. | Unless you're getting a room on Amtrak to yourself or are traveling on an Acela train (where there is no economy class), the Amtrak bathrooms are generally not going to be as clean as a comparable flight, even if you're in business class. That said, it really depends. | If you're stopping at a rest stop or place to eat or drink while driving, some places are much cleaner than others. |
Lounge Access | Best: Many lounges in many medium to large sized airports (notably none in SE VA) with easy access via credit cards including some with no net annual fee | Some lounges, but typically they won't be as nice as those within airports | No free lounges, but you can still stop at rest stops and restaurants |
View | Best view at the beginning and end of the journey, but the clouds view during the majority of the journey isn't typically ideal unless at sunset or sunrise. | More interesting view that you get to enjoy more than many driving routes, and a view throughout the journey, unlike most plane routes. | View throughout journey, but if you're the one driving, you can only enjoy it so much and can't take pictures readily legally |
Note on Alternative Modes of Transit
While in the above I compared driving, Amtrak, & planes, of course those aren't the only possibilities. In some cases, biking, other train travel in or outside of the US, car rental, walking, ferries, light rail, busses & more can be ideal.
Example When Train is Best Option: Richmond to DC & Back After Spending a Few Nights There
Because many American are familiar with driving & flying, I did want to share an example where they'd be foolish in many cases to take anything but a train. An example where train would be best would be a single adult departing from Richmond and going to DC on a Friday afternoon departing around 3 PM, staying for 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capital Hill (a half-mile walk away from Amtrak Union Station), and planning to walk everywhere or use mass transit everywhere they go in the city due to not wanting to have to hunt for parking. The cost to go by train, if they played their cards right, would be $16-$18 each way, or
Here's why primarily that'd be better than driving:
Parking expenses in DC can be high. At Hyatt Regency Washington on Capital Hill, parking expenses are $57/night stayed before taxes/tip for valet parking, with no self-parking option. With that in mind, parking fees would if going with hotel parking would be the equivalent of 2 adult round-trip train tickets (or 1 adult, 1 lap infant, and 2 kids 2-12) at this cost per day. Parking fees at Richmond RVR Amtrak Station (Staples Mill Rd) are $11/24 hrs, though some living in Richmond could take alternative transit to the station due to Richmond's substantive mass transit system primarily via busses. Friday afternoons also tend to have traffic, so the time of driving vs the time of train wouldn't be too far off:
Here's why that'd primarily be better than a flight:
There are no direct flights from Richmond International into DCA, the closest airport to DC. If one were to fly to Dulles or Baltimore, and then go to DC via mass transit or by car, it'd take longer than going by train. Seat comfort, baggage allowance, & more would be better on Amtrak. Also, while miles could be used for flights, Amtrak Rewards could be used much more cost effectively in this case with dramatically fewer points.
Here's how many United Miles something similar to that would cost even when getting discounted rates due to being a credit card holder:
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