In October 2021, I booked a round-trip trip between New York Metropolis and Miami on Amtrak’s in a single day sleeper practice. In whole, I spent 60 hours on the rails.
On the way in which to Miami, I spent 30 hours in a $500 roomette lodging, a 20-square-foot enclosed non-public house with a foldout desk, two chairs that fold out right into a mattress, and a further mattress that pulls down from the ceiling.
On my means again to NYC, I spent 30 hours within the subsequent stage up, a bed room lodging that price $1,000 for a personal 45-square-foot room. It was double the price of a roomette for twice as a lot house and a personal lavatory.
Most just lately, in January 2025, I took one other in a single day Amtrak practice from Denver to Salt Lake Metropolis in a roomette for $400. This trip was 15 hours lengthy.
Whereas I loved these journeys, there are some issues I want I had recognized about this sort of journey earlier than that will have made me extra ready for the trip.
I assumed the practice rides felt bumpy the entire time.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
This isn’t an exaggeration. I discovered my Amtrak journeys to be as bumpy as a flight with turbulence the place the seatbelt signal is on from begin to end. The movement illness and horrible sleep have been an excessive amount of for me, and had I recognized this earlier than my journey, I may need packed some medication to stop movement illness.
No matter the place I slept, I felt bumps all through the night time. However the high bunk was the shakiest.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
I’ve tried sleeping on each the highest and backside bunks on in a single day Amtrak trains.
I skilled bumps alongside the journey in each cots however discovered it simpler to sleep on the underside, the place I assumed it felt rather less shaky. Subsequent time, I might skip the highest bunk totally.
Whereas the mattress, sheets, and blankets have been comfier than I anticipated, I did not assume a lot of the offered pillows.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
The beds on the 2021 Amtrak trains have been agency and barely soft on high, simply the way in which I like a mattress. However after I was drifting off to sleep every night time, I considered my fluffy, dense pillows at house and wished those offered to me on the practice have been a bit softer.
Fortunately, the pillows on my 2025 Amtrak trip felt thicker and softer.
Though the roomette sleeps two, it may well really feel cramped even for one individual.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
I’m 5-foot-3 and of common construct, and I felt cramped within the roomette’s 25 sq. ft of house. If I have been taller or bigger, I think about I might really feel much more cramped, particularly if I needed to share the room with one other individual. This makes the improve to a bigger bed room value it, in my view.
My WiFi service was spotty all through my journeys, which made getting work performed a little bit tough.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
I deliberate to spend a number of hours of every journey engaged on my laptop computer. Amtrak offered WiFi on the primary two journeys, however I assumed the practice’s web connection wasn’t constant, so I needed to adapt my workflow to do work that did not require it. And on the 2025 journey, there was no WiFi in any respect.
My cell-data service was additionally out and in all through the journeys.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
The web wasn’t the one service that was spotty. I observed that the cell service on my telephone appeared to return out and in, too. I needed I might downloaded extra films and exhibits from streaming apps to maintain myself occupied when my telephone and web weren’t working.
I did not notice that point would appear to cross extra slowly on my long-haul journeys.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
I knew 30 hours could be a protracted trip a method, however time appeared to cross so slowly that 30 hours felt twice so long as it often does in my common day by day life.
I used to be glad that I no less than packed different issues to maintain me occupied with spotty WiFi and cell service, akin to my Nintendo Swap and music.
The cupholders in Amtrak roomettes and bedrooms match a typical 12-ounce water bottle. I did not know mine would not match.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
I introduced an enormous water bottle to remain hydrated on my lengthy journey, but it surely was too giant to suit contained in the cupholder, meant for the standard 12-ounce cup.
I might have packed a couple of smaller water bottles if I had recognized this.
I believe you need to view the trip itself as a part of your trip to essentially take pleasure in it.
Joey Hadden/Enterprise Insider
I am somebody who offers with journey nervousness, and so I discovered the size of the journey initially overwhelming. It is powerful for me to calm down when I’m between locations, and for some cause, I struggled to view the practice as a vacation spot in itself.
However after spending 75 hours on long-distance Amtrak trains, I’ve realized that should you can consider the practice trip as a part of the journey, you will discover it far more pleasing.