Delta has round trip flights from ATL->WAS for ~$800

TFA train round trip shows $306 without a private cabin.

TFA already mentioned the time differences.

The googs says it's 638miles doable in 9.5hours. Say an average of 20mpg at $4/gal (I have no idea what current rates are in that part of the country) needs 32gals for $128 one way or $256 to come back. Of course someone needs to drive it.

The train definitely looks like a decent deal for this route. I've priced train rides from my town, and prices look like plane routes but in days instead of hours. The train doesn't make sense all of the time, but I'm holding out hope I'll find a trip where it will make sense.

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Helithumper 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Like other commenters I was also confused at the "~$800" comment.

I tried this myself, picking a time a few weeks in the future (round trip April 15th to 22nd). Round trip as I'm assuming you'll want to go there and come home.

All of the following info is for ATL to Washington-Area airports (BWI, DCA, IAD). Amtrak is for Atlanta to Washington Union Station

Delta (20+ nonstop a day every 30min or so, ~2hrs flight time):

- ~$244->$304 Main

- ~$444->$504 Comfort+

- ~$769-$974 First

Amtrak (11:29PM->1:47PM, 14h18m):

- $356 Coach

- $1107 Private Room (Roomette)

I'm sure that a more accurate analysis would include a spread of days.

In general, this means that with the train you'd increase your travel time by ~26 hours round trip (over a whole day) while also paying ~$112 more.

(Note that the Amtrak website prices each leg independently while Delta prices round trip, I made sure to go all the way to the cart to gather the end pricing)

I was curious so I also did a trip much sooner (March 30th to April 6th):

Delta:

- $616-$665 Main

- $785-$800 Comfort Plus

- $1065 First (they were all priced the same)

Amtrak:

- $517 Main

- $1369 Private Room (Roomette)

So for a much sooner trip you do save ~$100 for the tradeoff of ~26 hours more time spent.

It's also worth noting that this route's travel occurs primarily at night, in the dark. This means both trying to sleep on a train as well as not being able to see much outside as it'll be dark most of the ride.

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hdgvhicv 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Based on the last long trip I did in the U.K. where I averaged 43 miles per US gallon (52mpg) I’m shocked how terrible efficiency is in the US. That’s real world highway driving in a 4 year old petrol car.

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dylan604 6 hours ago | parent [-]

I deliberately chose a low mpg value. Most people are driving SUVs what I assumed 20mpg would be safe. My car averages about 26mpg. I have no insight into how many kilometers per liter UK cars get, but the translated £/litre to $/gallon has always shocked me at the price paid on that side of the pond. If Americans had to to pay the same rate, we'd have better mpg ratings as well.

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tzs 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's way too pessimistic.

Among SUV drivers in the US the biggest segment is compact SUVs (think Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V). Then midsize (like Toyota Highlander or Hyundai Palisade), subcompact (Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona), then full sized (Chevy Tahoe, Ford Expedition).

RAV4 non-hybrid is around 35 mpg highway. CR-V 34 mpg highway.

In midsize, Highlander is 29 mpg highway, and Palisade is 25 mpg highway.

In subcompact CX-30 is 30-33 mpg highway depending on options. Kona is 29-34 mpg highway depending on options.

The full size category, which does get down to around 20 mpg, is only around 3-4% of SUVs in the US. Tahoe is 20 mpg highway. Expedition gets 23 mpg highway.

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dylan604 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Great, but it's still 9.5 hours of time on the wheel. Train/plane eliminates that. So even if it is 1/3 cheaper in fuel, it's something that needs to be considered.

	▲	gruez 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		>So even if it is 1/3 cheaper in fuel, it's something that needs to be considered. Not to mention wear on the car.

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Arainach 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> RAV4 non-hybrid is around 35 mpg highway. CR-V 34 mpg highway.

....35mpg at 60mph and little traffic, maybe. I can't speak for that specific model, but most vehicles I've driven do significantly worse than advertised.

My Subaru Legacy advertised 27 City, 35 Highway, 30 Combined. In practice I average 25-26 while commuting and on extended highways drives more like 29, still on stock tires.

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hdgvhicv 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I paid £1.45 a litre on Friday my average, which I tend to treat as about 14p a mile or 18c a mile.

I’m not sure why I’d deliberately burn more fuel regardless of the price. Literally setting fire to cash for nothing.

That would be $120 for your trip to Georgia, about the same price as in the US despite fuel being $7.30 a gallon equivalent in the uk.

	▲	dylan604 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I don't know where you're coming with deliberately here as if that's something I chose. I'm not familiar with cars getting 43mpg in the US. Maybe some hybrid, but that's definitely not the norm on this side of the pond. Even when I had a Corolla, which was the highest rated car I've ever driven, did not get 43mpg. Your "deliberate" sounds a lot like victim blaming here.

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uyzstvqs 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

What? I can book ATL <-> WAS round trip for $74 with Frontier, $184 with Delta. With a checked bag $168-254.

	▲	dylan604 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		<shrug> it's what my look up specifically for this comment gave me using Delta's website. I tried booking for 3/30 - 4/02 roundtrip. I went with Delta as that was specifically called out in TFA. Deliberately limiting the variables. Besides, I'd be in a really desperate situation to choose Frontier.