After my last trip (last March on the Crescent, the Cap Ltd. and the Builder), I received a $220 travel voucher. So, since I had time, and this voucher paid for all but a few dollars of the trip, I decided to take a chance on Amtrak again.
This trip was like night and day with my last. Everyone I encountered was tremendously helpful - the station agent at MSP got me an excellent deal on tickets, and two separate conductors let it slide when I needed to ride an extra station from where my ticket said. The rides themselves were pleasantly close to being on-time, too:
-Outbound Empire Builder, 1/2 hour late to CHI
-Outbound Wolverine, 1 hour late to ROY (this was a little annoying, it was already a 1 AM scheduled arrival)
-Inbound Wolverine, 1/2 hour late to CHI
-Inbound Empire Builder, 10 minutes early to MSP (the only time I've ever been early on Amtrak, I believe)
I'm not sure I would have ridden this distance if it wasn't so cheap, but I lucked out in this case - the weather was abysmal enough that driving would have been difficult and all flights were delayed. My only suggestion would be a second daily from MSP to Chicago, to allow for a morning arrival in Detroit, but otherwise the trip was excellent.
This trip was like night and day with my last. Everyone I encountered was tremendously helpful - the station agent at MSP got me an excellent deal on tickets, and two separate conductors let it slide when I needed to ride an extra station from where my ticket said. The rides themselves were pleasantly close to being on-time, too:
-Outbound Empire Builder, 1/2 hour late to CHI
-Outbound Wolverine, 1 hour late to ROY (this was a little annoying, it was already a 1 AM scheduled arrival)
-Inbound Wolverine, 1/2 hour late to CHI
-Inbound Empire Builder, 10 minutes early to MSP (the only time I've ever been early on Amtrak, I believe)
I'm not sure I would have ridden this distance if it wasn't so cheap, but I lucked out in this case - the weather was abysmal enough that driving would have been difficult and all flights were delayed. My only suggestion would be a second daily from MSP to Chicago, to allow for a morning arrival in Detroit, but otherwise the trip was excellent.
