Train News

Amtrak throws winter flash sale with trips to and from Dallas

Amtrak train on the move.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

With the imminent holidays, traveling is on the rise, and Amtrak is ready to get you to your winter getaway. For a limited time, the transportation company is offering a National Winter Travel Flash Sale, with up to 40 percent off, including Coach Class on some of Amtrak’s most popular trains, and Business Class seats on the Acela.

Reduced fares on many routes nationwide are available if you make a reservation between Thursday, November 7 and Thursday, November 14, 2024, for travel between Monday, December 2, 2024, and Saturday, March 15, 2025.

Other than a few blackout dates, the sale fare applies to trips departing Monday through Thursday and Saturdays.

Amtrak departs out of Dallas at the Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station.

Called The Texas Eagle Texas Eagle, it runs from Chicago - St. Louis - Little Rock - Dallas - San Antonio - Tucson - Los Angeles.

The Texas Eagle part travels between Chicago and San Antonio, through major cities from Austin to Dallas. Connecting service between San Antonio and Los Angeles is available via the Sunset Limited. Passengers traveling to and from points between Chicago and Los Angeles have a layover in San Antonio, ranging from 2 to 5 hours in order to accommodate train coupling operations.

How cool would it be to leave Dallas at 11:50 am and get to Los Angeles the next morning at 6 am?

Sample one-way fares include $87 for a trip from Dallas to Los Angeles.

Offered on most Amtrak trains, Coach Class features reclining seats with legroom to stretch out, no middle seats, and large windows for the best scenery on display while creating a smaller carbon footprint.

Acela Business Class provides an upgraded experience with reserved seating, free Wi-Fi, expanded tray tables and the new Cafe Acela menu with local and health-focused options including sandwiches, salads, charcuterie, mac & cheese, and a vegan BBQ burger.

The National Winter Travel Flash Sale provides up to 40 percent off regularly priced fares for trips departing Monday-Thursday and Saturdays, excluding December 24, 2024, December 26, 2024, January 1, 2025, January 17-21, 2025, and February 17, 2025.

The discount is valid for travel on all trains except the Auto Train (53), Borealis, Carolinian, Lincoln Service, Hiawatha, Illini/Saluki, Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg, Keystone (PHL-HAR), Missouri River Runner, Pacific Surfliner, Piedmont and Winter Park Express.

The discount can be combined with Amtrak’s everyday discounts. Availability is limited, sale fare rules and restrictions apply. For full terms and conditions and to make a reservation, visit Amtrak.com/wintersale or the Amtrak app.

“Discounts offered during the National Winter Travel Flash Sale provide guests the opportunity to take convenient, comfortable and more sustainable trips between the biggest cities in the country — New York City, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston — aboard the Acela or experience some of the country’s most spectacular landscapes on other trains to Chicago, Los Angeles or Dallas,” says Amtrak Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer Eliot Hamlisch. “Whether you’re joining us for the first time or as an Amtrak Guest Rewards member, our aim is to ‘Retrain Travel,’ providing a better way to reach winter destinations — away from traffic, tolls and tedious lines — where the journey is part of the getaway.”

holidays

Holiday News

American Airlines expects record-setting travel on Thanksgiving 2024

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines ready for takeoff.

The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to process nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

That's surely good news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the only flight I booked this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before take-off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only solution offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
The travel window runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

holidays