I am not an experienced traveler. I don't know many people who are. But I do know that many Chazzers travel and I thought you could help me out.
The SO and I (as well as Gwen, if the situation allowed) were going to go to Wisconsin this Christmas. SO's grandmother flies weekly and was going to use her frequent flier miles to book us flights to and from WI. From what she found out, she would only have enough miles to get us THERE and not BACK. Which is kind of important.
This still might be an option, depending on how persuasive she is or if she picks another airline. I'm really not sure. My SO and his family are awful at communication.
The second option we looked at was driving. Unfortunately I don't feel comfortable driving my little Cobalt all the way up there, especially in the middle of winter. So we looked into renting a vehicle.We wanted something mid size so Gwen would fit comfortably as well as our luggage. Holly hell, that's expensive. We assume this option is pretty much off the table, but if anyone has any (cheaper) ideas, go for it. (The cheapest was about $600...)
Our final and most realistic prospect is to go up there by Amtrack. I have never been on a train. I'm a bit nervous since it's something I've never done and it's an 8 hour train ride. I'm warming up to the idea but.. I'm a pretty nervous person to start with.
Since the train is the most likely mode of transport.... Those of you with experience on trains, particularly Amtrack, how was your trip(s)? I read that no dogs are allowed so Gwen won't get to come with us. (Disappointing but it's probably for the best.) We were thinking of renting a room (it looks like a tiny room with a bunk bed?) since it's pretty much the same price. (2 tickets for there were around $300. And the trip back was under $200.) There is one stop in Chicago and I'm a bit worried about missing our connection. Am I being a worry-wort?
Any advice/tips/suggestions?
The SO and I (as well as Gwen, if the situation allowed) were going to go to Wisconsin this Christmas. SO's grandmother flies weekly and was going to use her frequent flier miles to book us flights to and from WI. From what she found out, she would only have enough miles to get us THERE and not BACK. Which is kind of important.
This still might be an option, depending on how persuasive she is or if she picks another airline. I'm really not sure. My SO and his family are awful at communication.
The second option we looked at was driving. Unfortunately I don't feel comfortable driving my little Cobalt all the way up there, especially in the middle of winter. So we looked into renting a vehicle.We wanted something mid size so Gwen would fit comfortably as well as our luggage. Holly hell, that's expensive. We assume this option is pretty much off the table, but if anyone has any (cheaper) ideas, go for it. (The cheapest was about $600...)
Our final and most realistic prospect is to go up there by Amtrack. I have never been on a train. I'm a bit nervous since it's something I've never done and it's an 8 hour train ride. I'm warming up to the idea but.. I'm a pretty nervous person to start with.
Since the train is the most likely mode of transport.... Those of you with experience on trains, particularly Amtrack, how was your trip(s)? I read that no dogs are allowed so Gwen won't get to come with us. (Disappointing but it's probably for the best.) We were thinking of renting a room (it looks like a tiny room with a bunk bed?) since it's pretty much the same price. (2 tickets for there were around $300. And the trip back was under $200.) There is one stop in Chicago and I'm a bit worried about missing our connection. Am I being a worry-wort?
Any advice/tips/suggestions?