[John_W]

The price varies by season, just like hotels and airlines. We traveled the Autotrain in April and it was $900 one way for 2 adults and a large car. We traveled round-trip in August with 2 adults and a compact car and it was $750 total round-trip. There is an $100 upcharge if you car is over a certain length.

There is only 2 stations, Sanford, Florida and Lorton, Va, which is just south of the Washington DC beltway just off I-95. The train departs everyday from each station at 4:00 pm and arrives the next morning about 9:30. You'll have dinner and breakfast served. The earlier you checkin the better choice you'll have for dinner, they service 3 different times. You'll be seated with people you don't know and you'll have a card with a couple of choices for food.

The seats are pretty good and do recline without effecting your neighbors behind you like an airline seat does. The earlier you checkin, the better choice of seat. We always take the last seats in the car, that way no one is behind you and you're closer to the stairs and the restroom downstairs. The seats are in the upper deck which gives you a good view. Downstairs, besides the restrooms will be sleepers and places for handicap. Sleepers are really just a curtain around a seat that will lay flat, and it's about $350 extra.

The trains can be delayed or you can arrive early. We've been as late as 4 hours once coming into Sanford because the train hit 2 people on the tracks in Apopka. They had to bring in a new crew just to drive the last one hour, plus inspectors have to OK the tracks, the police has to investigate the accident, helicopter had to minivac one of the injured. A lot happens when they hit a pedestrian.

We've also arrive an hour early once in Virginia. Then you must wait for you're car. You can pay an extra $50 and have your car off loaded first, otherwise you'll have to wait up to 90 minutes to receive your car. Checking in early has benefits, but it also means your car will be one of the last to be offloaded. We generally checkin at the station about 2:00 so we have our choice of seats and dinner time. The stations are nice with big screen TV's on all the news channels. Generally you'll board about 3:30 if your train is on time. At Sanford they have half the train on one side of the station and half on the other side. They then have a local engine move half of the train to connect to the main train, this can take about 30 minutes. Sometimes the A/C will go on and off when this happens. Also, the train will have to stop at various points along the route because CSX owns the tracks, and the Autotrain has to stop to allow a freight train to pass. Usually all of this is taken into account when they figure the time enroute.

Enjoy your trip, we've done it 3 times and it was fun!