Amtrak

The train ride from Irvine to San Diego Old Town was absolutely lovely and extremely convenient, BUT the ticket taker on the trip down was somewhat less than thrilled to be working with the public and his attitude dissuaded any questions we were going to ask.
The harridan from the darkest corner of hell who ‘served’ the train on the way back made our first ticket taker seem downright jolly. NEVER have we observed such a horrible, foul demeanor from one who has chosen to work with the public. Hostile, demeaning, angry and bitter she would have been perfectly suited to employment in a slave labor camp.
At the beginning of the day trip, I was planning the train trips we’d take in the future. Now, my husband and I think it best to relieve Amtrak employees of the burden of two extra passengers on future routes.

had to go to LA for a business dinner that happened to be at the fullerton train depot. So i took the Amtrak
Surely glad i paid the extra $ 15 for premium seating as it was worth double the price and then some. Great scenery, love the café car and the option of working, sleeping catching up on emails…

The Amtrak station at Old Town was my destination from Orange County. The fare was pretty expensive for just a 2 hour ride, but I guess it beats driving in traffic. The Old Town location is not that user friendly for newbies. There is no help counter or customer service. I had to ask info from a police officer to find out where I had to wait for my train.

I honestly am just writing this review on Javiar this being my first train ride my friends and I have not experienced a better experience than we did this morning not only did he give us a great experience he was super friendly and what we love most is that he honestly loved his job and enjoyed what he was doing and he honestly wanted to grow with this company, we had a extremly awful experience with Augustine an employee like him should not be working for this company he clearly did not enjoy his job not having a good guest experience had we not had deal with this man our trip would’ve been 4 stars I suggest someone retain him on how to communicate with guest.

The worst ever! After watching the Padres play the Dodgers we took the train back to L.A. from San Diego and it was the worst ever. Not only did we get moved from perfectly good seats because the «conductor» said we were in her workspace. Her sarcastic attitude and smart allec remark towards us was rude and ridiculous. The train is over crowded and leaving 15 seats open for her work space is ridiculous. Threatening us that she would «throw us out» every time she walked by us. Okay conductor crazy lady we were just getting a snack at the café and with her smiling sarcastic attitude continued to harass us.

We took the train from San Diego, CA to Chicago, IL. We had to switch trains in Los Angeles. We read online to be 45 minutes early to get our luggage checked. This service doesn’t exist. You do not need to arrive early. Just don’t arrive late. Thought we had reserved a larger sleeper suite, but apparently, that’s not what I was charged for. I asked about upgrading and was told the train was sold out. Nobody with Amtrak seemed to be able to help. We made the most of our trip, but we could of upgraded. There were 4 larger suites in the next train over. The staff are nice but can’t seem to do anything but their immediate job. Amtrak should provide some on site customer service support. The food was decent, but the entire train ran out of alcohol after 1 day and we were on the train for 2 nights. Would of been nice to have a glass of wine with dinner. But you can bring your own stash. There is no sort of security check whatsoever.

The Amtrak station at Old Town is the first stop northbound from downtown San Diego’s Santa Fe Train Depot on its way to Orange County and Los Angeles.
There isn’t a ticket counter here for Amtrak. Only a couple ticket machines by the platform. If you are headed northbound, just about all passengers are boarding the train. The waiting area is not covered, so if it is raining make sure to wear appropriate clothing. The station is pretty no frills, but it is convenient for those who don’t want to go all the way to the downtown San Diego station.
An Amtrak ticket from Old Town to Irvine Station costs $ 29. A little high. If you want to save some cash, take the COASTER to Oceanside and transfer to a Metrolink which would save you about $ 10 or so, though it does require that change of trains and layover.
The train ride to Irvine was alright. Headed upstairs and had the misfortune of riding with a bunch of rowdy kids. On the bright side, parts of the train ride up were pretty nice as the train goes up the coast. Particularly the San Clemente Pier which there is a stop. There is also free Wi-​Fi available though I found it to be spotty.
My ride on Amtrak was fine for a 2 hour journey. If you want to get to the OC and LA the leisurely way, taking Amtrak is a more enjoyable way to do that than driving up and having to deal with the traffic.
As for the Old Town Amtrak station, it is a great stop to use if you want to avoid taking the train from downtown San Diego. Though the con is that its not a great place to wait for the train for a long time.

I traveled the Amtrak Coast Starlight from San Diego to Portland Oregon on August 2014. We started the journey behind schedule and things got worse from there. Eventually the train’s engine complete broke down and we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. We finally arrived in Portland 12 hours behind schedule.
The delays were made worse by the train staff’s lack of customer service skills. Getting any information was nearly impossible and the information they did give us was often inaccurate. They did not offer any assistance for missed travel plans, etc due to the delays (we had to pay extra for our reserved rental car). The staff seemed extremely disgruntled and wound up treating the passengers like prisoners rather than paying guests.
We had a sleeping car and so our trip was not inexpensive. Amtrak needs to update their structure and fix these customer service problems. I will NEVER take the train again.

Quite expensive, but it does beat sitting in traffic the entire time to LA. Business-​class snacks are really average. Beverages are just like any southwest airlines flight, complimentary when choosing business class. Would recommend driving to LA if you have the choice, but its pretty easy getting to LAX from Downtown LA (union station) on the Airport Shuttle. $ 17 each way. Cheaper than taxi thats for damn sure.

Amtrak is horrible, this is the second year that my three friends and I took the Amtrak from San Diego all the way to San Jose and both years we had to stand in the crowded aisles for 5.5 freaking hours just because the stupid ticket seller does not put a limit to how many tickets they sell. WE PAID $ 70 ALMOST TO STAND ON A FREAKING TRAIN FOR 5.5 HOURS WTF they should at least reserve seats only for the people who actually bought a train ticket –_​_​– this is horrible my feet hurt and it smells like sweat. So worth it to pay a little extra for the plane next time. Ugh. Terrible. Btw they were delayed and late for half and hour or more

I traveled Amtrak Coast Starlight 4÷25÷14 from San Luis Obispo to Emeryville to attend a memorial service. I had the lamb dinner in the café and was deathly ill with food poisoning for the next 2 nights and days. On my return I called Amtrak to inform them. The agent was defensive and dismissive and said if the train food was the cause they would know about it. I was so grateful to be alive I sort of forgot about it until I spoke with a friend who needed to work overtime because her colleague had gotten food poisoning on a trip on Amtrak. This led me to check the internet where I found scores of passengers with the same experience. I have lived in Asia and Europe, and Central America and have had food poisoning exactly once before. I will now investigate how to file a claim– not because food can’t go bad but because this appears to be a situation Amtrak is not addressing. PS don’t order the lamb

My husband and I spent $ 1500 on a trip to Paso Robles on Amtrak only to get food poisoning from the food on the train. We were so sick that we couldn’t leave the hotel room for 3 days.
I filed a complaint immediately and after nearly 4 months of following up on my claim, they offered ONLY $ 250 in VOUCHERS as compensation. As if that will make up for 1) 3 days of being violently ill and 2) missing a vacation that we spent 2 years saving up for.
If you take the Amtrak — don’t eat anything unless you want to risk being sick for days!!!
What a joke! I will never give this company another penny of my money. Horrible service.

I frequently use the Pacific Surfliner to get back and forth from The OC to SD. This stop is great because you can park there for free. There is a sign that says you cant park there overnight but im not sure if it is enforced. But unlike the downtown stop, you can undoubtedly park there for free during the day and there is always more than enough free spaces.
It is also across the street from the Old Town San Diego Historical District. It is not my cup of tea, but Im sure some would like it. It would make a good couple of hours for a tourist stopping through.
Amtrak is track 4.

I love taking the Amtrak and since I’ve already reviewed the train service on a previous review I’m just going to focus on this particular train station.
The thing that makes the Old Town stop worth 5 stars is the fact that it has free 24 hour parking unlike the Santa Fe station. I parked once in the parking lot behind Santa Fe station and I paid around $ 20 for just a couple of hours which felt like such a ripoff. While the parking at Old Town is free just don’t leave it overnight because there are signs saying not to do that and I wouldn’t want to get my car towed or something.
Another thing that makes this location worth 5 stars is the proximity of the track and parking. I take the train up to Irvine in the morning and come back at night so having the car about 15 – 20 feet from the train is great! I just get off the train, get into my car and then drive back home.
My only complaint is that there aren’t a lot of signs indicating that track 4 is for the Amtrak so there are always people confused as to which track they should be at. There’s only one sign with the time but its all the way near the end of the train. But just remember that track 4 is for the Amtrak!
This location is PERFECT for those that just want to go up north for the day.

I had friends w/​an 8hr layover @LAX. I was going to drive since I’m in San Diego but I’m a total chicken when it comes to traffic & if you haven’t been there, LAX traffic is terrible! A friend recommended I take the Amtrak train up to LA Union Station. From there, I found out Flyaway Buses run ²⁴⁄₇ to LAX. Went on Amtrak’s website, presto! change-​o! Had my tickets booked w/​the train station of my choice. Tip to first time travelers via train: Coach has decent leg room, but the addtional money for business class was well spent. Tremendous leg room (I am NOT small! lol) and you could tilt the seats back AND they have complimentary pastries & drinks for business class. Coach you have to buy everything from their café.
The train conductor advised me which was the best side to sit to see ocean views and oh was it worth it. There was hardly anyone in business class & the views were amazing. Fastest trip to LA ever & completely stress free, thank you, Amtrak!
The trip back was a little bit more crowded but that’s because I went back Coach. I wanted to see what the difference was. If you’re looking for cheap travel w/​no stress, I recommend this mode of travel to you. But, if you’re like me, make sure you get business class, coach got on my nerves.