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Are you seeking privacy and comfort on your next cross-country journey with Amtrak? Do you prefer sleeping horizontally instead of in a seat while you traverse the beautiful landscapes of the United States? Look no further; Amtrak’s sleeping accommodations offer just that and more.

This article dives into the world of Amtrak sleeper cars, exploring the different room options available on their long-distance trains. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or embarking on your first train adventure, there’s something here for everyone.

Having personally traveled thousands of miles aboard Amtrak sleeper cars, I find these cars to be my happy place. I love that my meals come with my sleeper’s accommodation, and I can take my morning shower.

So, get comfy and join me as we discuss the details of booking your first Amtrak sleeping accommodations. Let’s make your journey one to remember.

Accommodations on Amtrak Long-Distance Trains

Amtrak long-distance trains offer coach seating and sleeping accommodations such as roomettes, bedrooms, accessible rooms, and family bedrooms (Superliner trains only).

The Palmetto is a long-distance train but does not offer sleeping accommodations.

Superliner versus Viewliner Amtrak sleeping cars

Amtrak uses two types of equipment on their long-distance trains:

• Viewliner sleepers are single-level cars found on the routes that go to New York.
• Superliners are bi-level or two-story cars found on the rest of the Amtrak system.

Viewliner Equipment

Viewliner sleeper cars get paired with Amfleet II coach, baggage, and cafe cars. Some trains have a dining car to round out their train set.

These sleeper cars offer two rows of windows to see the country roll by as you travel to your destination.

Trains with Viewliner Sleeper Accommodations

Train Route	End Destinations	Train Route	End Destinations
Cardinal	Chicago, IL – New York Penn	Silver Meteor	Miami, FL – New York Penn
Crescent	New Orleans, LA – New York Penn	Silver Star	Miami, FL – New York Penn
Lake Shore Limited	Chicago, IL – New York Penn

Viewliner Layout Of Sleeper Accommodations

There are newer cars with slightly different configurations. The most significant difference is the number of roomettes and the removal of the toilet in the room. These cars have a restroom at the end by the shower.

Superliner Equipment

The Superliner equipment is bi-level or two-story, used on long-distance trains that do not go to New York Penn.

Superliner Sleeper Cars get paired with Superliner coaches and a dining or cross-county cafe car, and most trains get a Sightseer Lounge with a cafe on the lower level.

Trains with Superliner Sleeper Accommodations

Train	Travels Between	Train	Travels Between
Auto Train	Lorton, VA (Washington, DC) –  Sanford, FL (Orlando)	California Zephyr	Chicago, IL – Emeryville, CA (San Fransico)
Capitol Limited	Chicago, IL- Washington DC	City of New Orleans	Chicago, IL – New Orleans, LA
Coast Starlight	Los Angeles, CA – Seattle, WA	Empire Builder	Chicago, IL – Seattle, WA/Portland, OR
Southwest Cheif	Los Angeles, CA – Chicago, IL	Texas Eagle	Chicago, IL – San Antontio/Los Angelese, CA
Sunset Limited	New Orleans, LA – Los Angeles, CA

Superliner Layout Of Sleeper Accommodations

The Four Types Of Amtrak Sleeping Accommodations

Amtrak trains have four sleeping accommodations: roomettes, bedrooms, and accessible rooms, and Superliner cars have a family room.

Amtrak Roomettes

Here is a little about Amtrak roomettes:

• Roomettes are the most popular but are petite, measuring about 6’6″ by 3’6.”
• These rooms are great for one person but cozy for two people.
• These rooms have two chairs that face each other and form one of the two beds at night.
  • The second bed comes down from above, and there are two steps to the upper bunk.
• If you travel alone in a Superliner car, you could use the upper bunk to store luggage, but you will lose some headroom.

There is some storage in the room and a shelf on the lower level if you are in a Superliner car, but remember it is not secure. On Viewliner roomettes, there is a space above your door to store luggage.

Depending on the train, the shower is either down the hall or on the lower level.

Amtrak Bedroom

Bedrooms offer more space and amenities than Amtrak’s other accommodation offerings.

• Seating in this car
  • Bedrooms offer a sofa and a chair
  • The sofa becomes the lower berth or bed.
  • That bed is a little bigger than a twin but smaller than a full
  • The upper bunk folds down from above and is smaller.
• There is a small room with a shower and toilet.
  • A sink, mirror, and toiletry storage are also outside that space.
• For storage
  • Every room has a small closet for you to hang your things.
  • There is a shelf on the wall for you to put a small carry-on size luggage, and you will find the ledge on the wall across from the bathroom,

Superliner trains have their bedrooms only on the upper level, and Vewliners have two on one end next to each other.

On the Auto Train, only a few cars have bedrooms on the upper level.

Accessible Rooms On Amtrak Trains

Amtrak accessible rooms are for passengers with mobility issues and provide space for a travel companion if needed.

• These rooms are on both Superliners and Viewliners.
  • Accessible Bedrooms are located on the lower level of Superliner and at the end of Vewlier trains.
  • These rooms offer extra space for a wheelchair.
• Seating by day transformed into upper and lower beds by night.
• These rooms come with an accessible in-room sink and restroom.
• Viewliner train rooms also have an en suite shower, but the Superliner train does not, although one is available in the car.

Superliner Amtrak Family Rooms

Family rooms are only on Superliner trains.

• These rooms offer a sofa and chair similar to a roomette chair.
• The space has two bunk beds for adults and two bunks for smaller kids at night.
• These rooms are on the lower level of the car behind the four roomettes, often given the number 15.
• They accommodate two adults and two small children.

You do not need a family to get this room; a single person could reserve it for a little more room.

What amenities do you get with sleeping accommodation?

Perks and amenities are always fun, and here are a few you will get when you book Amtrak sleeping accommodations.

• Your reservation includes your meals.
  • Your attendant can deliver to your room, or you can eat in the cafe or dining car.
• Rooms have a day and night configuration.
  • The car attendant will set your space up for the appropriate configuration.
• Amtrak provides linens, pillows, towels, washcloths, soap, and more.
• There are places to hang your clothing, including hangers.
• Showers are available to all sleeper car passengers.
• Coffee service in the morning
• Some stations offer extra services
  • Red Cap assistance
  • Lounges
  • Priority boarding
• And more

Most of all, my two favorite points are being able to sleep horizontally and having personal space.

Car attendant

Amtrak sleeper car attendants are there to help you along your journey.

• Attendants will put beds up and down, clean the car, and help with luggage and meals.
• They work with conductors to know when your stop is coming up.
• One thing to keep in mind is not your “personal assistant.”

How to call your attendant

When you hit the call button, it may take them a while to get to you.

They could be out of the car, grabbing meals for other passengers, or helping a fellow traveler. They also have to open the door to let people on and off the train.

Be kind and thoughtful with their time so they can help others and get their task done.

You can tip them, plus other employees, if you have a great attendant.

Meals That Come With Your Amtrak Sleeping Accommodations

Amtrak sleeping car accommodations include regularly scheduled meals. Sleeper car meals come from the dining car on those trains with traditional dining and from the cafe for those with flex dining.

Amtrak has two meals for sleeping car passengers: traditional and flex dining.

Flex dining

Flex dining features pre-prepared meals that are heated. Meals include beverages and appropriate sides like a dinner roll and salad. With dinner comes an adult beverage for those old enough and want to partake.

Flex dining is on trains that run mainly one-night trains, except for the Silver Star, Silver Meteor, and Auto Train.

On the Texas Eagle, you have Flex dining between Chicago and San Antonio and traditional dining between San Antonio and LA.

Traditional Dining

Traditional dining is on all two-night trains, plus the Auto Train, Silver Meteor, and Silver Star.

If you ride the Texas Eagle, you get traditional dining between LA and San Antonio.

They want to bring back favorites like flowers on the tables and tablecloths for dinner service and ditch their plastic tableware, although I have not seen “real plates” return.

This service includes entrees, add-ons (like cheese or bacon), non-alcoholic drinks, salads, desserts, and your first adult beverage, complimentary with dinner.

Cafe Car

The cafe car is open to all passengers and offers adult beverages, soft drinks, snacks, and other food. It often carries Amtrak’s comfort kits, cards, blankets, headphones, and the like, but not always.

How can I book an Amtrak sleeping accommodation?

You can book a room on an Amtrak train in a few ways. Common ways are using:

• Amtrak’s website or app
• Calling 1-800-USA-Rail
• Staffed Amtrak stations.
• Some travel agents may be able to help you or Amtrak Vacations, which is an authorized Amtrak travel agency.

Amtrak emails you a PDF ticket as soon as your transactions are complete, and it will give your car and room “numbers,” for some numbers are letters. You can access this ticket from the app; if it does not appear automatically, you can enter it yourself. If you want to have a paper ticket in hand, you can print out your tickets.

Can you reserve more than one Amtrak sleeping accommodation?

You can, and I have done it a few times when traveling with family, but not if you are traveling alone. If you travel solo, you can only get one room! If you reserve more than one room, you can hang out in another room, even in a different car.

Bedroom Suits

Earlier, I talked about a bedroom suite, which consists of two bedrooms next to each other connected by doors, like a hotel.

Getting multiple roomettes

There are several reasons why getting multiple roommates makes sense.

Sometimes, you want more individual space, but the bedrooms are sold out or cost more than two rooms. Another reason is that no one wants to climb on the upper bunk; sometimes, you can get rooms across from each other. Or at least nearby.

Can you reserve different Amtrak sleeping accommodations?

Sometimes, the very nature of your trip will mean you may have more than one accommodation. For example, if I want to go to New Orleans, I would leave the Sturtevant Depot on the Hiawatha, a regional train with only coach seating. When I transferred to Chicago, I would go to the lounge and wait until it was time to board my roomette.

You can book an accessible room and a roomette, two roomettes, a bedroom and roomette, or whatever your travel needs.

Technically, you book different accommodations for the same train on one trip. For example, let’s say you want to take a trip from Chicago to San Fransico aboard the California Zephyr, but you find sold-out rooms from Chicago to Omaha, NE. You could book a coach seat until Omaha and then get a roomette from Omaha until the end. You often do not save money doing that, but run the number yourself to see if it is worth it.

Booking multiple Amtrak Sleeping accommodations

If you do not care if your travel party gets split up between different cars, you can book online and see what you get. But if you want to have rooms near each other, call Amtrak.

In cases like this, the names on the reservations may not match the rooms people want, so everyone having a ticket comes in handy. You may need to explain it to the car attendant or conductor. This situation has happened to me a few times, and they understood it with no issues.

Be advised that getting rooms in the same sleeper car is based on availability and may not always be available. Book as early as possible to increase your chances of getting what you want, but you can keep trying if that does not work.

Sometimes, people’s plans change, and rooms open up, which could cause prices to change, either up or down.

Kev’s Thoughts On Amtrak Sleeping Accommodations

There are many great reasons to get a room on Amtrak trains, and I hope you can try it someday soon!

Looking at the cost of Amtrak sleeping accommodations

• Any Amtrak sleeping accommodations can be a great way to travel by rail.
• When pricing a room on the train, consider all that you get.
  • More space, privacy, meals, and more
• If economics is a factor, consider coaching classes.
• Consider how much you will spend on food and your comfort level.
• You will not sleep horizontally and could share a seat with someone else.

I started trading in coach and have done it from coast to coast, but my happy place is a room on the train, often a roomette.

Many of my Amtrak accommodation adventures for free because I joined Amtrak Guest Rewards. I received points from travel, took advantage of promotions, got points from shopping, and even bought some.

What Amtrak sleeping accommodations do I choose when I travel?

We are all different in our needs.

I am more concerned about the journey and scenery than if I will have flax or traditional meals. Some people are more upset about a few meals than missing great views and experiences. To each their own; we each have a soapbox on which we stand, and I guess that is me standing on mine.

Don’t let someone else’s opinion and personal frustration hinder your enjoyment; I have seen this on a few Amtrak forums and groups. There was a trip I almost canceled because of people’s bitterness when asking a question. I am glad I did not listen to them, for they were wrong, and I don’t get why people choose bitterness and negativity.

I love a roomette but have spent time in Amtrak Superliner bedrooms and family rooms. If the price is right, I will upgrade and get a bedroom for the extra space, even if I travel solo.

When deciding what room to get, consider your budget, comfort level, and needs, and go from there. If you need to start in coach class like I did, so be it, and save up for that room!

Thanks for reading about my take on Amtrak sleeping accommodations

I hope this article gave you the start to the research you sought. There is more to know about tracking by train, so please check out my page on other Amtrak travel-related topics.

If you liked this article and want to keep in touch with me to find out when new information comes, join the Travels with Kev email list to get Amtrak travel updates and tips.

If you enjoyed this article and it helped you, and if you want to thank you, check out how you can support Travels with Kev. You could even get a postcard from me every month!

Safe travels!

Kev

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