My daughter is headed to grad school in Florida and will be taking her car. She is stopping in DC for a few days to visit friends. I don't know enough about the Amtrak Auto Train to push the idea. However I think it may be a good idea for a young lady traveling alone to eliminate 900 miles of driving and not have to worry about her belongings in the car.

Any suggestions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I have never personally used. My parents used it once coming home from Florida and my cousin uses every winter both directions for 6 or 7 years now.

My parents experience was it saves driving but they will not use it again. They felt it was too expensive and was a bit of a hassle at both ends. Waiting to load and unload.

My cousin and his wife use it and also say the wait to load and unload can be a hassle. However they feel it saves the stress of the 900 miles drive.

My parents had a private roomette with bathroom. They said it was decent and they did sleep. My cousin has done it all from no room, just seats and has done the semi private room with shared bathroom. They both said to get a room to sleep and do not just do the coach seats. Too uncomfortable and and too much action all night to really get any decent sleep.

For a person traveling alone it may make sense from the travel stand point but financially it is much more expensive than driving. You can get a nice hotel for much less.

I can tell you this keep checking the Amtrak website. They offer specials and such much like the airlines. So you have to really watch the site.

The drive is safe and with a few detours she can see some beautiful country. Amtrak auto train works as advertised though. Have used it a few times.

Used it once a while ago, my sister inlaw uses if frequently whenever she comes in from FL, most recently was 4 weeks ago. It's expensive but does take a long drive out of the equation. I don't blame yiu, I wouldn't want my daughter driving all the way to FL especially if she is alone!!! Actually no fing way I would let her

This his how I would spin it.... darling guess what I got for you!!!! A train ridea to FL that I spent a ton of money on... your gonna use it and if you don't I'm gonna bust your ass like a child you once were...