Amtrak, the No Security Way to Travel

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I took Amtrak to Washington, D.C. last week and was astounded that there was no security whatsoever on either end of the trip.
I bought my ticket online, picked it up at a machine by using a credit card. No ID was required. Nobody knew who I was. Nobody checked my ID, my bags or anyone else’s.
Business class gets you nothing more than a reserved seat. check this out for more about travel. No frequent traveler miles, no beverages, no pillow or blankies.
From now on, I’ll fly. At least airports make some effort to appear that they take security seriously.

Comments

1. fatcatchef says:

   December 7, 2004 at 9:11 pm

   the only security threat i see from amtrak is that a 12 oz pepsi costs $2.
   i much prefer taking amtrak to dc, i can pick it up in westchester county
   (that’s where hillary lives, the one with 2 l’s, not 1), there’s plenty of
   legroom, and the prices are pretty good.
   i kind of like the fact nobody checks my i.d., b/c i’m popular enough as it is,
   and personally i get tired of the women security guards wanding me down…
   though perhaps some people like that (i sure did when i was in college).
   as you found out, it’s useless to buy the business class ticket, and even more
   useless to take acela, it only gets you to dc 20 mins sooner and costs much much
   more.
   also, amtrak has the quiet car, so you don’t have to listen to upper west siders
   whine about their nannies and fret over which well-intentioned charity ball
   they’ll attend this weekend.
   as far as the blankies and pillows, i prefer to bring my own, the ones on the
   plane are like germ-laden petri dishes.
   and btw, you can get frequent flier miles if you sign up for the amtrak loyalty
   club.
   for the time tradeoff, i’ll take amtrak any day over the nyc airports, though
   independence air does fly from white plains (that’s where hillary picks up her
   private jet, i’m sure) to dulles. from there you could take the metro into dc.

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