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[quote user="oltmannd"] Don't forget to back out the cost of meals that would have been eaten at home instead of on the train against the cost of the train.And add in the cost of a hotel in State College for the "fly" scenario since you will be arriving the night before (assuming you didn't need to be in State College before mid-day)How about a flight to Pittsburgh or Philly and a rent-a-car?  Might be cheapest over all. And gives you wheels (so you can go visit the Horseshoe curve in Altoona [:)] )This is all just nibbling around the edges.  Other than a railfan, who would consider the train for such a trip?[/quote]It is difficult to estimate how much the meals at home would cost compared to meals eaten on the train or in the airport.  That is why I came up with a range and spit the difference, assuming a net albeit indeterminate credit for meals taken at home.  I also assumed that the meals eaten on Amtrak, in the case of the coach passenger, where selected from the cheaper side of the menu.  Some coach passengers pack their meals and eat them at their seats or in the lounge car.  It is not worth factoring the savings into the scenario.  As a rule, it cost me double to eat away from home, especially if I have a glass of wine or two.My response was in response to a question posted by alphas, who I assume lives in State College.  I assumed that he was going home.  Accordingly, I did not factor in a night for hotel.  However, if he had a one day business meeting in Austin, he could fly in the day before, attend an all day meeting, and fly home the next day.  In this scenario he would incur two nights of hotel expense.  If he came on the train, which would be the reverse of the posted scenario, he would arrive in Austin at 7:00 p.m. the night before the meeting, attend the all day meeting, and depart the next morning.  He would have had the same number of hotel nights, which would be two: the night before the meeting and the night after the meeting. If he came by train, in all probability, he would be late arriving into Austin.  As I mentioned, the Texas Eagle has one of the worst on-time performance records of any of Amtrak's long distance trains.  Year to date it has been late into Austin, on average, by approximately 90 minutes.  So he could expect to arrive about 9:30.  This means that he gets to the hotel about 10:00, if he is staying downtown, or later if he is going to one of the suburban areas, such as Dell Diamond.  He probably won't get to bed until after 11:00 p.m.  This, plus the fact that he probably had two less than sleep tight nights on the train means that he is likely to have a tough time staying awake during the meeting.  I was comparing an all surface trip via Amtrak and bus vs. flying.  Whether flying to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia is the cheapest way to go depends on whether a person needs to rent a car and, if so, for how long.  If the travel is for one or two days, flying to Pittsburgh on Southwest, renting a car and driving to State College could be the cheapest and best option.  Flying to Philadelphia puts one approximately 195 miles from State College, whereas Pittsburgh to State College is approximately 140 miles.  Moreover, Altoona and the Horseshoe Curve can be visited on the way to State College from Pittsburgh; the curve would require a side jaunt of about five miles.  On the other hand, Altoona is southwest of State College, which would lengthen the trip from Philadelphia.I grew up in Altoona and graduated from Pennsylvania State University.  My brother lives in McKeesport, and I visit him at least once a year.  Usually, I fly to Pittsburgh, although on occasion I take the train.  I am reasonably familiar with the options.  We usually drive over to Altoona to see the house that we grew up in, visit the curve, and often times drop by the Railroader's Museum in Altoona.  We also have a couple of Texas Hot Dogs in Altoona.  If you get to my former hometown, don't miss out on the dogs at the Texas.
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