I’m not disagreeing with you but I think we all need to start including airport hassle time into our statements of flight times. In my limited experience train stations involve less of that bullshit, although obviously you can only go when the train is ready, as opposed to starting your car and hitting the highway. Neither Logan (Boston) nor LaGuardia (New York) is swift or easy, especially if you have any baggage, and there is also the travel time to actually get into the city, which can easily add another hour in traffic. Train stations tend to be in the heart of downtown.
(Tbf, I in Los Angeles live much closer to LAX than to Union Station so ymmv)
Train stations definitely have less bullshit, but it’s a 5h trip vs a 1h trip in this case. I could have spent 3 hours in the airport before the flight each way and added 30 minutes to get from the train station to the airport and back, and still saved time by flying.
Well I certainly acknowledge our train system sucks. Try comparing LA-to-NYC times. Or LA to Pittsburgh. Or DC. Just adding to the difficulty, there seem to be 2 completely separate systems (still both Amtrak) that you have to change over in Chicago. And the 3 hour layover isn’t considered reliable enough to book as one trip, you have to plan to spend the night there.
I’m not disagreeing with you but I think we all need to start including airport hassle time into our statements of flight times. In my limited experience train stations involve less of that bullshit, although obviously you can only go when the train is ready, as opposed to starting your car and hitting the highway. Neither Logan (Boston) nor LaGuardia (New York) is swift or easy, especially if you have any baggage, and there is also the travel time to actually get into the city, which can easily add another hour in traffic. Train stations tend to be in the heart of downtown.
(Tbf, I in Los Angeles live much closer to LAX than to Union Station so ymmv)
Train stations definitely have less bullshit, but it’s a 5h trip vs a 1h trip in this case. I could have spent 3 hours in the airport before the flight each way and added 30 minutes to get from the train station to the airport and back, and still saved time by flying.
Well I certainly acknowledge our train system sucks. Try comparing LA-to-NYC times. Or LA to Pittsburgh. Or DC. Just adding to the difficulty, there seem to be 2 completely separate systems (still both Amtrak) that you have to change over in Chicago. And the 3 hour layover isn’t considered reliable enough to book as one trip, you have to plan to spend the night there.