My daughter and I took the train while my wife flew from Florida to D.C. — here’s how it went down

Washington, D.C. is one of my top destinations. It's not only a quick (and usually affordable) flight from my home state of Florida, but the city offers a wealth of experiences — from memorials and museums to incredible dining options.

I usually travel to Washington for family weekend getaways a couple of times each year, but I hadn’t visited the district since September 2019 — something I was eager to change. Once my COVID-19 vaccination timeline was clear, I began planning a family weekend trip.

As a traveler who enjoys new experiences, I started exploring an option I had never thought about before. What would it be like to take an overnight train from Florida? How would that compare to flying?

Of course, we decided to find out — so my daughter and I booked a roomette on Amtrak's Silver Star service, while my wife secured a one-way flight with JetBlue.

Here’s a comparison of the two travel experiences from Florida to our nation’s capital.

Overview

Before diving into the details of our experiences, here’s a brief table summarizing the two travel options.

Continue reading for more insights about the trip.

Reservations

We planned our trip about four weeks in advance, and here are the booking options for the train and flight that fit our schedules best:

• Train: $538 or 19,099 Amtrak Guest Rewards points
• Flight: $74.40 or 4,200 JetBlue TrueBlue points + $5.60

Since I didn’t have any Amtrak points, I booked using my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which allowed me to earn 3x points on the travel purchase (and provided extra protection in case we needed to cancel the trip).

For the flight, I chose to use points from my TrueBlue family pool. After deducting the $5.60 in taxes and fees that apply to both paid and award tickets, this redemption gave me 1.64 cents per point, significantly higher than TPG's latest valuations. Plus, I'll receive 10% of those points back thanks to my JetBlue Plus Card, enhancing the value even further.

It’s important to mention that I could have booked a Blue Basic fare for my wife for just $39.40. However, I preferred her to have advance seat selection and standard boarding to reduce the likelihood of needing to check her full-sized carry-on suitcase.

The information regarding the JetBlue Plus Card has been independently gathered by Dinogo. The card details presented on this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the card issuer.

Pre-departure experience

My wife parked at an off-airport facility (with a loyalty program, of course) and reached the airport after a quick shuttle ride. She bypassed the check-in desk since she had her boarding pass ready and wasn’t checking any luggage. The standard security line for gates 1–59 showed a wait time of 12–16 minutes — fortunately, her Global Entry membership includes TSA PreCheck, so she got through without any delay and was airside in no time.

Unfortunately, JetBlue informed us of a significant flight delay shortly after she dropped me and my daughter off at the train station. Thankfully, she could unwind in The Club MCO for a bit, as she is an authorized user on my Platinum Card® from American Express, which grants her a Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required).

However, she had to leave the lounge at 7:30 when it closed its doors.

This meant she had to finish some work and wait out the delay in the terminal, which was unfortunately crowded and extremely hot, with no dining options still open.

She finally boarded just before 9:30 p.m., with her flight pushing back from Gate 5 at 9:51 p.m.

Our train was set to leave Kissimmee at 6:48 p.m., and my wife dropped us off just before 6. Unfortunately, when we entered the station, the agent informed us that the train was delayed by about 15–20 minutes. Since we had packed an overnight bag for the train along with backpacks as personal items, we decided to check our two rolling carry-on suitcases (for free) to keep our roomette from being too cramped with luggage.

This turned out to be a very wise choice — although the roomette had an impressive number of nooks and crannies for storage, it would have been challenging to manage all that luggage.

The station building was small and somewhat outdated, but with no one else around, we preferred it over the warm spring evening. We enjoyed the air conditioning while playing several rounds of "I spy" and taking advantage of the restrooms.

Around 6:30 p.m., we decided to head outside.

The train finally arrived around 7:15, and we made our way to car 9210 — where an attendant had opened the door and set up a step stool for us to board. He guided us to room 8 — just a few minutes later, we were on our way to D.C.

Train and seating details

My wife’s flight was on a JetBlue Airbus A320 — tail number N569JB, nicknamed "Blues Brothers" — which has been part of the fleet since 2003. As an aisle-seat passenger, she chose seat 13D (her lucky number), a standard economy seat measuring 17.8 inches wide with 34 inches of pitch. She could have upgraded to an Even More Space seat, but the $45 fee wasn’t justified for the short flight to DCA.

Upon boarding, she was initially disappointed to find seatmates in the middle and window seats — fortunately, the flight wasn’t full, so she was able to move to another aisle seat with an empty middle.

Meanwhile, my daughter and I booked a Viewliner Roomette on the Amtrak Silver Star. While it wasn’t one of the double-decker Superliner cars found on many routes, it was surprisingly spacious. The cabin featured two seats facing each other that folded down into a twin bed for the overnight trip, and there was a second bed that pulled down from the ceiling when it was time to sleep.

My daughter was ecstatic about the idea of bunk beds — and she immediately claimed the top bunk as soon as I mentioned the trip.

When it was time to get some rest, the sleeper car attendant swiftly prepared the beds for us. It only took a few minutes, and each bunk came with a sheet, two pillows, and a blanket. The top bunk also had a canvas net to prevent the sleeper from rolling out.

I found the bed a bit firmer than I would have liked, and at five feet, nine inches tall, I almost filled the entire length. However, the gentle swaying of the train helped us get a decent night’s sleep.

The roomette was much more than just a couple of seats and beds. It featured a full table that pulled out and expanded, perfect for dining, playing cards, or watching on our Kindles.

There were also four power outlets and several light switches, ensuring my devices stayed charged and allowing us to adjust the lighting in the cabin throughout our trip. The sliding door fully enclosed our compartment and featured blackout curtains with Velcro to keep them securely closed at night.

While there was a lock on the door, it could only be engaged from the inside, which meant we couldn’t secure our belongings when we stepped out to use the restroom or grab a snack (more on that soon).

As mentioned earlier, there were surprisingly many places to store our carry-on items — including under the seats. There was also a small net pocket near the ceiling to hold a phone or other small items for the occupant in the top bunk. However, the most clever storage spot was in the top-right corner of the room, which easily accommodated our overnight bag along with a small cooler (we brought some Florida treats for a friend in D.C.).

Although I couldn't verify it since we had checked our bags, I would estimate that a rolling carry-on would have fit in that space as well.

We were given a pair of hand towels and washcloths, and we even had our own pull-out sink.

However, if we wanted to shower or use the restroom, we had to leave the roomette and use the shared facilities in the car.

Notably, the roomette had several air vents, keeping the cabin quite comfortable throughout our journey.

Food and drink

JetBlue's standard domestic service — unless you’re in the Mint cabin — is generally consistent: a selection of complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, a well-stocked snack basket, and various items available for purchase. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline has streamlined its in-flight service options.

My wife was offered three snack options: Cheez-Its, Pop Corners, and cookies. She also enjoyed a sparkling water, although there was no alcohol available for purchase.

While this wasn’t a significant issue on a late-night flight that lasted just over two hours, it's important to mention that JetBlue's food and drink options remain somewhat limited.

That wasn't the situation with our train.

When you book a roomette, your meals are included — so given our travel schedule, we enjoyed complimentary dinner, breakfast, and lunch. However, Amtrak has introduced more flexibility in its dining options during the pandemic, allowing us to choose between dining in the dining car (which was next to our sleeper car) or having our meals delivered to our room.

My daughter decided she wanted to have dinner in the dining car, breakfast in the room, and return to the dining car for lunch — and that’s exactly what we did.

After boarding, the sleeper car attendant provided us with slips for dinner and lunch orders (no slip was needed for breakfast).

About 20 minutes after we left, we realized we were hungry, so we headed to the dining car.

We were immediately impressed to see that Amtrak had blocked off every other table for social distancing, which made us feel quite comfortable about dining in the car.

Printed menus were available in the car, featuring five main course options, including a vegan choice.

My daughter chose the pasta and meatballs, while I went for the braised beef and polenta. Each meal also came with a complimentary drink, a side salad, a dinner roll, and dessert (either a brownie or a blondie).

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. While it wasn’t quite like dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant, I’d say the meal rivaled a good dinner in long-haul international business class. I was particularly impressed by how everything was neatly packaged in single-use containers, and the portion sizes were just right before bedtime.

For breakfast, we strolled up to the dining car and ordered to take back to our room. I chose a prepackaged Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich, a cup of coffee, and a blueberry muffin. My daughter went for Froot Loops, and we both picked up bottles of water. It was simple but perfectly satisfying to refuel us.

The same dinner menu was offered for lunch, so we opted for the vegan enchiladas with plant-based protein and the Creole shrimp with andouille sausage. Just like dinner, both were quite tasty — accompanied by a drink, salad, roll, and dessert.

I should also mention that Linda, our dining car attendant throughout the trip, was an absolute gem. She loved to joke with the passengers and was especially kind to my daughter every time we visited.

Additional Amenities

One reason we enjoy flying with JetBlue is the complimentary in-flight internet. "Fly-Fi" is accessible on every aircraft in the fleet and is free for all passengers. In my experience, it’s generally fast — my wife managed to check her emails, browse the web, and catch up on text messages during her flight.

She also took full advantage of JetBlue's in-flight entertainment, as each seat is equipped with a personal screen offering satellite television.

Amtrak provides complimentary Wi-Fi to all passengers as well, but I found it to be somewhat unreliable during the trip.

That said, I could still manage basic tasks on the train, like texting and checking emails. I even successfully joined a Zoom call with our editorial team — on video, no less. However, don’t count on streaming movies in high definition on the train; I recommend downloading your entertainment before boarding.

Our sleeper car featured two bathrooms, along with access to a shared shower room.

However, we chose not to use it during our journey, preferring to wait for the full-sized shower that awaited us upon our arrival.

Arrival Experience

After landing at DCA, it took under five minutes to reach the gate, and my wife was off the plane shortly thereafter. Since she hadn’t checked any luggage, she intended to use the metro for the quick trip to downtown D.C. Unfortunately, by the time her delayed flight arrived, the metro had already closed for the night, so she took a taxi instead. After a steep $42 fare from the airport to Penn Quarter, she reached our accommodations at 12:28 a.m.

The total travel time from start to finish was 8 hours and 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, our initial delay departing from Kissimmee continued to grow throughout the journey. We were nearly an hour behind schedule before even leaving Florida, and the delay increased to an hour and 15 minutes by the time we reached Southern Pines, North Carolina. The train crew attempted to make up for lost time with shorter stops, but we ultimately arrived at Washington's Union Station at 4:24 p.m. — 1 hour and 16 minutes later than planned.

Since we had checked our two rolling carry-on bags, we faced another wait in the arrivals hall. It took about 15 minutes for the luggage to start appearing, and we snapped a quick photo in the unexpectedly quiet entrance of the station before heading out to meet our ride.

Shortly after, we hopped into a Lyft and made our way to our apartment, arriving at 5:02 p.m.

Total travel time from start to finish: 24 hours and 42 minutes.

Final reflections

It's hardly surprising that my wife's choice of travel (flying) was much quicker than taking the train from Florida to Washington, D.C. Yet, I’m convinced that my daughter and I had a far more enjoyable experience along the way.

With complimentary meals and our own spacious roomette, it was an exceptionally relaxing journey. We bypassed security checks, avoided crowded boarding areas, and faced no limits on the liquids we could bring along. We didn’t have to wait in a stuffy airport terminal without food or drinks for nearly two hours. Aside from occasionally passing a fellow passenger in the corridor or dining car, we maintained plenty of personal space throughout the trip.

Most importantly, I was able to create some wonderful new memories with my daughter.

When I first shared the news about the trip, her excitement was palpable — and I daresay the experience surpassed our expectations! The idea of spending nearly 24 hours on a train with a 6-year-old might not seem appealing to many, but we had an absolute blast. We played cards, laughed over dinner, shared a brownie, colored pictures, and simply enjoyed each other's company.

I realize there will come a time when she won’t want to spend time with me like this — so I was overjoyed we got to take this trip together.

All images are credited to the author.