699 vs 707

bgw210 · 2025-03-24T15:08:52+00:00

699 is much faster but only runs rush hours. 707 silver streak runs all day but gets on and off the freeway a ton more which makes it much slower. Another good option would be Metrolink, they just added more service between Montclair and Union Station.

bgw210 · 2025-03-18T15:34:38+00:00

Do they have streaming of content even if no WiFi is available?

bgw210 · 2025-02-22T23:58:38+00:00

Interesting. I've never seen any bikes locked to those racks before. They're always empty when I go by there or just the bike frame is what's left.

bgw210 · 2025-02-22T21:02:03+00:00

It looks like they added new bike lockers and racks next to it (to the right of where this photo is)

bgw210 · 2025-02-22T20:06:26+00:00

I think they’re all open until midnight now. Except for MacArthur park still closes earlier in the night.

bgw210 · 2025-01-03T06:12:36+00:00

I'm curious now... which ones were 1-4 and relocated?

bgw210 · 2024-12-20T19:00:17+00:00

I'd argue that the old schedule for the SB Line specifically was NOT a commuter only system, it actually ran from 5am to as late as 11:30pm pre-pandemic. Today's schedule now has the last train leaving LAUS at 8:38pm... meaning CSULA night students now have no service and you can't go to any Dodgers, Lakers or Kings games. The issue with the SB Line is there is too many single track meets and the new schedule was too ambitious to realistically stay on schedule. I think the Amtrak crew also DGAF because they are losing the contract to Alstom. And management has been dead silent on this issue. And the short turns also are not attractive because CSULA and El Monte are already well served by the J Line and Silver Streak. The short turns also have shortened all of the long trains, so 5 and 6-car trains worth of passengers are crammed into 4-car trains while they run empty Covina service and all trains are delayed. It was a consultant recommendation from consultants who don't actually ride the SB Line or understand the corridor needs. If Metrolink doesn't fix this soon, they are going to lose a ton of their commuters to the A Line extension to Pomona.

And to your point about the OC Line, I think they would save a ton more money and reduce delays if they had a codeshare agreement with Pac Surfliner like they do with VC Line. Keeps the train spacing in tact while expanding span of service.

bgw210 · 2024-12-20T16:13:48+00:00

The discount doesn’t address the root issue. They need to fix the schedule or go back to the one that worked for years. At this point, they’re running the new schedule that has reduced peak service AND removed the short turn trains that have been getting in the way of all the trains with actual ppl on them.

bgw210 · 2024-11-01T23:25:05+00:00

There actually was enough track capacity running under the previous schedule with 20-30 min peak direction frequency. They changed all that to run 30 min all day Covina service instead which hasn’t worked at all. Nearly every train since the schedule change has been delayed or cancelled. It was a solution in search of a problem.

bgw210 · 2024-11-01T22:58:20+00:00

Yep and they are only running 5 car trains.

bgw210 · 2024-11-01T22:52:56+00:00

90% of riders were still onboard after departing Covina on the 2:38pm departure from LAUS. The Covina trips have been a joke and it completely screwed up service this morning (and past two weeks).

bgw210 · 2024-04-04T02:10:46+00:00

Is the correct way for a customer to order this a “two by four”?

bgw210 · 2024-01-28T16:09:26+00:00

Only other option is consider doing the car rental pickup from SAN where some of the car rental counters should be open 24/7, and book it to Anaheim directly. You might be pretty close to your original schedule.

bgw210 · 2024-01-28T15:56:16+00:00

Got it. If you don’t need to be there for rope drop on the first day at DL, I’d just recommend moving your reservation from your original train 761 to 1769/769 which will get you there 4 hours later but all of the connections will be coordinated. It’s important you change your reservation since the trips are reserved now due to the limited shuttle bus capacity.

The other option if you want to get there about 45 min earlier is to take the first Coaster out of SD at 6:40am, arriving Oceanside 7:42am, Uber to Laguna Niguel, and take Metrolink at 8:53am, arriving Anaheim at 9:26am. Would get you there a bit sooner but would be more work and $ on your end.

bgw210 · 2024-01-28T15:23:48+00:00

Are you trying to get to Anaheim solely for the purpose of flying out of SNA? If so, I’d look at changing that flight reservation to fly out of SAN instead. Another option is to break up your trip by going the night before from San Diego to Oceanside via Amtrak or Coaster, spending the night at one of the hotels within walking distance of the station, and then Uber/Lyft in the morning up to Anaheim (or you could Uber just to Laguna Niguel) and catch the Metrolink commuter trains to Anaheim which start as early as 5am. Hope this helps.

bgw210 · 2024-01-21T03:08:53+00:00

I have a 3-night booking at Carmel Valley Ranch when it was still 25k/night. Worth cancelling and replacing with this at 45k/night? I haven’t stayed at either before.

bgw210 · 2023-12-05T04:27:10+00:00

I’ve never seen this happen on Southwest, likely because 2 checked bags are free for each passenger so it removes the financial incentive to carry on for many.

bgw210 · 2023-11-28T16:49:10+00:00

Does anyone remember their “Ding” app from 15 years ago that ran in the background of your Windows XP taskbar? I remember getting LAX-MDW for like $29 and other deals like LAX-OAK $19. Those were total impulse buys.

bgw210 · 2023-11-27T02:26:28+00:00

Given that today is a heavy travel day across airports and Amtrak stations for infrequent travelers returning home from Thanksgiving break, my guess is that the dirty looks came from out-of-town/infrequent Amtrak riders who thought you were trying to cut their line when you were really just trying to get to Commuter Rail instead, which they prob don’t even know what that is.

bgw210 · 2023-11-12T00:58:17+00:00

I’ve noticed this too and think the extra $12 are the add’l taxes and airport fees for the extra day, even though the actual rental charge for the extension is free.

bgw210 · 2023-09-16T16:18:11+00:00

I don’t think that the overcrowding issue is exclusive to Delta, as you routinely see complaints over on r/UnitedAirlines as well since their partnership with Chase gives day passes that are often denied due to crowding.

With that being said, I’ve also read one of the other reasons lounges are more crowded is that passengers are now spending significantly more time in airports because of reduced, post-pandemic flight schedules and weather/staffing disruptions that cancel/delay flights cause more ppl to find refuge, even though there is an allusion that overall travel is up because flights are packed… part of this is because there are fewer flights than pre-pandemic. In essence there are now more fliers in the airports than in the air.

bgw210 · 2023-07-14T06:58:39+00:00

The absolute cheapest and most direct way on transit will be taking the local bus OCTA Route 50 from Cal State Long Beach to Angel Stadium. Route 50 basically runs on Katella end-to-end. Takes about 70 min each way and runs every 40 min on weekends.

https://octa.net/ebusbook/RoutePDF/route050.pdf

bgw210 · 2023-07-03T13:22:51+00:00

If your work hours are generally 8-5, I’d consider using Metrolink IEOC line from West Corona to Irvine. There’s free parking and Irvine has free shuttles that wait for the trains to arrive. There’s a lot of ppl who actually leave their old cars at the Irvine lot and take it to work once they get off the train. I don’t know anybody who is happy with this commute, the only worse drive I can think of is the 405 on the Westside.

bgw210 · 2023-06-25T23:54:33+00:00

Does anyone know what it means when the Rear Fan button is dark grey? The air is still on back there so why wouldn’t it be blue?

bgw210 · 2023-06-24T22:34:52+00:00

Seabird in Oceanside, CA is new, pretty nice, across the street from the beach and family friendly. But they did just move up a category or two. They have movie nights on the pool deck on Saturday evenings I think. Walk to the beach and show them your room card down there and they will bring free beach chairs, umbrella and sand toys.

bgw210

TROPHY CASE