Amtrak USA Rail Card

Has anyone ever used the amtrak (unlimited areas) railcard to travel the USA? Its 30 days for £229 (off peak) £327 (Peak).

Is rail a good way to het across USA? Is this good value apposed to getting a car?

Thanks for any help!

Amtrak is NOTHING like European rail routes , at least outside of the busy Northeast corridor (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC). You may want to look into our low cost carriers here such as Southwest ( http://www.southwest.com ), JetBlue ( http://www.jetblue.com ), AirTran ( http://www.airtran.com ). They are relatively cheap, but DO NOT except to see any Ryan air fare prices here! Many US cities are spread out with the exception of the Northeast, so flying will save time and money in many if not all circumstances that you may encounter. Also,, secondary airports are big here. Look at Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach instead of Miami or instead of Key West for example. I've seen lots of foreigners get burned on this exapmle!

P.S. One way car rentals are absurdly expensive! If you plan to return the car to the location where you rented it would be a economical venture though.

I just finished doing it and had a great time. I find it is always better to go overland to see as much of a country as possible. True though the routes on the West need a bit more updating. Only three trains a week running from El Paso to LA - crazy!!! Don't let that put you off just plan ahead!
Enjoy