We rode from Washington to New York for a Yankees game last year, and then rode to Boston for a Red Sox game. Used Amtrak points to book business class and it was actually less than coach fare. Paying by cash or card, business class costs more.
On the New York to New Haven leg, we had the roughest passenger Engineer I have ever ridden behind. You really have to work hard to make the slack run in and run out on Amfleet cars, but he was a master of that technique. And the stops . . . oh my! He welded the train to the rail every time he stopped. The Conductor told me that he is well known for this by crews and has an uncomplimentary nickname. Every time we came into a station, I commented to my wife, wondering if he could get as much slack as he did at the previous stop, and he never let me down. 
