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What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

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Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#41

Post by chrismcb »

ubernostrum wrote: post #22
exDM69 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone in the comments mentioned that Amtrak's sleeper train travels daytime on the SF to LA stint and the terminals are some way away from the city. So the travel by night advantage is gone. Amtrak's sleeper cars are also quite expensive when I last looked at it as an option for getting from Colorado to San Francisco. The price compared to a seat on the train was 2..3x or more (but it includes food).

In the case of San Francisco it's a bit unfair to knock Amtrak for the location of the terminal, because it's not their fault, it's the fault of geography. San Francisco sits at the tip of a peninsula; for a train to stop in SF -- actually in SF and not Oakland or San Jose -- and also continue on to other locations would require the train to come up the peninsula, make its San Francisco stop, then turn around and go…

Other countries have solved this issue. I once took a train by ferry.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#42

Post by atemerev »

majewsky wrote: post #21
atemerev wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Capsules are arranged differently — they can be stacked together vertically, and probably be offered at least for the price of business class seats. (If the weight is a great concern, and it is, and capsules are too heavy — hammocks can also be an option).

> hammocks Hammocks with seatbelts!?

Why not? And hammocks themselves can be anchored with teared energy absorber like used in via ferrata mountain climbing — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata#Energy_absorber . This will make the construction much safer than a single two-point seatbelt.

Going to the restroom might prove to be somewhat challenging, though...

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#43

Post by lancewiggs »

exDM69 wrote: post #11
fruitcake wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a sleeper train up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco: https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train

Someone in the comments mentioned that Amtrak's sleeper train travels daytime on the SF to LA stint and the terminals are some way away from the city. So the travel by night advantage is gone. Amtrak's sleeper cars are also quite expensive when I last looked at it as an option for getting from Colorado to San Francisco. The price compared to a seat on the train was 2..3x or more (but it includes food).

I've done that trip (from Denver) after I couldn't bear the thought of another flight on the US air system. It was amazing. Definitely something to think about in winter.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#44

Post by calbear81 »

apendleton wrote: post #8

Not sure I'd really want to get where I was going with bed-head and no access to a shower. Other than that, seems like a great idea. Maybe they could work out a cross-promotion or voucher or something that would let people use the showers/locker room at a gym at the destination?

Actually, you wouldn't need any of that at the destination which is Santa Monica pier. You get out in the LA sunshine, walk down the steps to the beach and take a dip in the Pacific. When you're done, rinse off in one of the public beach showers and you'll be dry in a jiffy.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#45

Post by Tepix »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #17
atemerev wrote: post #15

If only we'd had similar capsules on transcontinental flights — now, that would be something. Otherwise, it is just a bus serving two points, no more exciting than a sleeping car in a train. Properly sleeping on a flight, on the other hand, feels like luxury.

They do, if you fly first class. You just have to spend several thousand dollars on a ticket. Air New Zealand also offers skycouch ( https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/economy-skycouch ), which is similar and cheaper, but really is only worth it if you're traveling with your partner or someone else you feel comfortable spooning for an entire flight.

Skycouch looks great, definitely something to consider next time I fly Air New Zealand² - are there other airlines that offer something like that?

---

² last time I flew with them was awful, worst legroom I've ever encountered.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#46

Post by Tepix »

josefwasinski wrote: post #4
romanovcode wrote: post #3

I'm not sure why would someone do this if flying takes way less time and is cheaper.

Cost of travel + accomodation. If you are flying there is a need to book a hotel to deliver the same experience of being in LA/SF at 7am refreshed. That is the "free money" in the model, people can exchange sleep in a hotel for a sleep on a bus with pretty much the same outcome.

Ideally there'd be a place to take a shower where you arrive.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#47

Post by gargravarr »

chippy wrote: post #31
gargravarr wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've thought about exactly this. Take a cue from Japanese honeycomb hotels and stack them three high in the place of the current seats - you could get equivalent passenger numbers on the plane, while giving people a safe way to stretch out on a long flight. Correctly designed, they would be safe, possibly safer than seats, during an emergency landing, although I can see getting out in a hurry being a major setback fo…

The major thing about beds on planes is international safety regulations. Two that I can remember when working for an airline which were introducing beds: 1) The aisle has to be a set width, so you cant stack cabins across the plane. 2) Passengers need to seated and have a seat belt on upon take off and landing. I think theres another about being able to be belted in if turbulence happens, and be inspectable by atten…

In a sleeping capsule, passenger's ranges of movement up/down and forward/backward would inherently be more restricted than in a seat. If necessary, a belt could be provided, although it might not be as comfortable because there's no guarantee on where the person's waist will be when lying down.

The way I picture it is replacing seats as they are currently laid out in e.g. a 747 - 3 seats become stacked capsules -> aisle -> 3/4 seats become stacked capsules -> aisle -> 3 seats become stacked capsule. I don't deny that getting into these capsules would be awkward for people with limited mobility, but I do imagine it is within the realms of possibility while meeting safety regulations.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#48

Post by hasteur »

dewey wrote: post #9

I haven't used Cabin but a lot of other bus companies (Megabus, Greyhound, Flixbux,...) and trains with sleeping compartments and I imagine the bus to be a lot harder to sleep on (vibrations, breaking, highway noise,...) than a train on fixed tracks.

Have you ever taken a Greyhound? Granted I have a n=1 experience, however a Bus leaving Denver (with a final destination of Dallas) leaved much to be desired.

The route-through method means that you'll stop about once every hour for 15~20 minutes for on-off and snacks/restroom. If you're still somewhat wakeful these stops are just at the twilight phase and you don't get truly restful sleep.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#49

Post by kbob »

joezydeco wrote: post #35
exDM69 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone in the comments mentioned that Amtrak's sleeper train travels daytime on the SF to LA stint and the terminals are some way away from the city. So the travel by night advantage is gone. Amtrak's sleeper cars are also quite expensive when I last looked at it as an option for getting from Colorado to San Francisco. The price compared to a seat on the train was 2..3x or more (but it includes food).

Amtrak is also notorious for being way off on arrival times. Sometimes on the order of a day or longer. That's what happens when you share rails with the freight lines.

I can anecdotally confirm. My wife used to ride the Coast Starlight occasionally. About the fifth time she did, the train was delayed 18 hours. She missed a day of work, and has never ridden it since.
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