Two friends and I did a SBA/LAX/SBA trip yesterday. We took train 768, the 6:49AM departure and had an almost ontime arrival. We did some sightseeing downtown using the Red Line and the DASH bus system, had a great dim sum lunch with other friends at the Empress Pavillion in Chinatown ($41.00 for five people and we were stuffed!) and then took train 775, the 2:55PM departure home. We were ontime until we were put on a sidetrack for the late SLO southbound Surfliner. We got to SBA about 10 minutes late. One of my friends hadn't ridden Amtrak in a long time and was very impressed. The crews were personable and efficient and the equipment seemed cleaner than usual. Perhaps they used the downtime after the storms to do some "Spring Cleaning".
The best part of the trip, however, was using the "Free Companion" offer (Code H449). It is valid through May 26 for travel from any station between San Diego and SLO. I read about it in the local paper's travel section but the original article was from the Dallas Morning News. I couldn't find anything on the Amtrak website about it but the code worked when I made the reservation. I used the Senior Fare for myself and one friend used the regular adult fare. With the free ticket we each ended up paying $21.00 and change for the R/T.