# How Prices Change



## PJRACER (Nov 22, 2010)

After initial checking prices about two months or more ago on a planned trip from STP to MSP .........prices have gone up considerably....coach seating as well as roomette. Example. then the roomette between WAS and CHI was $125.....now its anywhere between $182 and $320. This is a trip starting on Aug 4, 2011......do you think prices will flucuate and possibly come down as it gets closer?


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## Ryan (Nov 22, 2010)

Highly unlikely. Prices start out cheap and increase as more seats are sold.

Keep checking, someone might cancel a reservation and you can score a deal, but it's not likely.


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## PJRACER (Nov 22, 2010)

I keep procrastinating!!!


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## boxcar479 (Nov 22, 2010)

that is why it always best to snag the lowest price. you can always cancel. If you want to see what the higher prices are, check the trip you want to take as an example, but instead of your actual travel date, check current prices for today, tomorrow, next week. You will most likely get an idea of what high buckets are. Then check same trip a month or two out, maybe medium bucket prices there, depending on the route.The western trains sell out or go to high bucket starting in May or so. Anyway good luck getting your trip at the price can afford. :help:


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## Devil's Advocate (Nov 23, 2010)

I agree with Boxcar. Always buy early if you can and always recheck periodically to see if the price has gone down as you get closer to departure.

Case in point...

On my last Amtrak trip a few days ago my original ticket was something like $88. Then we had to change dates a few days before departure. That brought the price up to $135 or so, but still very reasonable. Then on the morning of departure I rechecked one last time and saw a coach price of $79. I actually ended up saving money by repurchasing my ticket on the day of departure. Weird but true and it's the exact same thing with sleeper tickets too.


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## icbrkr (Nov 23, 2010)

daxomni said:


> I agree with Boxcar. Always buy early if you can and always recheck periodically to see if the price has gone down as you get closer to departure.
> 
> Case in point...
> 
> On my last Amtrak trip a few days ago my original ticket was something like $88. Then we had to change dates a few days before departure. That brought the price up to $135 or so, but still very reasonable. Then on the morning of departure I rechecked one last time and saw a coach price of $79. I actually ended up saving money by repurchasing my ticket on the day of departure. Weird but true and it's the exact same thing with sleeper tickets too.



Same thing just happened to me today. Originally my wife, kid and I were holding tickets for lower level seating to CHI from KCY on Wednesday. Took a look a few minutes ago to find out that a family room dropped to $180 over coach as opposed to the normal 300+ they normally charge. Canceled my lower level seats and for a couple hundred more will have the family room in both directions


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## dlagrua (Nov 23, 2010)

Amtrak enjoys working the supply vs demand scenerio to the fullest advantage. Prices on sleepers seem to fluctuate widely. I've seen roomettes priced on some routes at $85 for the night and on others for $465 per night. It can be said that prices start out low and then increase as more seats and sleepers are sold but at times price fluctuation downward has occurred well after the date that the ticket sales have been opened for sale. The pattern is most often that prices go up with time but not always as the report here appears to verify. The opening or starting price is also based with how many seats and sleepers are available on the train and the season. We must also bear in mind that travel agents often reserve a block of sleepers and hold them for tours, sometimes releasing them at the last minute but ruining the chance of the consumer getting the low bucket price.

Its a crazy system but you can work with it by checking the dates, the pricing and booking your reservations 10-11 months in advance.


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