# Chances of nabbing a sold out sleeper car



## AlexG (Nov 25, 2019)

Hey all,

I'm trying to travel west during the holiday season. I had my heart set on the Lake Shore Limited as I've heard it's a wonderful train...

But, all of the sleeper cars are reserved for the day I need to travel.

I booked an alternative ticket on train 29, but I've already taken that train and it's far less convenient.

I'm curious what the pros think. Is there any way of my trying to nab a sleeper on the lake shore? How would you do it?!


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## TinCan782 (Nov 25, 2019)

The chances are as good as someone cancelling their sleeper reservation.
Just keep checking for availability every day or more frequently (right up to the day of travel).
You can check Amtrak.com with "test" bookings or use AmSnag.
https://biketrain.net/amsnag2.0/amSnag.php


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## Asher (Nov 25, 2019)

I think your chances of someone canceling a trip during the holiday weekend are pretty slim.


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## RSG (Nov 25, 2019)

anumberone said:


> I think your chances of someone canceling a trip during the holiday weekend are pretty slim.


I generally agree with this, however...I am going to be one of those people who is going to do just that, due to the impending, no good, horrible, absolutely awful weather that is forecast for the next 24-72 hours (as of this writing).

Unfortunately for the OP I'm not travelling on the LSL and, last time I checked, there were still available rooms on both of my trains (for a price). But the point being is that plans do change and cancellations happen, so it's always good to keep checking and not assume that it's impossible. [But still have a doable backup plan.]


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## Pat Harper (Nov 26, 2019)

You might have luck by calling an agent. I nabbed a sleeper from Syracuse to Chicago once by doing just that. I had gone online and found a sold-out condition, but called agent and told her where we were getting on and they found one that was vacated by someone getting off.


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## Rasputin (Nov 26, 2019)

AlexG said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I'm trying to travel west during the holiday season. I had my heart set on the Lake Shore Limited as I've heard it's a wonderful train...



Hope your travel plans work out but I think your information is a bit out of date. The Lake Shore used to be a nice train but it has been downgraded severely, especially the Boston section. It has got to the point that I do not recommend the Lake Shore to friends for fear of losing friends. Sorry to be such a party-pooper!


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## me_little_me (Nov 27, 2019)

I recently changed my ELP-NOL-ATL trip on 12/26 for ABQ-CHI-NOL-ATL. There are always reasons to change - price, change of plans, medical reasons, etc. Just because its a holiday doesn't mean people will go anyway.


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## neroden (Nov 30, 2019)

AlexG said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I'm trying to travel west during the holiday season. I had my heart set on the Lake Shore Limited as I've heard it's a wonderful train...
> 
> ...



Your best bet is to try to switch between coach and sleeper partway along the trip. For the sake of explanation, I'm going to assume you're going from NY to Chicago.

The first and most likely option is to get in the "Boston Sleeper" (train 449) form Albany to Chicago. However, this will actually show up as an option on Amtrak.com when you attempt to book NY to Chicago, so that's probably sold out too.

If you do test bookings from intermediate points (like Schenectady, or Utica, or Syracuse) to Chicago... or from NY to South Bend... you may find that you can get a sleeper part of the way.

Fair warning, the state of the food service is appalling, but it's terrible on the Capitol Limited too.

As others say, it's always possible someone will cancel and you can get a room the whole way. But if not, finding a room part of the way is the other trick.

Calling an agent is also a good idea as the website is sometimes missing some of the inventory, particularly for the intermediate stations.


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