Amtrak ending certain discounts in 2018?

[dlagrua]

All the conversation here is about one simple and basic thing. Fares are going up but it may not be a good move. Since much of Amtrak's ridership are older people and seniors, eliminating discounts could have a negative effect and result in lower revenue The reason why you give discounts is to attract business. Many seniors are on a fixed income and make purchase decisions based partly on the discount. Couples with children are given incentives to take them on a trip as they don't have to pay full fare for them. Without the discount incentives, ridership could be affected. I guess that we will see.

You've been saying the same thing your entire time here, and the dire consequences have never come to pass. Keep it up, maybe one day you'll be right.

Yes I have been saying that you can only raise fares to a certain point before revenue goes downhill. Some routes will surely still grow while others will face the effect of drastically changing demographics. From my observations; the audience for the LD trains are mostly middle age and senior citizens both of whom would be concerned with fares being the determining factor for their trip. The changing demographics during the next 10 years.will not be working in Amrak's favor. Do you disagree?

 

[Ryan]

Given that ridership has increased for the entire time you’ve been banging this drum? Yes. You’ve demonstrably wrong to date.

 

[RichieRich]

Have you ever monitored the admission at Disney? They have yet to hit a price people won't pay. The $10, i mean $15, I mean $20 parking goes up every year too. Disney should really try $150/day Park admission. They'll pay it! Never a price point yet that will turn people away as-witnessed-by the lines. !!! Transportation is the same thing. The newbies have no idea what Amtrak "used" to offer in amenities...hence...they will never miss it! Us old-timers lament the days of wine & cheese, wine with (cooked) dinner, non-plastic, non-paper coffee cups, cookie trays. fruit bowls, snack bowls, etc, etc.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

You can raise fairs until it actually begins to have an affect on travelers. Which so far it hasn't. I don't think we are near the tipping point, either. The travel portion of the average travelers expenses is rarely a massive part of it. Whats an extra few hundred bucks on a few thousand dollar trip?

 

[jebr]

From my observations; the audience for the LD trains are mostly middle age and senior citizens both of whom would be concerned with fares being the determining factor for their trip. The changing demographics during the next 10 years.will not be working in Amrak's favor. Do you disagree?

I'd argue that the crowd most worried about the cost of fare would be students and young adults. I've seen plenty of students and young adults in coach on the train, and the removal of the student discount will impact that crowd the most. I'm honestly a bit surprised Amtrak is removing it, although with it not applying on saver fares anyways the impact is a bit muted. If anything, middle age and senior citizens would be less likely to be concerned with fares going up than students or young people.

Frankly, I think it's a slap in the face to Amtrak's next generation of riders that seniors are keeping a 10% discount while it's being removed for students.

 

[Ryan]

Frankly, I think it's a slap in the face to Amtrak's next generation of riders that seniors are keeping a 10% discount while it's being removed for students.

That’s a good point I hadn’t considered. That said, the Senior discount is easy to do since it is only age-based. “Student” is a lot more difficult to define and verify, and perhaps Amtrak has just decided that it isn’t worth the hassle.

 

[PVD]

One important question worth asking, but probably impossible to answer accurately given the information published; how many passengers actually use the student (or any other) discount, and to what degree would use of a different fare (like saver) be possible, making the impact minimal? As an example, I use the "I Love NY" discount on many of my trips, its use precludes the use of any other discount, but it is as good or better anyway. Senior and handicapped/disabled discounts are a part of pricing in many businesses, often mandated by law (public transit).

 

[AmtrakBlue]

One important question worth asking, but probably impossible to answer accurately given the information published; how many passengers actually use the student (or any other) discount, and to what degree would use of a different fare (like saver) be possible, making the impact minimal? As an example, I use the "I Love NY" discount on many of my trips, its use precludes the use of any other discount, but it is as good or better anyway. Senior and handicapped/disabled discounts are a part of pricing in many businesses, often mandated by law (public transit).

I use the disability discount, when the saver fare is not available. I had just reached the age for senior discount when they decided to move the goal post.

 

[me_little_me]

Delta just imposed a baggage fee for international flights for the cheapie seats. American Air is cutting out seat space. Airlines constantly charge more and give less. People continue to fly no matter how they are treated and every time the cost goes up. You want or need to get there; you pay the price. All you can do is look for a deal. Perhaps Amtrak will offer more deals.

 

[Lonestar648]

Maybe we are about to see a new Marketing strategy for the new CEO, one more in line with the airlines.

 

[seat38a]

From my observations; the audience for the LD trains are mostly middle age and senior citizens both of whom would be concerned with fares being the determining factor for their trip. The changing demographics during the next 10 years.will not be working in Amrak's favor. Do you disagree?

I'd argue that the crowd most worried about the cost of fare would be students and young adults. I've seen plenty of students and young adults in coach on the train, and the removal of the student discount will impact that crowd the most. I'm honestly a bit surprised Amtrak is removing it, although with it not applying on saver fares anyways the impact is a bit muted. If anything, middle age and senior citizens would be less likely to be concerned with fares going up than students or young people.

Frankly, I think it's a slap in the face to Amtrak's next generation of riders that seniors are keeping a 10% discount while it's being removed for students.

You mean mommy won't pay the extra 15% for their child to come home? And lets be real, as a former college student, no matter how poor some of the students that I knew were, they still managed to find money for beer, cigarettes, or weed.

 

[Lonestar648]

College students find a way to get the money they need and to get to where they want to go. Many used the discount because it was there, usually the discount didn't make or break the trip.

 

[willem]

You mean mommy won't pay the extra 15% for their child to come home? And lets be real, as a former college student, no matter how poor some of the students that I knew were, they still managed to find money for beer, cigarettes, or weed.

As long as we're going all anecdotal, I knew college students who were short of money and didn't buy beer, cigarettes, or weed—and mommy didn't pay for them to come home.

 

[SarahZ]

You mean mommy won't pay the extra 15% for their child to come home? And lets be real, as a former college student, no matter how poor some of the students that I knew were, they still managed to find money for beer, cigarettes, or weed.

As long as we're going all anecdotal, I knew college students who were short of money and didn't buy beer, cigarettes, or weed—and mommy didn't pay for them to come home.

I was one of them. I could barely afford food, let alone gas to visit my family. Not all of us had "mommy" to back us up.

 

[Bob Dylan]

You mean mommy won't pay the extra 15% for their child to come home? And lets be real, as a former college student, no matter how poor some of the students that I knew were, they still managed to find money for beer, cigarettes, or weed.

As long as we're going all anecdotal, I knew college students who were short of money and didn't buy beer, cigarettes, or weedand mommy didn't pay for them to come home.

I was one of them. I could barely afford food, let alone gas to visit my family. Not all of us had "mommy" to back us up.

This!!!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

While I do understand that college students are not all as well off as Mr. Seat38a seems to think, I would also imagine that 15% is not going to make much of a difference. You can either afford to spend 100% for the fare, or you most likely can't afford to spend 85% either.

 

[jamess]

While I do understand that college students are not all as well off as Mr. Seat38a seems to think, I would also imagine that 15% is not going to make much of a difference. You can either afford to spend 100% for the fare, or you most likely can't afford to spend 85% either.

Amtrak doesnt exist in a vacuum.

It's not Amtrak vs non trip.

It's Amtrak versus Greyhound, Bolt Bus, Megabus, Chinese bus, rental car, airplane, no trip.

Incidentally, corridor deals do not look to be affected:

Travel for Less with Our Friends and Family Offer on the San JoaquinsBuy One and Save 50% on Up to Five Companion Fares

Valid for Sale Through April 28, 2018 Valid for Travel Through April 30, 2018

https://www.amtrak.com/san-joaquin-friends-and-family-companion-fares

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Rental car? God, that is a stretch. Megabus and boltbus are dense corridor only things. Greyhound? What Greyhound?

 

[jis]

But the bottom line is, as long as Amtrak's ridership, load factor and revenues are growing, the rest of the carping is just that carping.

When those trends get reversed then there would be a reason to start looking at how to fix the issue.

Just IMHO of course.

 

[dlagrua]

But the bottom line is, as long as Amtrak's ridership, load factor and revenues are growing, the rest of the carping is just that carping.

When those trends get reversed then there would be a reason to start looking at how to fix the issue.

Just IMHO of course.

That is a reasonable way of looking at it but when you talk about the survival of Amtrak,in the eyes of Washington, ridership is key.. Amtrak's ridership hasn't fallen off yet, but the argument can be made that higher fares slow the rate of growth. I still maintain that it is likely that no one at Amtrak has considered the the demographics of those that ride the LD trains and the potential impact of higher fares. Few businesses survive without discounts.Time will tell.

 

[jis]

But the bottom line is, as long as Amtrak's ridership, load factor and revenues are growing, the rest of the carping is just that carping.

When those trends get reversed then there would be a reason to start looking at how to fix the issue.

Just IMHO of course.

That is a reasonable way of looking at it but when you talk about the survival of Amtrak,in the eyes of Washington, ridership is key.. Amtrak's ridership hasn't fallen off yet, but the argument can be made that higher fares slow the rate of growth. I still maintain that it is likely that no one at Amtrak has considered the the demographics of those that ride the LD trains and the potential impact of higher fares. Few businesses survive without discounts.Time will tell.

I don't see you providing us with any basis for the claims about "no one at Amtrak" etc. etc. So I do not take those comments too seriously. You have been crying wolf for years now and very little of your prognostications have come anywhere near being borne out by facts.

 

[Ryan]

when you talk about the survival of Amtrak,in the eyes of Washington, ridership is key.. Amtrak's ridership hasn't fallen off

Exactly.

Time will tell, and it’s telling you that you are wrong.

 

[Bob Dylan]

While I don't like the Discounts disappearing ( Im a Senior),we're only talking about tip money when you consider that the Discounts only apply to Rail Fare, not Biz Class or Sleepers where the real rises in Fares have occured.

I agree with jis and Ryan here, the Sky is not falling Chicken Little!

 

[PVD]

Reading an article today about how the overuse of "discounts" by many businesses has not had the desired effect on profits that come with the increase in volume, and it is causing a re thinking of policies for many companies.

 

[jis]

When one is able to potentially sell the seat at full price instead of at a discount, the discount is just lost revenue.

If discount is to be provided as a social program there should be social way of funding it, like the French fund their discounts from the tax base of each Department (roughly speaking County in our lingo) involved. That is also the reason that they bend over backwards trying to prevent visitors and tourists availaing themselves of those discounts, and instead provide pricier alternatives for them to use.