Amtrak long distance fares 2021-2023

[Railspike]

And then there's this opinion:

How Amtrak Trains Became One Retired Traveler's Sanctuary During the Pandemic

 

[toddinde]

Very fortunate to have found two roomettes on the EB and Zephyr at low bucket,a little over $500 from Chicago to Seattle and Sacramento to Chicago in February and March used in conjunction with a rail pass. I see roomettes for $700 plus on the full length of the Coast Starlight Southwest Chief and the Silvers. As I have said here before I have never or will ever pay more than low bucket. Bob Dylan,you are right it is gouging. If people would not pay those outrageous prices Amtrak would charge a more reasonable fare. A Facebook poster said she paid $935 for a one person roomette from Chicago to Flagstaff. Unbelievable

Isn’t that what the market is all about? It’s supply and demand. It won’t change until Amtrak gets new cars. Fortunately, I enjoy coach.

 

[fdaley]

Chestler's attitude is, as long as in aggregate enough people are paying the high fares and keeping the trains more or less occupied at "normal" levels, he has no problem losing the likes of me as customers.

To me as a customer, the message has been coming through loud and clear for the past five years, and for travel outside the Northeast, I've mostly just opted not to go.

But as someone who talked up train travel for years, it's kind of frustrating to feel that Amtrak could serve so many more people on its long-distance trains if it tried. Instead, its leaders seem content just to maximize revenue from their historically small inventory of space.

 

[Winecliff Station]

To me as a customer, the message has been coming through loud and clear for the past five years, and for travel outside the Northeast, I've mostly just opted not to go.

But as someone who talked up train travel for years, it's kind of frustrating to feel that Amtrak could serve so many more people on its long-distance trains if it tried. Instead, its leaders seem content just to maximize revenue from their historically small inventory of space.

Mediocrity…it’s the new excellence

 

[fengshui]

Supply of sleeper rooms is also really low right now, and will be until new cars are built and delivered. I rode the SL LAX->NOL around Christmas, and the sole sleeper for the New Orleans riders was half consumed by OBS. Total number of roomettes available for that trip was 5 (two upstairs, and 3 downstairs) There were more roomettes available on the Texas Eagle sleeper. That's still well below normal capacity, which should have a transdorm and at least one sleeper per route.

With all the cancellations of second cars, I'm expecting that to guarantee a room in the base sleeper, you're likely to have to pay high or highest bucket for the foreseeable future.

 

[nti1094]

Isn’t that what the market is all about? It’s supply and demand. It won’t change until Amtrak gets new cars. Fortunately, I enjoy coach.

Only if that supply level were not artificially constructed by incompetence. Incompetence which they combined with the slap in the face of a huge downgrade in amenities and overall service quality and consistency. At the obscene prices they pushed on us, they acted like it was a burden to even have to deal with passengers. Really bad optics. I got so fed up last year I just got online and found a flight on United on a Dreamliner in Polaris class for a fraction of the price, and flew home. ($1600 roomette Sacramento to Houston, $380 internationally configured 787-10 SFO-HOU… I’m used yo and accepted paying sometimes double just to take Amtrak for years, but there is a tipping point where it just becomes absurd and beyond reason)

 

[fdaley]

Total number of roomettes available for that trip was 5 (two upstairs, and 3 downstairs)

So, just to be sure, that means nine of the 14 roomettes in the only sleeper running east from San Antonio to NOL were occupied by crew? That seems insane.

 

[trimetbusfan]

So, just to be sure, that means nine of the 14 roomettes in the only sleeper running east from San Antonio to NOL were occupied by crew? That seems insane.

There should be at least 7 rooms occupied by crew. Maybe 8 if there is an additional Service Attendant

One room for each employee. When I rode the sunset limited last summer they had the following crew members LAX-NOL.

LSA - Diner
SA - Diner
Chef
Food Specialist
LSA - Cafe/Lounge
TA Coach
TS Sleeper

This does NOT include the Coach and Sleeper attendant for trains 421/422 LAX-SAS. I would assume they have a room in the 'texas eagle' sleeper.

 

[fengshui]

Yeah, it might have been 8, I didn't go downstairs too much, so I couldn't tell which of those were crew. With no transdorm or other accommodations, there was no where else to put them.

 

[fdaley]

Well, the crew members need to sleep somewhere. But even if it's eight rooms instead of nine, and even if you include the bedrooms and family room, you've got crew members taking up more than one-third of the spaces in the one premium-fare car east of San Antonio. So it's no wonder the only available rooms for paying customers are at the highest fare buckets. As Charlie Brown used to say: AUGGH!

 

[Bob Dylan]

There should be at least 7 rooms occupied by crew. Maybe 8 if there is an additional Service Attendant

One room for each employee. When I rode the sunset limited last summer they had the following crew members LAX-NOL.

LSA - Diner
SA - Diner
Chef
Food Specialist
LSA - Cafe/Lounge
TA Coach
TS Sleeper

This does NOT include the Coach and Sleeper attendant for trains 421/422 LAX-SAS. I would assume they have a room in the 'texas eagle' sleeper.

The 2 Attendants ( Coach and Sleeper,) for 421/422 from the LAX-SAS Through Cars do NOT go North of San Antonio, the Crews from the previous Days #21 ( CHI Based) that turns as #22, take over these cars as the #1/#2 OBS Crews are LA Based and either layover in SAS until #1 Returns from NOL or continue on with #2 to NOL.

Still, there is no excuse for not having a Transdorm or 2nd Revenue Sleeper on either of these LD Trains as the consists used tohave before all the " cuts".

 

[Anderson]

Indeed, I have been opting for flying a lot more of late specially given very affordable First Class fares, and some of those coming with a lie flat seat to boot!

We brought this up with the RPA folks. They have apparently raised this with Chestler, and they came back with the impression that Chestler's attitude is, as long as in aggregate enough people are paying the high fares and keeping the trains more or less occupied at "normal" levels, he has no problem losing the likes of me as customers. Indeed that is a very airline like attitude but in that industry they don;t have the luxury of being a monopoly for a class of service (yet) like Amtrak's Sleeper service is.

Yeah...this is part of why I've hardly taken an overnight train even since the mask mandate dropped (I did take the train back from Orlando once, but...yeah, the reheated meals and all that jazz just don't do it for me). I'm just not going to pay $500 for a one-way ticket with a re-heated meal when I can probably get better food at the SkyClubs in Atlanta (to say nothing of the Centurion Lounge at JFK) and the F ticket is probably going to be less.

Edit: It'd probably be less annoying out west, where proper dining is back.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Yeah...this is part of why I've hardly taken an overnight train even since the mask mandate dropped (I did take the train back from Orlando once, but...yeah, the reheated meals and all that jazz just don't do it for me). I'm just not going to pay $500 for a one-way ticket with a re-heated meal when I can probably get better food at the SkyClubs in Atlanta (to say nothing of the Centurion Lounge at JFK) and the F ticket is probably going to be less.

Edit: It'd probably be less annoying out west, where proper dining is back.

Not really Cliff, the Consist and Crew Cuts,and the resulting High Bucket Fares have turned alot of us into Flyers even if it is on Southworst Airlines!

 

[Sidney]

I know Apples and Oranges. We booked a 12 day cruise from New York to Southampton UK in April 2024 for $1580

A year earlier April 2023. A bedroom for two on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle 3 days 2 nights $2500

 

[Sauve850]

I know Apples and Oranges. We booked a 12 day cruise from New York to Southampton UK in April 2024 for $1580

A year earlier April 2023. A bedroom for two on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle 3 days 2 nights $2500

I find myself doing the same thing. I have only one Amtrak ride (Cardinal) scheduled (bedroom) Chicago-Alexandria (points) in September. My third cruise in a year is in April. I live less than an hour from the port so no airfare.

 

[ChuckAM]

Something must have changed this year. I just booked travel from Pittsburg to Portland, OR on the Capitol Limited and Empire Builder trains with roomettes for 1700 bucks.

 

[Anderson]

I checked fares from Palatka to Alexandria for the RPA spring meeting. About $750 one-way (both trains).

Translated into 1971 dollars, that's a bit over $100 then vs the $71 (Orlando)/$60 (Jacksonville) or so Seaboard wanted for a roomette (one-way). The JAX fare would drop to just over $56 on a round-trip ticket (and I know I could use the return coupon within six months).

Put the other way, booking that 1971 JAX-WAS ticket in modern dollars "should" be just a shade over $400 [!], not $750.

 

[Keith1951]

I remember last summer I saw prices for a bedroom on the 3 Southwest Chief from CHI to LAX at $1538 for two. They have now been $2118 for a few months for this trip. I check the prices every day. If I book our ticket at $2118 and the price goes down, will we be able to get the new price without fees? I wish I understood the bucket list prices I keep reading on this site. Is there a certain date or time prices change?

 

[Maglev]

From what I have read here and on Facebook, and from my personal experience, you should be able to get a refund if the fare drops. Be sure to check every day; fares may change anytime. I think you should book now, as Bedrooms tend to sell out.

 

[BradMKE]

I was able to do that in the last month or so. I had a Zephyr trip initially booked at the 2nd highest bucket. I kept checking and it dropped to the 2nd lowest bucket and then a couple months later to the lowest bucket (a week or so before departure). Both times I used the "modify trip" option and rebooked the same trip and the difference was applied as a credit to my credit card both times.

 

[fengshui]

I've hoped to do that for my mid-May Zephyr run, but it looks like it's going to be sold out, not low enough demand to see price drops.

 

[allanorn]

At $1000 for a roomette on the SWC from KCY to LAX, it feels a bit like highway robbery. CHI to LAX isn't too much more, so I may do that instead. Fortunately this is a vacation and not transportation that I'm relying upon to get me somewhere.

 

[Sidney]

I’m beginning a rail pass this Saturday and using roomettes to break up the constant Coach. I have roomettes at low bucket on the Sunset/Eagle from LAX to Chi,The Builder from Chi to Sea,The Crescent from New Orleans to Washington and the Zephyr from Sacramento to Chicago. The Coast Starlight and the Southwest Chief are Coach because I couldn’t find any decent fares. First leg is New York to LA on the Lake Shore and Chief with an overnight in Albuquerque. I did manage to find a low bucket roomette from Buffalo to Chicago for $255. Leaving out of Rochester an hour and a half earlier it would have been $90 more At least now there won’t be more than one night in Coach. Surprised I found that fare so close to my trip. Rail pass NYP to Buffalo

I did manage to parlay the $299 rail pass into two big circle trips within the 30 day window augmented by sleepers and low cost segments

 

[Keith1951]

At $1000 for a roomette on the SWC from KCY to LAX, it feels a bit like highway robbery. CHI to LAX isn't too much more, so I may do that instead. Fortunately this is a vacation and not transportation that I'm relying upon to get me somewhere.

Thats exactly what I tell people. They ask why I just don't take a flight to get to my destination. I answer, because taking Amtrak makes it two vacations in one.

 

[Keith1951]

I’m beginning a rail pass this Saturday and using roomettes to break up the constant Coach. I have roomettes at low bucket on the Sunset/Eagle from LAX to Chi,The Builder from Chi to Sea,The Crescent from New Orleans to Washington and the Zephyr from Sacramento to Chicago. The Coast Starlight and the Southwest Chief are Coach because I couldn’t find any decent fares. First leg is New York to LA on the Lake Shore and Chief with an overnight in Albuquerque. I did manage to find a low bucket roomette from Buffalo to Chicago for $255. Leaving out of Rochester an hour and a half earlier it would have been $90 more At least now there won’t be more than one night in Coach. Surprised I found that fare so close to my trip. Rail pass NYP to Buffalo

I did manage to parlay the $299 rail pass into two big circle trips within the 30 day window augmented by sleepers and low cost segments

I noticed you said you found "low bucket" prices on some fares. Is there a trick, or some way to find these cheaper fares that I dont know about? If there is I wish, I could find one for my wife and my trip this coming October from CHI to LAX in a bedroom on the 3 SW Chief. The price has been stuck at $2118 for months now.