Amtrak long distance fares 2021-2023

[niemi24s]

Welcome to the Forum!

In may I booked a roomette for 2 adults on the CZ travelling CHI-SF in february 2022. I paid $789, wich I believe was lower bucket, or at least a fair price in my opinion.

I have been monitoring the price since, and it recently went up to $1278. I would call that a massive jump in price.

That's nothing more than a jump from low bucket to high bucket and all such jumps are massive. For one adult, Roomette fares can as much as double from low to high bucket.

 

[20th Century Rider]

What's happening is Disney pricing... there's enough wealthy people willing to pay, that there's no business reason to care about anyone who can't. Basically the wealthy are hollowing out America as we know it.

Yup... we all need to make sacrifices to make the wealthy even richer! Aaah and the corporations increase profits by rising the prices of all commodities... while reducing the size of packaging!

RE: Amtrak pricing is going up up up as well. But isn't this supposed to be a government supported service for the tax paying citizens???

 

[FunNut]

I've been on here for quite a while but haven't visited in some time. Can someone point me to "Niemi24's chart," please. My trips are in a roomette, usually ABQ-LAX and back.

 

[pennyk]

I've been on here for quite a while but haven't visited in some time. Can someone point me to "Niemi24's chart," please. My trips are in a roomette, usually ABQ-LAX and back.

There are more charts in the FAQ forum.

This partial update shows those one adult sleeper fares now offered on NER 66 and 67. As only three in each category could be found there's no way of knowing if any additional fares are loaded into Arrow.


View attachment 22012

 

[niemi24s]

This is the thread pennyk referred to and the chart with the LAX - ABQ and ABQ - CHI fares is in Post #38.

Long Distance Train Coach & Sleeper Fares (Buckets)

The chart shows the current two lowest sleeper fares for Roomettes but the fares for Family Bedrooms and Bedrooms have increased twice so far this year.

 

[IndyLions]

What's happening is Disney pricing... there's enough wealthy people willing to pay, that there's no business reason to care about anyone who can't. Basically the wealthy are hollowing out America as we know it.

I agree it sucks that prices are so high these days for travel. But let’s face it - I think we all saw it coming. Demand is high from ALL Americans, hardly just the wealthy. And we’re all paying the price for Amtrak having such a small inventory of available capacity.

Your bogeyman of the “wealthy” is a fallacy. The wealthy don’t travel Amtrak for the most part, nor can they fill Disney to capacity. if you took an Amtrak train today or walked a Disney park, I doubt you would see much difference in the demographics from two years ago.

The people traveling Amtrak today are the same ones that traveled it two years ago. A combination of lower income folks who need to get from Point A to Point B, retirees who now have two years of travel budget that has not been spent, and middle income folks probably charging way too much on their credit cards for that big vacation this year.

 

[20th Century Rider]

I agree it sucks that prices are so high these days for travel. But let’s face it - I think we all saw it coming. Demand is high from ALL Americans, hardly just the wealthy. And we’re all paying the price for Amtrak having such a small inventory of available capacity.

Your bogeyman of the “wealthy” is a fallacy. The wealthy don’t travel Amtrak for the most part, nor can they fill Disney to capacity. if you took an Amtrak train today or walked a Disney park, I doubt you would see much difference in the demographics from two years ago.

The people traveling Amtrak today are the same ones that traveled it two years ago. A combination of lower income folks who need to get from Point A to Point B, retirees who now have two years of travel budget that has not been spent, and middle income folks probably charging way too much on their credit cards for that big vacation this year.

Everyone's getting hit with out of control inflation... gas just went up another dime yesterday... after going up 15 cents last week; yeeks! $3.75 per gallon... on the West Coast everything is on fire as well. And wherever you live you know that food packaging is shrinking as the price goes up!

And sadly enough many have now been priced out of the housing market and face rising rents.

As for public travel... many local bus lines have just gone out of business and airfares are out of control. I guess Amtrak is no different; if I can get a sleeper from coast to coast for $1500 to $2000 [double that for round trip] I grab it. The article below explains things realistically...

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/19/how...your-pocket-and-what-you-can-do-about-it.html

 

[me_little_me]

From what I've read, in most cases, prices really have not gone up that much. Comparing gas prices to the depressed 2020 numbers is wrong. One has to look back at 2019. And for travel, not just on Amtrak, think about how much was spent in 2020. I know, it was virtually zero after March for us and the travel in January and February were scheduled in 2019. Many are in that situation so travel now is really two years of travel in 6 months. "This too shall pass" (Old Persian Adage).

I know that my one Amtrak trip later this year (with a possible second one if I can get it in) is making up for the three I didn't take last year and the missed ones from this year. So like so many others (especially those of us with few years of travel left), I'm willing to spend more than in the past on a trip. In the future, I expect most people will go back to their normal pattern and prices will settle down.

Our touristy town is just full of visitors EVERY DAY - more on Mondays than even on Saturdays in the past! The museum I volunteer at has gift shop sales that have blown away even the 2019 number - doubling those and more. and the free Model RR club and museum I am a member of are having more people in the building and on the grounds at one time than we used to get in the whole day. Donations are unbelievable and we've found many $20s and even a $50 bill in our donation box when two years ago, $1 to $5 was the norm and $10 bills were few.

 

[Bob Dylan]

From what I've read, in most cases, prices really have not gone up that much. Comparing gas prices to the depressed 2020 numbers is wrong. One has to look back at 2019. And for travel, not just on Amtrak, think about how much was spent in 2020. I know, it was virtually zero after March for us and the travel in January and February were scheduled in 2019. Many are in that situation so travel now is really two years of travel in 6 months. "This too shall pass" (Old Persian Adage).

I know that my one Amtrak trip later this year (with a possible second one if I can get it in) is making up for the three I didn't take last year and the missed ones from this year. So like so many others (especially those of us with few years of travel left), I'm willing to spend more than in the past on a trip. In the future, I expect most people will go back to their normal pattern and prices will settle down.

Our touristy town is just full of visitors EVERY DAY - more on Mondays than even on Saturdays in the past! The museum I volunteer at has gift shop sales that have blown away even the 2019 number - doubling those and more. and the free Model RR club and museum I am a member of are having more people in the building and on the grounds at one time than we used to get in the whole day. Donations are unbelievable and we've found many $20s and even a $50 bill in our donation box when two years ago, $1 to $5 was the norm and $10 bills were few.

Same thing here in Austin, and I'm sure all Tourist towns are experiencing the same thing as pent up demand has resulted in an explosion of Travel.

Unfortunately, the current COVID Wave caused by the Delta Varaint and the Unvaccinated will probably set us back to the 2020/early 2021 Levels of Travel.

 

[Barb Stout]

I've been on here for quite a while but haven't visited in some time. Can someone point me to "Niemi24's chart," please. My trips are in a roomette, usually ABQ-LAX and back.

Hi FunNut from Rio Rancho! Greetings from Barb in ABQ!

 

[20th Century Rider]

I've been on here for quite a while but haven't visited in some time. Can someone point me to "Niemi24's chart," please. My trips are in a roomette, usually ABQ-LAX and back.

If you are flexible and get a good Amtrak agent [Philadelphia Based] they can usually find the best possible fare within the date range you want to go. A few things of interest... the Florida based agents are outsourced and IMO don't have the skills or the customer interest to provide the same level of service. Also, I've noticed that certain city pairs are higher... I guess that depends on overall demand. ABQ and LAX seem to be a high frequency route. The fares I found for September and October ranged from $429 to $587 on dates I checked. Kind-a funny in an annoying way that advanced search allows flexibility for 'any time of day departure' when there is only one train per day!

Yup... I know... coach can be tough on that stretch... and you could end up with a seat mate which can be good or bad. You may end up in an aisle. Amtrak traditionally places same genders together for coach seating. And the SSL is usually packed out of ABQ. Flying for around $250 to $350 is a hassle as well plus the expense of getting from airport to local destination.

So try to get that Philadelphia based Amtrak agent and they may be able to find a lower fare.

 

[Sidney]

If you are flexible and get a good Amtrak agent [Philadelphia Based] they can usually find the best possible fare within the date range you want to go. A few things of interest... the Florida based agents are outsourced and IMO don't have the skills or the customer interest to provide the same level of service. Also, I've noticed that certain city pairs are higher... I guess that depends on overall demand. ABQ and LAX seem to be a high frequency route. The fares I found for September and October ranged from $429 to $587 on dates I checked. Kind-a funny in an annoying way that advanced search allows flexibility for 'any time of day departure' when there is only one train per day!

Yup... I know... coach can be tough on that stretch... and you could end up with a seat mate which can be good or bad. You may end up in an aisle. Amtrak traditionally places same genders together for coach seating. And the SSL is usually packed out of ABQ. Flying for around $250 to $350 is a hassle as well plus the expense of getting from airport to local destination.

So try to get that Philadelphia based Amtrak agent and they may be able to find a lower fare.

If I am on a train with a sightseer car and I'm in Coach I'll always opt for an aisle seat. If I have a seatmate,the last thing I want to do is bother him to get out of my seat. I usually spend most of my time in the SSL car and if my seatmate happens to be obese,has BO or is obnoxious(it's happened several times) I'll spend overnight in the SSL Not the most comfortable for sleeping,but at least you have your own seat.

I would love single seating in the Coaches. A few of the business cars have them. I would gladly.pay a premium for that. If only roomettes weren't so pricy for just an eight hour period..overnight. A few years ago you could grab a roomette for $100 for an overnight.

I

 

[20th Century Rider]

If I am on a train with a sightseer car and I'm in Coach I'll always opt for an aisle seat. If I have a seatmate,the last thing I want to do is bother him to get out of my seat. I usually spend most of my time in the SSL car and if my seatmate happens to be obese,has BO or is obnoxious(it's happened several times) I'll spend overnight in the SSL Not the most comfortable for sleeping,but at least you have your own seat.

I would love single seating in the Coaches. A few of the business cars have them. I would gladly.pay a premium for that. If only roomettes weren't so pricy for just an eight hour period..overnight. A few years ago you could grab a roomette for $100 for an overnight.

I

RE the SSL... I have been on crowded trains when the conductor has restricted the amount of time you can use the SSL... and frequently some conductors restrict use at late hours of the night. One thing that is very risky is getting out of your seat and placing something there to reserve your space when you need to use the WC or get a snack. Best to make friends with some other passengers sitting there... and hold it with something of little value... then return as quickly as you can. The SWC is usually a full train... especially after ABQ.

 

[zephyr17]

Well, everyone complains about VIA's fares, but in a trip I am planning for early April I found that the roomette fares on VIA from Toronto to Vancouver are roughly the same as the roomette fares from New York to Seattle (via LSL and EB) for my travel dates. The Amtrak fares are almost double what I am paying for the same trip in November, the LSL roomette alone is 740, which is high bucket . I was originally planning to do Everett-Vancouver-Toronto-New York and then return from New York on Amtrak, since the trip is basically about returning to ride the Canadian. With fares about the same, I'd rather just stay on VIA which is a much better product for the money.

 

[Qapla]

Regardless if the price increase is "sudden" or not they are very inconsistent.

I just looked at a trip from PAK to NYP. Both Silvers serve both stops. On one date the Star is more expensive for the coach seat and cheaper for a roomette than the Silver is while on another date the Silver is higher for coach and cheaper for the roomette.

Also, in the same week coach can vary by $42 from one day to the next even though the percentage of how full the train is is the same for both trains.

Either way - a price difference of nearly $400 between coach and a roomette for an overnight trip seems a bit steep.

It's obvious that the people who set these fares do not ride the trains - or, if they do, they ride for free and have no real idea of the ridiculousness of the prices they are setting/charging.

 

[joelkfla]

It's obvious that the people who set these fares do not ride the trains - or, if they do, they ride for free and have no real idea of the ridiculousness of the prices they are setting/charging.

The objective is to maximize revenue, not to minimize ridiculousness.

 

[Old MM]

I agree it sucks that prices are so high these days for travel. But let’s face it - I think we all saw it coming. Demand is high from ALL Americans, hardly just the wealthy. And we’re all paying the price for Amtrak having such a small inventory of available capacity.

Your bogeyman of the “wealthy” is a fallacy. The wealthy don’t travel Amtrak for the most part, nor can they fill Disney to capacity. if you took an Amtrak train today or walked a Disney park, I doubt you would see much difference in the demographics from two years ago.

The people traveling Amtrak today are the same ones that traveled it two years ago. A combination of lower income folks who need to get from Point A to Point B, retirees who now have two years of travel budget that has not been spent, and middle income folks probably charging way too much on their credit cards for that big vacation this year.

Oh, it's not a fallacy. I didn't say the demographics changed. It's a continuation.

 

[Old MM]

Regardless if the price increase is "sudden" or not they are very inconsistent.

I just looked at a trip from PAK to NYP. Both Silvers serve both stops. On one date the Star is more expensive for the coach seat and cheaper for a roomette than the Silver is while on another date the Silver is higher for coach and cheaper for the roomette.

Also, in the same week coach can vary by $42 from one day to the next even though the percentage of how full the train is is the same for both trains.

Either way - a price difference of nearly $400 between coach and a roomette for an overnight trip seems a bit steep.

It's obvious that the people who set these fares do not ride the trains - or, if they do, they ride for free and have no real idea of the ridiculousness of the prices they are setting/charging.

The prices have gotten quite ridiculous, yes.
When you look at a city pair and realize you can purchase a first class seat on a major airline for less than the cost of a roomette, or purchase a coach seat and get there in a couple of hours for the same money... yes, it's arguably high cost for the value and yes, there are retired/wealthy/both who are more than willing to pay. So it's hard to see the prices coming down, at least in the near term.

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

I travel to Florida from Boston often. I use to take 2 trips a year on Amtrak. I can fly for 1/2 the price of a roomette for 2 people. I can fly 1st class for less than a roomette. The food and service have gone down hill, and the trains are beat up. I don’t see the value in Amtrak long distance.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I travel to Florida from Boston often. I use to take 2 trips a year on Amtrak. I can fly for 1/2 the price of a roomette for 2 people. I can fly 1st class for less than a roomette. The food and service have gone down hill, and the trains are beat up. I don’t see the value in Amtrak long distance.

Neither does Amtrak, apparently.

 

[Sidney]

Looking into an April trip I picked a random date for the Coast Starlight and from Lax to Klamath Falls is $288 for a roomette. To Pdx it's $394. By moving to Coach in Klamath I save $70. Thats 23 hours in a sleeper with three meals. I thought of transferring to the EB to Chi but at $860 I'll pass

Many people plan trips with connections. A 30 day chart showing sleeper fares would be most welcome. I got a $505 fare from Chi to Sea next month in a roomette. I wanted to takethe CS to Sac the next day but the low bucket was gone,so I manually looked.up dates where low bucket pricing was in effect for all my conne tions It takes time and being flexible,it can be done



It

 

[niemi24s]

And, just in case you hadn't noticed, all Amtrak fare increases are sudden. Never saw a slow one.

Same goes for fare decreases.

 

[zephyr17]

Well, everyone complains about VIA's fares, but in a trip I am planning for early April I found that the roomette fares on VIA from Toronto to Vancouver are roughly the same as the roomette fares from New York to Seattle (via LSL and EB) for my travel dates. The Amtrak fares are almost double what I am paying for the same trip in November, the LSL roomette alone is 740, which is high bucket . I was originally planning to do Everett-Vancouver-Toronto-New York and then return from New York on Amtrak, since the trip is basically about returning to ride the Canadian. With fares about the same, I'd rather just stay on VIA which is a much better product for the money.

I just bought the tickets and locked down VIA round trip Vancouver-Toronto in a roomette with my Privilege status 50% off coupon. Total price is $1857.61 USD ($2319.45 CAD) all in round trip . Considering that Amtrak one way coming back NYP-SEA was over $1700, I think that is a stellar deal for a better product.

That 50% off coupon is gold. If you go Vancouver-Toronto one way in a room you get status ($999 CAD spend with VIA is the threshold) and that coupon. Even without the coupon, the $1900 CAD discount class roomette fare winds up competitive with Amtrak fares. I thought the coupon would apply only to travel one direction, it turns out they applied the 50% discount to both legs. Learn something new every day. One other fun fact, if your origin is Toronto instead of Vancouver, the taxes are twice as high. Found that out checking the one way fares. Round trip, the Vancouver level taxes apply to the whole trip.

 

[OBS]

I just bought the tickets and locked down VIA round trip Vancouver-Toronto in a roomette with my Privilege status 50% off coupon. Total price is $1857.61 USD ($2319.45 CAD) all in round trip . Considering that Amtrak one way coming back NYP-SEA was over $1700, I think that is a stellar deal for a better product.

That 50% off coupon is gold. If you go Vancouver-Toronto one way in a room you get status ($999 CAD spend with VIA is the threshold) and that coupon. Even without the coupon, the $1900 CAD discount class roomette fare winds up competitive with Amtrak fares. I thought the coupon would apply only to travel one direction, it turns out they applied the 50% discount to both legs. Learn something new every day. One other fun fact, if your origin is Toronto instead of Vancouver, the taxes are twice as high. Found that out checking the one way fares. Round trip, the Vancouver level taxes apply to the whole trip.

Great info....thanks. I have coupon to use and this info is very helpful....especially about the taxes!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Great info....thanks. I have coupon to use and this info is very helpful....especially about the taxes!

Yep, in Canada you have the Federal GAST ( National Sales Tax)and each Provence has its own Taxes, plus any Local ones.

BC has lower Taxes than Ontario, hence you save when you buy in Vancouver as the OP points out.