Best fares / Buckets

[conquistador74]

Hi all, not a newbie to Amtrak, just trying to see if someone has any insight on a search for the best sleeper buckets on a given train. I’m going to take a solo round trip cross country and return and I fortunately have quite a bit of flexibility. Ideally, Crescent to New Orleans, Sunset Limited to Los Angeles Coast starlight to Emeryville, Zephyr to Chicago and Cardinal home. I’m trying to do it in the most economical way possible, probably in January. Any ideas on how to search Instead of physically going through each day? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[Maglev]

I think the site https://railforless.us/ is working, but it is a little slow and limited.

I would think any time in January (after the New Year's holiday) would be a cheap time to travel. The Sunset LImited only runs three days a week, so that cuts your searches in half. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to find the perfect fare.

 

[zephyr17]

railsforless.us allows you to run a month at a time and sort by lowest fares. It is a really great tool and performs really well considering what it has to do in order to work at all.

Use @niemi24s's bucket chart at https://www.amtraktrains.com/thread...eeper-fares-buckets.77062/page-8#post-1053396 to determine what is a good or bad fare deal. Personally I am happy with a low-ish bucket. I don't have to get lowest bucket and those can be rare even in a low travel period. Note that the Sunset's inventory is especially limited with only one sleeper and I think no transdorm, so even in January I would think low bucket would be pretty rare.

We should be in the sweet spot right now for January 2025 fares and they should generally be reflecting that it is a low demand period by now. Good hunting.

 

[conquistador74]

Thanks so much. Great resources. I’ve become a bit obsessed and need to start over tomorrow!