Bid Up questions and experiences

[trimetbusfan]

I just bid on an Amtrak viewliner bedroom and my bid was in the fair range.
I would bid more but I can't afford an excellent bid.
I figure if they don't sell the bedroom the normal way and no one wants one, some money is better than none.

It’s pretty hard to get upgraded in a viewliner because there are only 2 bedrooms per car. More than one has to be empty for an upgrade to be possible, imho.

While even the lower ‘good’ and ‘poor’ bids can get accepted, it’s only when there is significant excess capacity available at the last minute.

 

[ancompton]

It’s pretty hard to get upgraded in a viewliner because there are only 2 bedrooms per car. More than one has to be empty for an upgrade to be possible, imho.

While even the lower ‘good’ and ‘poor’ bids can get accepted, it’s only when there is significant excess capacity available at the last minute.

We tried a bid up on #97 from coach to roomette w/o success, although it was a low effort. Without knowing the number of empty beds or the accepted bids, it is hard to judge the futility of the process.

 

[Qapla]

I took a day trip with my wife last week. The trip was only 90 minutes each way and the tickets were $11 each ... $44 round trip total. I received an email telling me I qualified for a low-cost bid to upgrade to a Roomette ... the bid started at $115 per person each way!!!

We passed on that - coach was comfortable and neither train was crowded.

 

[billmania]

Has anyone scored a bedroom on a poor-fair bid?
I just bid on an Amtrak viewliner bedroom and my bid was in the fair range.
I would bid more but I can't afford an excellent bid.
I figure if they don't sell the bedroom the normal way and no one wants one, some money is better than none.

I have upgraded from a roomette to a bedroom on the Empire Builder once, from SEA to CHI. My successful bid was $20 above the minimum allowed bid.

 

[Anderson]

I'd be curious to see about making a lowball bid on an Acela where I know First is darned near empty (the 9:15 PM out of NYP comes to mind) and to see if it sticks.

 

[travelplus]

I bided $75 lowest Bid to go from Coach to Roomette on CS LA to San Jose in January. Should I increase it if so how much. I am.in a Bedroom Lamy to San Jose.

 

[fhussain44]

I want to go from NYC to Chicago on a roomette and am flexible on dates. So can I keep bidding low and if not accepted then change my dates of my flex fare ticket? Is a bid of $130 for such a trip likely to get accepted?

For sure it depends on the season, but let's assume this month. I see I can book a roomette most days this month. So that implies nothing is sold out.

 

[B&O476]

I've booked a coach ticket on a northbound Auto Train later this month with hopes to bid up. I saw that there are Superliner cars which are mostly bedrooms -- how would this affect BidUp strategy if the train is carrying many empty bedrooms north to fill with snowbirds on the way back?

 

[flitcraft]

Tech non-savvy boomer here, with a tip: We're booked on the Empire Builder, Portland to Chicago in a roomette, and when I got the email that we could try for a bedroom I thought I'd go for it. I filled out the form, got all the way to the end, but the Place Your Bid bar wouldn't register. Tried another credit card, no go either. I tried one last time, looking carefully to see if I'd done anything wrong. My credit card, email, and address all auto-entered correctly. Then I noticed that the state slot was not filled in. Auto-enter will add everything but things from a drop-down menu! Added that manually and the Place Your Bid went from gray to green and then registered our bid.

I really wanted to get it, because my husband just hurt his back and needs to stretch out when possible, and also because we're leaving the day after his birthday, so it saves me getting him a present if we got the upgrade! I checked the Portland route, and there was exactly one bedroom available. so I went extravagant with the bid and bid $650. (Since we'd spent under $300 on the roomette, using a voucher and the roomette deal, I thought this was still a reasonable splurge.)

And, we got it! Bedroom A of course, but totally worth it, I think. I'll surprise him tomorrow morning just before we leave for the Amtrak station.

 

[ecetera]

We are taking the TE tomorrow out of LA, and our bid of $80 was accepted to upgrade from coach to a roomette. Sadly, we still have to get up and get off in the middle of the night, but looking forward to the roomette regardless. It will be my hubby’s first time on Amtrak, and in a roomette.

 

[Shanson]

@flitcraft , what a nice surprise for him! You are a wise spouse!

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Tech non-savvy boomer here, with a tip: We're booked on the Empire Builder, Portland to Chicago in a roomette, and when I got the email that we could try for a bedroom I thought I'd go for it. I filled out the form, got all the way to the end, but the Place Your Bid bar wouldn't register. Tried another credit card, no go either. I tried one last time, looking carefully to see if I'd done anything wrong. My credit card, email, and address all auto-entered correctly. Then I noticed that the state slot was not filled in. Auto-enter will add everything but things from a drop-down menu! Added that manually and the Place Your Bid went from gray to green and then registered our bid.

I really wanted to get it, because my husband just hurt his back and needs to stretch out when possible, and also because we're leaving the day after his birthday, so it saves me getting him a present if we got the upgrade! I checked the Portland route, and there was exactly one bedroom available. so I went extravagant with the bid and bid $650. (Since we'd spent under $300 on the roomette, using a voucher and the roomette deal, I thought this was still a reasonable splurge.)

And, we got it! Bedroom A of course, but totally worth it, I think. I'll surprise him tomorrow morning just before we leave for the Amtrak station.

Last Memorial Day my wife and I had a trip to DC as she wanted to visit the Zoo. We won a bid up for the roomette. I did not keep it a secret from her. I was so excited. I noticed in the phone app before any other notice was sent and it took a minute to realize what was happening. It took about 30 seconds after that to let my wife know.

You clearly have much more patience than I do.

Edit: I really should not post from a phone. There was about 1 typo per sentence.

 

[flitcraft]

One other aspect of the Bid Up process I should mention is that we had a connection on our reservation, leaving from Seattle on the CS in coach and the from Portland to Chicago in a roommate as booked. (Our nephew was going to meet us at the station in Portland to wish my husband a happy birthday!)

I had seen in other Bid Up posts here that reservations with connection were ineligible for Bid Up, but our Bid Up invitation allowed Bid Up on both the Seattle to Portland leg and also on the Portland to Chicago leg. Needless to say we skipped bidding for the Seattle to Portland leg and just Bid on the EB leg.

So it seems that it is now possible to Bid on multiple leg itineraries.

 

[OmahaRoad]

So it seems that it is now possible to Bid on multiple leg itineraries.

That's great to hear! I did a multiple (3) leg trip to get home to Minnesota last December and wanted to do BidUp on the Empire Builder portion of my itinerary, but I was only ever offered to BidUp to a bedroom (unnecessary as I was traveling alone & $$$) from a roomette on one leg.

 

[west point]

Has there ever been a bid up offered to business class from coach?

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Has there ever been a bid up offered to business class from coach?

I am pretty sure I have done that on the Carolinian and won.

 

[trimetbusfan]

Has there ever been a bid up offered to business class from coach?

Yes, on certain trains. For example, I don’t think you can bidup on the surfliner

 

[OmahaRoad]

I am pretty sure I have done that on the Carolinian and won.

Yep, I've done that on the Carolinian and won too! It was fine.

 

[ciship]

My question is if you win the BID, how do they get you the upgraded tickets before departure? Do they email them to you? My fear is that I won't get anything that proves that I was upgraded and they give away my previously booked roomette!

 

[Tlcooper44]

My question is if you win the BID, how do they get you the upgraded tickets before departure? Do they email them to you? My fear is that I won't get anything that proves that I was upgraded and they give away my previously booked roomette!

Get the Amtrak app if you have a smartphone - your ticket will be upgraded automatically.

Otherwise, I’m sure any evidence of a successful bid (email print out) will work. The conductors have the updated manifest and are aware of your correct seat. Your own word is probably enough…

 

[flitcraft]

In our case, we were emailed a whole new ticket automatically.

 

[xzperu42]

Data point: Bid $140 (only $5 over lowest) for NYP to NOL for a roomette to a bedroom for the May 30, 2024 departure. Bid not accepted as I expected. There was only 1 room available. I did notice bedrooms are now sold out, so either someone purchased it, or "won" the bid up.

 

[bonzoesc]

Data point: Bid $140 (only $5 over lowest) for NYP to NOL for a roomette to a bedroom for the May 30, 2024 departure. Bid not accepted as I expected. There was only 1 room available. I did notice bedrooms are now sold out, so either someone purchased it, or "won" the bid up.

When I looked at a Bid Up email back in December 2023, there was an option to skip the bid and just pay for the up, and if that email hits you after a long day of work and an evening at a restaurant with a nice tap list…

 

[xzperu42]

Well... in my case it was $610 if I recall correctly... would have required many an order off that list

 

[slasher-fun]

I'm booked for a trip on the Vermonter in two weeks.

About a month ago, I made a bid for a business class upgrade: the lowest bid available was $20, and I elected for a $24 bid (which was $1 above the "fair" level iirc)
Looking again today, my $24 bid is still there, but if I want to change it the amount the lowest bid available is now $25, and it's a "poor" bid.

Any crystal ball insight on whether my initial bid still stands a minimal chance?