Booking oddity & a layover question

John Bredin · Jan 6, 2025

So my wife and I are planning a fall trip to Vermont to see the leaves change, etc. After looking at train schedules, we settled upon CHI-Burlington and return by Lake Shore Limited (LSL) & Ethan Allen Express (EAE). We had also resolved since our last trip in a bedroom that it wasn't worth the (typical) premium over booking two roomettes. An interesting thing came up when I made test bookings: the website would not sell us two roomettes with the change of trains, but would sell us two roomettes on the same day's train if we booked all the way to NYP.

And it would sell us two roomettes with the change of trains coming back 8 days later.

I can't think of a scenario where two roomettes are available if we take the Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to NY City but not the same train Chicago to Schenectady. For instance, the NY-Boston split shouldn't affect availability because Schenectady is west of the split; that is, the train has both sections SDY-CHI. I know the best answer is to bypass the website and book on the phone using the AGR number when the time comes

but I'm still curious.

Another question: the test booking had us changing between the LSL and EAE at Schenectady, as alluded to above, with a 3-hour layover one way and a 5-hour layover the other if I'm reading it correctly. Is there anything interesting to do in downtown Schenectady in that time? I know again the best answer is the layover may only be an hour or two with delays

but I have been on on-time Amtrak trains and it's best to be prepared.

oregon pioneer · Jan 6, 2025

I don't know about Schenectady, but I *have* had problems booking my desired itinerary even when I *knew* that it was possible. I had to call. When "Julie" answers the phone, just start repeating the word "agent" until she says I think you said you want to talk to an agent, is that correct?" Of course the answer is YES... that does get you there quicker than going through the whole Q&A tree.

I also want to follow this thread because some day I would like to do that trip myself. I always come in on the LSL, and it used to not be possible to get directly to Burlington. I am so thrilled they extended the Ethan Allen!

NorthShore · Jan 6, 2025

It's been awhile since I've been through on a layover, but Schenectady is quite the nice town with lots of restaurants and interesting shops in a walkable area. Haven't consulted the schedule, but it always seemed like an ideal place for a layover to me.

Willbridge · Jan 9, 2025

NorthShore said:
It's been awhile since I've been through on a layover, but Schenectady is quite the nice town with lots of restaurants and interesting shops in a walkable area. Haven't consulted the schedule, but it always seemed like an ideal place for a layover to me.

In September 1971 on my way home from the Army, a family from Schenectady took me on a tour of their city and treated me to a dinner in a Chinese restaurant. A customer there treated me to a drink. Nice town!

Why was I in Schenectady? The original Amtrak LSL left NYG at dusk. I wanted to see the Hudson River, so I took an afternoon train to Albany, and they were picking up their daughter there. They wanted to show me around, so I wouldn't have to sit in the station for hours.

glensfallsse · Jan 9, 2025

The neighborhood around the rail station in Schenectady is pretty nice. There's a good restaurant right next to the station. Burger King is kitty-corner. State Street is a block away. The station itself is fairly new and comfortable.

trimetbusfan · 2025-02-04T00:25:10-0500

John Bredin said:
So my wife and I are planning a fall trip to Vermont to see the leaves change, etc. After looking at train schedules, we settled upon CHI-Burlington and return by Lake Shore Limited (LSL) & Ethan Allen Express (EAE). We had also resolved since our last trip in a bedroom that it wasn't worth the (typical) premium over booking two roomettes. An interesting thing came up when I made test bookings: the website would not sell us two roomettes with the change of trains, but would sell us two roomettes on the same day's train if we booked all the way to NYP. And it would sell us two roomettes with the change of trains coming back 8 days later.

I can't think of a scenario where two roomettes are available if we take the Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to NY City but not the same train Chicago to Schenectady. For instance, the NY-Boston split shouldn't affect availability because Schenectady is west of the split; that is, the train has both sections SDY-CHI. I know the best answer is to bypass the website and book on the phone using the AGR number when the time comes but I'm still curious.

Another question: the test booking had us changing between the LSL and EAE at Schenectady, as alluded to above, with a 3-hour layover one way and a 5-hour layover the other if I'm reading it correctly. Is there anything interesting to do in downtown Schenectady in that time? I know again the best answer is the layover may only be an hour or two with delays but I have been on on-time Amtrak trains and it's best to be prepared.

Amtrak has often reserved a certain subset of seats for passengers traveling on longer segments (and will even price those setats cheaper than if you were to get off at an earlier stop).

In the last year or two they seemed to have started doing this practice with rooms as well. So, essentially, Amtrak 'blocks' the sale of some space for people traveling shorter distances. I do not know if you can get around this by speaking to an agent, but I'm guessing you likely can. (would be curious the end result though).

Furthermore, I made a test booking on Railforless to show the difference. The left is a search between CHI-SAR in a roomette (with xfer to EAE at SDY), while the right is CHI-NYP. Notice the fare to NYP in a roomette is $568 while to SDY/SAR it is over $150 more ($735). The red highlighting shows that this happens on several days.

However, there are also some days where CHI-SDY/SAR is cheaper than a room from CHI-NYP, so it seems like this blocking of rooms only occurs once the train is near selling out.