Cheapest possible ticket on Amtrak

[A Voice]

Not to hijack the thread, but out of curiosity, I wonder what is (generally) the cheapest sleeper segment(s) you can book to get the included free meal (assumes the train is on time, of course)?

Biggest problem, on LD routes with just one train a day, might be finding a way back to your starting point after the 'meal' trip.

 

[BCL]

Not to hijack the thread, but out of curiosity, I wonder what is (generally) the cheapest sleeper segment(s) you can book to get the included free meal (assumes the train is on time, of course)?

Biggest problem, on LD routes with just one train a day, might be finding a way back to your starting point after the 'meal' trip.

I looked up some random weekday for the EMY-SJC on the Coast Starlight. It was $20 value fare, but $99 sleeper. Wouldn't be worth it for breakfast. I've gone EMY-Salinas round trip. I had several hours in Salinas and kind of ran out of things to do after going to the Steinbeck museum and watching a movie. I had about six hours there.

I guess going on a route also served by corridor service might help. Coast Starlight stops at lots of stations served by Capitol Corridor, including Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, Emeryville, Oakland-Jack London, and San Jose. I've gotten back various ways. from Richmond/Emeryville to San Jose on the CS. My preference is Caltrain (and they allow consumption of personal alcohol) from San Jose. I've done it a bunch of ways, including transferring to BART at Millbrae, spending some time in San Francisco, and/or taking the bus from San Francisco back to Emeryville. I guess returning on a coach bus is an option.

There are some oddball ways to get a return trip back to Emeryville from San Francisco which I've tried. One is to book a bus segment along with the ride as a multi-city trip. I've haven't done it with the Coast Starlight, but I tried a test booking. I could pick any bus service that made the trip. Most are attached to Capitol Corridor or San Joaquin. In that case, Caltrain is a convenient way to get to San Francisco, and maybe explore a bit and/or take MUNI to the bus pickup point (there are several in San Francisco).

 

[Texan Eagle]

I looked up some random weekday for the EMY-SJC on the Coast Starlight. It was $20 value fare, but $99 sleeper.

Sacramento to Oakland is available on Coast Starlight for $92 for one person, or as a better deal $122 for two ($61 per person) for a roomette and breakfast on a 2 hour ride.

Maybe something on Texas Eagle will be cheaper, but not very practical if there is only one train and no way to get back from where you started.

 

[igor]

what is (generally) the cheapest sleeper segment(s) you can book to get the included free meal (assumes the train is on time, of course)?

I'd suggest the aforementioned City of New Orleans headed north. You could board in Champaign-Urbana at 6:10, have breakfast, detrain in Homewood, and take the 8:56 Saluki from Homewood back to Champaign.

The return coach seat is $15. The sleeper going north would cost you $74, however.

 

[fairviewroad]

what is (generally) the cheapest sleeper segment(s) you can book to get the included free meal (assumes the train is on time, of course)?

I'd suggest the aforementioned City of New Orleans headed north. You could board in Champaign-Urbana at 6:10, have breakfast, detrain in Homewood, and take the 8:56 Saluki from Homewood back to Champaign.

The return coach seat is $15. The sleeper going north would cost you $74, however.

And considering you'd be spending virtually the entire time in the diner, that sleeping compartment would be a colossal waste of money. I understand this is basically a conversation about hypotheticals, but still...in this case, it would be super-stupid. Take a gander at the menu for the northbound City of New Orleans. There are literally two options: a hot breakfast sandwich for $8.50 and a continental breakfast for $9.

You could buy a Saver coach ticket for $12, then literally order every single breakfast item on the menu, plus a handful of beverages, and STILL pay less than you would with the $74 sleeper ticket. And since breakfast is unreserved, then having a sleeping car ticket wouldn't even guarantee you a spot in the diner in the same way as it would at lunch or dinner.

 

[TylerP42]

How'd you get Essex to East Glacier? Every time I try putting it in there's no trains between there.

Must be some sort of glitch...

 

[CCC1007]

Try june

East glacier is a seasonal station

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

Not to hijack the thread, but out of curiosity, I wonder what is (generally) the cheapest sleeper segment(s) you can book to get the included free meal (assumes the train is on time, of course)? .

I've taken my son on BOS to ALB before. It was $80 for the sleeper and meal. At ALB we jumped off, went to the science museum and caught the LSL on its way back a couple hours later. NOTE: The LSL leaves an hour later at BOS then it used to. So, I'm not sure if they still serve lunch at departure.

We have also taken BOS to PVD on 1st Class Acela, went to Dave and Busters, then took the MBTA back. That was only $60 with the meal. Now, that ride is only 30 minutes. So we got on early with the red cap. As soon as the 1st class Attendant saw our ticket he stopped everything he was doing and prepared our meals. He was really great.

 

[JeffW]

If you travel between South Bend Indiana (SOB) and Elkhart Indiana (EKH), either way is $8.00 by coach, which seems drastically higher than most of the above posts. You've got your choice of the Lake Shore Limited or the Capital Limited. The ride is approximately 23 minutes (roughly $0.35 per minute), or 25 miles (exactly $0.32 per mile).

If you'd rather travel in comfort, the Family Bedroom (CL) or Viewliner Bedroom (LSL) are both $330. I won't calculate that per minute or mile because that's just crazy.

 

[Deni]

If you travel between South Bend Indiana (SOB) and Elkhart Indiana (EKH), either way is $8.00 by coach, which seems drastically higher than most of the above posts. You've got your choice of the Lake Shore Limited or the Capital Limited. The ride is approximately 23 minutes (roughly $0.35 per minute), or 25 miles (exactly $0.32 per mile).

If you'd rather travel in comfort, the Family Bedroom (CL) or Viewliner Bedroom (LSL) are both $330. I won't calculate that per minute or mile because that's just crazy.

Looks like any of the cheap short rides are on state-funded corridor routes rather than the long-distance trains, which makes sense.

 

[me_little_me]

In a twist to this, you can ride the Texas Eagle between Austin and Taylor for $7 Senior and the trip is carded for 52 Minutes.

Is there a cheaper Fare that gives you more Train time?

Not cheaper, but more widely available than the Hoosier State dollar fare, you can get the Silver Star from Winter Haven to Kissimmee, Florida - $12 for three hours on the train.

That time before or after delays? :giggle:

 

[BCL]

Looks like any of the cheap short rides are on state-funded corridor routes rather than the long-distance trains, which makes sense.

The pricing doesn't necessarily make sense though. Berkeley to Emeryville may possibly be the shortest distance between two Amtrak stations on the same route, but the base price is higher than longer trips.

I remember there was talk about the Bay Area AU Gathering, where a bunch of AU members went at the same time on an EMY-BKY trip, and were trying to flag down a conductor before the two minute trip was over. Of course that was way back when there was the minimum 100 AGR points.

 

[Deni]

Looks like any of the cheap short rides are on state-funded corridor routes rather than the long-distance trains, which makes sense.

The pricing doesn't necessarily make sense though. Berkeley to Emeryville may possibly be the shortest distance between two Amtrak stations on the same route, but the base price is higher than longer trips.

I remember there was talk about the Bay Area AU Gathering, where a bunch of AU members went at the same time on an EMY-BKY trip, and were trying to flag down a conductor before the two minute trip was over. Of course that was way back when there was the minimum 100 AGR points.

I would think that maybe it is priced to discourage people from using that station pairing, since there are ways to go from Emeryville to Berkley on local public transit.

 

[calwatch]

The Capitol Corridor fares are set by chart and they use a relatively high "drop fee" in their calculations. Other corridors may have a lower or no drop fee.

 

[BCL]

Looks like any of the cheap short rides are on state-funded corridor routes rather than the long-distance trains, which makes sense.

The pricing doesn't necessarily make sense though. Berkeley to Emeryville may possibly be the shortest distance between two Amtrak stations on the same route, but the base price is higher than longer trips.

I remember there was talk about the Bay Area AU Gathering, where a bunch of AU members went at the same time on an EMY-BKY trip, and were trying to flag down a conductor before the two minute trip was over. Of course that was way back when there was the minimum 100 AGR points.

I would think that maybe it is priced to discourage people from using that station pairing, since there are ways to go from Emeryville to Berkley on local public transit.

There are certainly ways to do so, but there isn't really much that goes approximately between the train stations. I see the Z (transbay line) is close, but it's only twice a day during commute hours, and it costs more to go in the direction to San Francisco.

 

[BCL]

The Capitol Corridor fares are set by chart and they use a relatively high "drop fee" in their calculations. Other corridors may have a lower or no drop fee.

I don't know if it's quite a drop fee or anything like BART's minimum fare. The Berkeley-Emeryville fare is higher than many longer trips. A lot of these fares look like intentional decisions.

I do take advantage of the fact that Berkeley and Emeryville fares to southbound stations on CC are the same. I'll buy a BKY-GAC 10 ride even if I mostly use EMY since it's the same price. Going northbound, the conductor sometimes asks where I'm getting off in order to punch up a seat check.

 

[fairviewroad]

The Capitol Corridor fares are set by chart and they use a relatively high "drop fee" in their calculations. Other corridors may have a lower or no drop fee.

I've never heard this phrase in conjunction with train tickets (only with one-way car rentals, and that meaning doesn't seem relevant here).

Since CC trains are unreserved, it's not as though selling short-hop tickets takes away a seat from a more lucrative thru-passenger, at least from a revenue standpoint. (They might literally take away a seat from someone, though only briefly). I'm guessing it might stem more from an attempt to keep trains running on time by not having to load/unload a bunch of people twice in such a short time frame.

 

[BCL]

The Capitol Corridor fares are set by chart and they use a relatively high "drop fee" in their calculations. Other corridors may have a lower or no drop fee.

I've never heard this phrase in conjunction with train tickets (only with one-way car rentals, and that meaning doesn't seem relevant here).

Since CC trains are unreserved, it's not as though selling short-hop tickets takes away a seat from a more lucrative thru-passenger, at least from a revenue standpoint. (They might literally take away a seat from someone, though only briefly). I'm guessing it might stem more from an attempt to keep trains running on time by not having to load/unload a bunch of people twice in such a short time frame.

I think the reference was more like the minimum fare "flag drop" with a taxi. You know, when the lever switch on the meter is pulled down?. I've gotten into a taxi, the driver drove two blocks, and I asked to get off when I realized I was closer than I thought. There was no additional fare on top of the minimum.

 

[fairviewroad]

The Capitol Corridor fares are set by chart and they use a relatively high "drop fee" in their calculations. Other corridors may have a lower or no drop fee.

I've never heard this phrase in conjunction with train tickets (only with one-way car rentals, and that meaning doesn't seem relevant here).

Since CC trains are unreserved, it's not as though selling short-hop tickets takes away a seat from a more lucrative thru-passenger, at least from a revenue standpoint. (They might literally take away a seat from someone, though only briefly). I'm guessing it might stem more from an attempt to keep trains running on time by not having to load/unload a bunch of people twice in such a short time frame.

I think the reference was more like the minimum fare "flag drop" with a taxi. You know, when the lever switch on the meter is pulled down?. I've gotten into a taxi, the driver drove two blocks, and I asked to get off when I realized I was closer than I thought. There was no additional fare on top of the minimum.

Ah, that makes sense, thanks.