coach between Toledo and Tampa?

[cpotisch]

One addition. As others have mentioned if you can break up the trip. Boarding in Toledo if on time you will get on around Midnight. Maybe a roomette to Pittsburgh, Coach to DC,sleeper from DC to Jacksonville,Coach to Tampa. This way you have a sleeper on the two overnights. You will probably be on the Silver Star which does not have a diner so if you book early enough a roomette would be under $200.

The issue is that when you break up a trip into different segments in different accommodations like that, the price goes up significantly. So it would likely cost as least as much to alternate between coach and sleeper like that than to just take a sleeper the whole way. You don't have this issue if you take the Capitol in coach and the Meteor in a sleeper because you're not breaking up the trip into any extra segments, but you do have this issue when alternating between accommodations on one train.

 

[tricia]

The issue is that when you break up a trip into different segments in different accommodations like that, the price goes up significantly. So it would likely cost as least as much to alternate between coach and sleeper like that than to just take a sleeper the whole way. You don't have this issue if you take the Capitol in coach and the Meteor in a sleeper because you're not breaking up the trip into any extra segments, but you do have this issue when alternating between accommodations on one train.

It's sometimes worth doing on a 2-night train (coach one night, sleeper the next). Less likely to offer a good deal on a 1-night train, like the ones OP will be taking. Still worth checking, though.