Does Amtrak cost more if you split up a trip?

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adamj023

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Apr 1, 2015
Messages
277
If you take an Amtrak trip and decide to stay over to break up the trip at a stop on the route and take the next train to the final destination, does Amtrak come out to be more expensive as you book two separate tickets? I am not sure how Amtrak pricing models work.
 
It depends. Sometimes you'll get lucky and the next day's train will be cheaper. Sometimes you won't. Only way to be sure is to check the specific trip you're interested in, on those dates (and even then, the prices may change by the time you look tomorrow).
 
Basically, it's two separate tickets. I wish they would offer a single ticket with opportunity for a layover enroute.
 
I just checked a random date (I used July so that all trains are back to full schedule) and found this for July 16/17 from Florida to New York on the Silver Star

  • Jax » RGH = $57 (7/16)
  • RGH » NYP = $84 (7/17)
  • Total Trip = $141
  • JAX » NYP = $121 (7/16)

So, for this train on this day - there is a $20 difference in the thru ticket and the two part ride
 
I thought I remembered that you used to be able to catch a later train at the same price as long as the layover was less than 24 hours. For the Star, that would not qualify but for a city where the Star and Meteor both stop, one could catch the later train and stay overnight and pick up the earlier one or take the earlier one and get off then pick up the later one to continue your journey and not pay a premium.

I guess I was dreaming that Amtrak offered opportunities that the airlines didn't.
 
Although I haven't done once since 2016. Amtrak's multi-city free layover trick if there 2 trains per day and the layover is less than 24 hours is something I've used extensively, and is the main reason that my website SubwayNut.com/amtrak is home to every stop on the Amtrak Cascades, Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner, San Joaquin, Empire Service, and Hiawatha Corridors. It made these stops be free on my regular one-way journeys
 
Edit: What he said. ^^^

There once was (and may still be) a stopover rule in place that meant you could break the journey for a stopover of less than 24 hours and still pay the same price as and end-to-end ticket, which may be cheaper.
 
Every time I priced breaking a trip into segments vs a continuous trip, the fare was greater.
 
This makes me wonder. Maybe Amtrak can create a new service using this split booking idea for pet owners. You can now take a pet onto some Amtrak trains for up to seven hours. What if Amtrak offered a "Pet Connection" program where you can book two separate legs on the same journey with on overnight hotel stay in between?

Might work and although you have to pay for a hotel room you do save on the expense of an accommodation.
 
cocojacoby said:
This makes me wonder. Maybe Amtrak can create a new service using this split booking idea for pet owners. You can now take a pet onto some Amtrak trains for up to seven hours. What if Amtrak offered a "Pet Connection" program where you can book two separate legs on the same journey with on overnight hotel stay in between?

Might work and although you have to pay for a hotel room you do save on the expense of an accommodation.
Click to expand...
Are pets allowed in coach?
 
adamj023 said:
If you take an Amtrak trip and decide to stay over to break up the trip at a stop on the route and take the next train to the final destination, does Amtrak come out to be more expensive as you book two separate tickets? I am not sure how Amtrak pricing models work.
Click to expand...
Making a stopover en route will be more expensive than staying on the train all the way to your final destination; it doesn't matter whether you book two separate tickets or a multi-city ticket (on one booking). I think there's an exception if the stopover is less than 24 hours? Years back (in the 80's and 90's), Amtrak offered an 'All Aboard America' fare that offered up to three free stopovers, which I took advantage of several times. It's too bad there's nothing like this now because one of the nice things about train travel is the opportunity to visit places along the way before your final destination.
 
Barb Stout said:
Are pets allowed in coach?
Click to expand...
I believe so.I love dogs but, aside from seeing eye ones, I'd much prefer them not being allowed on trains. I've seen far too many accidents and confrontations aboard the train involving dogs. Amtrak should try best to accommodate human passengers, not canine ones. Too many dog owners adapt an impervious attitude about their pets at the expense of paying passengers.
 
There is definitely a market for this though. Think about all those snowbirds traveling up and down the east coast.

The east cost does offer some interesting opportunities not available elsewhere. Say I book a trip from New York City south on the first train out and get off the train in seven hours. Take a few hours break and board the next train for another seven hours. Do it one more time and eventually get to Florida with Fluffy in tow ready for the winter hiatus.

Is this possible?
 
I/we have broken up quite a few Amtrak trips by using USA Rail Passes. They are still available in 15, 30 and 45 day passes. The 15 day allows up to 8 segments and in nearly all cases will save money on fares vs. individual tickets.
Get enrolled in Amtrak Guest Rewards and you can earn enough points to get some "free" travel on Amtrak.
On the California Zephyr my favorite stopover is Glenwood Springs. On the SWC we stopped over for 2 nights in Albuquerque.
My very first Amtrak/ViaRail trip in 2001 was on a 30 day North America Rail Pass which sadly no longer exists.
 
Tom Booth said:
I believe so.I love dogs but, aside from seeing eye ones, I'd much prefer them not being allowed on trains. I've seen far too many accidents and confrontations aboard the train involving dogs. Amtrak should try best to accommodate human passengers, not canine ones. Too many dog owners adapt an impervious attitude about their pets at the expense of paying passengers.
Click to expand...

Thank you... I took a lot of flak for essentially saying this before, perhaps I didn't say it as tactfully as you have. And I've no issue with legit service animals, but we had a trip out of Chicago, in BC no less, that was ruined by a fake service dog that the owner struggled to control the entire time. The conductor simply stated "She said it was a service animal." I believe she was passing the dog off as a military PTSD animal, and the Amtrak employees probably didn't want to challenge her, but that dog whined and panted for 5 straight hours - when it wasn't lunging at people's food. As I said she had difficulty controlling him or her. A postscript to this story I never posted here - a few weeks after that trip, saw the same woman in a grocery store, allowed to cut in front of the line for checkout, with the same fake humble yet entitled attitude. The dog had another fake "service" harness, with a broken buckle that was dragging on the floor, and the dog was trying to escape while she struggled with him. The interesting thing about this story? It was a different dog.
 
Tom Booth said:
I believe so.I love dogs but, aside from seeing eye ones, I'd much prefer them not being allowed on trains. I've seen far too many accidents and confrontations aboard the train involving dogs. Amtrak should try best to accommodate human passengers, not canine ones. Too many dog owners adapt an impervious attitude about their pets at the expense of paying passengers.
Click to expand...
Pets have to be in carriers, not on leash.
 
In all of the many thousands of miles I've ridden on Amtrak, I have seen at least twice as many dogs not in carriers than in carriers. The last passenger owned dog I saw was over 80 lb. and was sleeping with his head in the aisle. I, the Conductor and several other people had to step over the dog's head to get to the back of the coach car. When I got back to my assigned seat, I had to wake the guy sleeping on my seat. (9:30AM).
Other places I've seen dogs have been in the hands of law enforcement (Reno and elsewhere).
 
I used to work in security and was known as the one who would bust the fake service animals at our site. Mostly because I had read the ADA requirements. The staff is very limited in their ability to challenge an animal and it often isn't worth the trouble. They can't ask anything about the disability. They can't outright deny boarding. They can ask what service the dog performs. but most people know how to dance around those answers. The only out they usually have is the dog must be under the control of the disabled person (not a helper) and must be housebroken.
 
So getting back on topic: the 24 hour rule still applies. For example if you're going from MSP to CHI, but you want to stop off in MKE for a night. You can use the multi-city tool to book MSP-MKE-CHI. Select the Empire Builder for your first leg (obviously) then select a Hiawatha train inside 24 hours of the scheduled arrival into MKE. The system will price your trip as if you were only going MSP to CHI!

Next week the fare from MSP to CHI is $58 while the fare on the same train, MSP to MKE is $50. The going rate for MKE to CHI is $25. If you bought the tickets, MSP to MKE then MKE to CHI, you'd have to pay $75. But if you use the multi-city option you'd only pay $58. The Hiawatha is also unreserved, so you can use that second ticket anytime you wish! You do not have to use for the time you selected.

This also works for the Silver Service, but it only works for coach fares it seems. (Once daily service resumes) I just priced out NYP to MIA trip in June for $130 in coach. NYP to SAV on the same day is $114, and SAV to MIA, 22 hours later is $70 making you spend a total of $184. But when you plug it into the multi-city option, you can get a total of $130 with a overnight stop in SAV. Obviously both trains are reserved, so you'd have to take your reserved trip.
 
Qapla said:
That does not prevent them from making noise the whole trip - most true service dogs are very quiet.
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True.
tomfuller said:
In all of the many thousands of miles I've ridden on Amtrak, I have seen at least twice as many dogs not in carriers than in carriers. The last passenger owned dog I saw was over 80 lb. and was sleeping with his head in the aisle. I, the Conductor and several other people had to step over the dog's head to get to the back of the coach car. When I got back to my assigned seat, I had to wake the guy sleeping on my seat. (9:30AM).
Other places I've seen dogs have been in the hands of law enforcement (Reno and elsewhere).
Click to expand...
OK, but the post that started this diversion was asking about pets being allowed, not service dogs (whether actual or alleged.) Pets must be in carriers, and under 20#.
 

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