Fare Buckets - and when do they increase/decrease?

[oregon pioneer]

When I was first interested in traveling I checked the prices for coach from Houston to Amsterdam NY. I started with about 6 months out, $128 one way senior fare. When I finally pulled the plug it was $166. I bought my ticket and had my first trip. I'm thinking about doing it again but now the price is $399. And it's 6 months lead time, instead of Amsterdam I'm pricing for Utica NY. That's too much for me.

I started watching fares about five months out, because I read earlier in this thread that five months or so was a sweet spot.
What I actually found was I had to wait till ten days AFTER four months out, and then the fares dropped enough to hit what I considered a sweet spot.

YMMV, depending on the time of year you want to travel. I am looking at mid-January to mid-February, when not many people really want to travel, and low bucket is conceivable. It's not there yet, but I've hit the compromise point between prices and my tolerance for keeping my (and my family's) plans in suspension.

 

[Sidney]

I started watching fares about five months out, because I read earlier in this thread that five months or so was a sweet spot.
What I actually found was I had to wait till ten days AFTER four months out, and then the fares dropped enough to hit what I considered a sweet spot.

YMMV, depending on the time of year you want to travel. I am looking at mid-January to mid-February, when not many people really want to travel, and low bucket is conceivable. It's not there yet, but I've hit the compromise point between prices and my tolerance for keeping my (and my family's) plans in suspension.

I already booked The Sunset/Eagle from LA to Chicago in December for low bucket at $623.I booked Southwest from BWI to LA on the way out,because I kept getting $899 fares on the Southwest Chief for my preferred dates,which I will not pay. I checked every day and this afternoon I found that $623 fare on the day I wanted. Would imagine someone canceled. Going from Harrisburg to Chicago on the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited and back in Coach. $400 for a nine hour ride from Pittsburgh to Chicago and the same in reverse for a roomette is way overpriced,so I’ll tough it out in Coach. My only hope going this time of the year is that I can get both seats to myself.


This is early December,not the holidays.

 

[pennyk]

To continue the discussion of Fare Buckets, please post your comments in the "current" thread on that topic:

https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/fare-buckets-discussion-2023-q4.86129/
Thank you for your cooperation and participation.