The H room is priced at a roomette price level, not the bedroom price levels.
It cannot be booked online though, they will have to call or visit an Amtrak agent to book that room.
Kind of. The 'H' room is priced significantly higher than a roomette, unless the person is disabled. The occupant must declare in writing (there is a form) that they are indeed disabled and need the 'H' room. Once they have declared such the room is discounted to the price of a roomette. The occupant will need to call a reservation agent to book the room.
I see some information being posted about the H Room that I feel may or may not be accurate and would like to offer my take on the subject.
A while back I attempted to figure out the pricing for an H room. I heard that it was the same as the Roomette but when checking that out it never proved out nor did I see any evience that this was actually the case. Somehow I found out that the discount on the H Room was supposed to be 15% of what I believe IIRC is the Bedroom price. I don't know however how the bucket system effects the pricing except for what we all already know about how buckets work.
So I started to try and figure out the math and find out how to do the calculations. Here is what I finally figured out.
Formula: Discount Price / (100% less 15% discount) = Original Price
Using the above formula, here are a few examples of doing the math. The first will be based on knowing the full price only. The second will be based on knowing the discounted price only. The third will show the savings between full and discounted and the fourth proving out the figures.
1. (Full price base) $2935.00 x .85 = $2494.75 (Discounted Price)
2. (Disc price base) $2494.75 / .85 = $2935.00
3. (Savings) $2935 x .15 = $440.25
4. (Proofing) $2494.75 (discounted) + $440.25 (savings) = $2935.00 (full price)
Now can I guarantee this 15% discount is accurate? Well... no, but it's the best I've been able to find or figure out. I may have proven it out, back when I figured out the formula, but I'm not sure that I did. It's kind of impossible to proof out without actually making an H room reservation then immediately check out the full price for a Bedrooom, hoping the the basis is the same bucket!
Next is something that was mentioned by AC OKJ that I find hard to believe! It is that there is a form you have to fill out to certified that you are in fact disabled. I started using H rooms in 1998 and have since made numerous trips in them. Never once have I ever heard that a form needs to be filled out; not even a rumor of it! The only requirement I've ever seen or heard of is that you're required to have proof when you pickup your ticket and when boarding. Being my handicap is obvious, I've never even been so much as asked for proof on boarding, but carry proof just in case I ever am asked. If there is a form, as the poster claims, I would like to see post a link where it could download from!
If in fact a certification form doesn't exist, that wouldn't surprise me. Just today (or I should say yesterday at this point) I received conflicting information between Amtrak reservations and customer service. Customer service as usual gave the correct information and the reservationist was quick to try sending me back to AGR to solve the problem. The problem involved my not having AGR points posted from 6/26 travel because AGR computers didn't show that I had traveled. It turned out that my submitted ticket number was not recorded by Amtrak because it was poorly printed. Quite to customer relations credit, within hours the problem was rectified and the 650 points appeared on my AGR account. Incidentally, I was also given different conflicting information by two different AGR agents.
Along with about another 7 persistant posting problems, steming all the way back to the day I joined AGR, it was quite a fustrating couple of hours on the phone with both Amtrak and AGR today.
No wonder some give up trying to get points they are entitled to receive!