While I hold this to be generally true, I have found instances as recently as April 2013 when I was able to book a roomette on the CZ 24 hours before departure at the lowest bucket rate. Found this thru amsnag, and I decided to switch to coach from roomette specifically because amsnag said roomettes were available at the lowest bucket while coach was several buckets higher than rock bottom.
A fare bucket. Amtrak has X amount of rooms at X price. As the rooms start to sell out, the rooms go up to Y price, then Z.
A "bucket" is a fare class, both on Amtrak and in most airlines. On Amtrak, it is typical for the first batch of sleeping rooms to be bookable at the lowest fare (i.e., in the "lowest bucket"). And as the number of bookings increases (and, thus, the remaining inventory of rooms declines) for that travel date, the next increment of rooms are booked at a higher fare. I believe there are typically 4 buckets of room fares on the SWC and CZ -- the difference between lowest and highest bucket could be a factor or 2 or more in price. All of this is done in the name of "revenue management". And it is rare indeed today for Amtrak to LOWER fares for sleeper rooms at the very last minute, in order to fill any remaining empty rooms. I believe their logic is that doing so might entice even more people to wait to the last minute to book sleeping car space.
True this Mike!!chakk said: And it is rare indeed today for Amtrak to LOWER fares for sleeper rooms at the very last minute, in order to fill any remaining empty rooms. I believe their logic is that doing so might entice even more people to wait to the last minute to book sleeping car space.
( sarcasm) Yes, it's a much better plan to have them run empty, as both bedrooms in 4820 were on my last LSL trip. (/sarcasm)
I understand their logic, I just don't agree with it......if the room has not sold the day before departure, I'm doubtful it will sell. Bring back the onboard upgrade!
There are 5 bucket levels for sleepers on all trains that run with sleepers. In order from lowest to highest they are: D, C, B, A, and S. This is not to suggest that Amtrak always places a quantity of rooms in each bucket. There are times around the holidays where Amtrak might place 1 or 2 rooms in the D bucket, place zero in the C bucket, and then 4 or 5 in the B bucket, with all the remaining rooms in the highest two buckets A & S.
Yes! I like that one better.
