online booking upper/lower roomette

[Fred Wis.]

Just booked an upcoming trip on a superliner route, using the online booking. I have an upper level room one way (my preferred) but got a lower level room on the return trip. Is it worth trying to change the lower to an upper by phone, or is it likely the upper rooms are all filled? I seem to remember reading that the computor fills uppers first and then assigns lowers. Tried to do a search on this question, but didn't find my answer (perhaps used wrong search words) So my question is"If I prefer an upper level roomette should I try calling for a change, or likely that those rooms are filled and I would be wasting my time?" Note; I have ridden in both and a lower level is not a deal breaker, but my past experiences tell me that IF there is a problem with the plumbing, the smell on the lower level is ussually worse.

 

[ehbowen]

It is worth a call or two (spaced a couple weeks apart) to the reservation center to request that they MODIFY your reservation to your preferred room, but I wouldn't obsess over it. Personally, I'd prefer a lower level roomette to either #9 or #10 on the upper level by the end doors.

 

[cpotisch]

Just call and ask if there are any upper-level rooms. If you can't, that's still fine, as the lower level does have a lot of benefits - you're right near the bathrooms, showers, luggage area, there's little foot traffic, it usually rides better, etc. So you'll really be okay either way.

 

[kbmiflyer]

You can call and ask to change it. There are probably upper level rooms available.

Make sure they do not try to CHARGE you for it. There is a way they can modify the reservation without charge. Most agents seem to NOT know how to do this without help. Insist that they can change the room without charging you for it.

 

[bratkinson]

It's far easier to ask for a specific roomette number or upper/lower level when initially making the reservation...on the phone. My preference is #14 if not summertime (noisy kids in family room quite likely). Only once have I encountered an agent that flatly said she "couldn't do it". Perhaps she needed more OJT.

 

[chakk]

I agree that #14 is a great room. Very quiet if no kids in the family room, and darker at night without the large window to the hallway that the curtain does not darken enough for my tastes.

 

[Fred Wis.]

O.K. Thanks all. Guess it can't hurt to ask as long as I make sure they modify and not charge extra. And like you folks said, I can live with the lower level if need be and true it is somewhat quiter.

 

[bratkinson]

I agree that #14 is a great room. Very quiet if no kids in the family room, and darker at night without the large window to the hallway that the curtain does not darken enough for my tastes.

That's why it's my favorite...quiet and darker! During the summer season, my preference is #11 or #12...away from the kiddie room and easy access to toilets and shower.

The toilet upstairs is consistently disgusting, in my opinion. It's impossible to keep clean with all that traffic. 10 roomettes of passengers will always choose that one if it's available. The only time they come downstairs (in my opinion) is when the upper is occupied and they can't/won't wait.

 

[the_traveler]

The computer does automatically assign rooms, but there is no “all upper then lower” rule.

I am not saying they are in this order, but it may be something like the following: #2, #11, #3, #4. #5, #12, #6, etc...

If you want a specific, you can always call. If you do, it is much easier to book it initially by calling anagent.

 

[ehbowen]

I agree that #14 is a great room. Very quiet if no kids in the family room, and darker at night without the large window to the hallway that the curtain does not darken enough for my tastes.

That's why it's my favorite...quiet and darker! During the summer season, my preference is #11 or #12...away from the kiddie room and easy access to toilets and shower.

The toilet upstairs is consistently disgusting, in my opinion. It's impossible to keep clean with all that traffic. 10 roomettes of passengers will always choose that one if it's available. The only time they come downstairs (in my opinion) is when the upper is occupied and they can't/won't wait.

Maybe I shouldn't give away my secret, but I always seek out the toilet cubicle between the shower and the H-room. It's the last one everyone comes to and is the most likely to be presentable on the final day of a multi-day trip.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

The computer does automatically assign rooms, but there is no “all upper then lower” rule.

I am not saying they are in this order, but it may be something like the following: #2, #11, #3, #4. #5, #12, #6, etc...

If you want a specific, you can always call. If you do, it is much easier to book it initially by calling anagent.

I thought that (and feel free to contradict... part of my posting is questioning this), that using your list, roomette #2 would have assigned to it the lowest fare, lowest bucket, and #6 would have the highest. If someone wanted to jump-ahead to #6, the system would expect them to pay that higher fare. Though, if you could find a talented customer service person (PhD in Computer Science plus two Nobels in Mathematics?

), they could override it, getting you the #2 fare on #6, but finding that person wasn't easy.

 

[cpotisch]

The computer does automatically assign rooms, but there is no “all upper then lower” rule.

I am not saying they are in this order, but it may be something like the following: #2, #11, #3, #4. #5, #12, #6, etc...

If you want a specific, you can always call. If you do, it is much easier to book it initially by calling anagent.

I thought that (and feel free to contradict... part of my posting is questioning this), that using your list, roomette #2 would have assigned to it the lowest fare, lowest bucket, and #6 would have the highest. If someone wanted to jump-ahead to #6, the system would expect them to pay that higher fare. Though, if you could find a talented customer service person (PhD in Computer Science plus two Nobels in Mathematics?

), they could override it, getting you the #2 fare on #6, but finding that person wasn't easy.

This is not the case. Specific rooms are not allocated specific price buckets. The system might assign rooms in a certain order, and as rooms are sold the price will go up, but individual rooms do not have certain prices. Correlation and causation.

 

[CCC1007]

The computer does automatically assign rooms, but there is no “all upper then lower” rule.

I am not saying they are in this order, but it may be something like the following: #2, #11, #3, #4. #5, #12, #6, etc...

If you want a specific, you can always call. If you do, it is much easier to book it initially by calling anagent.

I thought that (and feel free to contradict... part of my posting is questioning this), that using your list, roomette #2 would have assigned to it the lowest fare, lowest bucket, and #6 would have the highest. If someone wanted to jump-ahead to #6, the system would expect them to pay that higher fare. Though, if you could find a talented customer service person (PhD in Computer Science plus two Nobels in Mathematics?

), they could override it, getting you the #2 fare on #6, but finding that person wasn't easy.

This is not the case. Specific rooms are not allocated specific price buckets. The system might assign rooms in a certain order, and as rooms are sold the price will go up, but individual rooms do not have certain prices. Correlation and causation.

Ive seen this stated multiple times over the years, but the more reports from calling in I see the less I agree with this. I think there was a change some years ago to have specific rooms have specific fares assigned to them.

 

[the_traveler]

I think this has changed in the past few years. I believe now, certain rooms are priced differently.

An example is say you want 2 rooms across from each other, say #5 and #6. The agent may inform you that #5 costs $159 but #6 costs $237. A knowledgeable agent will know how to override the computer pricing for the second room. You may need to ask for a supervisor.

Another example is bedroom A. It is usually the last one sold or requested. However, it is the highest bucket ironically. If you call and both bedroom E & A are available, they will be at different prices. A manual override must be done together the lower bucket price.

 

[Ryan]

Coby is 100% correct. Rooms never have been, and remain unconnected to set prices.

The system sells rooms in a preselected order, and the price increases as inventory decreases, but an agent operating the system properly can select any room they want at the currently available price.

Any perceived change may be only on the part of the training and ability of the agent.

 

[Ryan]

Trogdor's explanation to you of how the system worked two weeks ago remains correct and relevant:

Each bedroom has a different bucket assigned to it. Ironically, even though bedroom A is the least desirable and is sold last, it has the highest bucket!

So if you had bedroom E (and was the lowest bucket) and you switched to bedroom A, that means that bedroom E was once again available. Thus the lowest bucket was once again available.

That is not true. There is no specific price assigned to specific rooms. I’m sure the workings of the revenue management system has been explained here before, but basically, bucket availability is based on the number of rooms available. If a fare is available, any room can be sold at that fare, but the agent has to do it correctly.

The standard practice when someone asks for a room is to let the computer grab a room automatically. If a passenger then asks for a specific room, the agent is supposed to release the first room (and thus bring available inventory back to its previous level), the. Grab a specific room. If they don’t do it (and many agents don’t, or aren’t even aware of this process), then when they grab the specific room requested by the passenger, they are grabbing it from a reduced inventory situation (because the first room, auto-assigned by the computer, is already out of inventory).

From what I recall from my occasional dealings with Arrow in my Amtrak days is that fare bucket availability is expressed in terms of percentage of total inventory. So, for example, D might be available until 20% of the inventory is sold, C until 40%, B until 60%, A until 80%, S until 100%. In this hypothetical situation, a train with a single sleeper and no sales would have inventory of DD1, DC2, DB3, DA4, DS5.

Take the first room out of availability (doesn’t matter which room, nor does it matter which fare you decided to use), and availability goes to DD0, DC1, DB2, DA3, DS4. Also note that, while this essentially never happens (nor, realistically, should it), it is possible for the agent to specify a higher fare bucket if it has availability. So, the agent can manually grab any of the available fare buckets. Doing so will *still* reduce availability in the lower fare buckets, because, again, it’s based on the overall booking level of that class of service, not based on a specific allocation of a number of rooms at an individual fare bucket. So, in my hypothetical example, as long as at least one room is taken out of availability. The lowest bucket will be C, regardless of what room or bucket the first sale used.

What also trips up folks on here is (I assume) the notion that these bucket allocations remain static. They are frequently being reviewed by revenue management, in addition to the fluctuations in availability resulting from passengers booking and cancelling. So, when you changed rooms, they probably already either increased the threshold for the lower bucket, or someone cancelled bringing that bucket back into play.

While it’s possible they’ve made changes to the system in recent years, when I was using Arrow, there was no mechanism in place to tie a specific room to a specific fare before it was booked, That was always a myth invented by AU.

 

[bratkinson]

I agree that #14 is a great room. Very quiet if no kids in the family room, and darker at night without the large window to the hallway that the curtain does not darken enough for my tastes.

That's why it's my favorite...quiet and darker! During the summer season, my preference is #11 or #12...away from the kiddie room and easy access to toilets and shower.

The toilet upstairs is consistently disgusting, in my opinion. It's impossible to keep clean with all that traffic. 10 roomettes of passengers will always choose that one if it's available. The only time they come downstairs (in my opinion) is when the upper is occupied and they can't/won't wait.

Maybe I shouldn't give away my secret, but I always seek out the toilet cubicle between the shower and the H-room. It's the last one everyone comes to and is the most likely to be presentable on the final day of a multi-day trip.

I do the same! Human nature will almost always result in most passengers taking the first open toilet they come to..both on the left side. Maybe I'll have to do a 'toilet paper check' of the 3 lower restrooms to see which one uses the most, That'll be one stinky job!