Sleeper Prices- WOW!!
- Thread starter ciship
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Cho Cho Charlie
Engineer
For me, that's it. I use to buy my sleeper ticket as soon as they were offered, but that rarely gives me the lowest fare anymore (so I now wait).
cpotisch
Engineer
From what I've seen and heard, there's usually a price drop about five months in advance, so you'll often find the best prices around then. And when you think about it, when it's 11 months out, Amtrak is in no imminent danger of the room going unsold. As you get closer in, if no rooms have been sold, they might be in trouble. I think you'll find the worst prices really close in, but yeah, they definitely don't always start out at the low bucket. Just how I understand it.
Rail Freak
Engineer
Sept. 22-2008, I took my 1st Amtrak Trip. (STP-WAS-CHI-SEA-SAC-DEN-CHI-WAS-STP) all roomettes. I paid $2200!!! I'm afraid to look now!!!
the_traveler
Engineer
Many times, rooms may start 11 months out at mid bucket and lower to low bucket at like 8-9 months out. This is especially true now with the EB and CZ in summer, when tour groups grab blocks of rooms early.
cpotisch
Engineer
That's actually not that far off from what you might be able to find at low bucket now. A single person can go cross country in a roomette for under $800 on a good day. Finding those good days is another story...
seat38a
Engineer
Sounds like this is something else that Amtrak learned from the Airlines. If you try to book a flight right at the 6 month mark when new fares come out, you will see a much higher fare than what is available closer in.
Rail Freak
Engineer
Please let me know if you find such a deal!!!
west point
Engineer
If we check almost all LD trains the availability of sleeper space is severly limited. For that to be a problem this September is strange ? As said supply and demand !
Absolutely agree that sleeper prices no longer start at low bucket. They are now quite high in price. The fares often fall 2-5 months out ( seems to be erratic) and it sometimes pays to wait for a fare drop. The risk is that if a tour group books early there might not be any rooms available in this time period. Superliner trains have 2-3 sleeper cars (except the Autotrain) . Bedrooms A-E (5) , Roomettes 1-14 (14) ., the H and family bedrooms (2) in each. Viewliners have less.. Not hard to sell out .
cpotisch
Engineer
I'm looking now.
Other way is to use Amsnag to check on prices within the date you've requested. Also you can register for fare alert if the price is lower.
I must have gotten lucky booking for November. Examples $123 from Pittsburgh to Chicago about $220 from San Antonio to LA $172 from Sacramento to Portland,Or and $296 from Portland to Chicago. When checking on Amtrak's app the total fare will be displayed,coach fare and sleepet. I didnt realize that at first and was concerned. If your travrl dates are flexible check Amsnag. They
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2005
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- 980
Second the Amsnag suggestion. We got low bucket sleepers Galesburg to Los Angeles on the SWC 12/23 and back on the Sunset/TE 12/30. Bought them late May or early June. Amsnag made it easy. What I hate about early booking now is the new cancellation fees. The vouchers were a great compromise they kept the money if you cancelled but you had a year to use the value. At least we can still modify.
Maglev
Conductor
It appears the low-bucket sleeper charge for this route is $260, so that is an incredibly low fare.
http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/73396-bucket-pricing-mysteries/?p=767558
I modified a reservation to get a lower fare, and was initially told that there would be a 25% penalty, but was given a "one-time" exception. Do any others have recent experience modifying reservations?At least we can still modify.
RichieRich
Lead Service Attendant
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- Dec 2, 2016
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- 328
I'm sorta stuck on certain dates. Be-that-as-it-may...paid $3,500 r/t for 2 rooms on the A/T last Xmas. At least this year using AGR points! As-you-know, I'm an 8-times-a-year A/T passenger...so DO get a lot of points...not to mention the AGR MasterCard (note - the charge $5,000+/month bonus is only good for THREE months/yr!!!). Got to admit - with tons of lost amenities on the A/T - it's STILL the only way I'd go to Orlando!
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bratkinson
Conductor
Perhaps Mr Anderson has decided the prices should be exhorbitant enough to drive away passengers on the Southwest Chief.
You may want to check prices from LAX instead. It's possible the Amtrak pricing system is making intermediate stops unreasonably high to sell more end-point/high volume stops tickets, per the recent article in Trains Magazine.
cpotisch
Engineer
Modifying a reservation is not supposed to have any fee. If memory serves, if you modify your reservation to a lower fare or cheaper ticket, you might be refunded the price difference as an e-voucher or with a 25% fee, but otherwise, there is no fee.It appears the low-bucket sleeper charge for this route is $260, so that is an incredibly low fare.
http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/73396-bucket-pricing-mysteries/?p=767558
I modified a reservation to get a lower fare, and was initially told that there would be a 25% penalty, but was given a "one-time" exception. Do any others have recent experience modifying reservations?At least we can still modify.
Richie, while I hardly have your AT journeys to my name. my lifetime of 24 is 24 more than many if not most around here.
I usually do two trips "down below" a year. One is a "fly down and back" during the Cleveland Orchestra's Miami residency. The other is a drive down visit friends en-route, Auto-Train North, drive back to Chicago. It saves a net of 450 miles driving. Last year, it was $837, auto and me in a Bedroom. While I have friends in Wash area, it's always a workday, so it's usually a "highball" to my overnight tie up at Akron - and $125 for a hotel.
Last year, I fear my auto was mortally wounded when I hit a chuckhole on the Indiana Toll Road. $450 of repairs later, I'm not sure it was really right, but it was over six years old, 59000 miles, and time for a new ride. Will the new "ride get a ride" on AT is an open question.
I too note the absence of the amenities such as the Happy Hour. But so long as they stock ice in the Sleepers, a stop at ABC Liquors and $25 lets me have my own "Happy Hour" (definitely preferable over my last of such during '14) with my Times and Journal.
Finally, would a Chicago Auto-Train work out for Amtrak? Fraid no way - not even sure it would for me.
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RSG
OBS Chief
It sounds like Maglev got an inexperienced agent or one who was applying the change/modification policy incorrectly, at least on the surface. There is nothing in the online terms and conditions (as of the last time I checked, which admittedly, wasn't yesterday or last week) which states that any surcharge applies to changing a paid reservation, for whatever reason. In fact, the last time I saw a splash page for 'reasons to ride Amtrak', the "no charge for changes" was a prominent feature.Modifying a reservation is not supposed to have any fee. If memory serves, if you modify your reservation to a lower fare or cheaper ticket, you might be refunded the price difference as an e-voucher or with a 25% fee, but otherwise, there is no fee.It appears the low-bucket sleeper charge for this route is $260, so that is an incredibly low fare.
http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/73396-bucket-pricing-mysteries/?p=767558
I modified a reservation to get a lower fare, and was initially told that there would be a 25% penalty, but was given a "one-time" exception. Do any others have recent experience modifying reservations?At least we can still modify.
Putting a hidden asterisk on such a policy is counterintuitive and somewhat defeats the purpose of advertising it. However, we are talking about the entity to which the phrase "the only consistency is inconsistency" is the unofficial operating credo, so putting a covert restriction wouldn't be unprecedented.
For the unitiated, it always helps to terminate the call with an agent if you don't receive the response you're expecting and call again to place your request with another agent. As travel writer Peter Greenberg likes to say, "Never accept a 'no' from someone who isn't authorized [or in this case, empowered] to give you a 'yes' in the first place."
RSG
OBS Chief
You can still cancel a reservation with no penalty if you do it correctly, though it's not as simple or as straightforward as it used to be. It's really disappointing that there's a fee to cancel a premium reservation without an immediate refund. The no-fee policy should be the concession to using a travel voucher. There are still airlines which operate on this policy, and if Amtrak wishes to be viewed as an alternative to airline travel, then they need to have equal or better policies than the airlines.What I hate about early booking now is the new cancellation fees. The vouchers were a great compromise they kept the money if you cancelled but you had a year to use the value. At least we can still modify.
While we're at it, I can understand charging a "nuisance fee" for changing or cancelling a reservation (such as, say, $25), but twenty-five percent of the ticket price?! That's almost like the travel equivalent of credit cards which charge an annual fee plus a 30% APR.
Maglev
Conductor
"Amtrak does not charge a ticket change fee, but please note that other fees may apply."
https://www.amtrak.com/planning-booking/changes-refunds/changing-a-reservation.html
When I made the change, it seemed the system automatically charged 25% of the fare difference (not 25% of the total fare). The agent seemed surprised by this, and spoke to someone else and then came back and told me I would be given a "one-time" exception. Is that one exception per reservation or one change per person?
https://www.amtrak.com/planning-booking/changes-refunds/changing-a-reservation.html
When I made the change, it seemed the system automatically charged 25% of the fare difference (not 25% of the total fare). The agent seemed surprised by this, and spoke to someone else and then came back and told me I would be given a "one-time" exception. Is that one exception per reservation or one change per person?
RSG
OBS Chief
The "other fees may apply" notation are weasel words which should be delineated. I assume your modification was done with an agent (since you previously explained that you made the change to a lower fare), and as such, may have been done incorrectly by the agent. (I've not had a penalty applied when I've modified an existing reservation online, though one can only change dates of travel online and not city pairs or stations, or accommodations, for example.)
I have noticed that, for purposes of fees, when a change is made it is considered a 'new' reservation, albeit with the same ticket/reservation number. If an exception was made to fees, the ticket history may not be available to an agent after a certain amount of time has passed. Therefore, I don't think the exception could be tracked and in no case can I see where it could be attached to an individual customer without noting it in your AGR file (which, to me, would be a bit Big Brother-ish). So theoretically, I can see where you could make several changes to the same trip and still get a "one-time exception". Also realize that rules are made to be broken, and if you explain your situation and ask what the agent can do to help you out, often you can get what you want.
When there was a sale on coach fares a month or two ago, I modified some reservations with the online system and got voucher refunds. The workaround was modifying twice, by changing to another day, then back to the original day. I doubt they would allow that over the phone.
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