Sleeper Pricing

[Orie]

I had a question about sleepers. I know that the prices change at various times due to demand, but is that the only factor? For example: I'm looking at a train right now that has 4 rooms left at a very cheap price. Will the only factor that drives those prices up to the next level only be those 4 roomettes being booked? Or can it randomly jump up due to to other issues like getting closer to departure date too?

 

[Long Train Runnin']

I think with the new revenue management model all bets are kind off. It used to be a simpler bucket pricing. Book 11 months out score a low bucket room and relax. These days though the prices seem to fluctuate based on expected demand. That being said I believe that when someone cancels a room it goes back for sale at the original price that it sold for. So, you might see that one room for less then book it and the last 3 could jump up to a higher bucket. There are a lot of older threads that go into a lot of detail on sleeper bucket pricing I would search around the forum if you want to do some additional reading.

 

[me_little_me]

Likely that will be the biggest but just having one sold can drive up the price of the other 3. I tried to book two rooms on one operation and found that it was higher than two separate ones. They both were higher than the listed price when bought together.

 

[Chey]

Likely that will be the biggest but just having one sold can drive up the price of the other 3. I tried to book two rooms on one operation and found that it was higher than two separate ones. They both were higher than the listed price when bought together.

I don't quite understand the logic. Maybe if someone buys one, that then demonstrates there is a demand for the other 3? It does fit in with something I was watching not too long ago, one sleeper available (last one) going from a little town to a big one not that far away, no stops between them, on a specific day. They were asking almost 500 dollars to go that 80 miles in that sleeper. It remained that price even on that day, and it remained unsold. I'd have thought half price (or even less) would have been better than nothing.

 

[Chey]

I should add that I was watching all prices to see what would happen as the specific day approached. Although the sleeper seemed to be the only one priced outrageously, I noticed that coach prices didn't reduce either. The coach car I boarded was practically empty.