Southwest Chief Room Pricing

[gatelouse]

Starting sales at mid- to higher buckets is not uncommon these days at Amtrak and has been common at airlines for years. I suspect simply that the SWC is more popular than the other Western trains due to the cities served and the relative speed of travel. Hence, sleepers open for sale at a higher bucket, and yield management kicks in closer to departure if a particular run isn't selling well.

I don't suspect any conspiracy against this train. It's just a popular route, and it shows in the fares.

 

[printman2000]

As someone who uses this train every year, this pricing and the fact that every day after December 1st is exactly the same high price, is not normal.

 

[jis]

That is a clear indication that they have released the Inventory in a higher bucket, and as mentioned by others that is in general not unusual in the airline industry. Looks like Amtrak is just catching onto the trend.

 

[Ispolkom]

That is a clear indication that they have released the I've Tory in a higher bucket, and as mentioned by others that is in general not unusual in the airline industry. Looks like Amtrak is just catching onto the trend.

Yes, even the poor Empire Builder, which can't catch a break, no longer has low-bucket inventory, even on the slowest of February days. Where are the cheap sleepers of yesteryear?

 

[printman2000]

That is a clear indication that they have released the I've Tory in a higher bucket, and as mentioned by others that is in general not unusual in the airline industry. Looks like Amtrak is just catching onto the trend.

Yes, even the poor Empire Builder, which can't catch a break, no longer has low-bucket inventory, even on the slowest of February days. Where are the cheap sleepers of yesteryear?

June 22,2013

Seattle to Chicago

Roomette $330

Lamy to Chicago

Roomette $408

 

[printman2000]

That is a clear indication that they have released the Inventory in a higher bucket, and as mentioned by others that is in general not unusual in the airline industry. Looks like Amtrak is just catching onto the trend.

I am telling you, I have seen some of that in past years. This is different. Not one day next year is low bucket OR. the low bucket is way way up.

 

[PRR 60]

That is a clear indication that they have released the Inventory in a higher bucket, and as mentioned by others that is in general not unusual in the airline industry. Looks like Amtrak is just catching onto the trend.

The dynamic aspect of airline pricing is both the bucket inventory and the bucket price, with the price the big driver. If you purchase an airline ticket 11 months in advance, you get the low bucket, but that far out, the low bucket price is usually high. As the travel date gets closer, competitive fares will result in the bucket pricing being adjusted. It is possible for a UA low bucket PHL-SFO to be $350 one day, and if WN offers a deal, the next day the UA low bucket for the same trip may be $175. This is in addition to the bucket seat inventories being adjusted. By and large, airlines have pretty generous seat inventories assigned to the low bucket. The rapid-fire changes in airline fares week-to-week and even day-to-day are mostly due to fare adjustments driven by competitive fares, not adjustments to bucket seat inventories.

Amtrak is considerably different than airlines in its pricing strategy. The fare matrix for Amtrak's buckets is reasonably fixed, except for occasional inflation adjustments. The bucket rail and accommodation fares for the SWC do not change from day to day. The only thing that Amtrak changes is the seat inventory for each bucket. The twist that Amtrak started a year or so ago is open sales of some trains with zero low bucket inventories. It happens with the LD's, and it even happens with some Acela trips.

 

[jis]

That is a clear indication that they have released the Inventory in a higher bucket, and as mentioned by others that is in general not unusual in the airline industry. Looks like Amtrak is just catching onto the trend.

I am telling you, I have seen some of that in past years. This is different. Not one day next year is low bucket OR. the low bucket is way way up.

Yes trains inventory is opening in mid buckets. Has been the case on NEC for a while too. Depending on how the train sells, low buckets may open up later. This is standard airline practice and Amtrak is just picking up that practice. They have not done so in the past. So yes, it is different from past Amtrak practice.

 

[printman2000]

From what I can tell, the SWC is the only western LD experiencing this. It may very well be the only LD experiencing this but I have only looked at western trains.

 

[Ispolkom]

I am telling you, I have seen some of that in past years. This is different. Not one day next year is low bucket OR. the low bucket is way way up.

And the same is true on the Empire Builder. The price increase seems to be greater on the Southwest Chief than other western trains, but sleeper prices are also higher on the Empire Builder than they were. My $92 roomette St. Paul-Minot is now $134 as far as the eye can see, even on days when they can't be selling many of them.

So is the Southwest Chief now overpriced, or was it previously underpriced? What is the occupancy rate of the Southwest Chief's sleepers?

 

[Bob Dylan]

I am telling you, I have seen some of that in past years. This is different. Not one day next year is low bucket OR. the low bucket is way way up.

And the same is true on the Empire Builder. The price increase seems to be greater on the Southwest Chief than other western trains, but sleeper prices are also higher on the Empire Builder than they were. My $92 roomette St. Paul-Minot is now $134 as far as the eye can see, even on days when they can't be selling many of them.

So is the Southwest Chief now overpriced, or was it previously underpriced? What is the occupancy rate of the Southwest Chief's sleepers?

Dont have the Ridership Numbers but the SWC is usually pretty Full to SOLD OUT! These increases may account for the Increase in Sleeper Riderhip on the Sunset/Texas Eagle since a CHI-LAX Sleeper Ticket is always cheaper than the SWC, even @ High Bucket!(Although lately the Eagle/Sunsets are Running Full most days @ High Buckets!) The Chief is a nice Train and Route but @ the Current Prices its too Rich for my Blood except as an AGR Award trip!

 

[Anderson]

The latest MPR is out, but my analysis is on another computer (I only got the report a few hours before catching a train to Florida). However, for May the Chief's overall ridership was -2% YoY and the sleepers were off 5.5%. Revenue was off in both cases as well. And sleeper ridership this year was 87.56/train vs. 92.61 last year.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

The latest MPR is out, but my analysis is on another computer (I only got the report a few hours before catching a train to Florida). However, for May the Chief's overall ridership was -2% YoY and the sleepers were off 5.5%. Revenue was off in both cases as well. And sleeper ridership this year was 87.56/train vs. 92.61 last year.

I feel that the sleeper pax per train and the ridership in general is very easy to sway here. Since there are really no markets blocked off anywhere on this route, I think that the figures can just be lots of people going all the way from CHI-LAX. In general, I think that the total occupancy rate of seats and rooms are really the best metric to gauge Amtrak ridership rather than some 30 million figure, because turnover doesn't quite affect it as much. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Ispolkom]

And sleeper ridership this year was 87.56/train vs. 92.61 last year.

Is that an occupancy rate percentage?

 

[johnny.menhennet]

And sleeper ridership this year was 87.56/train vs. 92.61 last year.

Is that an occupancy rate percentage?

No. It's how many actual sleeper passengers there were total for the duration of the whole trip.

 

[Anderson]

And sleeper ridership this year was 87.56/train vs. 92.61 last year.

Is that an occupancy rate percentage?

No. It's how many actual sleeper passengers there were total for the duration of the whole trip.

This. I don't have any way of determining how many sleeper trips were LAX-CHI, LAX-ABQ, ABQ-CHI, etc., which would go to load factors (especially as rooms can be sold twice during many trips).

 

[Ispolkom]

No. It's how many actual sleeper passengers there were total for the duration of the whole trip.

That's not a very useful number, then.

ETA: but I'm glad they calculated it to 4 significant digits.

 

[printman2000]

I thought it would be good to make an update to this thread.

The sleeper prices on the Southwest Chief are going back to normal levels. At least through July 1, 2013 as of today. Every date after that the prices are showing high.

I guess the lesson learned is wait until 9-10 months out to buy tickets for the Southwest Chief. Apparently, if you want to give Amtrak your money for 11 months, you have to pay more for the privilege.

I have run across one interesting item… All Sunday departure days from April 2013 on still have the high prices. Not sure what it up with that.