Unsold Sleepers

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dablueys

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If the silver meteor has unsold sleeping rooms... I know its probably rare, but it could happen right? can you purchase those after you are already on board?
 
Yes, unsold sleeper accommodations are generally available for onboard sale.

Do remember that an unsold accommodations may be sold further down the line

and only appear to be vacant at your point of boarding. You need to contact

the conductor to validate the transaction.
 
Texas Sunset said:
Shanghai said:
Yes, unsold sleeper accommodations are generally available for onboard sale.
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They are? How many times have you successfully completed such a transaction in recent memory? In my experience it's more of a theoretical option than a practical solution.
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Yep, the general experience of the folks on this board is the conductors usually won't do it, even though they are supposed to. I know the only time I tried I was brushed off.
 
I tried twice on the Cardinal. Both times nothing was available.

Do you think it was just me??
 
I tried on the SWC one time and the conductor told me nothing was available. At the Albuquerque stop, I saw the Sleeper Car Attendant we had had on our last trip and I talked to him about it. Next thing I know, he was back in our coach taking me up to the conductor for an upgrade. Unfortunately, the only thing available was a bedroom and it was too expensive.
 
I was told by conductors on the Empire Builder a couple of years ago that they never do it and they don't know why people think they do. They told me I had to ask at a ticket counter.
 
The only time I rode Coach overnight (Silver Meteor in 2008) , I discovered it wasnt for me &, I tried to upgrade. The conductor told me the sleepers were sold out til Columbia, SC. Fortunately the Conductor that got on in Columbia allowed me to upgrade ( in the middle of the nite)! The next morning, my SCA told me that he had open Sleepers the entire route!!! I'm still Pissed!!!!
 
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Guest said:
I was told by conductors on the Empire Builder a couple of years ago that they never do it and they don't know why people think they do. They told me I had to ask at a ticket counter.
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Unfortunately Conductors will tell you all sorts of nonsense simply because they can get away with it. They will also tell you that they are required to check tickets before you board the train, which they are not. It just makes their life easier to do so.

This is similar to police officers telling you that you are not allowed to take pictures while standing on a public road. Just misuse of authority because they can.

But the bottom line is that it is relatively difficult to get an upgrade en-route.

It would be nice if Amtrak were able to manage upgrades for frequent travelers and waitlisted passengers automatically like many airlines do.
 
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I always thought it was clever that Disney World has electronic signs as you exit saying "Sleep here tonight! Rooms available! Call 407-XXXXXX. "

Can you imagine if they had a sign board in the cafe car offering unsold accommodation? They might even make some revenue.
 
Rail Freak said:
The only time I rode Coach overnight (Silver Meteor in 2008) , I discovered it wasnt for me &, I tried to upgrade. The conductor told me the sleepers were sold out til Columbia, SC. Fortunately the Conductor that got on in Columbia allowed me to upgrade ( in the middle of the nite)! The next morning, my SCA told me that he had open Sleepers the entire route!!!
Click to expand...
Did you contact Amtrak and report the situation? Maybe if enough of the passengers who run into this problem did so it might make a dent in the problem.
 
Shanghai said:
I tried twice on the Cardinal. Both times nothing was available. Do you think it was just me??
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I doubt it. Most of what I've seen, heard, and read has mirrored our experiences. In my view this option does not exist with enough frequency to be useful in a practical sense. Which means once you're on board you're pretty much stuck with whatever you have. It's not like you'll be able to run into the station and buy a sleeper ticket from the counter while the staff is busy handling the luggage, assuming the station is staffed at all. I guess maybe if there's a functioning QuikTrak kiosk and you're aware of this in advance you might be able to purchase a sleeper ticket on board with a credit card by calling the main reservations desk and then run inside and grab the tickets from the machine? Seems like an awful lot of hassle, but that might be the only way to move up to a bedroom once you've left your origin.
 
It's hard to believe that the suits at 60 Massachusetts Avenue AREN'T aware of this problem! Or maybe the cone of silence is absolutely impermeable? Will the impending rollout of e-ticketing possibly alleviate some of the resistance?
 
While on the CZ last year I witnessed a sale of an unsold room so it does happen from time to time.
 
FriskyFL said:
It's hard to believe that the suits at 60 Massachusetts Avenue AREN'T aware of this problem! Or maybe the cone of silence is absolutely impermeable? Will the impending rollout of e-ticketing possibly alleviate some of the resistance?
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Alan has said over and over again that management does ride the rails, so presumably they would become aware of this at some point. I do hope e-ticketing will help in situations such as this. However, I also fear that e-ticketing will likely remove many beneficial aspects that are unique to Amtrak ticketing.
 
If you are getting on a a staffed station that is not the start point of the trip, you might be better off to try to upgrade at the station. I heard that once the train leaves that unsold space reverts to the low bucket price. I did this once going from Atlantic City to Toledo. I was ticketed for couch all the way but once I got to Pittsburgh to change trains to the Capitol, I realized I needed to get a little sleep and was able to upgrade for short money.

The only issue was the Sleeping car attendant didn't wake me up as I was not on her list (despite me telling her where I was getting off when I boarded). I was really a non-issue as I woke up and recognized where I was and got ready in time to depart the train.

Maybe the issue with conductors not wanting to sell upgrades on board has to do with the fact that they can no longer sell tickets and thus generally don't deal with money. I can imagine that it might be a big hassle and if they mess up it has a big downside. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying there is a chance that it puts them in a tough situation.
 
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FriskyFL said:
It's hard to believe that the suits at 60 Massachusetts Avenue AREN'T aware of this problem! Or maybe the cone of silence is absolutely impermeable? Will the impending rollout of e-ticketing possibly alleviate some of the resistance?
Click to expand...
With eTicketing, it might be possible, if Amtrak implements it, to upgrade without having to deal with the conductor. If you are on the train, pull out the smartphone, tablet, or laptop with 3G access (or WiFi once the LD train have WiFi), check the Amtrak reservations to see if there are rooms available from the next stop that is at least 5-10 minutes away to your destination. If the reservation shows a room available, then call the 800 number to book the room on-line - if they allow it for an underway train. Book the upgrade and show the QR code on the phone or tablet to the conductor or attendant once the train reaches the next station.
 
Onboard upgrades are probably one of the most hotly discussed topics about Amtrak. People rarely have a definate answer to this question. There are simly too many opinions and too little facts. I have always gotten a Sleeper so I do not know about this, just that people argue all the time.
 
afigg said:
FriskyFL said:
It's hard to believe that the suits at 60 Massachusetts Avenue AREN'T aware of this problem! Or maybe the cone of silence is absolutely impermeable? Will the impending rollout of e-ticketing possibly alleviate some of the resistance?
Click to expand...
With eTicketing, it might be possible, if Amtrak implements it, to upgrade without having to deal with the conductor. If you are on the train, pull out the smartphone, tablet, or laptop with 3G access (or WiFi once the LD train have WiFi), check the Amtrak reservations to see if there are rooms available from the next stop that is at least 5-10 minutes away to your destination. If the reservation shows a room available, then call the 800 number to book the room on-line - if they allow it for an underway train. Book the upgrade and show the QR code on the phone or tablet to the conductor or attendant once the train reaches the next station.
Click to expand...
I think if you call, even from the train, they will sell you the room, but at the current bucket, which might be much more than if the conductor handles the transaction.
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
Onboard upgrades are probably one of the most hotly discussed topics about Amtrak. People rarely have a definate answer to this question. There are simly too many opinions and too little facts. I have always gotten a Sleeper so I do not know about this, just that people argue all the time.
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Too many options?

Option 1. Bedroom available and sold as upgrade

Option 2. Bedroom available but not sold

Option 3. Bedroom not available

Am I missing something?

Because that doesn't seem like that many options to me.

It's true that a bunch of anecdotal data is still inferior to having the full picture in front of us.

Does Amtrak release any data that could be used to glean how often unsold rooms are processed as on-board upgrades?
 
FWIW, I was able to upgrade from a roomette to a bedroom on the Capitol Limited the day after NTD. The conductor was quite happy to check the fare for me, and I was in Room B before Harper's Ferry.

This conductor had just four or five trips left until she retired, maybe she was in an exceptionally helpful mood :)

P.S.: Swadian wrote opinions, not options ;)
 
I was able to upgrade the one and only time I have tried (eastbound CZ). Guess I should consider myself lucky and maybe should have bought a lottery ticket that day.
 
Well seeing as how the exact procedures for processing an upgrade are listed in the employee handbook, clearly Amtrak intends for this to be an option.

I do agree that finding a conductor actually willing to do their job can at times be a challenge. I've seen plenty of reports from people who tried and failed, although the reasons for failure aren't always clear.

That said, the one time that I tried, I clearly lucked out and hit the right conductor on the Empire Builder. I will grant that I was already in a sleeper, looking to upgrade from a roomette to a Bedroom. But the conductor couldn't have been nicer about it. When I asked him while he was collecting tickets, he told me he'd look into it and get back to me. And indeed he did about 45 minutes later IIRC.

Sadly I didn't take him up on things, mainly because at that time I didn't yet know that Amtrak values an AGR room at zero. So I got no credit for the current room towards the Bedroom, meaning that essentially I would have thrown away all those points and paid the full low bucket price for the Bedroom.
 
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