Ahh...Amtrak Reservation System is Killing Me

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Amfleet

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Aug 24, 2002
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Southeastern, Massachusetts
Yesterday evening I was pricing a trip from Boston to Chicago via Washington DC. Last night I was quoted a price of around $650.00, at 6:00pm EST today I was quoted a price of around $750.00, just now at around 7:00pm EST I was quoted a price of $1179.00. What in gods name made those prices sky rocket? :eek: :( :angry:

Some more info; travel time is mid August, Regional Serivce Reserved Coach between BOS and WAS and Capitol Limited Standard Bedroom between WAS and CHI, entire travel is round trip.
 
Oops...I think I either plugged in the wrong trains or it was an error on Amtrak's part, but the price is now $728.00 for two adults. I still don't uderstand how the price jumped $80 over night however.

Also when calling Amtrak to book the reservation (if we do) can I request other rooms in the car to see if the bucket fare is lower?
 
Amfleet,

First you can't request other rooms within the same car, as they would all be the same price, at least within the categories of Deluxe & Standard. You could try getting the same sized room in a different car. However, I think that Amtrak's system always brings up the cheapest room available so I wouldn't be surprised if you get a higher fare when they try that.

Now as for the huge jump in price, it really does sound like you got something wrong in that one request. However as you know the prices do rise as the train fills up.

Case in point, my recent trip on the AT to Florida. For my journey down with part of my family, I cashed in some of my Guest Rewards points. Coming back however, we were traveling on a holiday weekend so I couldn't do that. When my family and I first started talking about making this trip, I had priced out our return trip on Memorial Day weekend. For one van, 4 adults, 1 child in two deluxe bedrooms I was given a price of $1,279 in early February.

Thanks to some planning issues and some procrastination, I didn't book the tickets for over a month. Finally with everything resolved, I was ready to book the return by mid March. I checked on Saturday the 8th of March and the price was still $1,279 but I decided to wait until a billing cycle on my credit card closed the next day on Sunday. This way I could postpone paying the bill for another month.

On Sunday night I checked again and the price had jumped by 60 bucks to $1,339. However I didn't feel like getting up to get my card at that time, much less actually calling Amtrak on the phone. I needed to call since I could not book two adjoining deluxe rooms via the net. I resolved to call the very next day on the 10th before the price went up any more.

Well that was a big mistake; by the time I called Amtrak on Monday afternoon the price had really jumped. I ended up paying $1,605 for our return trip. By delaying I ended up paying an extra $371, all because I wanted to hit next months bill. Ouch! :eek:

The bottom line is once Amtrak meets the minimum threshold of rooms booked; watch out. All it takes is one more person to book a room and there go the prices.
 
Thanks. :) My mom will be booking the trip within a week so hopefully it will not jump prices.

By the way, this will be a "lets try again" trip to Chicago on Amtrak, after the bad experiences last time. I totally gave up the Lake Shore Limited for now and will be taking the Capitol Limited both ways. We will be spending three nights in Chicago and this time I did my hotel research and found a nice place to stay with excellent reviews (from Travelocity) and reasonable prices. Hope all works out and I'm looking forward to this trip!!!!! B)
 
Good luck, I hope that you have a great trip. :)

What you should try however is to take the Lake Shore to Chicago, then return on the Capitol. This way if Amtrak does cancel the LSL sleeper, you'll be home to get the call. Plus you could still try to get a sleeper out of NYP or DC.
 
AlanB said:
Good luck, I hope that you have a great trip. :)
What you should try however is to take the Lake Shore to Chicago, then return on the Capitol. This way if Amtrak does cancel the LSL sleeper, you'll be home to get the call. Plus you could still try to get a sleeper out of NYP or DC.
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In the summer months, sleepers can be sold out far in advace so I do not want to take chances. My mother also enjoys the Superliners more than the single level fleet, and in some ways, so do I. The only thing I'm worried about is catching a bad Dining Car crew, but the best one can do is ignore them and go on with the trip.

I too, hope for a great trip. Thanks! :)

Just out of curiosity, for those who have traveled to Chicago previously, waht hotel(s) did you stay at? How did you like it? We're thinking either the Embassy Suites or Hampton Inn and Suites. Thanks for any help. :)
 
Amfleet said:
In the summer months, sleepers can be sold out far in advace so I do not want to take chances. My mother also enjoys the Superliners more than the single level fleet, and in some ways, so do I. The only thing I'm worried about is catching a bad Dining Car crew, but the best one can do is ignore them and go on with the trip.
I too, hope for a great trip. Thanks! :)

Just out of curiosity, for those who have traveled to Chicago previously, waht hotel(s) did you stay at? How did you like it? We're thinking either the Embassy Suites or Hampton Inn and Suites. Thanks for any help. :)
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Well one consolation is the fact that the Capitol now leaves Chicago at 5:20 PM instead of 7:00 PM. So this should help you to get dinner at a more reasonable hour than either Superliner Diner or I did.

Just watch out for the steaks, as we've both encountered undercooked food on the Capitol.

As for hotels many of the people planning on attending the Windy City Rail Fest this summer will be staying at the Cass Hotel. I'll be staying at the Comfort Inn Downtown. Both hotels are just north of the loop.

You might also want to take a peek at a hotel page that Kevin put up for the Windy City Fest. Kevin also checked out the Cass on his recent trip to Chicago. While he didn't get to see an actual room, he did look around the lobby. I believe that he was suitably impressed.

Ps. You might also want to take a peek at this page, where Kevin has compiled the various scanner frequencies for the various Chicago trains. This way you can still railfan from your hotel room, or while out taking in the sites.
 
You can always call Amtrak and lock in the current quoted price as a courtesy reservation, request a 14 or 21 day holding period (they are reluctant to do this but will if you insist - the normal holding period is 7 days), and then pay for it then. This way you are guaranteed the quoted price and will not be affected by the jumps in prices. :)
 
Thanks again Alan. Last year I did do some railfanning from the Holdiay Inn, which was a few blocks north of Union Station. Kevin's page is quite helpful. I'll let you know what hotel we choose when making the reservation.
 
As for hotels many of the people planning on attending the Windy City Rail Fest this summer will be staying at the Cass Hotel.  I'll be staying at the Comfort Inn Downtown.  Both hotels are just north of the loop.  
You might also want to take a peek at a hotel page that Kevin put up for the Windy City Fest.  Kevin also checked out the Cass on his recent trip to Chicago.  While he didn't get to see an actual room, he did look around the lobby.  I believe that he was suitably impressed.
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The Comfort Inn and Cass Hotels are respectively a two and a three block walk from the Red Line station at Grand Street (under State Street).
 
AlanB said:
Well that was a big mistake; by the time I called Amtrak on Monday afternoon the price had really jumped. I ended up paying $1,605 for our return trip. By delaying I ended up paying an extra $371, all because I wanted to hit next months bill. Ouch! :eek:
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Yes but think of the Guest Rewards points you've earned for next time!! :D :) :lol:
 
Amfleet said:
Yesterday evening I was pricing a trip from Boston to Chicago via Washington DC. Last night I was quoted a price of around $650.00, at 6:00pm EST today I was quoted a price of around $750.00, just now at around 7:00pm EST I was quoted a price of $1179.00. What in gods name made those prices sky rocket? :eek: :( :angry:
Some more info; travel time is mid August, Regional Serivce Reserved Coach between BOS and WAS and Capitol Limited Standard Bedroom between WAS and CHI, entire travel is round trip.
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Yes, I agree, Amtrak Reservation System can be very irritating. ;)
 
Amfleet, seems you will be traveling about the same time I will be--mid August---I will be going TO your part of the world, just as you are going away from it. Maybe we can wave in passing!
 
Oh yes, hope you have much, much much better luck on your return(and in a sleeper, at that) out of Chicago this time.

The ineptiness you and your family had to endure even makes me mad when I think about it, and I wasn't even there to witness it.
 
Bill Haithcoat said:
Oh yes, hope you have much, much much better luck on your return(and in a sleeper, at that) out of Chicago this time.
The ineptiness you and your family had to endure even makes me mad when I think about it, and I wasn't even there to witness it.
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Thank you for the words of luck Bill! :)

I was actually able to make the reservation this evening myself and cought it at $728.20. That is not as much as my mom and I paid last year for the Deluxe Bedrooms both ways, as that totaled out at around $1000. My mom also has the Transportation Cirtificate for $200 which will ease the credit card bill. The hotel reservation is important, but can wait until this weekend. Also to note, Julie was very helpful in getting me to a very helpful and kind agent. B)
 
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