Amtrak fares

[Bob Smith]

Hey guys...what's with the Amtrak fares. I bought a round trip ticket from Columbia, SC to Los Angeles last week for just over 1,100 dollars. Just for fun, I went back to the web site and plotted the same trip, same trains and same dates and the price is now almost 1,800.00. The only special consideration is that I am a Senior (Over 62) and that's only on the rail part. Have any of you noticed this fluctuation of pricing. Just though it was kinda strange.

 

[AlanB]

Bob,

It's called demand pricing. As the demand for sleepers rises, so does the price.

Your purchase probably pushed one or perhaps both trains over a pre-set minimum occupancy level. When that happens the price for the remaining sleepers goes up. It's because of this pricing structure that it's always best to book your Amtrak tickets as soon as you possibly can.

Airlines & Hotels all use similar tiered pricing structures for selling their seats & rooms.

 

[panamaclipper]

Back in January when I was planning my March trip on Empire Builder and Texas Eagle the one way fare on the day I wanted was more than $600. But by changing the trip to leave a day later, the fare dropped below $500. The res agent said it was just a case of one train being more booked than another.

 

[LoLo]

I like to watch the price of my trip go up after I have my tickets, it makes me feel like I got a great bargain!

 

[battalion51]

I know the feeling. After I made my reservation on the Sunset I kicked the bucket, raising fares $70.

 

[AMTRAK-P42]

I love that! . I was able to watch that happen this summer for my Zephyr trip, It went up substantially after I booked it.

 

[bradkansas]

The sleeper price went down 30% a few days before my trip two weeks ago on the Zephyr. I cancelled, rebooked, and saved $100.00.

 

[Amfleet]

Here's a little bargining for you. I was booking my Florida trip for April, going down on the Silver Meteor and back on the Silver Star. I requested room #3, which the agent kindly gave me on both trains. Originally, I had #3/9711 and #3/9210 respectively. Well the total fare ended up being $846 just for one passenger! I asked if she could get me a lower fare and she went back to work. Just by moving me across to room #4 in 9210 the price dropped to $566! I was still able to retain #3/9711 on the Silver Meteor. While I prefer room #3 because you sleep facing forward in the direction of travel, room #4 will be equally fine becuase it is still in the dead center of the car, which will make for a smoother ride. I asked why it was so much less and she said that each car has a certain amount of rooms discounted and room #3/9210 wasn't one of them. The last discounted room on the Silver Star happened to be #4/9210.

 

[battalion51]

Amfleet, when do you go back north on 92?

 

[Amfleet]

Amfleet, when do you go back north on 92?

I think it's a Wednesday, sometime during late April. I forget the exact date though.