Auto Train and Amsnag

[Hanno]

I was looking at Amsnag to check into a trip north on the Auto Train leaving Sanford on 3/19 and noticed sleeping accomodations are listed as NA. Does anyone know what this means? It is different from SO as other dates clearly show certain accomodations as being sold out.

 

[PaulM]

I checked Amtrak.com for SFA to LOR on 3/19, and no sleeping car options appeared, only coach seats. I also noticed Amsnag showed NA for LOR to SFA on 2/24. Again Amtrak.com showed no sleeping car option.

Amsnag does what is called screen scraping; i.e., it simulates a browser submission and instead of displaying the results on the screen, reads the page into a text file. The information is dug out of the text based on certain key phrases, usually HTML tags. For example, coach fares are located just beyond the "add to cart" image. I forget what it looks for when it comes to sleeper prices; but if it doesn't find them, it assumes it's an all coach train, thus NA.

Note: the format of the Auto Train page is different than that the others, which caused a bug originally. Someone was kind enough to do the QA for me.

As far as why sleepers are not offered on the specific trip you mentioned, you will have to check with Amtrak.

 

[navybanker]

I believe NA means Not Available -- any Northbound run in March is likely to sell out well in advance -- and this close to a Feb. 24 run is also likely to be sold out.

 

[dlagrua]

The AutoTrain experiences heavy bookings. They are typically sold out months in advance so your data is probably correct. Best to book 6-11 months ahead. The snowbirds start coming North March for the start of spring so passenger traffic will be high during that period. Although the train is 3/4 mile long and carries more sleeper cars, it appears that you are S.O.L.

 

[PaulM]

I believe NA means Not Available -- any Northbound run in March is likely to sell out well in advance -- and this close to a Feb. 24 run is also likely to be sold out.

No, no. NA stands for "not applicable" as in a coach only train. As I said, the Auto Train page is different; so it is always possible that a lack of a sleeper option means "sold out". But all other trains' pages will say sold out. Similarly, if a train is completely sold out, it will say "sold out train", not simply not appear.

 

[Hanno]

I believe NA means Not Available -- any Northbound run in March is likely to sell out well in advance -- and this close to a Feb. 24 run is also likely to be sold out.

No, no. NA stands for "not applicable" as in a coach only train. As I said, the Auto Train page is different; so it is always possible that a lack of a sleeper option means "sold out". But all other trains' pages will say sold out. Similarly, if a train is completely sold out, it will say "sold out train", not simply not appear.

Paul, thanks for helping to understand how Amsnag works. It is a great tool and many, including me, really appreciate having it available. So the question becomes why does the Amtrak website not show any options other than coach for 3/19?

Any thoughts or input from anyone?

 

[Ryan]

The AutoTrain experiences heavy bookings. They are typically sold out months in advance so your data is probably correct. Best to book 6-11 months ahead. The snowbirds start coming North March for the start of spring so passenger traffic will be high during that period. Although the train is 3/4 mile long and carries more sleeper cars, it appears that you are S.O.L.

There's plenty of availability around the dates that Hanno is looking. 9 out of the first 30 days in March are sold out, the other 21 days have room availability of some type.

I believe NA means Not Available -- any Northbound run in March is likely to sell out well in advance -- and this close to a Feb. 24 run is also likely to be sold out.

No, no. NA stands for "not applicable" as in a coach only train. As I said, the Auto Train page is different; so it is always possible that a lack of a sleeper option means "sold out". But all other trains' pages will say sold out. Similarly, if a train is completely sold out, it will say "sold out train", not simply not appear.

Paul, thanks for helping to understand how Amsnag works. It is a great tool and many, including me, really appreciate having it available. So the question becomes why does the Amtrak website not show any options other than coach for 3/19?

Any thoughts or input from anyone?

I think that they're just forgetting to apply the "Bedrooms sold out" tag in place of the button. Look at 3.2.11, which AmSnag lists as "SO/NA/SO" - where the "Buy Rooms" button is supposed to be, it lists the message that "Bedrooms Sold Out" (where "bedrooms" must mean all sleeping accommodations").

 

[PaulM]

I think that they're just forgetting to apply the "Bedrooms sold out" tag in place of the button.

That is as good a guess as any. Although in this case the program looks for the actual words "Bedrooms sold out", not a tag.

Look at 3.2.11, which AmSnag lists as "SO/NA/SO" - where the "Buy Rooms" button is supposed to be, it lists the message that "Bedrooms Sold Out"

This case is different than the OP's since "Bedrooms sold out" does show up. In this case, the words "Family Bedroom" won't appear anywhere on the page. That's how Amsnag distinguishes a superliner from a viewliner train. So it doesn't know what type of train it is; i.e., whether the family room is SO or NA. So here is an exception to my earlier statement: when all sleeping accommodations are sold out, NA in the Family Rm column stands for "Not Available", which could be sold out or not applicable.

I (where "bedrooms" must mean all sleeping accommodations").

That's correct. Not to be confused with seats sold out, all other options sold out (bedrooms + lower level seats), and sold out train.

 

[Ryan]

OK, that makes sense then (I think). When the rooms are all sold out and Amtrak replaces the "Buy Rooms" button with the "Bedrooms sold out" text (they do just put the text there where the button would be), you'll get SO/NA/SO. When they're all sold out, but Amtrak just removes the button without adding the text, Amsnag reads that as "NA/NA/NA".

 

[Andythefox]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I was using Amsnag to look at Auto Train fares for 6/17/16 on 53 and 6/25/16 coming back on 52. Amsnag only shows fares for one person (we are a family of two adults and two children). It also lists roomettes that are quite cheaper than the regular posted fare. Would I have to make a reservation as a party of one in both directions and then call to add everyone else (plus a second roomette in both directions), or does anyone know how to manipulate the number of riders? If I do call, will they honor the fares that Amsnag is grabbing for me, or will they try to charge me the regular posted fare?

We have rode the Auto Train approximately 16 times in the past 6 years but this is the first time I have known about Amsnag before booking.

Thank you in advance,

Andy

 

[Ryan]

Amsnag is nothing more than a website that reaches out and queries Amtrak's website.

The roomette fare you're seeing is just the accommodation charge, you need to add a pair of railfares to get the total fare.

 

[dlagrua]

Amsnag lists the accomodation and coach seat costs separately but what is confusing is that at times the cost of the sleepers on the fare finder page does not equals the sleeper fare on Amtrak.com . This could be a glitch on Amtraks site because Amsnag only gathers information already posted. Whatever the case, Paul has contributed an excellent resource for raIl passengers and deserves our sincerest thanks.