Bizarre Pricing

[Konrad]

Yesterday I made a booking LAX to NYP for 10 March 2009 (we plan ahead). My partner will be travelling solo and generally uses the downstairs shower even when we always take a bedroom so I thought I'd save some cash by booking roomettes on the SWC and the Cardinal.

Having more time on my hands than is really healthy I experimented with a few route and fare combinations before confirming the booking.

The upshot was that the trip using bedrooms for the three nights was going to cost almost $1700, three nights in roomettes was $1121 and (here's the weird bit) a bedroom on the SWC and a roomette on the Cardinal came in at $1115! :blink:

So all the room of the bedroom for two days came in $6 cheaper than a roomette. And bedroom E at that!

I'm following two weeks later using the SWC and CL + Regional. Bedrooms all the way to Washington for $1024. Bedroom E again.

Amtrak doesn't deserve to make a profit with crazy pricing like thei (but I'm not complaining).

Just hope the connections in Chicago work out - hate to be rebooked onto the LSL in coach.

AND is there any possibility that Amtrak will ever give real seat reservations instead of the usual bun-fight that occurs when boarding in Washington or New York. Even the Acela doesn't have allocated seats.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Ah, the many mysteries of the bucket system. Where's a crystal ball when you really need it?

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

I bet I would consider the extra length of the lower berth in the roomette worth an extra $6 if I were booking that itinerary.

 

[Konrad]

I bet I would consider the extra length of the lower berth in the roomette worth an extra $6 if I were booking that itinerary.

Short and not too light here - I just love the width of the bedroom lower berth. On the other hand I sleep better in a longitudinal berth than a transverse berth.

 

[printman2000]

Look back and you will find several posts from me with weird pricing issues.

It seems as roomettes fo on the SWC, there is only one available at the lowest bucket, then the price shoots WAY UP. From Lamy to Chicago, the low bucket is $220, then the next available price is $456.

The lowest bucket for a bedroom is $465 (which I think there is only one at that rate) so if you do not get the bottom roomette bucket, you can get the bottom bedroom bucket for only $9 more.

I have alreay booked our tickets for next June/July and we ended up getting a roomette and a bedroom (4 of us) because of this.

 

[Rail Freak]

Yesterday I made a booking LAX to NYP for 10 March 2009 (we plan ahead). My partner will be travelling solo and generally uses the downstairs shower even when we always take a bedroom so I thought I'd save some cash by booking roomettes on the SWC and the Cardinal.
Having more time on my hands than is really healthy I experimented with a few route and fare combinations before confirming the booking.

The upshot was that the trip using bedrooms for the three nights was going to cost almost $1700, three nights in roomettes was $1121 and (here's the weird bit) a bedroom on the SWC and a roomette on the Cardinal came in at $1115! :blink:

So all the room of the bedroom for two days came in $6 cheaper than a roomette. And bedroom E at that!

I'm following two weeks later using the SWC and CL + Regional. Bedrooms all the way to Washington for $1024. Bedroom E again.

Amtrak doesn't deserve to make a profit with crazy pricing like thei (but I'm not complaining).

Just hope the connections in Chicago work out - hate to be rebooked onto the LSL in coach.

AND is there any possibility that Amtrak will ever give real seat reservations instead of the usual bun-fight that occurs when boarding in Washington or New York. Even the Acela doesn't have allocated seats.

What's special about bedroom E?

 

[MrFSS]

Yesterday I made a booking LAX to NYP for 10 March 2009 (we plan ahead). My partner will be traveling solo and generally uses the downstairs shower even when we always take a bedroom so I thought I'd save some cash by booking roomettes on the SWC and the Cardinal.
Having more time on my hands than is really healthy I experimented with a few route and fare combinations before confirming the booking.

The upshot was that the trip using bedrooms for the three nights was going to cost almost $1700, three nights in roomettes was $1121 and (here's the weird bit) a bedroom on the SWC and a roomette on the Cardinal came in at $1115! :blink:

So all the room of the bedroom for two days came in $6 cheaper than a roomette. And bedroom E at that!

I'm following two weeks later using the SWC and CL + Regional. Bedrooms all the way to Washington for $1024. Bedroom E again.

Amtrak doesn't deserve to make a profit with crazy pricing like thei (but I'm not complaining).

Just hope the connections in Chicago work out - hate to be rebooked onto the LSL in coach.

AND is there any possibility that Amtrak will ever give real seat reservations instead of the usual bun-fight that occurs when boarding in Washington or New York. Even the Acela doesn't have allocated seats.

What's special about bedroom E?

Closer to the center of the car, near the stairs, near the coffee. Other people in a room only one one side of you instead of both sides.