buying my ticket in stages

[dn4192]

Due to how I am paid and bills I owe, would there be any problem with buying my return ticket in stages. I am looking at taking the Penn train from Trenton to PGH. I will then take the Capital Limited from PGH to chicago, and then take the Cardinal from Chicago to Indy. I was looking at buying the PGH this weekend, then buying the CL/Cardinal tickets the following weeks. Should this be a problem?

 

[PRR 60]

Due to how I am paid and bills I owe, would there be any problem with buying my return ticket in stages. I am looking at taking the Penn train from Trenton to PGH. I will then take the Capital Limited from PGH to chicago, and then take the Cardinal from Chicago to Indy. I was looking at buying the PGH this weekend, then buying the CL/Cardinal tickets the following weeks. Should this be a problem?

The biggest issue is that your trip between Trenton and Chicago will cost a little more purchased as two tickets than if it is priced as a single trip with a connection in Pittsburgh. It is not a huge difference - about $8 - but it is a little more. Another issue, that I actually think is a non-issue, is that your three reservations will not be linked in the Amtrak system. If the Pennsylvanian is delayed such that you miss your connection with the Capitol Limited at PGH, then Amtrak will not automatically know that you are a mis-connect. However, you can call Amtrak and ask them to put a note into your records about the other reservations, and in practice, if there is a mis-connect, you will be accommodated regardless. Also, your three connections are very long, so it seems extremely unlikely that either the Pennsylvanian or the Capitol Limited would be so late that you would miss your connection in either PGH or CHI.

My suggestion would be to book your three trips in the order of the most likely to have the fares increase due to sales. In my opinion, I would book the Cardinal trip first, the Capitol Limited second, then the Pennsylvanian third. The Cardinal only runs three days a week and can quickly sell into higher fare buckets. The Capitol Limited would be the next train that I think could have fares move higher since it serves primarily the long distance market, and those travelers tend to book well in advance. The Pennsylvanian serves a lot of local passengers who are less likely to book weeks and months in advance.

 

[dn4192]

Wow...I had not priced them out individually, I just thought they would be the same price as I had priced out for the entire ticket. There is a huge difference. Like $20 on just the Penn train. Buying it by itself it's like $69, but in a package with the CL it drops to $49. I guess there is a reason why, but it is beyond me...

Well after further review we won't be buying in sections. I priced out, to buy Penn/CL as a trip is $85 with my AAA discount, to buy them sepreatly...even with discount it's $119, or $34 more. WOW...I will hold off on a bill and save the moneis and buy as one trip.

The Cardinal is the only one that doesn't cost more, it's same price in package or stand alone, so I can buy it for the $21 and then the next week get the other tix I guess....