Chicago to Sacramento with layover in Den

[hankster211]

My wife and I would like to take the Zephyr on Aug 15 from Chi~Sacramento with a one day layover in Denver to visit my daughter. the only way I know to do this online is Multi-city reservations.

With a roomette for 2 people using multi-city, the fare is $1316 (arrive Den Aug 16 and depart Den Aug 17) as opposed to $942 if we had ridden the Zephyr straight through. Does this sound right to you guys, or is this due to the online over-pricing I've been reading about on here?

 

[the_traveler]

Yes, to both questions. Each train has it's own fare, based on how many rooms are sold on each specific day on each specific date. And because there are 2 people traveling, you may be affected by the online overpricing situation. If you call an agent, you can get the correct fare for 2.

 

[Ryan]

I'll go with yes and maybe.

It's possible that the pricing issue is in play, but it's more likely that the price displayed is correct.

 

[pennyk]

I did a similar trip a few years back and I know for sure the fare that I paid for 2 segments was a few hundred dollars more than I would have paid if I had not stopped in Denver for one night. (I did not purchase the tickets on line and there was only one person in the room).

 

[MrFSS]

We have had discussions about this over the years. Basically:

A to B and B to C usually costs more than A to C.

 

[Bob Dylan]

You could also look into riding Coach from Chicago to Denver (its just an overnight trip), do your Denver layover and then book a sleeper from Denver to Sacramento! This should save you a few hundred dollars! As was said, call Amtrak and make sure you're getting the correct and best fares!

 

[hankster211]

You could also look into riding Coach from Chicago to Denver (its just an overnight trip), do your Denver layover and then book a sleeper from Denver to Sacramento! This should save you a few hundred dollars! As was said, call Amtrak and make sure you're getting the correct and best fares!

That's something I hadn't thought about................good idea.

 

[printman2000]

If I am understanding you correctly, you do not need to do a multi-city reservation. Just one reservation from Chicago to Denver, then another reservation Denver to Sacramento.

I doubt this would change your pricing, but it would eliminate using the multi-city feature. I cannot think of any advantage to using the multi-city.

 

[neroden]

Definitely make sure to make the reservations over the phone, because of the online pricing scam for rooms.

However, yes, Amtrak discounts "through" trips, so it will be more expensive to do a layover. Personally I think Amtrak provides too large a discount for end-to-end trips and that this isn't revenue-maximizing, but it's what Amtrak does.

 

[tomfuller]

Any chance you can earn/buy enough Amtrak Guest Rewards points to ride coach from CHI to DEN (one zone)? Pay for the roomette from Denver to Sacramento to earn more AGR points for a future trip..