Yesterday (Tuesday 9/19) we went from Freeport, Maine, to Boston on the Downeaster, and then to Albany on 449, a trip we had booked several weeks in advance. The weather in Maine was awful on Monday, with up to four inches of rain predicted in some areas Monday night. So sometime late Monday I got to wondering whether we'd need a Plan B in case we encountered flooded or washed-out roads, as we have a couple of other times this summer, and needed to take a later Downeaster, missing the connection to 449.
One option would be an Acela to New York and a corridor train to Albany, which actually because of higher speeds does not take that much longer than 449 from Boston to Albany, even though the mileage is nearly double.
To my surprise, I found several afternoon Acela departures from BOS to NYP at the $58 fare bucket, which normally is only available only if one books weeks in advance. There also were a couple of NER trains for $31(?), another discounted fare that usually disappears in the last couple of weeks before departure. Similar fares also were available for a number of the next day's departures. Based on my experiences of the past few years, I hadn't expected to find anything available for less than $100 to $150 except perhaps for very early-morning or late-night departures with poor/nonexistent connections.
Has anyone else noticed Amtrak adjusting its yield-management strategy to allow more low-bucket fares for last-minute bookings in the Northeast?
