Fare Buckets discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024

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Pleasantly surprised today when checking on roomette prices from Chicago West. I already had a reservation on the SL/TE booked in December from LA to Chicago and wanted to book the Zephyr to Davis and the San Jaoquin/bus to LA. $570 roomette in early December. Last I checked that date it was over $1000. Booked it immediately. Amazed at that huge price drop. As everyone points out, you have to manually check every day.
 
Complete Amtrak rookie. Took the Crescent 20 years ago to NYC.

Booked on the Zephyr from Chicago this Dec 10. Upgraded my reservation and got moved from 531 to 532. Prices for bedroom were $2484 in July when I booked one and were 1610 on Monday. Kind of freaking out about 532 possibly being deleted b/c the ubiquitous advice is “the earlier you book the cheaper it is.” The plummeting price has me concerned that tickets are not selling on this run.

So I am not doing all that great!

Any thoughts about the likelihood of car 532 being dropped?

Thanks!
 
Have BR on CZ 5 Dec 10. Am in car 532.
Price has dropped from $2484 (mid July what I paid) to $1610 early last week. Clearly not selling out. Is there a risk therefore that 532 might be dropped from the consist?
 
ts0293 said:
Have BR on CZ 5 Dec 10. Am in car 532.
Price has dropped from $2484 (mid July what I paid) to $1610 early last week. Clearly not selling out. Is there a risk therefore that 532 might be dropped from the consist?
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You should be good in the 532, it’s the 540 car that’s been dropped for the off season this time around
 
ts0293 said:
Have BR on CZ 5 Dec 10. Am in car 532.
Price has dropped from $2484 (mid July what I paid) to $1610 early last week. Clearly not selling out. Is there a risk therefore that 532 might be dropped from the consist?
Click to expand...
If you get on the web site and try to book again does it put you in a different car? If so, and it is priced 'low bucket', maybe you should rebook it (at the lower price) .
 
The bucket system seems to make no rhyme or reason.. On the next trip to the gathering in PHL the return fare to MET was $68 coach NER and $72 for the Acela trip booked only one hour apart mid afternoon.
As for sleeper fares on the Western routes it seems you are lucky to even hit mid bucket pricing these days. Is ridership sustainable for CHI-LAX bedroom high bucket fares of between $2500-$3500 one way?
 
The bucket system right now is designed to discourage early booking. If you want the security of a reservation made well in advance, you are going to pay through the nose for it. I used to book as soon as tickets were available 11 months out. I only JUST made my reservations for January, because that is how long it took to drop to my "pain point."

Low bucket for the trip I am making is between 37,000 and 38,000 points. I've been following prices on this cross-country itinerary (WIH to BOS) for more than a month, and here is what I found. Travel dates are across the top, query dates down the left. I booked for January 10th, on October 11th (3 months out). This is for a midwinter train that NO ONE had yet booked a roomette on! I'm sure in summer, they get booked regardless, and while this system may yield more revenue then, it's not working for winter trains as it encourages the early planners to choose alternate transportation. Prices on the chart are in points, which now seem to be worth $0.02667 each:
amtrak23.jpg
 
joelkfla said:
Don't forget -- you can always ask for an adjustment if you see the fare drop before your trip. I've never heard of Amtrak denying one, and I think it's always been back to original form of payment, not a voucher. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
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There are some instances that they will refund the difference to a voucher instead of your card, however I think it’s relatively uncommon for the average traveler
 
Sidney said:
Pleasantly surprised today when checking on roomette prices from Chicago West. I already had a reservation on the SL/TE booked in December from LA to Chicago and wanted to book the Zephyr to Davis and the San Jaoquin/bus to LA. $570 roomette in early December. Last I checked that date it was over $1000. Booked it immediately. Amazed at that huge price drop. As everyone points out, you have to manually check every day.
Click to expand...
My god it's been 3 years since I saw a fare in that bucket!! At that price its an impulse buy for me... I'll just make up a reason to go on a trip to CA!
 
Attempted to rebook lower fare on chat. Was told to call “refunds department.” The offered number was a recorded sales letter pitch for a life alert type product. Didn’t find that to be terribly friendly service.

We are elderly and I am not able to get into upper; not keen on asking the Mrs do it. This is a bucket list trip.
Looked online at changing to two bedrooms. The fare difference asked was $300. Didn’t proceed b/c I wasn’t willing to trust the system to not put the rooms in different cars.

Tried again on chat. Was told the fare difference due would be $2700 more.
Didn’t find that terribly friendly either.

So I called USA-RAIL (which I apparently should have done in the first place) and explained what the system was asking. The agent was great — it took more than 30 minutes — but I now have B and C in 532. I lost E in 531.

The price is high for two ( $2800) but I had already paid $2500 for one. Considering that if you try to book June 2 ATM, one is $3400 and two are $6400, I may have done all right for a bucket list trip, assuming 532 isn’t dropped.
 
ts0293 said:
Attempted to rebook lower fare on chat. Was told to call “refunds department.” The offered number was a recorded sales letter pitch for a life alert type product. Didn’t find that to be terribly friendly service.

We are elderly and I am not able to get into upper; not keen on asking the Mrs do it. This is a bucket list trip.
Looked online at changing to two bedrooms. The fare difference asked was $300. Didn’t proceed b/c I wasn’t willing to trust the system to not put the rooms in different cars.

Tried again on chat. Was told the fare difference due would be $2700 more.
Didn’t find that terribly friendly either.

So I called USA-RAIL (which I apparently should have done in the first place) and explained what the system was asking. The agent was great — it took more than 30 minutes — but I now have B and C in 532. I lost E in 531.

The price is high for two ( $2800) but I had already paid $2500 for one. Considering that if you try to book June 2 ATM, one is $3400 and two are $6400, I may have done all right for a bucket list trip, assuming 532 isn’t dropped.
Click to expand...
It sounds to me like you scored a great deal!!! B and C are two rooms (D and E being the others) that make a “bedroom suite” as there is a door between the two that should be unlocked for you so you can essentially have one very large room. I did this once on a long trip with relatives and we all really enjoyed the space and flexibility. One thing to note, I think you’ll find the lower bed in a bedroom is about a double bed size and can sleep two people if you don’t mind being a bit cozy. But with two beds, you’ll both have a lot of room! Also, something I always bring is a two pack of cheap doorstops that can be purchased at any hardware store (or Amazon for that matter). They are nice because they are easy to wedge around the doors to stop rattles.
I hope you have a wonderful trip.
 
ts0293 said:
Attempted to rebook lower fare on chat. Was told to call “refunds department.” The offered number was a recorded sales letter pitch for a life alert type product. Didn’t find that to be terribly friendly service.

We are elderly and I am not able to get into upper; not keen on asking the Mrs do it. This is a bucket list trip.
Looked online at changing to two bedrooms. The fare difference asked was $300. Didn’t proceed b/c I wasn’t willing to trust the system to not put the rooms in different cars.

Tried again on chat. Was told the fare difference due would be $2700 more.
Didn’t find that terribly friendly either.

So I called USA-RAIL (which I apparently should have done in the first place) and explained what the system was asking. The agent was great — it took more than 30 minutes — but I now have B and C in 532. I lost E in 531.

The price is high for two ( $2800) but I had already paid $2500 for one. Considering that if you try to book June 2 ATM, one is $3400 and two are $6400, I may have done all right for a bucket list trip, assuming 532 isn’t dropped.
Click to expand...
Don’t worry about it. They are running a 532.
 
Due to some late-changing family plans, I will find myself in Washington DC for the Christmas holiday. I was supposed to go Rochester, NY on Amtrak (from Chicago) and now have the opportunity to travel from DC to Croton-on-Hudson to spend a night with some friends there before traveling from Croton to Rochester.

I expected that given we're two months out from Christmas, I would be certainly be paying above the low bucket fares, but I wasn't expecting to see Amtrak essentially engaging in price gouging. The lowest fare for Dec. 27 in coach is $135 (value) for a train that is 40% full. Comparable 40% full trains on non-holiday dates are priced as low as $76 (saver). I'm spending about $60 more than flying non-stop from the Washington area (BWI) to Rochester.

I don't need an explanation of supply and demand, I get it. I just find it eternally frustrating that choosing the (ostensibly) more environmentally friendly form of travel is 1) more expensive and 2) the company running that form of travel is essentially actively discouraging people from using it.

Mods, feel free to move this to a different thread if appropriate.
 
rs9 said:
Due to some late-changing family plans, I will find myself in Washington DC for the Christmas holiday. I was supposed to go Rochester, NY on Amtrak (from Chicago) and now have the opportunity to travel from DC to Croton-on-Hudson to spend a night with some friends there before traveling from Croton to Rochester.

I expected that given we're two months out from Christmas, I would be certainly be paying above the low bucket fares, but I wasn't expecting to see Amtrak essentially engaging in price gouging. The lowest fare for Dec. 27 in coach is $135 (value) for a train that is 40% full. Comparable 40% full trains on non-holiday dates are priced as low as $76 (saver). I'm spending about $60 more than flying non-stop from the Washington area (BWI) to Rochester.

I don't need an explanation of supply and demand, I get it. I just find it eternally frustrating that choosing the (ostensibly) more environmentally friendly form of travel is 1) more expensive and 2) the company running that form of travel is essentially actively discouraging people from using it.

Mods, feel free to move this to a different thread if appropriate.
Click to expand...
The Northeast Corridor has been like this for a couple of years, especially around long holidays. Thanksgiving week trains are all $160. I assume they are doing the same for Christmas. On the other hand I just purchased a $25 one way fare from Boston to New York. Also Amtrak is a terrible choice for last minute travel on the NEC. Another caveat with NEC is that is almost always cheaper to fly to Baltimore or Washington D.C. from Boston than take the train.
 
Due to the change in fare structure today, it looks like all sleeper buckets are different than before. However, it seems like only the rail fare has changed. I looked at fares for a few routes and it was about $13-$25 more per bucket per person (depending on the route). It's not as crazy as re-doing the accommodation fares entirely, but it'll likely mean people will have to pay more for current buckets the future.
 
Denver to Glenwood Springs wildly expensive Roomette

For several years I have been booking a roomette to GSC. (Yes, I know it's a waste of money). Last month I paid $267 each way. Now, no matter what date I check, it's $518 each way, I have never seen that before - the prices always varied by date. I will drive.
Any thoughts on this high and rigid fare?
 
5280 Guy said:
For several years I have been booking a roomette to GSC. (Yes, I know it's a waste of money). Last month I paid $267 each way. Now, no matter what date I check, it's $518 each way, I have never seen that before - the prices always varied by date. I will drive.
Any thoughts on this high and rigid fare?
Click to expand...
From where to GSC?
Oh, I see it in the title...from Denver.
It sounds like they don't want to sell it for such a short segment, but will for the price. Is it just that particular city pair that they charge that much, or are other similar distance segments on your date, also high?
 
railiner said:
From where to GSC?
Oh, I see it in the title...from Denver.
It sounds like they don't want to sell it for such a short segment, but will for the price. Is it just that particular city pair that they charge that much, or are other similar distance segments on your date, also high?
Click to expand...
Good point. I hadn't thought of that. I'll check some other cities.
 

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