Holy Cow..ticket help please

[njulian]

I am going to be booking soon to take son and family on trip, It is 8 months out, but it looks like I missed a bucket or two for the return leg. The way out is ok, but the return leg is almost double. Anyway, my question is, do they ever add more cars and therefore offer a lower price after a price has gone up, or should I bite the bullet and buy now before it gets worse? Another issue..there is a possiblity my son will still be in training when we plan to go, so may need to cancel. Can that be done after tickets are paid for? This time I think I'll just print the vouchers and get the actual tickets at the station instead of have the tickets sent to me like I usually do. What would happen in this scenario?

 

[IHC]

Bite the bullet and book now before it gets worse. Then keep checking to see if the fares lower, and if they do, call and get it adjusted (they will cancel the old booking and re-book a new booking at the lower fare).

Yes, don't actually print the tickets until you travel, unless you're departing from an unstaffed station.

Coach tickets are fully refundable if you don't print the tickets, otherwise there is a 10% fee. Sleeper accomodations must be cancelled 7 days prior to the trip to get the refund, if not, you'll be given "store credit" to use later.

 

[the_traveler]

As IHC said, book now but don't print the tickets and do not have them mailed to you.

IMPORTANT - MAKE 2 RESERVATIONS! (1 for going and 1 for returning)

If you only make 1 reservation, when you print the tickets on your departure, your return tickets will also print! If there are 2 separate reservations, you can chose not to print the return tickets yet!

 

[GaSteve]

"do they ever add more cars"

No.

 

[the_traveler]

If someone cancels a room, it re-enters inventory and is sold AT THE ORIGINAL FARE THAT IT WAS BOOKED! The next room's price reverts to the current bucket. Thus, you could book a room at $600, but one day someone cancels a room that they paid $400 for. That room is offered for $400, but once it's sold, the next room is $600 (or whatever the current bucket is)! But they do not add cars.

This is the reason we suggest to keep checking! You may get lucky and call or check at the right time!

 

[darien-l]

I am going to be booking soon to take son and family on trip, It is 8 months out, but it looks like I missed a bucket or two for the return leg. The way out is ok, but the return leg is almost double. Anyway, my question is, do they ever add more cars and therefore offer a lower price after a price has gone up, or should I bite the bullet and buy now before it gets worse? Another issue..there is a possiblity my son will still be in training when we plan to go, so may need to cancel. Can that be done after tickets are paid for? This time I think I'll just print the vouchers and get the actual tickets at the station instead of have the tickets sent to me like I usually do. What would happen in this scenario?

Book now in 2 separate reservations for outbound and return. Keep checking the prices for the return -- they sometimes go down because of cancellations. If the price goes down, cancel your return and re-book. Also, if your return date is at all flexible, check the prices for +/- a day or two before you book.

 

[DivMiler]

If someone cancels a room, it re-enters inventory and is sold AT THE ORIGINAL FARE THAT IT WAS BOOKED! The next room's price reverts to the current bucket. Thus, you could book a room at $600, but one day someone cancels a room that they paid $400 for. That room is offered for $400, but once it's sold, the next room is $600 (or whatever the current bucket is)!

I wonder about that. I reserved a roomette for an accommodation fare of $192 some time ago (low bucket). Today, I checked what was available on that train. Nothing was available. I immediately canceled the reservation, and immediately checked what was available on that train. Sure enough, a roomette was available -- for an accommodation fare of $378! Please note I'm not including the rail fare in this discussion.

While it is possible that somebody canceled a $378 roomette at the same time I canceled, and somebody else bought "my" roomette at $192, but I think it unlikely.

 

[the_traveler]

If someone cancels a room, it re-enters inventory and is sold AT THE ORIGINAL FARE THAT IT WAS BOOKED! The next room's price reverts to the current bucket. Thus, you could book a room at $600, but one day someone cancels a room that they paid $400 for. That room is offered for $400, but once it's sold, the next room is $600 (or whatever the current bucket is)!

I wonder about that. I reserved a roomette for an accommodation fare of $192 some time ago (low bucket). Today, I checked what was available on that train. Nothing was available. I immediately canceled the reservation, and immediately checked what was available on that train. Sure enough, a roomette was available -- for an accommodation fare of $378! Please note I'm not including the rail fare in this discussion.

While it is possible that somebody canceled a $378 roomette at the same time I canceled, and somebody else bought "my" roomette at $192, but I think it unlikely.

As unlikely as it seems, that is what happened! That's why we warn people to book the new reservation (at the lower fare) BEFORE they cancel the original (higher fare) reservation. It is possible that between the time you cancel your room and get back to make a new reservation that the lower fare room is gone! Maybe someone just logged on and checked and saw a room was available - and grabbed it!

It's also possible that someone grabbed that room and your room - and it happened to be the last room on the train. When you go back to get the other room, it says "SOLD OUT" - there are no rooms at all on the train!

 

[PRR 60]

If someone cancels a room, it re-enters inventory and is sold AT THE ORIGINAL FARE THAT IT WAS BOOKED!

I do not think that is the case, at least not all the time. It is my experience that a cancelled, low-bucket room reservation on a sold-out train is not necessarily repriced at low bucket. With no other rooms available, in my experience, the room goes up at the top bucket. Quite frankly, if Amtrak actually sold cancelled rooms at low bucket on an otherwise sold out train, it would be one more really dumb Amtrak business practice.

I'll have a chance to test that theory in a few weeks. I am presently holding a low-bucket bedroom on an Empire Builder trip. That train is now sold out for sleepers. My plans have changed, and I can't take that trip. When I dump my bedroom back to Amtrak, it will be very interesting to see what price comes up for the room. I'm betting it is not low bucket. I'll let you know.

 

[njulian]

Thank you all..very helpful!