NEC fares BOS - BAL

[MARC Rider]

I'm booking a trip home from Boston in early July, and found a really wide spread of fares on the NEC.

BOS - BAL

Acela BC $87 (7,000 points) , Acela First $258 (10,320 points)
NER coach $34 (!) (4,438 points), BC $97 (3,444 points)

Aside from the really cheap coach and Acela Business class fares, what really sticks out is that buying a Northeast Regional Business Class seats with points is cheaper than buying a Northeast Regional coach seats with points. The other thing is that if you pay cash, the Acela First Class fare is about three times the price of the Acela Business class fare, whereas if you're paying in points, the First Class fare is only 1.5 times the Business Class fare. Oh, yes, another thing is that Acela business class is cheaper than Northeast Regional business class. These are for midweek trips. Things might be different on Fridays and Sundays.

I'm leaning toward buying an Acela Business class seat and using one of my upgrade coupons to ride First Class. I suspect that I won't have any problems getting a first class seat 48 hours before the trip, and if I don't, the Acela business class is comfortable enough.

My wife and I are going up to Boston (different trip) at the end of July, traveling on a Friday, and while some of the above fares are still available, the Acela business class point fare is 7,800 points, but the First Class Point fare is the same 10,320 points. A lot of the cash fares on both Acela and Northeast Regional are already in slightly higher buckets. We're taking the early Acela and riding First Class on Points. Fortunately, we're coming home midweek. I think I'm going to pay with points and use the cash savings to stay at a nicer hotel in Boston.

I'm not sure of the logic the yield management software is using to calculate these fares, but it does seem that they're trying to fill seats.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I was able to get a 12 hour ride from northern VT on the Vermonter for $74. There were several of those prices in both directions on different days. I splurged on BC going up because the coach fare was nearly double that and BC was almost sold out (snagged the last single seat). I paid the $74 for coming home and will try my 48 hour upgrade coupon to get BC.

 

[MARC Rider]

Oh, this is interesting. The app is pricing as follows:

Acela BC: $87 (just like the web page), Acela First Class $320 (!) as opposed to $258 on the web page. The point prices are the same on both the web page and the app.

Northeast Regional coach is $34, just like on the web page, but BC is $176 (!) Points on the app are the same as on the web page.

Hmm, they really need to get their act together. I like booking stuff on the app, because my e-ticket is displayed right in the app, which means I don't have to fumble around with downloading email attachments and opening pdf viewers and such, but if I'm planning to book a premium service with cash, I might want to rethink that.

 

[MARC Rider]

Oh, as I'm booking the ticket, I see that the $87 fare is a "saver." The "value fare is $157.50, and the "Flexible" fare is $336, which is more than a First Class seat (at $319.50). I usually don't see the saver fares, as I normally tend to book closer to the date of the trip.

 

[daybeers]

Only the Value fares are used to calculate point redemption values.

I've found that even though the terms and conditions say upgrade coupons aren't allowed on Saver fares, they are.

Interesting you're finding different fares on the app than the website. You sure you checked both at the same time?

They are definitely not trying to fill the budget traveler seats, as Fridays and Sundays on the NEC, the lowest Saver fares are blocked out.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Yeah, the $74 I'm seeing is the saver fare.

 

[jcastallack]

Hmm, they really need to get their act together. I like booking stuff on the app, because my e-ticket is displayed right in the app, which means I don't have to fumble around with downloading email attachments and opening pdf viewers and such, but if I'm planning to book a premium service with cash, I might want to rethink that.

Do you mean that if you book on the web the tickets don't show on the app? Because mine do.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Do you mean that if you book on the web the tickets don't show on the app? Because mine do.

I think in the early days of the app, web bookings did not so up. But they do now.