Hi Everyone - longtime lurker here but decided to make an account to finally join in; have a pricing related question someone more knowledgeable may be able to answer.
I had been eyeing a trip on the California Zephyr for next year around May/June - from DEN - EMY.
Last week was compiling things to get ready to book everything; but had to wait until this week to get some confirmations from others in my party as to who was coming, etc..
Unfortunately I should have just booked before last week as there seemingly was a price increase across the board that many were complaining about in this thread: (1) Sudden roomette price increase | Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum (amtraktrains.com)
For many dates next spring, before the price increase the lowest, or near lowest bucket(s) I was seeing was the following:
Coach 118 | Roomette 436 | Family Bedroom 1369 | Bedroom 1455
I was desperately going through days to find the previous buckets but only found it up to January 1-3 in 2022 and everything after is basically the new level below or higher; after the change last week:
Coach 118 | Roomette 794 | Family Bedroom 672 | Bedroom 1679
Of note, family bedroom is now over 100 less than a Roomette on some days. But this is where my questions arise - is this intentional or a pricing error? Logic would say a Family Bedroom would always be priced higher than a Roomette due to it being bigger. I say this because on roughly 30% of the days I was searching in the spring of next year, Family Bedroom is cheaper than the Roomettes; however 70% of days have the Roomettes cheaper than the Family Bedrooms with the exact same pricing bucket(s) except the prices are swapped (ex: Instead of Roomette 794 / Family Bedroom 672 its Roomette 672 / Family Bedroom 794). Another reason why I was suspecting it was a pricing error (maybe I am over analyzing this...) the breakdown of a Family Bedroom is listed as 188 Adult Rail Fare + 484 for Family Bedroom = 672; however, 188 and 118 are just a digit off; shouldn't it in theory be calculated as 118 (lowest coach) + 484 (room) = 602 instead? Maybe someone fat fingered entering the prices.
I ended up booking a Family Bedroom at the newer higher price instead of a Roomette(s) (argh!) Would anyone with experience and access to historical pricing or situations of this sort have any advice on:
I had been eyeing a trip on the California Zephyr for next year around May/June - from DEN - EMY.
Last week was compiling things to get ready to book everything; but had to wait until this week to get some confirmations from others in my party as to who was coming, etc..
Unfortunately I should have just booked before last week as there seemingly was a price increase across the board that many were complaining about in this thread: (1) Sudden roomette price increase | Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum (amtraktrains.com)
For many dates next spring, before the price increase the lowest, or near lowest bucket(s) I was seeing was the following:
Coach 118 | Roomette 436 | Family Bedroom 1369 | Bedroom 1455
I was desperately going through days to find the previous buckets but only found it up to January 1-3 in 2022 and everything after is basically the new level below or higher; after the change last week:
Coach 118 | Roomette 794 | Family Bedroom 672 | Bedroom 1679
Of note, family bedroom is now over 100 less than a Roomette on some days. But this is where my questions arise - is this intentional or a pricing error? Logic would say a Family Bedroom would always be priced higher than a Roomette due to it being bigger. I say this because on roughly 30% of the days I was searching in the spring of next year, Family Bedroom is cheaper than the Roomettes; however 70% of days have the Roomettes cheaper than the Family Bedrooms with the exact same pricing bucket(s) except the prices are swapped (ex: Instead of Roomette 794 / Family Bedroom 672 its Roomette 672 / Family Bedroom 794). Another reason why I was suspecting it was a pricing error (maybe I am over analyzing this...) the breakdown of a Family Bedroom is listed as 188 Adult Rail Fare + 484 for Family Bedroom = 672; however, 188 and 118 are just a digit off; shouldn't it in theory be calculated as 118 (lowest coach) + 484 (room) = 602 instead? Maybe someone fat fingered entering the prices.
I ended up booking a Family Bedroom at the newer higher price instead of a Roomette(s) (argh!) Would anyone with experience and access to historical pricing or situations of this sort have any advice on:
- Would prices potentially be "fixed" and go down to the previous buckets? Or the newer prices are now the lowest across the board?
- Is this in fact a pricing error or does this occur from time to time actually with Family Bedrooms being cheaper than Roomettes?
- Originally I was planning on buying 2 roomettes with 2 people in each before the price increase (or potentially 2 in one and 1 in the other). But now could I just get one Family Bedroom and share amongst 3-4 passengers? (Yes I know 2 of the beds are smaller but 2 in my party are below 5'. I have seen older threads where 3-4 adults were allowed in the room if open sleeper tickets were bought) - is this still allowed (3-4 total adults) in a Family Bedroom?
- If my math is correct this would have been at the old levels with 2 roomettes - (436 + 118) * 2 = 1108; which would work out to 277 per passenger if split evenly.
- The new pricing structure, however, with the Family Bedroom may work to my favor; as it can accommodate more passengers. If allowed, could I get 2, or even 3 "Open Sleeper" tickets with the Family Bedroom for 672 + (3*118) = 1026 which would work out to 256.5 per passenger if split evenly. Even though the price would have gone up effectively at least in my case I'd be saving money per passenger.
- Finally, I noticed that when I bought my Family Bedroom the price breakdown was "Family Bedroom" 484.00 and "Adult Rail Fare" was 188.00 for a total of 672 which was the quoted price for the room. Would Open Sleeper tickets be 188 or 118 (Lowest coach fare). Does the price of Open Sleeper Tickets change over time or are they locked to the lowest fare bucket of coach, even if its no longer available at time of purchase over the phone?
