Pricing anomaly for Sunset Limited roomette fare

[Richard McCormick]

I am planning a trip to Tucson,AZ late October and am considering the 1/SL from NOL instead of 421/TE from CHI. Duration of time on the train is one main reason( about 35 hours on1/ SL vs 55 on 421/TE).Getting to have an overnight layover in NOL is another(overnight in NOL is never a bad thing). While pricing out this trip I have discovered what appears to be a pricing anomaly. The upgrade price for a roomette on 1/SL from NOL-TUS departing Monday 10/27 is $651. However, if I break the trip into two separate segments on 1/SL, NOL-SAS and then SAS-TUS the total price is only $498( $117 for NOL-SAS and $381 for SAS-TUS). That price is exactly the same as the CHI-TUS roomette upgrade on 421/TE departing CHI Sunday 10/26.

Am I missing something here? Why would I spend $651upgrade from NOL-TUS when I can save $153 by doing 2 segments of NOL-SAS and SAS-TUS for the same roomette upgrade? Hoping that some one out there has an explanation for this. Btw, I have already called 1-800 USA RAIL to confirm pricing and they confirm it but can't explain it.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

It MAY be a case of which "train" you'll be on for the SAS-TUS - #1 or #421. Just an uneducated guess.

 

[Steve4031]

You have to change cars in San Antonio.

 

[Richard McCormick]

So does that mean I would have to detrain when 1/SL arrives in SAS and wait in station or on platform for coupling procedure adding cars cut away from 421/TE to be finished before I could re-board the train?

 

[Ryan]

Yes.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Yep, Ryan beat me to it but #21.#421 usually gets to SAS around 930-1030pm and #1 arrives from NOL @ Midnight, does the switching and Leaves @ 245am for LAX.

You would be moving from the #1 Sleeper on the Front of the Train to the #421 Cutout Sleeper from ChI which will be the last car on the Train!

That's a substantial savings, you might want to go to Denny's up the street and eat while waiting, the small SAS Amshak isn't very pleasant to wait in but you can wait outside if desired! I'd take the savings myself but YMMV!

 

[the_traveler]

If youre going straight thru, either NOL-TUS on #1 or CHI-TUS on 421, you can sleep thru the stop and switching. However if you take #1 "connecting" to #421 or 421 "connecting" to #1 in SAS, you must swich cars during the middle of the night. Going east on the old schedule, #2 arrived late evening/early morning but 422/22 did not board until 6:30-7:00 am - which meant you had to wait ałl night in the station.

 

[Richard McCormick]

Thanks much to all for your prompt replies. I knew there had to be a catch to this pricing difference. Based on what has been said in the replies it sure seems like the better option is to use the 421/TE all the way from CHI-TUS since that pricing structure is the same as the NOL-SAS/SAS-TUS split segment pricing. If I am going to pay high bucket for a roomette upgrade then I would want to be able to stay on the train and sleep right through the coupling/switching procedures in SAS.

 

[henryj]

What you can do is book the roomette from NOL to Del Rio, And then book a roomette from San Antonio to Tucson. That way you can just sleep through all the switching in SAS and move to your new car and roomette once all that is finished. Just let your car host know what you are doing. I did this from Houston once as I was transferring to the Eagle and I wanted to sleep as long as I could before getting off. The train was on the old schedule back then. I tipped the car host in advance and he woke me up around 5am before the SSL left. You may even be able to book the second roomette from Del Rio to Tucson. Then you could make the transfer at Del Rio after you had breakfast.