railpass and sleepers question

[sutton8596]

Well, I know it's far in advance...

I'll be doing the North American pass NEXT October (I can't this October cuz I'm in the Middle East); I've been noticing the high prices on the sleepers on the Internet. I tried putting in dates for next year, and of course, the standard bedroom is much cheaper. SO..I would like to book far in advance, which it will let me do, soon. THE PROBLEM: I'm going to be upgrading from coach since the railpass pays for the coach portion only. Should I take a chance and try to get a sleeper at the time, day of the trip, from the attendant? Or pay ahead of time?

I know it depends on availability, but since Oct/Nov aren't times of heavy passenger loads (except on select routes), will I likely be able to deal with the attendant and cut a deal?

Just needing opinions and info. Thanks, guys.

 

[Steve4031]

You cannot book the sleeper space until you have paid for the pass. However, if you bought the pass far in advance, you should be able to purchase sleepers for each part of the trip that you want to. Thus you could spread the cost out over a period of time. Check with a live Amtrak agent before you do that, of course.

Make sure that you go on the Canadian accross Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. This is included in the pass, and is one of the best train trips in the world. Be sure to go in a sleeper, lower berth or single bedroom. It will be expensive, but meals are included, as well as access to the Park observation car. The sleeper have showers too.

Good luck and stay safe over their.

 

[Trogdor]

You can't "cut a deal" with the attendant. Amtrak has strict rules regarding on-board sleeper sales, and it is up to the conductor, not the car attendant, to sell you the upgrade.

As of June, the pricing policy has been to charge the lowest fare level for on-board sales. This means that if you book very far in advance (and since you already pretty much know your plans, you could do it as soon as the sales become available, which is 330 days before the date of travel), you will pay the same fare as if you gambled and tried doing the on-board upgrade.

 

[jccollins]

As of June, the pricing policy has been to charge the lowest fare level for on-board sales.

Really? I know that it did change in June, but I remember that it used to be half of the middle bucket fare, which was quite cheaper than the lowest fare. Can anyone else confirm the new onboard upgrade fare policy? If this is true it is quite an incentive to book early instead of waiting to upgrade at an even lower fare.

 

[sutton8596]

Thanks for the advice, guys, and thanks, Steve, for the thought. Fortunately, I'm in Dubai, in the UAE, not only a safe haven, but very interesting. No trains, though

I'll hang on and see if anyone can verify the new policy. If that's the case, I'll go ahead and book now; hopefully, there'll be no problem getting the pass this far out.

Scott

 

[battalion51]

JC is correct.

 

[Trogdor]

Here's what I saw posted in early June:

CHANGES TO ON-BOARD SLEEPER SALES PROCESS
DUE TO HIGH DEMAND AND LIMITED AVAILABILITY, THE PRICE FOR

ON-BOARD SLEEPER UPGRADES WILL BE CALCULATED USING A NEW,

SIMPLER METHOD THAT WILL RESULT IN HIGHER REVENUE YIELDS.

EFFECTIVE JUNE 15, 2004 AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, CONDUCTORS

WILL COLLECT THE *PUBLISHED* D-LEVEL ACCOMMODATION CHARGE

FROM PASSENGERS WHO WISH TO UPGRADE ON BOARD THE TRAIN,

BASED UPON SPACE AVAILABILITY.

IN CASES WHERE A PASSENGER IS UPGRADING FROM A SMALL SLEEPER

TO A LARGE SLEEPER (E.G., STANDARD TO DELUXE), AND THE ACCOM

CHARGE ORIGINALLY PAID FOR THE SMALL SLEEPER IS GREATER THAN

THE D-LEVEL CHARGE FOR THE LARGE SLEEPER, THE PASSENGER MAY

UPGRADE TO THE LARGER ROOM FOR NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

-source: AMTRAK

I do not know if "further notice" has been given.