Room upgrade on the train

[PJnVA]

Is it possible to upgrade your room type once you have boarded? I have a r/t CHI-LAX AGR reservation in a roomette but would really like a bedroom. If there are is still a bedroom available when I board can I upgrade my room? If this is a possibility what is the procedure and possible cost?

Thank you.

 

[reefgeek]

1343569962[/url]' post='383431']Is it possible to upgrade your room type once you have boarded? I have a r/t CHI-LAX AGR reservation in a roomette but would really like a bedroom. If there are is still a bedroom available when I board can I upgrade my room? If this is a possibility what is the procedure and possible cost?

Thank you.

AFAIK, it doesn't make any sense to do it. When you upgrade roomette to bedroom, you have to pay the difference between the two. Since an AGR roomette is valued at what you paid for it, zero, you then must pay the full price of the bedroom.

 

[PJnVA]

AFAIK, it doesn't make any sense to do it. When you upgrade roomette to bedroom, you have to pay the difference between the two. Since an AGR roomette is valued at what you paid for it, zero, you then must pay the full price of the bedroom.

Thanx for the reply reefgeek. That's a bummer. I was hoping it would be possible if a bedroom were available at time of travel. I was looking at it from the perspective of Amtrak thinking it is better to get some of my money than none of my money at no additional cost to them. Maybe my logic is flawed :blush:

 

[Big Iron]

You have to decide if it makes financial sense or not. If so, I would ask the SCA if there are bedrooms available in his/her car and the other cars. If there are I would suggest asking the SCA to get with the Conductor when it makes sense to work out an upgrade. There are many threads in this forum about the reluctance of conductors to process upgrades so having a crew member work on your behalf may help.

I suggest this because that is what I did on the CL and the SCA agreed to talk with the Conductor when she finished getting everyone in her car settled in. I did not use AGR on this trip and the SCA said the cost would be around $75.00 to $150.00. I decided to stay in my roomette as the bedroom was in another car and I have had this SCA before and she was wonderful so I decided to stay put and enjoy her fine service.

If the SCA does get this accomplished then you should provide a generous tip.

Likely other members will chime in on there success, or lack thereof, of obtaining an on-board upgrade.

EDIT: Since I did not go for the upgrade I did not find out the final cost or if the Conductor was willing to process. The SCA made it sound promising though.

 

[Ispolkom]

I was looking at it from the perspective of Amtrak thinking it is better to get some of my money than none of my money at no additional cost to them. Maybe my logic is flawed :blush:

Rationality from AGR? Not likely.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

That's a bummer. I was hoping it would be possible if a bedroom were available at time of travel.

Maybe the correct thing to do, is to "charge" you the AGR point difference between a roomette and a bedroom, if someone with an AGR booking wants to upgrade on the train.

This way, you aren't attempting to mix "points" with cash. I am sure if one attempted to do that, there would be unexpected problems like do you get AGR points for the bedroom, and if so, only for the additional cash you spent to upgrade.

 

[AlanB]

I was looking at it from the perspective of Amtrak thinking it is better to get some of my money than none of my money at no additional cost to them. Maybe my logic is flawed :blush:

Rationality from AGR? Not likely.

This is one time you don't get to knock AGR. Sorry!

This has nothing to do with AGR. Amtrak has decided that a room paid for with points has no value in the system, even though AGR is actually paying Amtrak for that room.

 

[AlanB]

1343569962[/url]' post='383431']Is it possible to upgrade your room type once you have boarded? I have a r/t CHI-LAX AGR reservation in a roomette but would really like a bedroom. If there are is still a bedroom available when I board can I upgrade my room? If this is a possibility what is the procedure and possible cost?

Thank you.

AFAIK, it doesn't make any sense to do it. When you upgrade roomette to bedroom, you have to pay the difference between the two. Since an AGR roomette is valued at what you paid for it, zero, you then must pay the full price of the bedroom.

You are correct, it makes no sense to do an onboard upgrade from a roomette to a Bedroom, when you've used points to pay for that room. Since you get no credit for the roomette towards the upgrade, you are just throwing away your points to do an upgrade.

Normally, if one paid for the roomette, then it can be quite a bargain to do an onboard upgrade to a Bedroom.

 

[PJnVA]

Thank you all for your feedback. I will be happy with my FREE roomette courtesy of AGR.

 

[Ispolkom]

This is one time you don't get to knock AGR. Sorry!

Knock AGR? Me? I love AGR! It's my favorite frequent-traveler program, and I've gotten much more value out of AGR than any other program I've ever belonged to. God knows I belong to a lot of them.

In any case, this is all fairly hypothetical, since I have, in 30 years of riding Amtrak, only once seen an actual on-train sleeper upgrade, while I've seen and endured any number of refusals. I used to think that upgrades were mythical, like the jackalope, but now I consider them more like the king of herrings, deep and mysterious.

 

[amamba]

The cockamouse is another awesome mythical creature, Ispolkom!

 

[Ana]

I used to think that upgrades were mythical, like the jackalope, but now I consider them more like the king of herrings, deep and mysterious.

I don't mean to derail (ha!) the original topic but those jackalopes sure did confuse me on my california zephyr trip recently. They were mentioned in my guide! I thought they sounded made up but they were in the guide! I was so confused.

I did not see any

If you guys come to australia you need to watch out for drop bears.