Roomette Charge Recalculated By The Minute

[Hytec]

This morning I booked 20/19 roomettes over Christmas. Out of curiosity I checked again and found that the roomette charge had been increased 58% from when I booked 1-1/2 hours before.

I knew Amtrak was using airline pricing algorithms, but didn’t realize that roomette charges would be recalculated minute-by-minute.

 

[Ryan]

That’s not at all surprising, and reflects how Amtrak pricing has always been done. Once you buy the last room available at a particular price point, the next person to come along will immediately see a higher price.

 

[PVD]

and the website usually says "x rooms available at this price" if the number is 1, and you buy it, the next room is logically at a higher pricepoint

 

[Lonestar648]

Amtrak, like the airlines, adjusts pricing based on demand and days to departure. You purchased two rooms months from departure, using those available in that bucket at this time. Now, when months become weeks, if sales are behind the computer expectation, pricing may drop to the next lower bucket to generate activity. Once the needed activity has been achieved the pricing goes up to one of the higher bucket levels. One reason, I use AMSNAG to monitor fares prior to purchasing. On my recent trip, I got cold feet and purchased in February. The price rose several bucket levels, then no activity on one train, suddenly the pricing fell to what I paid, three weeks before departure. Obviously, some were watching and waiting, in a few days the pricing jumped up to the higher bucket level, almost twice as much.

 

[Hytec]

and the website usually says "x rooms available at this price" if the number is 1, and you buy it, the next room is logically at a higher pricepoint

This explains why I saw "3 rooms available at this price" on my second visit, instead of the 1 available on my first visit. Thanks

 

[oregon pioneer]

I usually book at low bucket, and there always seems to be only ONE room "available at this price." Last time I booked, I asked for a different roomette than #2, and it came in at a higher price until she cancelled the original reservation and started over. She had to release the low bucket room, or it would not give me that price!

 

[dlagrua]

Amtrak, like the airlines, adjusts pricing based on demand and days to departure. You purchased two rooms months from departure, using those available in that bucket at this time. Now, when months become weeks, if sales are behind the computer expectation, pricing may drop to the next lower bucket to generate activity. Once the needed activity has been achieved the pricing goes up to one of the higher bucket levels. One reason, I use AMSNAG to monitor fares prior to purchasing. On my recent trip, I got cold feet and purchased in February. The price rose several bucket levels, then no activity on one train, suddenly the pricing fell to what I paid, three weeks before departure. Obviously, some were watching and waiting, in a few days the pricing jumped up to the higher bucket level, almost twice as much.

I would say that this is a good analysis of how Amtrak figures out its fares plus I would add that historical sales data for the train is somehow figured into the equation

 

[the_traveler]

When it says "1 available at this price", it does not necessarily mean there is only 1 seat or room left on the train. It only means there is 1 available in that bucket, however, there may be many available in the next bucket.

 

[PVD]

I can never understand why this concept seems to surprise people. It is essentially the same as airlines, cruise ships, and hotels work.