Upgrading from coach to roomette?

[AZNovice]

I have a 30 hour leg booked where there was no Roomette available, so I booked Coach. Is there a way to get on a list to upgrade to a Roomette should one become available due to someone canceling? I'm guessing that if there is I would need to call? Any other advice about this situation? Thanks.

 

[Maglev]

There are no wait lists. Just keep checking Amtrak.com at least daily to see if there is availability due to a cancellation.

 

[TinCan782]

Keep checking availability to see if something opens up, even after you board the train.
The other, not guaranteed, is to look into Amtrak's "Bid Up" program.
https://www.amtrak.com/bidup

 

[dlagrua]

While a roomette may not be available at your boarding station , it could possibly be available at a station along the way. Not all passengers ride the entire route from end to end. I would suggest doing a search at those stations and see if anything comes up. If you call Amtrak customer service they may be able to tell you but I have never tried this.

 

[bratkinson]

As dlagrua wrote above, a roomette that you are interested in may be only partially available between your boarding/deboarding stations.

For example, you may want to travel in a roomette Chicago to Seattle. But one has already booked Chicago to Minneapolis, effectively 'blocking' a Chicago Seattle trip for that particular room.

It is not out of the question to book a room at has 1 or 2 'shorts' where you occupy a different roomette for part of the journey and switch along the way. An alert SCA would simply have you stay put and put the new passenger in your 'move to' room if OK.

About 10 years ago, to ensure I had a bed LAX-CHI that I had to rebook after a last minute cancelation in the prior leg of my trip, I ended up in 3 different rooms for my Los Angeles to Chicago trip aboard #422, the thru Sunset/Texas Eagle sleeper.

I ultimately booked LAX->ELP, ELP-> DAL, then DAL->CHI, each in a room. ELP‐>DAL was the family bedroom.

I had a bed all 3 nights. That's all I wanted. I think it was $6-700 more than I had booked originally. Any port in a storm, and all that.

 

[AZNovice]

Thanks for all of the responses. My reservation was not eligible for Bid Up but I'll check out the other suggestions.