caravanman said:
Hi folks I am fairly new to this, so please be patient!I am booking a trip from LA to Jacksonville, and the sleeper options are: Superliner Standard accomodation or Family Bedroom. Surprising to me is the fact that the family bedroom is within a few dollars of the Standard bedroom...I am imagining that if I book the family room that I will have lots more space for the same cost...is there a catch? what am I missing?
Thanks again for your advice and assistance to date! Ed :blink:
Ed,
Actually I'm not as surprised as Bill is. The family room while normally more expensive than a standard room, is always less than a deluxe bedroom. Usually there is a greater difference than what you seem to be describing, but there are several factors that can affect the price.
Here's a few reasons that the family room is typically cheaper than a deluxe room. One, it is a family room so they are trying to encourage families to travel by train, so they can't price them too high. Second, since the room holds four people, 2 adult - 2 children (with beds to match), Amtrak still gets rail fare for each person.
Three, unlike the deluxe bedroom, there is no private bathroom/shower in the family room. The standard room doesn't have a private bathroom/shower either. Four, the room is on the lower level, something that some people don't like since you must go upstairs to connect to the rest of the train.
The room is indeed much larger than a standard bedroom, but only slightly larger than a deluxe room if at all. Drawbacks to this room include, you are on the lower level, which increases track noise. You views are not as good as they are from the upper level, plus instead of the normal double window or double panes of glass side by side that other rooms have, this room only offers a single window. This cuts down on your ability to look ahead.
On the other hand, unlike other rooms the family room does have a window on each side of the train. You also have less noise from people walking by your room, like you would have on the upper level. There are three bathrooms and the public shower located at the other end of the hall on the lower level. Finally there is less sway of the car on the lower level.
One final thing to consider is the fact that this train only offers 2 family rooms. So if you are traveling during a peak period, then you could be depriving a family of that room. I would be less concerned during off peak times, like now.
You can find diagrams with measurements of the various bedrooms by clicking
here. You can also take a virtual tour of the various bedrooms, also on the Amtrak site, by clicking
here.