How to get the best sleeper prices with fixed travel dates......

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What is the best way to get sleeper accommodations relatively cheaply if one's travel dates are fixed? I know that for instance, AmSnag works well if your dates are flexible. Also, do sleeper fares vary by route (in other words, is it easier to book a room on the Southwest Chief or Empire Builder than, say, on the Silver Meteor or Crescent)?
 
What is the best way to get sleeper accommodations relatively cheaply if one's travel dates are fixed? I know that for instance, AmSnag works well if your dates are flexible. Also, do sleeper fares vary by route (in other words, is it easier to book a room on the Southwest Chief or Empire Builder than, say, on the Silver Meteor or Crescent)?
Since you're already locked into specific dates you'll need to leverage the route/origin/destination instead. You can also leverage the purchase date but unless you've been watching fares for a given city pair over an extended period it can be difficult to anticipate how prices might fluctuate and when.
 
Use AmSnag to monitor desired route and dates. If you sign up for email updates the site will alert you to changes. I found fares, especially the sleepers, would fluctuate based on activity and closeness to departure. For me, i watched the fares for a while then when I felt the fares would go no lower for this travel time, I purchased. Immediately after the rates increased, but three weeks before, they dropped, but not lower than I purchased. There are approximately 5 bucket levels in the sleepers. Do a 30 day search around the dates you want to travel to get an idea of what to expect.
 
Book early. As in, as soon as you know you are going to make the trip. Often you can catch the low bucket just by doing so. If not, set up a fare watch on AmSnag and rebook if any fare decreases come across the table. If the sleeper price is too high but you still want to make the trip, book coach and, again, set up a fare watch on AmSnag. If there is a bucket drop into your price range, rebook and snag it. Worked for me on my Railfan Madness Part 1 trip in March 2015....
 
Also, do sleeper fares vary by route (in other words, is it easier to book a room on the Southwest Chief or Empire Builder than, say, on the Silver Meteor or Crescent)?
Yes, sleeper fares do indeed vary by route as shown below:

4 May 2017 Amtrak Fare Buckets.jpg

And the pricing structure shown above changes periodically - but there's no real way of knowing when.
 
The sleeper prices are most definitely NOT fixed by date. Also booking early is no longer the best option. I also find that Amsnag Fare Watch is not reliable. Sometimes it notifies me of changes that Amtrak does not reflect and sometimes it misses changes that Amtrak does post. My practice is to check Amtrak itself OFTEN for the trip and date that I desire. More often than not I do in fact buy my desired trip at a cheaper fare than originally offered.
 
I think buying early gives the best chance of getting a good fare. I have not tried AmSnag, but I watched the fares on Amtrak's website when I bought tickets nine months in advance, and did not see them go down. If they had, I would have called Amtrak to have my reservation "modified" to the lower fare.
 
I've seen rooms start out at high-bucket, so booking early doesn't always guarantee a low-cost ticket.

While booking holiday travel on the SWC six years in a row, I noticed the rooms would generally open up at a fairly high cost and then dip after a couple of months. Then they'd fluctuate, depending on demand/cancellations. I checked the prices every week, and as it got closer to autumn, I'd check every day.

Unfortunately, this backfired on me one year. I waited until mid-September to book for Christmas, and the rooms were completely sold out. Despite checking multiple times per day, every day, between late September and twenty minutes before departure, we were stuck in coach on the trip from CHI to ABQ. :p Luckily, we were able to get a room for the return trip.
 
I've seen rooms start out at high-bucket, so booking early doesn't always guarantee a low-cost ticket.

While booking holiday travel on the SWC six years in a row, I noticed the rooms would generally open up at a fairly high cost and then dip after a couple of months. Then they'd fluctuate, depending on demand/cancellations. I checked the prices every week, and as it got closer to autumn, I'd check every day.

Unfortunately, this backfired on me one year. I waited until mid-September to book for Christmas, and the rooms were completely sold out. Despite checking multiple times per day, every day, between late September and twenty minutes before departure, we were stuck in coach on the trip from CHI to ABQ. :p Luckily, we were able to get a room for the return trip.
See, that's the thing, Sarah. Booking early does NOT guarantee you a low-cost bucket...but it DOES guarantee you a room! And, at least as the rules presently stand, there is no downside as you can always rebook into a lower bucket if the price does drop. If the current bucket is out of your price range, again, book coach and check to see if a lower-bucket room becomes available at some point...if it does, grab it!
 
I appreciate all the input.

I don't have any future Amtrak trips planned at this point, but any trips I would take will most likely have fixed dates. So is the strategy to book a coach seat or room as far in advance as possible and then ask to book a cheaper room if it becomes available?
 
I suggest using the Bucket chart posted above to see where the fares are for the specific day(s) you want to travel. If you are 9 months out with fares in the high bucket range, set up in AmSnag so you get alerts on changes, but personally, I check almost daily as well because some drops last just 24 or 48 hours. Knowing where you are in the buckets is important. Now if you are low bucket when you start looking, then I would suggest purchasing. I only focus on the sleeper rooms, found a bedroom a couple times only a few dollars more than the roomette. Unfortunately, it takes some work to get the lowest fares, but if you get them, it is worth the time.
 
I suggest using the Bucket chart posted above to see where the fares are for the specific day(s) you want to travel. If you are 9 months out with fares in the high bucket range, set up in AmSnag so you get alerts on changes, but personally, I check almost daily as well because some drops last just 24 or 48 hours. Knowing where you are in the buckets is important. Now if you are low bucket when you start looking, then I would suggest purchasing. I only focus on the sleeper rooms, found a bedroom a couple times only a few dollars more than the roomette. Unfortunately, it takes some work to get the lowest fares, but if you get them, it is worth the time.
If I saw the fares were high bucket when I started checking, my conclusion would be that the train is going to sell out and I better buy soon if I can afford it.
 
I suggest using the Bucket chart posted above to see where the fares are for the specific day(s) you want to travel. If you are 9 months out with fares in the high bucket range, set up in AmSnag so you get alerts on changes, but personally, I check almost daily as well because some drops last just 24 or 48 hours. Knowing where you are in the buckets is important. Now if you are low bucket when you start looking, then I would suggest purchasing. I only focus on the sleeper rooms, found a bedroom a couple times only a few dollars more than the roomette. Unfortunately, it takes some work to get the lowest fares, but if you get them, it is worth the time.
If I saw the fares were high bucket when I started checking, my conclusion would be that the train is going to sell out and I better buy soon if I can afford it.
When I booked my most recent trip, I started looking in November, shocked to find the fares over $2800. I waited, set up a fare watch, checked Amtrak several times a week. Then, in January, the fares dropped on two of five parts of my trip. I waited, hoping for the others to drop before those that dropped rose. Mid-February, two more dropped, but one increased slightly, so I purchased at just over $2,000. By being diligent checking regularly, knowing the buckets, I saved just over $800. As the months went on the fares went up and down but never lower than what I had purchased.
 
Sometimes that happens. Other times it sells out and you get left out.

It’s really a personal decision based on how much you are willing to spend, and how much you must be on that particular train.

The knowledge you need to make that educated decision is out there. Figure out the price tiers and purchase when an acceptable price presents itself. If there is a chance that it will go lower, continue to monitor and take advantage whenever the opportunity presents itself.
 
The following is a six month summary of AmSnag Version 1 fare watch emails. These emails do not report increases or when a sleeper becomes sold out. They only report fare decreases or when a sleeper becomes available again.

AmSnag Fare Watchetsb.jpg

Colored boxes were added to make it easier to separate the different sleepers. The History related to your Fare Watch in Version 1 of AmSnag shows all four of the possible changes. Don't know anything about Version 2.
 
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I appreciate all the input.

I don't have any future Amtrak trips planned at this point, but any trips I would take will most likely have fixed dates. So is the strategy to book a coach seat or room as far in advance as possible and then ask to book a cheaper room if it becomes available?
I understand, but just mentioning I kind of do the opposite. I usually have a date range in mind with at least a little flexibility (a couple of days each way, sometimes more). Since being able to take Amtrak is a major consideration, and I won't pay the top two buckets at the very least, I try to find the specific travel days within my window that work best. If none do, I'll keep trying for awhile, but otherwise will make other plans (fly, drive) if I have to make the trip in that specific window.

As a general rule, since you don't have specific plans in mind, it is really best to have at least a little wiggle room to take major Amtrak trips. One day can make hundreds of dollars of difference (or not). I usually book roughly 6 months in advance usually.
 
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I appreciate all the input. I don't have any future Amtrak trips planned at this point, but any trips I would take will most likely have fixed dates. So is the strategy to book a coach seat or room as far in advance as possible and then ask to book a cheaper room if it becomes available?
Yes, the strategy is to focus exclusively on when you buy your tickets and not when or where you're going with those tickets. That's what everyone else seems to do so it must be working great for them. :lol:
 
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