i'm planning to upgrade onboard for my entire cross-country trip, except for the empire builder. would love to hear the scoop on what experiences others have had. specifically:

- when is a good time to ask the conductor for the upgrade?
- what's the lowest you've paid for a roomette? for a bedroom?
- what other routes frequently sell out?
- what form of payment is preferred/easier?

This topic could be interesting. I wonder if there is a minimum charge for sleepers? I imagine that one could get a low price from the conductor/assistant, but would it be any lower than the lowest price available on the internet? Can conductors make up a price, or are they set?
Ed

I'm not real sure about the best time to ask, but I'd guess that it would be as the conductor comes around to collect your ticket. I suppose that if you see him/her on the platform while boarding you could quickly mention something, but don't expect anything to happen right then as they have many other things to worry about at that point.

The lowest price would be determined by what route and what distance you are planning to travel. So there is no easy way to answer that question. If you look in the back of the Amtrak Timetable for the table that lists sample fares, you should pay the lowest amount shown for a roomette or a bedroom for that train between the city pairs that are listed and most closely mirror your boarding and departure stations.

The conductor cannot make up the fare on his own, so unless he/she makes a mistake, you'll pay close to what's in that table. You'll never get a lower fare from the internet than what you'd pay onboard. It could however be the same fare if you've booked early enough. I'd imagine that the conductor would most prefer a credit card, but they certainly can take cash if you like.

Sellouts can occur on any route and during the holidays and summer months occurs on most routes. During the rest of the year, the Lake Shore and the Empire Builder seem to be semi-regular sellouts. Additionally the Silver Service trains often run on the full side for most of the year, but especially during the semi-annual snow birds migration.

so the first example would be the westbound southwest chief, boarding in KCY through to LAX. the timetable says the lowest roomette between LAX and KCY is $275. does that mean i'll never get a better deal? amtrak.com currently states $374 on 2/16/07 for that city pair. also, could i upgrade on the second night only, say, in flagstaff?

That is correct Dave, you won't get a better price than that $275, unless someone makes a mistake during the onboard upgrade process or if it takes the conductor several stops to get it done.

And yes, assuming that there are still rooms available by Flagstaff, then one could upgrade from there for the second night at a price of $114 for a roomette.

If you want to upgrade in middle of journey, the best chance would be when a lot of passengers deboarding the train at major station, like Albuquerque, then more rooms will be available. Again, it's gambling.

April of `05 I Boarded the Silver Star in D.C.
After initially being re-seated no less than 7 times by a female conductor who evidently was trying to acheive feng shui in our coach, I inquired about the availability of a sleeper. 15 minutes later another conductor came through the train announcing sleepers were available.
I whipped out cash and paid $125.00 for a Viewliner Sleeper compartment all the way to Deerfield Beach, Fla.
What might have been a horrible 23 hours in coach turned into the best sleeping car experience I have had to date.

Yes, and the gamble might involve more people getting on in Albuquerque that already have tickets for the sleeper.

I began riding Amtrak regularly in January 2003. I take the Texas Eagle, Lakeshore Ltd, Capitol Ltd, and the Crescent to get to Houston, TX several times a year.
For the last couple of years I have always traveled in a reserved roomette. But on my first few trips with Amtrak I traveled in coach. On all of these trips, I attempted to upgrade to a roommette. I asked the conductor when he came around collecting tickets if there were any roomettes available.
He always said he would check and get back to me. In each case, the conductor never returned with an answer. This happened on about 12 different trips in 2003 & 2004. I was never, ever able to upgrade on any trip. I of course asked repeatedly, and no one ever came back with an answer.So, I now just reserve a roommette. I'm glad other had better luck than me.


Bill

I have three upgrade attempts:

1. Cardinal October 2004 Washington to Chicago - Asked the conductor to upgrade during ticket lift in Washington, DC. He said he would get back to me and never returned to let me know if there was space available. Later I asked him at his desk in the dinnette and he said there was no space available.

2. Lake Shore Limited April 2005 New York City to Chicago - Asked the conductor to upgrade when she lifted tickets while we waited for departure from Penn Station. She said she believed there were a few spaces available and that I was first in line, as I was the first person to ask for an upgrade. Two people after me also asked. She came back about 10 minutes later explaining that there were two spaces available and that they would go to the first and second people to ask for them. I paid the $150 price with my credit card and was politely escorted through the train to the sleeper where I was introduced to the sleeper attendant who made me comfortable.

3. City of New Orleans - New Orleans to Chicago August 2006. I was booked in a roomette with a friend and thought it would be great to have additional room for the trip. I asked the conductor if I could upgrade to a bedroom. He replied that he believed the cost was $50, but he'd have to check to be sure that space was available in the single sleeper in the consist. He came back saying that he only had room A to offer and suggested that I look at it first because it is smaller than the other bedrooms. I replied that I was familiar with room A and that the price was right. I paid $50 in cash on the spot and the car attendant set my friend and I in room A for the rest of the trip.

David Z

I've often encountered the same thing. In my experience, it seems that most conductors are annoyed by on board upgrades, but that's just my impression. In a few cases, I've had them actually encourage the upgrade, but in most cases, I'll mention something to the conductor when he collects the ticket, and I usually have to go track him down in the cafe car about 30 mins to an hour later to "seal the deal," as it were. In once case on the Capitol, he was "holding" a deluxe bedroom "in case of complaints about other rooms." I don't know if that's technically allowed, but he was doing it, until I asked, "so you're deadheading a room indefinitely as a contingency when someone is willing to pay for it now?" I was in the room in short order. ;-)

But in all cases, I've been able to get a yay or nay as to room availability simply by doing the following:

1). Ask the conductor about upgrading when he collects the ticket
2). He'll most likely say that he has to take care of some paperwork first, so I'll ask when I should check back with him. He'll usually say about 30 minutes.
3). 30-60 minutes later I'll head into the cafe to track him down.

And that usually works for me.

-Rafi

very helpful responses! thanks so much! i think i'll be fine to upgrade onboard the SWC and CS in late february. i will probably reserve on the EB. the rest of my route is corridor service.

[I was on the Star in November and tried to upgrade to roomette and the conductors in both directions told me they have to call to get the prices for onboard upgrades. Even though there were sleepers available in both directions,the price was out of their hands.

Rafi;
Just a suggestion that seems to work around the forgetful conductors. Head to the sleeper and ask the car attendant if he has any empty rooms. It's amazing to look on the train crew's faces, as they go through lifting tickets, when you tell them, Rooms 2 and 13 are empty. Then you have the upper hand.

had8ley,

Tell me about it. Actually—and I should have mentioned this above—I've taken to actually calling reservations either just before I board the train or as soon as I get on to get both car and room numbers, and inevitably get the preemptive strike, as it were. <grin>

-Rafi

P.S. Man, I feel bad about giving away all of my secrets here!

That's exactly correct. The procedure is that the conductor must call Amtrak's space control for the price of the room based upon distance traveled, and to inform them that the room has indeed been sold so that it is now blocked out of the computer and not sold by some agent further down the line.

My only successful attempt at upgrading on board was in 2005 on the California Zephyr.

I had booked a Guest Rewards ticket from Vancouver to Denver (the zone boundary), and coach from Denver to Chicago. However, I wasn't feeling all that well, and didn't feel like moving to coach for the rest of the trip, so I asked about keeping my room to Chicago.

The upgrade price was $150, so I took it. Officially, they sold me a room down the hall, as mine was booked out of Denver, but they just put that passenger in the other room, and I stayed where I was.

For what it's worth, this particular Zephyr trip was one of the planned detours via Wyoming (which is why I took the trip in the first place).

Only thing I can add is the car attendant has a last minute manifest in his hands and knows what he's looking at down the line. I've actually had to change rooms to accomodate a passenger who bought my room just prior to train time at an intermediate stop. Unless the conductor calls Amtrak resevations I don't think there is anyway of preventing this.

I checked online for sleeper availability a day before departure two times. First time was putting conductor off-guarded. I had to explain the situation. Since my station is non-staffed and the conductor told me to pay the sleeper fare in ABQ which is a service stop since I already have the coach ticket. Second time is a breeze because my other station is staffed and she had my sleeper ticket on the counter waiting for me.

I have found

that it sometimes helps to get in line at the station on the day you are leaving and ask if there is any sleeper space available. While I cannot say that there is always space, space has been available often enough that I do check regularly. That way you do not have to deal with the Conductor.

Who do you ask while in line? Does anyone other than the conductor have the ability to sell you the space if it is available?

I checked once with the ticket agent 15 minutes before boarding started and was quoted top bucket price.

The last time I did this:

I started my trip in Chicago(CNO) and got in line to speak to a ticket agent. Showed her my ticket and asked if there was any sleeper space available??? She said yes and offered me a roomette for $75.00 aditional dollars...I then asked if there was anything available for the return trip. She also said yes, but then quoted a top bucket price for there and back. I simply took the roomette for $75.00 to New Orleans.

On the trip home, I got in line(New Orleans) and asked the same question. Again a Roomette was available and he gave it to me for $50.00 additional dollars. I do not know why there was a disparity in prices for purchasing the Roomette one way or why it became top bucket price when I asked about doing both at the same time. I simply asked some questions, filed away information, and took what I was presented with.

As I said in my post above, this may not always work, but it has worked fairly often for me.

How many hours/minutes before departure did you ask the agent for an upgrade? I've tried the same thing and received a top bucket quote. I wish to have success like you!

Cheers,
David

I agree with the question - discussion on this forum over the years has always been, the only place to upgrade for the lowest bucket price is once you get on the train.

In the case I gave above, the ticket agent, minutes before the train was to depart, told me to speak with the conductor, on board, for the lowest price.

If I remember correctly it was about 1-2 hours before the train left...but I would never guarantee that what I have tried or what has happened would happen for you.

And that may well be the case...I simply shared my experience as a way of not having to deal with the Conductor who always seem to be quite busy and sometimes very hassled.

From reading this thread, I'm guessing two things:
1)The conductor has the power to sell rooms at the lowest bucket price on board, but even if there
are rooms free when you board, that doesn't mean they won't be filled by someone getting on later.
The only way the conductor knows if he has a free room between points A and B is to call the home base,
and that takes a little time and energy that not all are willing to exert.
2)You can try to talk to a ticket agent beforehand, but it sounds as if they don't have any authority to offer
a better deal than what you'd get by calling in a reservation the day of departure. Your only hope is that
enough reservations cancelled just before departure to drop you to a lower bucket, or that the agent
knows how to sell you a cheap compartment, which might be a bit outside the rules.

Others have mentioned elsewhere that Amtrak will sometimes preemtively call its frequent travelers
who are booked in coach, and offer to upgrade them to a sleeper if space is still available close to
departure. I'd guess that most sleeper travelers make their reservations far in advance, and the chances
of selling additional sleeper space at the last minute are pretty close to nil, so sometimes Amtrak will
offer last minute deals. My understanding is that these prices can go below the lowest bucket price.

Actually, the Conductor has a manifest that shows all passengers and their origin and destination, so they know what sleepers are available and which are already booked for downline use.
The ticket agent can sell only what is in the computer system and generally cannot offer a lower price. They do not have the ability to override the pricing without a rational explanation - and if they do something they should not, it will come out of their pay, so don't ask them to do something that will get them punished in the long term.
The best way to get a deal on a sleeper is, just as has been described, ask the Conductor and make a deal.

How do you get on this list to be called? Is it the luck of the draw?

The conductor does indeed have a manifest. However, the manifest is only accurate as of the exact time it is printed which can be hours before the train leaves its origination point. Reservations and walk up sales are being done up until departure from each down-line station later that day or the next day, etc.

I have traveled on almost every line on Amtrak and usually book a sleeper way in advance. On occasion, I was unable to so I looked into upgrading once on board. Things have probably tightened up a bit since my last attempt, but I did negotiate a couple times and received the sleeper for $50 or so. If there are quite a few available (and this seems to be happening less and less), I would simply tell the conductor that I would like the sleeper say in a certain town 5 hours away rather than right on the spot. If he/she sticks to the rules (which seems they do more these days) they will calculate the distance and give the fare accordingly. It could save you a couple of bucks if you leave your destination say at 3:00 p.m. and don't get into your room until 8:00 p.m. Plus I always call 1-800-usarail before boarding and see if anything is available just to have that information and the price. Then if it is full, you hope for no shows, but their refund policy on sleepers have become much stricter so I can't imagine too many last minute cancellations. I just booked a trip to Seattle last week for late May and for the dates I wanted to travel all sleepers were booked. Crazy. Just hope you are riding the rails during a lull.

I think once the train leaves the point of origin, then the price of sleeper changed, probably to lowest bucket, even at the station or internet, depending on availibility of sleepers.

Since my station for SWC is in ABQ and the point of origin is Chicago, a day before, so I do have advantage to check for price on internet. If the price is low, then I immediately call the phone reservation to upgrade it because I already purchased the coach ticket.

Ok, I hope I dont get negative feedback for asking this...

But is it possible to "tip" an employee into upgrading you to a sleeper?

I suppose anything is possible, but I wouldn't consider it likely. Any employee caught doing that would no doubt be fired. And most likely the amount of tip needed to get them to do it, would probably equal or exceed the cost to do it right via an onboard upgrade.

And if the room were to get sold further down the line, then you'd be kicked out of the room and would be out your tip too.

Thanks. I figured it didn't hurt to ask.

I got my tix through a "hot deal" on the website and Im just looking into all the possibilities of upgrading once I'm on board.

I have paid $116.00 for a roomette on the CZ from Lincoln NE to Glenwood Springs CO twice. The prices have been higher and I believe this is the lowest bucket price because I haven't seen it any lower than this. To me thats a steal and especially if you have two people. Its all your meals and hotel for the night.

I have two experiences. The first was in January of '04 and I took the Texas Eagle from Chicago to Mineola. I asked the conductor for an upgrade in Chicago and he never returned to me. When we got to St. Louis, I asked the new conductor and I got an upgrade for $39 for the rest of the trip. That was from about 10 PM 'til 11:30 the next AM. With Breakfast. It was nice.

Since January of '06, though, I understand that you cannot get an upgrade onboard for less than what it would have cost you to begin with. This was experienced when I took the Southwest Chief from Albuquerque to Fullerton. In fact, the conductor actually called in the central reservations office, gave his name, train number, and I got no deal.

Finally, on that SAME route coming up at the end of the month, I booked coach. THEY called ME and offered me a roomette for $100! That's only about $60 less than what it costs to book online and about $160 less than max rate (so far as I found).

My main sticking point is Im getting on the train at 3 in the morning for a 12 hour trip, I really can't figure out if it would be worth paying for a sleeper. The included meals would usually be worth it, but I assume we'd only be awake for lunch.

The person who mentioned this was a Guest Rewards member, and posted asking if other
guest rewards members had been offered similar deals.

I'm guessing the first step to being called is to join the Guest rewards program
http://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/

I don't think that a sleeper is worth the cost for the sake of meals unless it was worth at least half the cost of the upgrade. I get a sleeper 'cause I have trouble sleeping in coach, snore when I do, and I almost always need a shower by the time I get off the train.

On the trip I'll be taking next week, I went ahead and took the offer for a sleeper because it was only $100 and I'll be going to a job fair immediately upon arrival. This will give me the best opportunity to look sharp and feel rested when approaching prospective employeers. I'm going straight coach on my way home 'cause my wife is already used to the nasty unkempt me.

Jim

My family upgraded to two roomettes on the Chief during the summer of 2003 or 2004 for $250.00 for five of us...to Chicago...total... Five of us, 4 beds, 5 meals each...it was too good to pass up...Winslow, AZ to CHI

I have upgraded, but my success rate is about 1/6 on the Lake Shore. I get on in the middle of the night so if the Conductor is in a good mood and wants the little extra revenue...it works.

I upgraded once on the EB but don't remember the details...March, 2004.

Last March I upgraded after a total stranger and I were seated on the Silver Meteor. After we talked a while and found out we both snored and were both of larger stature, 6' and 250 lbs., I told him about upgrading. (We also both realized we had wives and kids and were around the same age.) We went for it and shared the cost. He got off in JAX and I in Palatka. I wouldn't reccomend this practice, but for this one time it was okay. And the guy takes the train regularly but never even saw a sleeping compartment. Now he will try to upgrade ahead of time or onboard.

I adopt the attitude that I will be content in coach. I always ask about an upgrade and use some of the tactics already mentioned. Be sure to notice the conductor's name in case you need to find him/her later to follow up on your initial request. Seems to help.

Interestingly I tried to upgrade last weekend on westbound Lake Shore Ltd. out of Erie to Chicago with my sons. The conductor checked...came up with nothing...but informed me it would have been $130. for a roommette. At 3 a.m. boarding in ERI with only breakfast it seemed high. I had upgraded for $60 or $70 not too long ago.

Bottom line...you have to know your stuff. And be content with coach... Or book a sleeper ahead.

It's some time ago, but on 28 August 2006 I rode train # 19 the Crescent from Washington, DC to Tuscaloosa, AL in coach. On request the conductor offered me a roomette for $111.00. That was the absolute lowest price he could quote for that city pair, taken from his handbook (has anyone ever seen one of these? it seemed to have a complete listing for upgrade fares for all city pairs... that would tell you exactly what you should expect to pay for an onboard upgrade) Since I'd nabbed my ticket in a seat sale for $66.00 I was tempted, but decided to decline the offer and continue roughing it.

As you can see from the pic, I took a handful of trains on that trip, mixing some AGR point redemptions, a seat sale and some certain (ahem) discount codes. $192.75 for more than 2,900 miles of travel... another cheeky discount code got me seven day's car rental in Tuscaloosa for $150. What can I say, I'm a student...

*j*

Two questions:

1) How'd you get MTR-NYP-WAS for $0.00 fare?
2) How come you have two guest rewards numbers?

Duh. Well, that answers question 1.

As AlanB said, they were AGR points.



I think it was when I made a failed attempt to profit on a new enrollment promotion or something like that. I was moving house so I just used a different address and double barrelled my surname to get a second account. However (for all the AGR police out there) I now only use one account.

That was a great trip, incidentally, loved riding the Crescent and exploring Alabama / Louisiana by car. Seemed to be quite a few Alabamans who surprised when I told them I was there on holiday

*j*

James Brown;
Did you get a chance to meet the station agent at Tuscaloosa? He boards quite a few people going north and detrains quite a few coming back.

I've only upgraded once on board.

January, '04, Sunset Limited, ORL-NOL.

Once we departed ORL I asked the Conductor about an upgrade and he told me to check back again with him when we got to JAX...he thought some rooms would be open upon leaving JAX.

So I did as he said, and sure enough there was a Roomette available on the lower level for $60. That was 50% off the published rate. Quite the bargain for a restful nights sleep plus dinner and breakfast!

Upon an evening departure, I asked a station agent if there were any empty sleepers and he said no (he also denied my active duty military discount). Having established his character (and apparently his political leaning), I called Julie/live agent while awaiting boarding but after the majority of passengers had been through the line. He told me that 2 were available. On board, I told the ticket-collecting Asst. Conductor that the reservations system said 2 were available and he said he would check back in 30 minutes. He did, went through his lengthy checklists, found one, upgraded me and when I told him to put another passenger (injured female soldier) in with me, he upgraded to her city which was farther than mine but for the same price.

Boarding the return trip was during the wee hours. I told the ticket taker (not a conductor) that I wanted an upgrade and never heard back. With only a 5 hour trip it didn't make sense to pursue it and miss out on some sleep, even if it was the kind that only a tall pretzel could love.

Help the conductor out by not boring the devil out of him with chitchat or questions the attendant can answer and try to make his job easier by making the calls.

Don't you just love it when you get those super duper employees who erase the bad taste of others!

Military Wife

Perhaps you should call Amtrak to bring a complain against the station agent.