choose a specific roomette on Superliner

[Paperbackrider]

Hi, I want to know if I can book a particular roomette # on a Superliner.

I also want to be able to chose which side of the train the roomette is on.

eg. going south on the Starlight #11 train, I want to be on the right (generally looking west) side.

Thanks for any help.

 

[JayPea]

You can request a certain room number when you book over the phone with an agent. But the there is no way of knowing ahead of time on which side of the train your room will be.

 

[PVD]

You can pick a room talking to a live agent. Some of them don't know how, ask for a supervisor. If you already have one assigned online call and modify, despite some who don't know how, it can be done if a space is available, the key is modify, not cancel and rebook, that may change the fare. Superliners do not have to face a certain way, you do not know in advance which side a roomette is on. Best place to look out is the Sightseer Lounge.

 

[TinCan782]

THIS IS NOT GUARANTEED but, my last 4 trips on #11, the bedrooms have been on the left side of the train. Look as a diagram and choose a roomette on the opposite side of the car. You must telephone and speak to an agent to request a specific accommodation.

Again, there is no guarantee that a car will be oriented one way or the other, just my personal experience as I stated above. As said, you can always head to the sightseer lounge or Pacific Parlour Car for better views.

Good luck.

 

[KmH]

Hi, I want to know if I can book a particular roomette # on a Superliner.

I also want to be able to chose which side of the train the roomette is on.

eg. going south on the Starlight #11 train, I want to be on the right (generally looking west) side.

Thanks for any help.

As stated above you can call and speak to a agent and the agent can let you know what rooms are available.

Superliner sleeper cars can be attached in the consist with either end leading.

The agents won't know in advance which end of each sleeper car is leading.

Consequently, sometimes the even numbered Roomettes are on the right side and sometimes on the left side.

There are at least 4 Coast Starlight train sets so Amtrak can provide daily service in each direction.

Locomotives, baggage, sleeper, coach, dining and SSL cars get taken out of the consist of each train periodically for maintenance.

 

[Lonestar648]

Besides the SSL there is also the PCC for Sleeper passengers. For viewing the Pacific coast line, I enjoy the seating in the PCC over the roomette.

 

[KmH]

It is my understanding Amtrak only has the 4 PPC cars the Coast Starlight use, so there no pool of extra PPC cars.

The PPC cars are former Hi-Level Sky Lounge cars built by the Budd Company in 1956 for the Santa Fe's all coach El Capitan service between Chicago and LA.

Amtrak sometimes removes the PPC cars from all 4 CS train sets in the winter so maintenance can be performed on the 4, 60 year old cars.

 

[zephyr17]

THIS IS NOT GUARANTEED but, my last 4 trips on #11, the bedrooms have been on the left side of the train. Look as a diagram and choose a roomette on the opposite side of the car. You must telephone and speak to an agent to request a specific accommodation.

Again, there is no guarantee that a car will be oriented one way or the other, just my personal experience as I stated above. As said, you can always head to the sightseer lounge or Pacific Parlour Car for better views.

Good luck.

You are right in no guarantee. On a lot of my Starlight trips, the 30 and 31 sleepers have been oriented opposite directions.

 

[Paperbackrider]

Thank you to all who kindly replied to my question. Got one more.....on boarding, if I find my roomette is on the 'undesirable' side of the car, does the room attendant have the power to change my room? (assuming there is space) Thanks.

 

[Lonestar648]

The SCA would have to work with the Conductor to make sure the empty room has not been purchased since the manifest was printed.

 

[Maglev]

Thank you to all who kindly replied to my question. Got one more.....on boarding, if I find my roomette is on the 'undesirable' side of the car, does the room attendant have the power to change my room? (assuming there is space) Thanks.

The attendant might allow you to sit in an unoccupied room for a scenic stretch if your room is on the wrong side.

 

[KmH]

A quick check on Amtrak.com seems to indicate that there are only 2 of the 34 Roomettes (counting the Transition sleeper revenue Roomettes) on the Coast Starlight

still available between SAC and LAX tomorrow, 1 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.

In other words, on the day you travel there may be only a handful of Roomettes unoccupied that the Conductor might be able to move you to.

Next consider how many of any unoccupied roomettes will be on the side of the train you want to be on, and how many will be on the 'wrong' side.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

Last minute changes in roomette assignments are mostly a thing of the past. During most of the year, the sleepers are basically full. Last Fall when I departed on the Zephyr from Chicago, there were several unoccupied roomettes; however, as we crossed the country passengers boarded in Galesburg, Ottumwa, Oceola, and so forth so by the time we reached Denver my sleeping car was full. interestingly, in Denver several departed and were replaced by new occupants. So, finding an empty available roomette on either side is almost not possible. As others have said you can go to the sightseer lounge or parlour car(Coast Starlight only) to view scenery on both sides. I've been on the non-ocean side of the Coast Starlight and enjoy the different scenery particularly north of San Luis Obispo I enjoy the view to the east better than the western view.

 

[Asher]

The grass always looks greener on the other side. I stopped worrying about that one side or the other my first trip. What you don't see is not going to kill you and what you do see is going to thrill you.

 

[KmH]

. . . so by the time we reached Denver my sleeping car was full. interestingly, in Denver several departed and were replaced by new occupants. . .

Yep. And thank goodness.

The last time I rode the CZ (October '16) westbound from Ottumwa there were no Roomettes left to book for my first night when I made my reservation.

The best I was able to do was book a Roomette from Denver on.

I had to ride in coach the first night and then moved to one of the freshly vacated Roomettes once we get to Denver - just in time for breakfast.

Fortunately, coach was sparsely populated so I had 2 seats to myself.

 

[Paperbackrider]

Thanks to everyone responding to my questions. I've decided to not sweat which side I'm on, but rather enjoy whatever I get.

I just joined this forum and am so happy that there are folks with lots of train experience to share. Kudos to all!

 

[dlagrua]

What I would like to see on the Amtrak website is online access to the sleeper layout that shows what rooms are available. Then you can simply choose what sleeper room you would want with a check mark at the time of purchase. Airlines have been using this system for years and the info is already in the Amtrak booking system.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

What I would like to see on the Amtrak website is online access to the sleeper layout that shows what rooms are available. Then you can simply choose what sleeper room you would want with a check mark at the time of purchase. Airlines have been using this system for years and the info is already in the Amtrak booking system.

But airlines don't have people boarding/detraining between end points.

 

[Lonestar648]

The airlines a city pair and a flight number, so the seat layout is in the computer. For Amtrak, there are many scenarios between Origination and Final Destination of a specific train. Then, there are those who are coach part of the way and Sleeper the balance. It would take a lot of programming time to develop and troubleshoot such a program.. Finally, where is the return on the money invested into such an on-line program. Will it increase revenue or decrease costs?

 

[Paperbackrider]

What I would like to see on the Amtrak website is online access to the sleeper layout that shows what rooms are available. Then you can simply choose what sleeper room you would want with a check mark at the time of purchase. Airlines have been using this system for years and the info is already in the Amtrak booking system.

I was thinking exactly the same thing the other day.

 

[Paperbackrider]

The airlines a city pair and a flight number, so the seat layout is in the computer. For Amtrak, there are many scenarios between Origination and Final Destination of a specific train. Then, there are those who are coach part of the way and Sleeper the balance. It would take a lot of programming time to develop and troubleshoot such a program.. Finally, where is the return on the money invested into such an on-line program. Will it increase revenue or decrease costs?

Good points you made. Perhaps for those who want to travel from, say, Seattle to L.A.X.', on train #11, an option to reserve certain bedrooms could be created for their benefit?

 

[the_traveler]

So where's the cutoff point? :huh:

Say somebody wants to travel from Tacoma to Burbank. That's only 1 stop from either end point, but it's not quite end to end. How about Burbank to Seattle? :huh:

 

[the_traveler]

It is my understanding Amtrak only has the 4 PPC cars the Coast Starlight use, so there no pool of extra PPC cars.

There are actually 5 owned by Amtrak. (The only other is owned privately.) 4 are used in the pool of 2 northbound & 2 southbound Starlights. The 5th is at the LA yards as a backup and may be used as temporary spare parts or under repair.
Thus if needed, this car could go on the CS out of LAX. However, if the PPC is bad ordered on the northbound run (or in Seattle), then obviously it can't be used on the southbound run - as the backup is in LA.

There are only 6 Hi-Liner Lounges left in exsistance and Amtrak owns 5 of them.

 

[dlagrua]

What I would like to see on the Amtrak website is online access to the sleeper layout that shows what rooms are available. Then you can simply choose what sleeper room you would want with a check mark at the time of purchase. Airlines have been using this system for years and the info is already in the Amtrak booking system.

I was thinking exactly the same thing the other day.

At the very least Amtrak could easily do a program that shows room availability at the initial station of departure or for city pairs. It would not be a revenue generator but if they were looking to cut costs it may result in less agents on the phones.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

What I would like to see on the Amtrak website is online access to the sleeper layout that shows what rooms are available. Then you can simply choose what sleeper room you would want with a check mark at the time of purchase. Airlines have been using this system for years and the info is already in the Amtrak booking system.

I was thinking exactly the same thing the other day.

At the very least Amtrak could easily do a program that shows room availability at the initial station of departure or for city pairs. It would not be a revenue generator but if they were looking to cut costs it may result in less agents on the phones.

So you want someone to lose their job?