What's the closest you've ever booked?

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densgirl

densgirl

Train Attendant
Joined
Sep 16, 2006
Messages
34
Location
Boston
Hi All,

Just curious about how close to a trip you've ever booked and still gotten a price you are comfortable with. I know the Golden rule of thumb is book early and for every other trip, I've done that. I know waiting(we have about two and a half months til we leave)will likely cause my fare to be much greater but it's a necessary evil this time. Our vacation is only just about to be cemented due to work commitments etc. So it has me wondering if anyone has ever actually done better by waiting and finding a code or some other luck. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Michele
 
densgirl said:
Hi All,

Just curious about how close to a trip you've ever booked and still gotten a price you are comfortable with. I know the Golden rule of thumb is book early and for every other trip, I've done that. I know waiting(we have about two and a half months til we leave)will likely cause my fare to be much greater but it's a necessary evil this time. Our vacation is only just about to be cemented due to work commitments etc. So it has me wondering if anyone has ever actually done better by waiting and finding a code or some other luck. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Michele
Click to expand...
You can always CALL Amtrak, and make a reservation, they then give you X days before you have to actually pay. OP will let you know exactly what "X" is................
 
rrdude said:
densgirl said:
Hi All,

Just curious about how close to a trip you've ever booked and still gotten a price you are comfortable with. I know the Golden rule of thumb is book early and for every other trip, I've done that. I know waiting(we have about two and a half months til we leave)will likely cause my fare to be much greater but it's a necessary evil this time. Our vacation is only just about to be cemented due to work commitments etc. So it has me wondering if anyone has ever actually done better by waiting and finding a code or some other luck. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Michele
Click to expand...
You can always CALL Amtrak, and make a reservation, they then give you X days before you have to actually pay. OP will let you know exactly what "X" is................
Click to expand...
Oh believe me, I do the very second that I can but I still have three or four days until I see the vacation written on the schedule. Until it's written on that schedule, it does not exist ;) I know the approximate cost and I'm fine with it. Just wondered if anyone had ever gotten lucky as a result of life making them wait longer than they wanted to book. :)
 
It can happen that you get lucky and snag a low priced room near the departure date, and we always recommend that people keep checking because you just never know. But I sure wouldn't count on it.

As for waiting for discount codes, that's almost never a good idea. It's very rare that a discount code will come along that is big enough to cancel out the almost inevtiable leaps in prices as the buckets get kicked ever higher.
 
AlanB said:
It can happen that you get lucky and snag a low priced room near the departure date, and we always recommend that people keep checking because you just never know. But I sure wouldn't count on it.
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I booked a Seattle-Chicago round trip 6 days out a couple of years ago. Was planning to drive but checked the website just for the heck of it, and there was a serious deal for a roomette available. Given the cost of gas, meals and motel, there was no contest and I grabbed it.

The cost for 2 in a roomette was actually cheaper than the coach fare for 2! The roomette was a low bucket, and the coach seats were in their highest bucket. So the drop to the lowest rail fare in conjunction with the room, combined with the low bucket roomette accomodation charge was less than 2 high bucket rail fares. The return leg was more normal pricing, but the screaming deal going out more than made up for it.

I've never seen anything like it before, and don't expect to see it again. But I still check...
 
Now, I obviously didn't get the best fare, but the closest I've ever booked a long-distance trip was day of departure, CHI-DEN. It was maybe 10 or 11 am, made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go on a trip to Denver and back.
 
We booked the AutoTrain in 2008 two months in advanced and received low bucket fare BUT we were traveling to Florida in mid December. The passenger load proved to be light both ways and several passengers booked roomettes onboard at the low bucket fare. It all depends on the season and each train has their busy and slow seasons. The summer is crowded no matter what route you take but during winter and spring some good deals can be had.
 
I just bought business class ticket to Chicago from Ann Arbor for $42; I leave tomorrow. It was a good deal especially seeing as the cost of a coach ticket on the earlier train was $75.

peter
 
For Amtrak the earliest I've booked is a few hours before departure. For flights and for foreign trains I've booked as little as a few minutes before departure.

AlanB said:
It can happen that you get lucky and snag a low priced room near the departure date, and we always recommend that people keep checking because you just never know. But I sure wouldn't count on it.
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For any of you who don't yet do this, I strongly recommend you follow Alan's advice. Continue checking for deals as the departure date gets closer. So long as you only have a reservation and not a ticket you can easily pocket the difference if any lower fares become available. It's already worked out for me multiple times. Just don't ask me to explain why it works this way because I honestly don't get it.
 
I often can get low bucket on the Heartland Flyer the night before, but then I have to have the Conductor cut my ticket and process my card, and that means having to have a couple go rounds with AGR to get those Points to post. I've also noticed low bucket Roomettes are often available last minute on the southbound Texas Eagle from DAL or FTW.
 
It's kinda funny that, at least for the Coast Starlight, there doesn't seem to be this mythical 'multi-bucket' scheme going on. From everything that I've seen (and I've watched this route pretty closely) there is only low or high bucket (ie: 'this' fare or 'that' fare with nothing in between). I'm doing a round-trip soon (SJC-TAC) where one leg was booked many, many months ago and the other leg booked only last week (due to a big change in plans). The difference was about $100 (for a roomette) and I was able to grab one of the few remaining roomettes on that train (they are now sold-out).

I've also seen routes like the SWC showing high prices 10~11 months out but then looking at dates maybe 7~8 months out showing prices much lower.

To answer the OP question...

I booked a Sunday points run on the CC last Friday evening and had to miss out on the AAA discount ($4). :(
 
OlympianHiawatha said:
I often can get low bucket on the Heartland Flyer the night before, but then I have to have the Conductor cut my ticket and process my card, and that means having to have a couple go rounds with AGR to get those Points to post. I've also noticed low bucket Roomettes are often available last minute on the southbound Texas Eagle from DAL or FTW.
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I would frequently do last minute bookings on the eastbound Capitol Limited to WAS when I was living fulltime in Harpers Ferry (HFY). This would be done about four hours prior to the train arrival in HFY. It would not be unusual to get the low bucket or second to the lowest bucket fare. The only drawback, as OlympianHiawatha states, is the process of the conductor issuing you a paper ticket and the adventure of getting your AGR points to posts. :(
 
A friend of mine bought a ticket from Kalamazoo to Ann Arbor; turned around and got on the train. Which I see happening at the A2 statin every time I'm there.

peter
 
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The closest I've ever gotten was about 10 minutes. I arrived an hour before, but there sere only three agents at PHL, and the line took 45 minutes to get through.
 
A few years ago, for GeezerFest (a reunion of sorts with folks who worked together in the airline industry back before re/deregulation) I booked the trip about 10 months out. Planned to take Acela to WAS, change to SM and continue to ORL where I transferred to the bus for the final leg to SRA. The return trip was to be the reverse. A couple of months out, after I'd received my tickets by mail Amtrak changed the SM schedule so as to make the connection between the northbound SM and Acela no longer "legal". They rebooked me on a NER leaving about a half hour later than the Acela. When I checked in at BOS for my trip I did NOT exhange my return Acela ticket for the NER.

On my return the SM was running on time and would allow me to make my connex, no matter that is not "legal". I called Amtrak as we passed Alexandria and "re" booked the Acela. Effectively making my reservation about 40 minutes before departure. I was able the following year to again make the reservation on Acela as we passed Alexandria and make the non "legal" connection to Acela BUT since my tickets that had been issued 10 months out included the NER I had to pay through the "nose" for day of departure fare on Acela WAS/BOS and the NER fare provided little/no offset. I won one and lost one...500 ain't so bad.

Best regards,

Rodger
 
Last summer I snagged a roomette for 300 and something on the Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington. This was on a Monday that i bought the ticket, and I left Friday IIRC.

A few years ago, I booked a round trip to Grand Junction from Chicago a couple of days before the trip. I had made plans with my gf, but she was not feeling well, and changed her mind. I had the travel urge, and booked it. It was about 780 rt in a roomette.

There is something extra enjoyable about a last minute booked trip.
 
For that matter, I often see folks stepping onto the HF with no tickets in hand, and much like commuter service, buying Full Fare from the Conductor. Since FTW is the only manned station on that route (though I have heard there is or will be a Quick Trak in OKC), it often cannot be avoided, especially with first timers, but the Conductors are good at reminding the pax to next time at least call and get a res and lower fare.
 
Well I've never actually ridden a LD amtrak train, but I routinely book NEC regional and acela tickets weeks or days before departure. With acela, that can be a painful and expensive experience. I don't recommend it! :wacko: With NEC regional, if I am just going to BOS, the difference is often only $3-$10 so its not that big of a deal. The actual CLOSEST to departure I have ever booked is about 10 minutes prior to departure from BOS - PVD :cool: It was high bucket at $21 but it was worth it since it meant I didn't have to wait for the MBTA train!
 
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amamba said:
Well I've never actually ridden a LD amtrak train, but I routinely book NEC regional and acela tickets weeks or days before departure.
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Well, with thepoints you are building up you can book a nice AGR LD trip and get to experience the joy of Amtrak sleeping car and diner travel! :wub: I wish we had more trains to do point runs down our way but with only 2 trains a day we have to make do the best we can! Hopefully the fall promo will be double/triple points for all since the last one was targeted darn it! :angry:
 
I book the EB from MINN to CHI the night before for like 25 dollars. It was hella cheap. It was my first ride and I was hooked. It was love at first ride.

I always loved trains, but this was so much better than the Metra or South Shore.
 
daxomni said:
AlanB said:
It can happen that you get lucky and snag a low priced room near the departure date, and we always recommend that people keep checking because you just never know. But I sure wouldn't count on it.
Click to expand...
For any of you who don't yet do this, I strongly recommend you follow Alan's advice. Continue checking for deals as the departure date gets closer. So long as you only have a reservation and not a ticket you can easily pocket the difference if any lower fares become available. It's already worked out for me multiple times. Just don't ask me to explain why it works this way because I honestly don't get it.
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The reason why it works is because when someone cancels a reservation, the room is returned to inventory at the original bucket price it was sold at, not the currently existing bucket.

For example, let's consider a simplified example. Say that the bucket prices between two cities look like this for roomettes:

Bucket A: $110

Bucket B: $170

Bucket C: $210

Bucket D: $250

(I'm not sure if this is the way Amtrak designates buckets, or how many buckets Amtrak has per route, but this will suffice for this example)

Let's assume that all the roomettes in Bucket A sell out in the first month of sale and by the time you book, you get a room in Bucket C and pay $210.

However, two weeks prior to departure, an individual who booked very early and landed Bucket A needs to cancel. When they do, their room returns to the system at Bucket A.

Now, when you check the prices, you see that a room is for sale for $110 - this was the room that was canceled. Once this room is booked, the next room will be sold at $210 or whatever the current bucket price is.

Hopefully that was clear.

As far as last minute bookings, I've booked an Acela or two about 20 minutes prior to departure (usually just changing an existing reservation for the same day and usually when I'm standing in the station, realizing I can catch an earlier train). It's expensive, but I pretty much only take the Acela when my travel costs are being reimbursed.

I once booked the Vermonter about two hours before departure when I was in college. I and a friend were supposed to get a ride back from another guy and we couldn't get in touch with him on the day of departure. We decided to play it safe and take the train, but it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so my Dad had to drive us several stations up the line because the train was sold out until that point. Right before we arrived at the station, our ride called us and apologized - he said that his friends wouldn't give him back his keys until he 'sobered up.' We were both pretty thankful we opted for the train after hearing that.
 
Trogdor said:
Now, I obviously didn't get the best fare, but the closest I've ever booked a long-distance trip was day of departure, CHI-DEN. It was maybe 10 or 11 am, made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go on a trip to Denver and back.
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I hear the Denver sleeper hasn't been full most of the time.
 
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