Any suggestions on when it may be less crowded, and cheapest?
No idea about the less crowded part, but as far as the cheapest dates the best way to find out is to use AmSnag:
http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php Neroden believes the cheapest periods are generally mid-week (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) and that may be so for some trains. However, my study conducted on 8 Nov 2015 of roomette fares on the California Zephyr for the period 18 Nov 2015 thru 15 Feb 2016 revealed the opposite with average fares to be:
• Weekend = $430
• Midweek = $471
But I'm guessing you'd be on the Southwest Chief for your trip and I've not yet done such a study for that train. No reason to believe the SWC would be anything like the CZ So for all I know, the SWC could be generally cheaper during the week per Neroden's advise. Best way to know with any certainty is do an AmSnag search.
[edit] Used AmSnag to conduct a look-see for Roomette fares on the SWC from ABQ to LAX during the 5 Sep 2016 through 24 Nov 2016 period and found averages to be:
• Weekend = $176
• Midweek = $258
Did a somewhat similar study for the Empire Builder about a year ago and will add those results if I can locate them. Don't recall doing any such monkey business for East Coast trains as I seldom ride them. The only general rule I have to offer concerning Amtrak fares is that generalities are generally impossible to formulate - in general! :blink:
[edit²] The following figures are the average total fare for two seniors in a Bedroom (not Roomette, as above) on the Empire Builder between Milwaukee and Seattle. Raw data covered the 1 Mar 2015 through 31 May 2015 period with queries made on 7 various dates during Jan & Feb 2015. Total individual fares gathered was 644, 7 for each day of that 3 month period
• Weekend = $1553
• Midweek = $1634
From this you might think I'd be tempted to say "generally, fares are lower on the weekend", but I know better than that. Too many trains, each with two directions, each with many pairs of possible on & off points besides the end points, etc, etc. There probably is some train somewhere in the system with (generally) lower fares during the week but I've yet to find it. And I've better things to do than go looking for it.