Fare Spike Question

So I'm on the Acela (thanks again for the upgrade coupons). The person in front of me has a NYP-WAS ticket that reads a rail fare of $114 for NYP-WAS with fare code DOC2. $114 seems lower than even AAA would seem to generate off of the lowest-bucket fare I've seen ($142-14.20 would give $127.80), and the reservation date on the ticket seems to have been sometime in June (the ticket expires 27 June 12). Also, the ticket gives no indication of being AAA. So...

1) Is DOC2 a wacky special offer code? or

2) How much have Acela fares spiked this year?

Anderson said:

So I'm on the Acela (thanks again for the upgrade coupons). The person in front of me has a NYP-WAS ticket that reads a rail fare of $114 for NYP-WAS with fare code DOC2. $114 seems lower than even AAA would seem to generate off of the lowest-bucket fare I've seen ($142-14.20 would give $127.80), and the reservation date on the ticket seems to have been sometime in June (the ticket expires 27 June 12). Also, the ticket gives no indication of being AAA. So...

1) Is DOC2 a wacky special offer code? or

2) How much have Acela fares spiked this year?

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Could the price you noticed actually $114.75 and if so was the passenger a senior (62 yr or older)? If you answer yes to both, then the passenger had the low bucket rate at the time of booking of $135 (I had this rate on three occasions earlier in the year) and had a senior discount (available on Acela on weekends only) of 15%.

I can go with that being the price on there. I thought it was $114.00...but I wouldn't be shocked if it was a few cents off. A $7 increase in the low bucket is less than I'd feared was going on...the way some of these fares are going, a $10-15 hike would not have surprised me.

Don't speak so fast--looks like another Acela fare increase just hit, raising the KD (low bucket) fare for WAS-NYP to $145, up from $142 in November, up from $139 before that. BOS-NYP now starts at $104, up from $101 and $99.

To have gotten the $135 fare, the passenger would have had to have booked almost a year in advance. While possible given the date of travel, I'm more inclined to think that this was some sort of corporate or travel agency discount--20% off the prevailing $142 fare is right close to $114. Was there am accommodation charge as well or was it $0 (upgrade coupon)?

For what it's worth, a standard Acela fare basis is *OAE where * is the bucket code. So an OC2 is a weird one...

That's correct gate. Low bucket PHL-BOS was $145 it's now $150.

Why do these AE buckets keep going up???

Acela150 said:

That's correct gate. Low bucket PHL-BOS was $145 it's now $150.

Why do these AE buckets keep going up???

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Because people are paying the fares. As long as the fare increases result in increased gross revenue, Amtrak will continue to raise Acela fares.

PRR 60 said:

Acela150 said:

That's correct gate. Low bucket PHL-BOS was $145 it's now $150.

Why do these AE buckets keep going up???

Click to expand...

Because people are paying the fares. As long as the fare increases result in increased gross revenue, Amtrak will continue to raise Acela fares.

Click to expand...

Makes sense. I guess that the buckets go up every 4-6 months?? Am I correct by saying that??

Ugh, I noticed the fare spike between BOS - PHL yesterday. I think it might have literally been made yesterday because I couldn't find anything cheaper than $150 on any day - and I am going to philly three times between now and May. I am totally kicking myself for not buying the tickets earlier - I have been watching the prices but wanted to wait until my credit card closes this month on the 20th.

I bought a ticket just last week that was $147 between BOS - PHL. Yesterday I was looking at Sundays in May and literally all the acelas were $225 each way. Roundtrip, for two people, BOS - PHL clocked in at $350 on the way down ($175 each) and $450 on the way back ($225 each). That is $800 roundtrip. I am seriously considering cancelling and rebooking on US airways for $220 per person - a huge savings. The only thing that is making me from not cancelling is that my trip is in May so between H and me we should have enough upgrade coupons to upgrade us both ways for FC. So $800 and in acela FC is probably a win vs. $450 for two on US air.

EDIT: Some people might ask why I didn't book a regional if I am complaining about the price. The regionals on the sunday in question were all clocking in at $126 - I would rather just suck it up and pay $100 more per person and ride FC with my upgrade coupons.

The ride is worth the fare. Compared to alternatives

from a time and cost perspective,the Acela is a bargin!!

Shanghai said:

The ride is worth the fare. Compared to alternatives

from a time and cost perspective,the Acela is a bargin!!

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See, this is where I am starting to disagree, especially on the PHL - PVD city pair. Now, southwest did just discontinue their service from PVD - PHL so that may push up flight costs on US airways. But $900 (that would be a high middle bucket at $225 each way, each person) to ride in business class for two roundtrip, vs. $450 for two to fly, makes flying start to look competitive. It is about 5 hours up to PVD on the train vs. 1 hour of flight time (generally a 90 minute scheduled flight). PVD is a simple airport to navigate and very convenient for me. I find that it is not the cluster that some larger airports are. Even with giving myself an hour on each end for navigating the airport and getting back to center city (keeping in mind that 30th street station isn't in center city and still requires a cab or train connection to get to market east for example), I am still saving time with the flight. Significant time.

Also keep in mind that the amtrak police have been continuing their ridiculous policy of swiping all bags for explosives in PVD, at least on the 66 in the morning. Now they seemed to have moved their operation down to the platform at the bottom of the escalator, which is an improvement from in the station where one couldn't see the train and one worries about missing it - but it is pretty annoying and I don't see the point. So now the train has an added annoyance of security screening.

Obviously YMMV depending on the city pair that you look at.

amamba said:

Ugh, I noticed the fare spike between BOS - PHL yesterday. I think it might have literally been made yesterday because I couldn't find anything cheaper than $150 on any day - and I am going to philly three times between now and May. I am totally kicking myself for not buying the tickets earlier - I have been watching the prices but wanted to wait until my credit card closes this month on the 20th.

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The prices increased on Tuesday the 10th during the day. I had just booked 2 round trips to Boston between 1AM on Tuesday and 2AM for $101. By that afternoon the price was up to $104.

AlanB said:

amamba said:

Ugh, I noticed the fare spike between BOS - PHL yesterday. I think it might have literally been made yesterday because I couldn't find anything cheaper than $150 on any day - and I am going to philly three times between now and May. I am totally kicking myself for not buying the tickets earlier - I have been watching the prices but wanted to wait until my credit card closes this month on the 20th.

Click to expand...

The prices increased on Tuesday the 10th during the day. I had just booked 2 round trips to Boston between 1AM on Tuesday and 2AM for $101. By that afternoon the price was up to $104.

Click to expand...

It seems Alan has some good timing.

I'll just chime in here. I'm getting the feeling that the NEC-North is getting to be a bit more of a nightmare than the NEC-South in terms of capacity constraints because Amtrak has to run fewer trains there. From WAS-NYP, Amtrak has 38 corridor trains plus the Carolinian, Palmetto, two Silvers, the Crescent, occasionally the Cardinal...almost 45 trains/day on that section. IIRC, they've got a total limit of 30-some per day over the CT section of the NEC-North, which really puts a jam on that section.

For comparison, as near as I can tell, high bucket on the Regional RVR-NYP is never more than about $165 in coach/$200 and change in BC. I think capacity problems past NYP are starting to become a killer, though.

Wow, I just looked at NYP-BOS on Sundays in May and I feel your pain. Looks like KC and KA buckets all around, not a low bucket to be found. Regional pricing is similar--plenty of YE in the morning but only YC in the afternoon. (That's $49 vs. $98.)

Amtrak must be experimenting more heavily on the NEC with the sleeper-style pricing model where popular trains open up for sale without any D-bucket rooms. They've been doing this on the corridor for some time, but not quite as egregiously.

Like unsold sleepers closer to departure, I could see the AE fares coming down if people aren't willing to pay them. Keep checking those fares every so often!

Anderson said:

I'll just chime in here. I'm getting the feeling that the NEC-North is getting to be a bit more of a nightmare than the NEC-South in terms of capacity constraints because Amtrak has to run fewer trains there. .

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I suspect you're right. While WAS-NYP Regional fares remain higher than NYP-BOS fares, I feel like the difference is narrowing. Ignore the promotional $49 fares and look at the D-bucket. From NYP-WAS, $80. NYP-BOS, $69.

Another factor influencing demand on the north end: Acela skips more stops on the north end than the south, giving travelers at WLY, KNG, OSB, NLC, etc., crowding these folks onto the infrequent (compared to the south end) Regional departures.

Seems like the LD Fares arent the only ones goin UP!UP!UP! We poor retired folks on fixed incomes arent receiving adjustments in our pensions this high! I understand Supply and Demand, but it does seem that since the NEC is so dominated by "Expense Account" Travelers, Amtrak can charge what the traffic will allow, but this results in "Regular" riders like us being pushed onto the Regionals which still seem to have some days where the fares are more reasonable! :angry2:

For such High Buckets AGR needs to award More Points, say 500-750 for BC and 1,000-1,500 for FC!!!

I'm going to open up an argument here: The Acela is not intended as a "train for everyone", as particularly indicated by the lack of coach seating. With that said, 9 Regionals per weekday on the NHV-BOS segment seems woefully insufficient. It might behoove Amtrak to run every train that gets to New Haven onto Boston in some form (be it via the Inland Route or the main NEC line), but at the end of the day, as far as I can tell, Amtrak is just too constrained on both rolling stock and NYP-NHV slots to do much other than keep hiking fares for now.

gatelouse said:

Anderson said:

I'll just chime in here. I'm getting the feeling that the NEC-North is getting to be a bit more of a nightmare than the NEC-South in terms of capacity constraints because Amtrak has to run fewer trains there. .

Click to expand...

I suspect you're right. While WAS-NYP Regional fares remain higher than NYP-BOS fares, I feel like the difference is narrowing. Ignore the promotional $49 fares and look at the D-bucket. From NYP-WAS, $80. NYP-BOS, $69.

Another factor influencing demand on the north end: Acela skips more stops on the north end than the south, giving travelers at WLY, KNG, OSB, NLC, etc., crowding these folks onto the infrequent (compared to the south end) Regional departures.

Click to expand...

I was wondering if amtrak was skipping some of the lower bucket fares and just pricing stuff at mid bucket to see if it sells. Like I said, I have a $800 roundtrip booked on acela for mid-May BOS - PHL, I am definitely going to keep checking the prices and if it gets lower I'll just cancel and rebook.

amamba said:

gatelouse said:

Anderson said:

I'll just chime in here. I'm getting the feeling that the NEC-North is getting to be a bit more of a nightmare than the NEC-South in terms of capacity constraints because Amtrak has to run fewer trains there. .

Click to expand...

I suspect you're right. While WAS-NYP Regional fares remain higher than NYP-BOS fares, I feel like the difference is narrowing. Ignore the promotional $49 fares and look at the D-bucket. From NYP-WAS, $80. NYP-BOS, $69.

Another factor influencing demand on the north end: Acela skips more stops on the north end than the south, giving travelers at WLY, KNG, OSB, NLC, etc., crowding these folks onto the infrequent (compared to the south end) Regional departures.

Click to expand...

I was wondering if amtrak was skipping some of the lower bucket fares and just pricing stuff at mid bucket to see if it sells. Like I said, I have a $800 roundtrip booked on acela for mid-May BOS - PHL, I am definitely going to keep checking the prices and if it gets lower I'll just cancel and rebook.

Click to expand...

That's FC??

No, its booked in BC but I hope to use upgrade coupons to get myself to FC. It's two people though.

amamba said:

No, its booked in BC but I hope to use upgrade coupons to get myself to FC. It's two people though.

Click to expand...

I guess it could be worse.

amamba said:

Ugh, I noticed the fare spike between BOS - PHL yesterday. I think it might have literally been made yesterday because I couldn't find anything cheaper than $150 on any day - and I am going to philly three times between now and May. I am totally kicking myself for not buying the tickets earlier - I have been watching the prices but wanted to wait until my credit card closes this month on the 20th.

I bought a ticket just last week that was $147 between BOS - PHL. Yesterday I was looking at Sundays in May and literally all the acelas were $225 each way. Roundtrip, for two people, BOS - PHL clocked in at $350 on the way down ($175 each) and $450 on the way back ($225 each). That is $800 roundtrip. I am seriously considering cancelling and rebooking on US airways for $220 per person - a huge savings. The only thing that is making me from not cancelling is that my trip is in May so between H and me we should have enough upgrade coupons to upgrade us both ways for FC. So $800 and in acela FC is probably a win vs. $450 for two on US air.

EDIT: Some people might ask why I didn't book a regional if I am complaining about the price. The regionals on the sunday in question were all clocking in at $126 - I would rather just suck it up and pay $100 more per person and ride FC with my upgrade coupons.

Click to expand...

How about Megabus with its $1.00 (yes, one dollar!) ticket? Two passengers, roundtrip, after adding reservation fee 50 cents, its $4.50 a savings of $795 over Acela FC! Agreed Megabus is not as comfortable as Acela. agreed it takes 7 hours from BOS to PHL while Acela takes 4 hours 50 minutes, agreed there is no free food included, but still, if it saves me seven hundred and ninety dollars I'd go for it But then, that's just the frugal just-of-college-kid me. It's good for Amtrak that not everyone in this country thinks about their money like I do

Texan Eagle said:

amamba said:

Ugh, I noticed the fare spike between BOS - PHL yesterday. I think it might have literally been made yesterday because I couldn't find anything cheaper than $150 on any day - and I am going to philly three times between now and May. I am totally kicking myself for not buying the tickets earlier - I have been watching the prices but wanted to wait until my credit card closes this month on the 20th.

I bought a ticket just last week that was $147 between BOS - PHL. Yesterday I was looking at Sundays in May and literally all the acelas were $225 each way. Roundtrip, for two people, BOS - PHL clocked in at $350 on the way down ($175 each) and $450 on the way back ($225 each). That is $800 roundtrip. I am seriously considering cancelling and rebooking on US airways for $220 per person - a huge savings. The only thing that is making me from not cancelling is that my trip is in May so between H and me we should have enough upgrade coupons to upgrade us both ways for FC. So $800 and in acela FC is probably a win vs. $450 for two on US air.

EDIT: Some people might ask why I didn't book a regional if I am complaining about the price. The regionals on the sunday in question were all clocking in at $126 - I would rather just suck it up and pay $100 more per person and ride FC with my upgrade coupons.

Click to expand...

How about Megabus with its $1.00 (yes, one dollar!) ticket? Two passengers, roundtrip, after adding reservation fee 50 cents, its $4.50 a savings of $795 over Acela FC! Agreed Megabus is not as comfortable as Acela. agreed it takes 7 hours from BOS to PHL while Acela takes 4 hours 50 minutes, agreed there is no free food included, but still, if it saves me seven hundred and ninety dollars I'd go for it

But then, that's just the frugal just-of-college-kid me. It's good for Amtrak that not everyone in this country thinks about their money like I do

Click to expand...

How many seats does Megabus sell for that price? I have heard that only a few seats are priced at $1.00.

Two accidents in the New York area were Megabus and one of the drivers was jailed because he was under

the influence of drugs. I wish you well if you go on the bus. Some of the regional trains are less

expensive.

Shanghai said:

Texan Eagle said:

amamba said:

Ugh, I noticed the fare spike between BOS - PHL yesterday. I think it might have literally been made yesterday because I couldn't find anything cheaper than $150 on any day - and I am going to philly three times between now and May. I am totally kicking myself for not buying the tickets earlier - I have been watching the prices but wanted to wait until my credit card closes this month on the 20th.

I bought a ticket just last week that was $147 between BOS - PHL. Yesterday I was looking at Sundays in May and literally all the acelas were $225 each way. Roundtrip, for two people, BOS - PHL clocked in at $350 on the way down ($175 each) and $450 on the way back ($225 each). That is $800 roundtrip. I am seriously considering cancelling and rebooking on US airways for $220 per person - a huge savings. The only thing that is making me from not cancelling is that my trip is in May so between H and me we should have enough upgrade coupons to upgrade us both ways for FC. So $800 and in acela FC is probably a win vs. $450 for two on US air.

EDIT: Some people might ask why I didn't book a regional if I am complaining about the price. The regionals on the sunday in question were all clocking in at $126 - I would rather just suck it up and pay $100 more per person and ride FC with my upgrade coupons.

Click to expand...

How about Megabus with its $1.00 (yes, one dollar!) ticket? Two passengers, roundtrip, after adding reservation fee 50 cents, its $4.50 a savings of $795 over Acela FC! Agreed Megabus is not as comfortable as Acela. agreed it takes 7 hours from BOS to PHL while Acela takes 4 hours 50 minutes, agreed there is no free food included, but still, if it saves me seven hundred and ninety dollars I'd go for it

But then, that's just the frugal just-of-college-kid me. It's good for Amtrak that not everyone in this country thinks about their money like I do

Click to expand...

How many seats does Megabus sell for that price? I have heard that only a few seats are priced at $1.00.

Two accidents in the New York area were Megabus and one of the drivers was jailed because he was under

the influence of drugs. I wish you well if you go on the bus. Some of the regional trains are less

expensive.

Click to expand...

Ok I was being dramatic with the $1 example, but if you check any random dates couple of months out on Megabus site for BOS-PHL, $5.00 tickets are aplenty. That would make it $20.50 for roundtrip for two, still a mammoth $780 cheaper than Acela. Not justifying Megabus here but I guess getting involved in two accidents and having one driver jailed doesn't mean it is unsafe. Amtrak was involved in more accidents than two in the previous year, that does not make Amtrak unsafe. I have taken Megabus half a dozen times when I used to live on East coast and I found them convenient, reasonably comfortable and safe. Again, that's just me. I, most often, end up taking whatever means of transport is cheapest between Point A and Point B as long as the time required in traveling by that means is not insanely long compared to other means.

When I was in college I would take the cheapest point of transport. Luckily I am not in college anymore. There is no way I would take megabus BOS - PHL. I would rather drive at that point.