The Price of Sleepers?

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Bigval109

Bigval109

OBS Chief
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
525
Location
Richmond VA
I have been looking at the super high prices of sleepers of late. I'm going on a trip in February

and the price of the roomette on CZ $758 from Chicago to Reno cost more than the whole round trip with one sleeper on CZ returning home which includes business class. Does Amtrak

really want to sell the sleeper,or keep them empty for some reason?
 
I'm traveling this coming Wednesday Chicago to Emeryville and my roomette charge was only $308 plus senior coach $141.10 for total of $449.10. Made the reservation in August 2016. You just need to plan in advance plus use Amsnag to get the lowest price.
 
Using AmSnag, you'll find sleeper fares of $311, 424, 531, 644 and 758 available all through the month of February. $758 Roomettes were only available on 4 days - the two cheapest on 15 days. Let AmSnag be your friend!
 
As Ryan has stated, it comes down to a supply and demand situation. On a train where there will be hundreds of passengers maybe 50-60 travel in the sleepers. We just booked our 2017 trip West to Colorado in late spring and the sleeper fares were sky high; $1500 bedroom fare from PHL to DEN but 56K worth of points for the return trip. The key is being flexible on the dates which we were not. . This may be our last trip West for a while so we just bit the bullet and booked the trip. Unless more sleepers are added soon I cannot see sleeper prices falling.
 
Actually the CZ is run with just two sleepers except for holidays mid September to April/May. I rode in October with just two sleepers and when I rode last early May there were just two sleepers. They do add the third sleeper temporarily during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
 
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Not only the Zephyr, the Chief also runs with two sleepers. I was on the Chief earlier this month, and they only had two sleepers.

As for sleeper prices, it varies from day to day. Flexibility is essential when considering to get a sleeper. Even during the peak season, or when your trip is less than six months away, you might find yourself lucky enough to snag the low bucket. For example, the roomette price from CHI to LAX cost me $599 for 1/3, $479 for 1/4, and $351 for 1/2 when I decided to upgrade, back in October (when my trip was less than three months away).
 
Ryan said:
The prices are that high because they're selling them at that price. If they don't, it will come down.
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It's been like this for several years. Sleeper prices start out high, even during the so-called low season. But as Ryan says, they can drop. A data point:

FMD to LAX departing 1/31/17 (room supplement only):

Roomette: $581.00 to $457.00

Family: 1316.00 to $779.00

Bedroom: $1341.00 to $952.00

Just think what Amtrak could charge if they dropped the second sleeper, or maybe both and only booked roomettes in the transdorm.
 
I just saw that the sleeper on train 5 went from $758 to $536. It has come down,but not enough

for me to afford it. I can afford it if it went back to low bucket price. I'll keep checking who knows I might get lucky.
 
Bigval109 said:
I'll keep checking who knows I might get lucky.
Click to expand...
Go to AmSnag and register for a Fare Alert. You'll get an email within minutes of a price drop. Too bad your travel date is not very flexible - the low bucket Roomette fare of $314 is available today on 10 days in February.
 
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niemi24s said:
Bigval109 said:
I'll keep checking who knows I might get lucky.
Click to expand...
Go to AmSnag and register for a Fare Alert. You'll get an email within minutes of a price drop.
Click to expand...
Slight clarification. You get an email within minutes of when prices are updated, which happens only once a day, at 7:00AM, My shared hosting service might be offended if it continuously checked fares.

I guess it could be done at say 1:00AM. But by the time most people read their email, prices can go back up. Then I'd be getting email wondering why.
 
niemi24s said:
Thanks for the clarification - and your work on AmSnag. FWIW, I found a similar website for airline travel: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ But I'm probably the last person in the Western Hemisphere to find it! :p

Regards
Click to expand...
Probably! Discovered that website many years ago, and it simply works wonders! Have found many flight concoctions that weren't listed on Air Canada's website, so I've had to call and spoon feed the flights to the agents many times.
 
Bigval109 said:
I just saw that the sleeper on train 5 went from $758 to $536. It has come down,but not enough

for me to afford it. I can afford it if it went back to low bucket price. I'll keep checking who knows I might get lucky.
Click to expand...
Good News I just did an upgrade to a sleeper for the low bucket price of $314 + $1.70 for the upgrade process for a total of $315.70. I'm all ready for my trip to begin this week.
 
I'm traveling in June between either Minneapolis or Kansas City and my dates are flexible. Is there anywhere on the amtrak (or amsnag site, which I haven't been on yet) site where you can see like a month of dates with prices, like you can with airlines?
 
niemi24s said:
There certainly is: http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php The following chart contains the cost of all the different accommodations for these trains:

attachicon.gif
25 Jan 2017 Amtrak Fare Buckets.jpg
Click to expand...
Wow, the gap between Star(vation) sleepers and Meteor sleepers seems to have significantly widened since the last time I checked. :blink:
 
The difference between low bucket Roomettes on the Silvers is now $71 and back in Jan 2016 it was $60.
 

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