Strange Amtrak.com fare

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the_traveler

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Nov 15, 2007
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Whatever siding I'm sitting on!
Even for Amtrak, this is strange!o_O (And that’s saying a lot!)

I was checking fares from FED to FBG. In the morning, the EA departs FED to NYP. In NYP, you can connect to a Regional that departs at 3:05 or the SM that departs at 3:15.

When checking the fares, I can get a senior fare or a full fare on the Regional connection. If I look at the SM connection using a senior fare, it says “SOLD OUT”! However, if I want a full fare ticket, I can get one on the SOLD OUT Meteor!

How is it even possible to have a seat left on a SOLD OUT train? I thought the senior fare was 10% off the full fare! (And it’s not the “3 days in advance” restriction - it’s more than 3 days.)
 
Even for Amtrak, this is strange!o_O (And that’s saying a lot!)

I was checking fares from FED to FBG. In the morning, the EA departs FED to NYP. In NYP, you can connect to a Regional that departs at 3:05 or the SM that departs at 3:15.

When checking the fares, I can get a senior fare or a full fare on the Regional connection. If I look at the SM connection using a senior fare, it says “SOLD OUT”! However, if I want a full fare ticket, I can get one on the SOLD OUT Meteor!

How is it even possible to have a seat left on a SOLD OUT train? I thought the senior fare was 10% off the full fare! (And it’s not the “3 days in advance” restriction - it’s more than 3 days.)

I suspect that Amtrak, like the airlines, only has a set number of seats available at a discount price. Once they're sold, they're gone. I've run into that when booking a roomette on the Cardinal with points a couple years ago. There was one left and it showed a price, but when I clicked 'points', it said 'sold out'.
 
Yes, I was told when I needed to "adjust" a trip that I would get a different price if/when I made the change since I had a "Saver Fare" and that those were sold out on the new date. I then asked about the senior rate and was told those were also sold out - that only a certain percentage of the seats are available for "discount fares" ... unless that discount is for a "person with disability"

Fortunately, I did not have to make any changes after all
 
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