Bucket Chart?

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piedpiper

Train Attendant
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
69
Location
New Hampshire
While on the subject of buckets, here's an update of the 22 Oct '17 bucket chart - including estimates of those fares not seen:

View attachment 7597

As a close approximation, Coach fares above saver fares increase geometrically while sleeper upcharges increase arithmetically.
Is there any way that you could post a current bucket chart as of the first of the year?
 
The previous chart (12 Nov 2019) did not contain 11 of the fares seen in machine characters (not hand written) which were found and added during the subsequent week culminating with this chart being updated on 19 Nov 2019.

After years of making up these charts, I've finally settle on a dating system in which a new chart showing wholesale changes to the fares is published with a new "As Of __________" date. That date will remain unchanged until the next wholesale fare changes.

In between those wholesale changes, corrections and additions are made and the "Updated ________" entered to reflect when the date they were completed.

Neither of those dates is when Amtrak revised them - only the dates when I noticed them and modified the chart. Those dates also help me keep the 27 charts in file in the proper order.
 
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Here's a chart updated today with corrections and additions to the AT Saver fare and Family Bedroom fares:

27 - 23 Feb 2020 Amtrak Fare Buckets.jpg

FWIW, the AT is the only LD train with slightly different (around $3) fares for the Northbound and Southbound runs. Southbound has the higher fares, so those fares are shown.
 
Quite a difference from a year ago:eek:
While there is a difference, it's probably not as large as you may be thinking. This may show what I mean better than mere words:
28 - AT Buckets Jan 2019 Feb 2020a.jpg
The difference is due solely to changing from the low bucket coach fare to the next highest bucket to go along with the sleeper accommodation charge. This change was made sometime during the Fall of 2019 The accommodation charge in this example remained the same at $312 or $455 - $143 = $312.

Most other trains had total sleeper fares go up a little bit more (about 10%, IIRC) because their accommodation upcharges also went up during the Fall of 2019.
 
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Just guessing at the codes at the top...

C = Coach?
R = Roomette?
FB = Family Bedroom?
B = Bedroom?

I thought there was only one family bedroom in each sleeper car. i.e. Doesn't CONO have only 2 sleeper cars? If so, why are there 4 prices for it?
 
Just guessing at the codes at the top...

C = Coach?
R = Roomette?
FB = Family Bedroom?
B = Bedroom?

I thought there was only one family bedroom in each sleeper car. i.e. Doesn't CONO have only 2 sleeper cars? If so, why are there 4 prices for it?

Each type of room might be priced at any one of the prices listed at any given time, depending on Amtrak's inventory management.
 
Each sleeping accommodation for each train has a total of 5 different fares which may be offered for sale during the future 11 month period. The fact that only 4 Family Bedroom fares are contained on the chart just means I observed only those four during my searches for fares using AmSnag.

• The fifth fare missing from this chart for a FB on the CONO might have once been offered and subsequently withdrawn without being noticed.
• The fifth missing fare may now be offered and one of the other four withdrawn still leaving only four fares.
• Or, there's also the possibility that if you made 11 consecutive 30 day searches using AmSnag you'd find all five of them. Or 4. Or 3. Or 2. Or 1. Or none if they're all sold out for the next 11 months.

And there's also the possibility one or more of the eight FB fares missing for the CZ and CL has been briefly offered and subsequently withdrawn without notice. Checking the different fares on all 15 trains can require as many as 165 AmSnag searches - I only do spot checks every week or two or whenever I feel like it.
 
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