A Failed Attempt to obtain information for a booking on Amtrak. com

[Dakota 400]

Empire Builder leaving Seattle on July 17, 2017 to Chicago: the Amtrak schedule shows that the train exists. But, when I try to make a booking, pricing comes up for July 19, 2017 or July 18, 2017, but nothing for the 17th. Does this mean that the train is already sold out for the 17th? Or am I doing something incorrectly?

 

[KnightRail]

Appears bookable

 

[A Voice]

Empire Builder leaving Seattle on July 17, 2017 to Chicago: the Amtrak schedule shows that the train exists. But, when I try to make a booking, pricing comes up for July 19, 2017 or July 18, 2017, but nothing for the 17th. Does this mean that the train is already sold out for the 17th? Or am I doing something incorrectly?

Is your departure time set to "evening" perhaps? The train departs at 4:40 p.m., so as of the evening, there isn't another train until the next day.

Try setting your departure time to the afternoon and see if that clears it up.

 

[Montreal Ltd]

Tried it and got roundabout routes like Seattle to Portland to connect to 28.

 

[Dakota 400]

Tried it and got roundabout routes like Seattle to Portland to connect to 28.

That is what I was getting. I will try again on another day/

 

[Dakota 400]

Appears bookable

What you posted from the Amtrak web site is exactly what I saw. Look at the dates. They are not for a July 17th departure from Seattle.

 

[Dakota 400]

Appears bookable

What you posted from the Amtrak web site is exactly what I saw. Look at the dates. They are not for a July 17th departure from Seattle.

 

[Montreal Ltd]

Tried it again and got #8. But had to scroll down to near the bottom of the list! YMMV

 

[AG1]

Tried it and got roundabout routes like Seattle to Portland to connect to 28.

Appears bookable

What you posted from the Amtrak web site is exactly what I saw. Look at the dates. They are not for a July 17th departure from Seattle.

The (July 19) is the arrival date

 

[Eris]

Appears bookable

What you posted from the Amtrak web site is exactly what I saw. Look at the dates. They are not for a July 17th departure from Seattle.

It is a July 17th departure; and a July 19 arrival

 

[Asher]

Guess that's settled.

 

[niemi24s]

Tried it again and got #8. But had to scroll down to near the bottom of the list! YMMV

I'm guessing it has something to do with what you have selected for "SORT". When more than one routing is offered by Amtrak, there's no reason to expect the one you want to be at the top of the list.

 

[Dakota 400]

I see where I made my mistake in trying to get some information for this Amtrak journey. I saw the July 19th date for arrival in CHI and thought it meant when I was departing from SEA.

Tried to make a booking tonight with the same price and same information on the Amtrak site that I had seen before. I tried to find a way to see what Roomettes were still available and did not find a way to do so. I am sure I have forgotten the method to be used to determine this. Or, do I need to call 1-800-Amtrak to determine this?

 

[Dakota 400]

I see where I made my mistake. I thought the July 19th date that I saw, which was the arrival of the train into Chicago, was the departure date.

Tried to make a reservation on Amtrak.com tonight since the reservations details are still the same. But, when I tried to determine what Roomettes were still available prior to making the reservation, I was not able to do so. What am I forgetting to do in order to determine availability of Sleeping Car accommodations? Or, do I need to call 1-800-Amtrak to find that out?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I see where I made my mistake in trying to get some information for this Amtrak journey. I saw the July 19th date for arrival in CHI and thought it meant when I was departing from SEA.

Tried to make a booking tonight with the same price and same information on the Amtrak site that I had seen before. I tried to find a way to see what Roomettes were still available and did not find a way to do so. I am sure I have forgotten the method to be used to determine this. Or, do I need to call 1-800-Amtrak to determine this?

Doing this on Amtrak.com (as opposed to the phone app)?

Under the premium column - far right - use the arrows on either side of "change" in the box that shows the rooms

 

[AG1]

Booking online the computer selects the room for you. You have to call if you have a room preference .

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I see where I made my mistake in trying to get some information for this Amtrak journey. I saw the July 19th date for arrival in CHI and thought it meant when I was departing from SEA.

Tried to make a booking tonight with the same price and same information on the Amtrak site that I had seen before. I tried to find a way to see what Roomettes were still available and did not find a way to do so. I am sure I have forgotten the method to be used to determine this. Or, do I need to call 1-800-Amtrak to determine this?

Doing this on Amtrak.com (as opposed to the phone app)?

Under the premium column - far right - use the arrows on either side of "change" in the box that shows the rooms

I misread this. We used to be able to put in 8 "guests" to see how many rooms would show. But that's a pain now because you have to identify each "guests" as adult, child, etc.

 

[Dakota 400]

I tried to do what AmtrakBlue suggested with no positive result. Thanks for your attempt to help.

1-800-Amtrak will get a call tomorrow when I am ready to make the reservations/

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

I booked Amtrak sleeper travel regularly and ALWAYS call. Number of roomettes available and which roomettes are available has never been accessible on the Amtrak.com website--at least not for me. As RRRick said, Amtrak.com arbitrarily assigns a roomette number when you actually book on that site. Until you receive your ticket by email, you will not know your actual room location. Only things I have gotten from the website is how many roomettes are available at the displayed price. Same thing for bedrooms. Join AGR(Amtrak Guest Rewards) and call their 800 number to ask questions and request specific room assignment prior to completing the purchase. I have found the customer service people at AGR to be helpful, courteous, and willing to work with my requests.

 

[Dakota 400]

I booked Amtrak sleeper travel regularly and ALWAYS call. Number of roomettes available and which roomettes are available has never been accessible on the Amtrak.com website--at least not for me. As RRRick said, Amtrak.com arbitrarily assigns a roomette number when you actually book on that site. Until you receive your ticket by email, you will not know your actual room location. Only things I have gotten from the website is how many roomettes are available at the displayed price. Same thing for bedrooms. Join AGR(Amtrak Guest Rewards) and call their 800 number to ask questions and request specific room assignment prior to completing the purchase. I have found the customer service people at AGR to be helpful, courteous, and willing to work with my requests.

Thank you for your input. I am an Amtrak Guest Rewards Member already and will call their 800 Number when I am ready to make my reservation.

Your comment about not being able to see specific Sleeping accommodations that are available on Amtrak. com is interesting. I thought I had been able to do so 2-3 years ago. Maybe the website changed? And, of course, my memory may well be faulty as well.

 

[Ryan]

Are you talking about specific rooms that are available (e.g. Roomette 10 or Besroom B)? That's never been available.