Adding another bedroom to our booking

[BR232]

My english is far away from beeing perfect but hopefully someone of you will understand my problem and is able to give me some advice.
We have got a booking for 2 adults from LAX to CHI in 2024. At the moment we are both booked into bedroom E.

Because it is our "once in a lifetime" holiday we are now thinking of a bedroom suite with bedrooms E + D. I tried to modify the booking online, but it is not possible to add another bedroom.
I contacted Amtrak via their live chat. They told me, that they can modify the booking for me and we have to pay 1701 USD more for the second bedroom. What seams a bit weird for me: At the moment the same train can be booked online for 1 person in a bedroom for 1633 USD. Its hard to understand why it is more expensive if we add another bedroom to an existing booking.

I would prefer to book another ticket + reservation for 1 person online. Hopefully it will be booked into bedroom D. After that I would ask via live chat to change the passengers from our first booking from 2 to 1 adult. Maybe we will get a refund of the railfare!?

Do we have to expect any problems with the onboard staff in opening the connecting door, when not booked in one booking? Or do they just open the door if everybody in the bedrooms agree?
Thanks alot for some advice.

Dirk

 

[pennyk]

Welcome to Amtrak Unlimited. I do not know your limitations phoning from Germany, but I would want to speak to an Amtrak agent prior to making the reservation. The train on which you are traveling may have more than one sleeper car and, thus, more than one Bedroom D. Booking Bedroom D in another car would not help. It is possible that the Bedroom D next to your Bedroom E has already been booked. An agent could be able to tell you.

I do know it is possible to open the connecting door if the reservations are not booked together. I have done it a few times. Only the attendant (or conductor) is able to do it. Sometimes, the doors are stuck and are not able to be opened. That has happened to me once and I was very disappointed.

I have no idea why there is a difference in fares between adding a new bedroom to an existing reservation and starting a new reservation. I do not think there should be a difference. It may be a communication problem or a timing problem. Maybe someone else can answer that question.

Good luck.

 

[joelkfla]

Perhaps the agent was looking at it as a cancellation and new booking rather than a modification. Then it's possible either that the current fare is higher than the original fare, or that there is only one bedroom in the bucket that the OP saw online, and a 2nd bedroom bumps up to the next higher bucket.

I don't know whether it's possible to do this as a modification, but if there are 2 adjoining bedrooms available, it should be possible to book the additional room in the current bucket, and if necessary move the original room to be adjacent at no increase in fare. It would likely require a live agent, as you said.

 

[Brian Battuello]

Very good question. It happens that in many older American movies involving sleeping cars, two inhabitants (usually an unattached man and woman) end up in adjoining large rooms and find the open status of the door very convenient. The movies ignore the high cost of two such adjacent rooms for a total of two people. See "Silver Streak" as one example, although I am recommending the movie only with great hesitation...

 

[BR232]

Thanks alot for your answers. I would just like to let you know what I did. Because it is much easier for me to use the chat than phoning I used it once again.

The second agent told me the same price for adding the bedroom ... $1.701. She also asured me that bedroom D in car 430 is still available. Concerning my question, why it is cheaper to book a new ticket + bedroom she had no explanation. But she confirmed me that it is possible to reduce our original booking from 2 to 1 person and they will refund the passenger fare of $232.

Now we have got two seperate reservations for 1 adult + bedrooms (E+D both in coach 430).
Hopefully this will work well and is fine for the attendent and conductor.