Availability of the accessible bedroom without Amtrak agent help

[JackieTakestheTrain]

Hi -- Just curious is there is a way to find out the "availability" of an accessible bedroom without calling Amtrak?

Often, I am picking from a series of dates often influenced by the availability of the accessible bedroom.

I hate calling and asking for a bunch of dates when all I really need to know if it is already booked!

I am happy to then call and get pricing...

Any ideas? I checked Amsnag and I don't think they show in the listing...unless I am missing something, which is possible.

-Jackie

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I wonder how often the handicap room simply goes out empty due to lack of awareness and visibility. Has that ever shown up in any report?

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

Additional comment to no one in particular:

I just think it is silly to have to call although I understand why they want to maintain control.

They could make the availability accessible, but not be able to buy it online.

Otherwise, I am potentially waiting an agent's time just getting some basic information that could be supplied a different way.

i can't tell you how many times I have to call to get that information and then have to hang up to sort out the rest of my travels.

They will only do a courtesy hold for 10 days..which again is a pain, but I do understand...so I rather than tie up the room until I purchase it, I never put it on hold....

I just think it just add one more needless step for some of us who already have a tough time traveling...

On the other hand, I do applaud Amtrak for always being courteous when I do have to ask a billion questions! I can't say that anyone has ever been rude to me, but it just bugs me. Maybe I am the one with the control issues!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Jackie, you use passenger type of Passenger With Disability and then indicate you use a wheelchair that you will sit in, the accessible room is the only room that shows up

 

[neroden]

That's correct. If you book online as a "passenger with disability" and indicate that you will sit in your own wheelchair during the trip, the accessible room will show up for online booking.

 

[tim49424]

you use passenger type of Passenger With Disability and then indicate you use a wheelchair that you will sit in, the accessible room is the only room that shows up

Interesting......I've always assumed that booking room H had to be done through an agent. I'll have to remember that next time either my mom or I need to book that. (We both have mobility difficulties, but are not in wheelchairs, however she uses a walker and so do I only if I don't know what the station I'm arriving at is like).

 

[HighBall]

I had an upper Roomette on a particular trip. My back was acting up and asked at the counter if I could get a lower room. They did me one better. Ride out to the train on a cart and given the H room since they were full on the lower level.

Great PR on their part.

 

[HenryK]

The H room shows up on the Amtrak website as available to ANYONE if it isn't sold by a certain time before train departure. I don't know if that time is 24 hours or longer. The morning of a trip from Washington to Chicago on the Capitol Limited, I decided to see if I could score a bedroom because traveling in a roomette with a spouse and a service dog was too crowded. No bedrooms available, but the H room was, and it cost just an additional $60 over the roomette. That was well worth it.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

The H room shows up on the Amtrak website as available to ANYONE if it isn't sold by a certain time before train departure. I don't know if that time is 24 hours or longer. The morning of a trip from Washington to Chicago on the Capitol Limited, I decided to see if I could score a bedroom because traveling in a roomette with a spouse and a service dog was too crowded. No bedrooms available, but the H room was, and it cost just an additional $60 over the roomette. That was well worth it.

It's 14 days, but, it appears to only show up if the bedrooms are sold out, just like in your case.

 

[willem]

Long ago, I thought I had read that the H room is priced like a roomette for a handicapped traveler and priced like a bedroom for a non-handicapped traveler (within 14 days of travel). But if the bedrooms were sold out, and the H room was only $60 more than a roomette, then it seems that the H room does not share buckets with the bedrooms. Does it have its own set of buckets? Does its price depend on the handicapped status of the traveler?

 

[ainamkartma]

Long ago, I thought I had read that the H room is priced like a roomette for a handicapped traveler and priced like a bedroom for a non-handicapped traveler (within 14 days of travel). But if the bedrooms were sold out, and the H room was only $60 more than a roomette, then it seems that the H room does not share buckets with the bedrooms. Does it have its own set of buckets? Does its price depend on the handicapped status of the traveler?

A few minutes ago, from Lamy to Chicago on July 16, the H room was $340, a roomette was $400, a bedroom was ~$850, and the family room was ~$1150. Looking as a PWD for the H room, and as an adult for the other three. So different buckets, I guess.

Ainam "I am blessed to be fully mobile at this stage of my life, so this was just an academic exercise" Kartma