Does Anyone Really Reserve Those High Priced Rooms?

[Everydaymatters]

On 11/2, the LSL from Bos to Chicago shows a bedroom for $800 plus. This for a trip that is about 23 hours total.

Do those high priced rooms actually get sold?

 

[RailFanLNK]

Well, those are cheap compared to what I have seen on the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr. I have seen bedrooms in the 4 digit category and just shake my head. Allthough, those bedrooms are for 48 hours instead of 24 hours. But man....(or woman) those things can be quite expensive.

Also two friends of mine just rode Amtrak for the first time. I had instilled in them that the roomettes are "small". I always tell people to mark out with tape the size of the room in your basement so you aren't so quite surprised. I know one thing...they didn't do that! :angry: But they still had a good trip on the SWC from LAX to KCY. It was thier trip before they booked it that my jaw dropped with the bedroom prices.

 

[Bierboy]

You also need to take into account that meals are included in those prices. My wife and I prefer the bedrooms for both privacy and comfort. When you figure in what it would cost for a motel and good meals on a vacation, the cost of a bedroom is not that far out of line - especially on the western routes. We look at the train travel as a main "ingredient" of our vacation, so cost is not a major factor for us.

 

[AAARGH!]

I wonder how many of those high-bucket rooms are taken up by AGR awards as opposed to paying passengers?

 

[D.P. Roberts]

One of the problems of rail travel - and really every kind of travel, for that matter - is that the longer the trip, the harder it is to put up with smaller, more uncomfortable accommodations. I can sit in a coach seat on an airplane for a short 2-3 hour flight with no problem, but coach really starts feeling cramped to me after 4-5 hours. I can sit in a train seat all day comfortably, but at night I really want a bed; and after 24 hours or so, I start to feel like I've had enough of a roomette, and would really like a bedroom. So, the catch-22 is that the longer the trip, the more likely it is that you'd want a roomette or bedroom - and the more expensive it will be.

 

[jmbgeg]

On 11/2, the LSL from Bos to Chicago shows a bedroom for $800 plus. This for a trip that is about 23 hours total.
Do those high priced rooms actually get sold?

On the Empire Builder west to east round trip I have paid those accomodations rates and higher. I first try to manage the dates to get lower bucket rooms, but when I really want or need to travel I have paid nosebleed rates up to $1,472 one way. I love it when I can use AGR points for high bucket rooms though.

 

[pennyk]

I recently made reservations for a cross country trip at the earliest possible time (11 months in advance) and I think the I got the lowest buckets available for the dates I was traveling. The most expensive bedroom fee price (that I paid for) was $761 on the CZ from CHI to DEN. However, I used AGR points for the DEN-SEA leg of the trip. The bedroom price from DEN to Sacramento at the time I made the reservations was $771. The smallest amount I spent for a bedroom was $202 on the Empire Builder from SEA to West Glacier.

 

[had8ley]

Betty;

My son and I were standing in the Tuscaloosa depot about a week before Mari Gras. In walks a rather well dressed young man with a young chick-a-dee in tow."Two tickets to New Orleans" he blurted out to the agent. PJ told him, "Sir, the train is sold out except for one bedroom." "I'll take it!, he replied and pulled out a wad of hundreds. Mind you, this is a daylight run of about 6 hours and he got some, not much change for three one hundred bills. So if you gotta go...you gotta pay.

 

[the_traveler]

Why would somebody pay $10,000 for a First Class seat on a plane to Europe? :huh: Or buy a $50,000 car when they can buy a $20,000 car? :huh:

I wonder how many of those high-bucket rooms are taken up by AGR awards as opposed to paying passengers?

(Raises hand HIGH)

If they're high, and nobody wants to buy it, that's more availability for anyone using an AGR award! (On one trip, I got the last room on 2 out of 4 trains!)

 

[AAARGH!]

I wonder how many of those high-bucket rooms are taken up by AGR awards as opposed to paying passengers?

(Raises hand HIGH)

If they're high, and nobody wants to buy it, that's more availability for anyone using an AGR award! (On one trip, I got the last room on 2 out of 4 trains!)

When I wrote the question, I was thinking the answer was going to be that "the_traveler" takes them all!

 

[the_traveler]

When I wrote the question, I was thinking the answer was going to be that "the_traveler" takes them all!

When's the next high priced room?

 

[Shanghai]

When I travel overnight, I get a roomette if I am alone and a bedroom if my wife is with me.

I try to book early to take advantage of the low bucket fares. I have used AGR points once

and tried another time but it was during a blackout period. I plan to take a coast to coast

trip using AGR points in 2010.

 

[Konrad]

On 11/2, the LSL from Bos to Chicago shows a bedroom for $800 plus. This for a trip that is about 23 hours total.
Do those high priced rooms actually get sold?

Two years ago we paid over $1200 for the last bedroom on the EB - we wanted to travel from SEA but it was booked out. The Australian dollar was at about 60+ cents to the greenback at the time. With currency conversion charges and a roomette on the CS to PDX it was not a cheap trip by any standards (you do the math).

We did it because we came to see the country and Amtrak gives the best view and the first snows of the season in Glacier Park will live for us forever (snow is not a feature in our neighbourhood). Mr & Mrs Indiana at the wine tasting were another highlight.

On the debit side, bedroom A is a definite negative (except for the view from the rear window), the hike to the diner and the hostility of the diner staff (hey guys, there IS a sleeper back down there), indifferent food and wine and patchy sleeper attendant service made it an expensive but generally pleasant experience.

So, yes, people do pay those prices. But after having taken six transcontinental Amtrak trips over the past three years we've had enough. It should be so much better - and can be.

Our next transcontinental trip across the States will be at 35,000 feet in March 2010.

 

[Chris J.]

They might get sold as on-board upgrades if nobody buys them beforehand.

 

[ScottC4746]

One of the problems of rail travel - and really every kind of travel, for that matter - is that the longer the trip, the harder it is to put up with smaller, more uncomfortable accommodations. I can sit in a coach seat on an airplane for a short 2-3 hour flight with no problem, but coach really starts feeling cramped to me after 4-5 hours. I can sit in a train seat all day comfortably, but at night I really want a bed; and after 24 hours or so, I start to feel like I've had enough of a roomette, and would really like a bedroom. So, the catch-22 is that the longer the trip, the more likely it is that you'd want a roomette or bedroom - and the more expensive it will be.

Actually I did a Superliner Roomette for NOL-LAX and was just fine as a single. A couple I would probably op for the Bedroom. I don't think I could do the 3 nighter Texas Eagle in a Roomette.

 

[Upstate]

Somewhere out there is a person that is scared of flying and has enough cash to not care.

 

[jmbgeg]

On 11/2, the LSL from Bos to Chicago shows a bedroom for $800 plus. This for a trip that is about 23 hours total.
Do those high priced rooms actually get sold?

Two years ago we paid over $1200 for the last bedroom on the EB - we wanted to travel from SEA but it was booked out. The Australian dollar was at about 60+ cents to the greenback at the time. With currency conversion charges and a roomette on the CS to PDX it was not a cheap trip by any standards (you do the math).

We did it because we came to see the country and Amtrak gives the best view and the first snows of the season in Glacier Park will live for us forever (snow is not a feature in our neighbourhood). Mr & Mrs Indiana at the wine tasting were another highlight.

On the debit side, bedroom A is a definite negative (except for the view from the rear window), the hike to the diner and the hostility of the diner staff (hey guys, there IS a sleeper back down there), indifferent food and wine and patchy sleeper attendant service made it an expensive but generally pleasant experience.

So, yes, people do pay those prices. But after having taken six transcontinental Amtrak trips over the past three years we've had enough. It should be so much better - and can be.

Our next transcontinental trip across the States will be at 35,000 feet in March 2010.

I agree. A "A' room at high bucket rates is a disconnect.

 

[Bob Dylan]

One of the problems of rail travel - and really every kind of travel, for that matter - is that the longer the trip, the harder it is to put up with smaller, more uncomfortable accommodations. I can sit in a coach seat on an airplane for a short 2-3 hour flight with no problem, but coach really starts feeling cramped to me after 4-5 hours. I can sit in a train seat all day comfortably, but at night I really want a bed; and after 24 hours or so, I start to feel like I've had enough of a roomette, and would really like a bedroom. So, the catch-22 is that the longer the trip, the more likely it is that you'd want a roomette or bedroom - and the more expensive it will be.

Actually I did a Superliner Roomette for NOL-LAX and was just fine as a single. A couple I would probably op for the Bedroom. I don't think I could do the 3 nighter Texas Eagle in a Roomette.

Me thinks the traveler, other members and, ahem, I would disagree with you, the third night is a layover in SAS, its another night on the train, and while its nightime, still a chance to get off, walk downtown and still have your bedroom waiting and a trip in the morning to LAX or CHI!

I would agree it there are two, or you have kidoos, then a bedroom or family bedroom is definitely the way to go!Sure wouldnt,couldnt do it in coach!!!

As for the high bucket roomettes, I rode last week from CHI-ROC on the LSL in an expensive, last minute available roomette because Id never been in a Viewlliner roomette, I was really tired, the train was full but dont regret it, it was fantastic and I like Superliners but its like comparing a Lexus to a Hyundai (watch out, the Koreans are getting better fast! ) and cant wait for my next Viewliner trip!!

 

[sunchaser]

When I travel overnight, I get a roomette if I am alone and a bedroom if my wife is with me.I try to book early to take advantage of the low bucket fares. I have used AGR points once

and tried another time but it was during a blackout period. I plan to take a coast to coast

trip using AGR points in 2010.

We paid $1600 for 4 bedrooms (not including rail fare) for a round trip for two from SLC to SAC then SAC to OLY in June.

We bought the tickets at the end of February.

I've been watching the prices to repeat the trip next year, and one of bedrooms is already $500.

We will be using roomettes next week, but it will be a 9-10 hour trip.

I think anything much longer than that it would be better in a bedroom for us.

 

[SouthernServesTheSouth]

Yep, us AGR travelers don't even blink at the prices. I burned 100,000 points on a round trip CVS to SIM, the last time I checked prior to our departure was over $4,000. This was using Cardinal bedroom 1 night, SWC 2 nights, and business class each way,

 

[BillyJo]

Well, this thread kind of reminded me how expensive rooms can get on those Western trains in the summer. Since the prices seem to be low now, I think I'll be booking my cross-country trip very soon.

It is kind of interesting to see how a roomette can vary in price when you leave CHI on a Monday or Tuesday versus a Wednesday!