Finding out how crowded/booked up my train will be?

[1A]

Hello,

Perhaps a somewhat unusual request; I am planning an upcoming trip on the Coast Starlight service, between LAX and OAK.

I am trying to decide which of two particular days may be better to travel based on how patronized the train will be.
Given I have the option of travelling on either of the two days, I would prefer to travel on the less busy (passenger wise) of the two.

For example, I can travel on a Monday or Tuesday of a certain week.
Having a look through the Amtrak website, the standard coach/business class seats are $17 more expensive on Tuesday's train.
I assume like the airlines, the higher the price of the ticket, the more seats that have already sold for that day's train.

Again, like the airlines with their 'fare buckets' which you can look up on various websites, does Amtrak have a similar online resource available to the public, or is there any other way of finding out how patronized my traimay potentially be?

Can't say it is of great importance to my trip planning, but thought I would ask anyway as it may help when trying to decide which day to travel on.

Cheers.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Hello,

Perhaps a somewhat unusual request; I am planning an upcoming trip on the Coast Starlight service, between LAX and OAK.

I am trying to decide which of two particular days may be better to travel based on how patronized the train will be.

Given I have the option of travelling on either of the two days, I would prefer to travel on the less busy (passenger wise) of the two.

For example, I can travel on a Monday or Tuesday of a certain week.

Having a look through the Amtrak website, the standard coach/business class seats are $17 more expensive on Tuesday's train.

I assume like the airlines, the higher the price of the ticket, the more seats that have already sold for that day's train.

Again, like the airlines with their 'fare buckets' which you can look up on various websites, does Amtrak have a similar online resource available to the public, or is there any other way of finding out how patronized my traimay potentially be?

Can't say it is of great importance to my trip planning, but thought I would ask anyway as it may help when trying to decide which day to travel on.

Cheers.

If you try the site Amsnag, you can look at 30 days worth of fares for a particular point to point train. No way to know exactly how crowded a particular train will be but you can compare fares on particular days. http://biketrain.net/amsnag2.0/amSnag.php is an address for that website.

 

[the_traveler]

Another way (but far from scientific) is to make a couple of dummy reservations. Make 1 for 1 person and then make the other for 8 people (the maximum allowed for online booking). If the fare is higher for 8 reservations, the more it is full. If the 8 says sold out, you know the train will be VERY full!

 

[caravanman]

Be aware that no matter how busy or crowded your train is, you may still be allocated a seat number by the Amtrak staff, so a seat companion, even on a half empty train, is possible! Sometimes you can choose where you sit for yourself, sometimes not...

Ed.

 

[bratkinson]

If you have sufficient lead time between deciding which day to travel, I think the best method would be to try to figure out what the various bucket prices are for that train.

Using Amsnag the 'look ahead' 3-4 months and even 11-12 months and see what prices are offered. Of course, time of year (summer rush, holiday crush, winter lows) have to be considered as well. So, for a trip 2 weeks from now, see what prices are before Labor Day as well as the rest of September. Also check late January/early February. You may see prices as low as $100, then going up $35 to the next bucket, then $35 for the next, and perhaps $50 for the highest (all numbers are fictitious). Knowing -which- bucket is used for your planned day(s) of travel gives insight into how full is it. If one day is at the lowest bucket, and the other is the next bucket, then it's fairly obvious that the lowest bucket day would be (wild guess) less than 50% sold. Bucket 2 may indicate 65% sold, etc. Without knowing the logic behind 'which bucket' is offered, percent full numbers are only wild guesses.

Also, don't forget day of week variations. I've found that traveling the NEC, Wednesdays is usually the lightest travel days whereas Mondays and Fridays are the heaviest. However, I have witnessed standing room only on a Wednesday in business class about a year ago.

 

[1A]

Thank you all for your replies and info provided.
Helps confirm what I was already thinking.

I will certainly put all your advice to use!

Thanks again,
-1A

 

[1A]

If I may add a few follow up questions:

1 - Generally speaking, is there a spike or decrease in train patronage on Public Holidays that fall on a Monday essentially making a '3-day-weekend' ?
I am looking at travelling on the Coast Starlight on the Labor Day weekend and currently have a choice to travel on either the Sunday or the Public Holiday Monday.

My initial thoughts would be that the Monday train would be more busy with travelers and families heading home after having an extended weekend, but I could be wrong. Perhaps it is simply unpredictable?

2 - On a related note, can I confirm that the Coast Starlight has just 1 business class car (assuming double deck) or could an additional business class car be added to the train if there was enough demand?

Not that I mind too much, but I was thinking there may be more families (with children) travelling on the public holiday weekend so perhaps business class may be a quieter/more comfortable option if that car itself is not too full?

3 - Where is the business class car located on the Coast Starlight (northbound) service - towards the front, middle or rear of the consist?

Cheers

 

[bratkinson]

In general, there's always a spike on 3 day weekends. Everyone wants to get home to get back to work on Tuesday or start of school that week. I'd expect those living in OR or WA would be riding from LAX on Sunday, and those going to SAC and points south would ride on Monday. That way, they'll all be in their own bedroom Monday night and ready to go on Tuesday. For what it's worth, if you can ride on Tuesday, I think you'll see a below normal Tuesday passenger count. Here in the NEC where I am, Tuesday after a 3 day weekend seems to be less crowded than normal as many business travelers don't like to have a shortened work week.

As for business class, how full or empty that will be is anyone's guess. Will there be screaming kids? Maybe, but not likely, if my NEC experience is any measure. I suspect the added cost of a B/C seat deters most families with 2-3 kids from going B/C. But then there's always one or two loud passengers that think they have to talk full volume into their cell phone non-stop. I'll never forget perhaps 10 years ago when I was across the aisle and back one row from a Washington politician that made sure everybody 'knew' HE was a big shot talking 'business' the whole time. That was my most miserable B/C trip ever. So miserable, in fact, I stopped riding B/C for a couple years in favor of the quiet car. The extra AGR points for B/C brought me back for most trips.

Of note, though, is that going business class gets you access to the Metropolitan Lounge at LAX and PDX. That alone is worth the price to me. But know that, at least on weekdays, when I'm switching trains at LAX to go north, it gets crowded. But having a comfortable seat and coffee and pastry available helps. Even more so, the Red Caps will be coming in looking for passengers. I strongly suggest you take them up on it. A $5.00 tip is well worth boarding BEFORE the rest of the train gets called, giving you your choice of seats, AND it saves the hike out to one of the further-away tracks in the station. As far as B/C car placement in the train goes, I think they put the BC car between the lounge car and the diner, with the sleepers in front of the diner, and coaches behind the lounge car.

Lastly, buy your ticket ASAP! If the ticket prices haven't already reached their highest bucket for that weekend, they soon will!

 

[1A]

bratkinson, Thank you for this info. I do appreciate your help.

-1A

 

[cpotisch]

Amsnag is great and should give you a good sense of the different price buckets. No guarantee that you’ll see every single price bucket, but it should still be helpful. However, price and crowdedness don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Sometimes an itinerary might be more or less expensive because it might be close to departure, during peak season, during a sale, etc, so just know that remaining availability is not going to be the only factor for determining fares. If you find a really good fare, though, and it says that there are multiple seats left at that price, you’ve got pretty good odds, but even then, more people might book after you.

My point is, there aren’t any really good ways of figuring out how crowded your train will be, so you might just have to hope for the best and accept the risk.