Must coach and accomodation reservations match?

[Chessie Hokie]

I'm wondering if coach and accomodation reservations need to match. I currently have a ticket on the Cardinal from Charlottesville to Chicago in coach. Now I'm wondering if I can just get a roomette for only part of the trip, say from Charleston to Indianapolis (during the night)...my thought is to ride coach prior to and after that segment, while having the roomette only during the night. Is that possible? Thanks in advance for any replies...

 

[the_traveler]

I think they must match. Even when you do an onboard upgrade, I believe they price it from where you board to where you depart. (Example: CHI-NYP, not just IND-CVS what you are actually in the roomette.)

The only way around this is to book each segment. For example, (years ago) I took the LSL and Desert Wind from ALB-LAS. To save money, I booked coach from ALB-CHI on the LSL, a roomette from CHI-DEN on the DW and coach from DEN-LAS on the DW - these were booked as 3 tickets!

 

[AlanB]

No, if one upgrades onboard, the charge for the roomette is priced from the next station stop at the time the conductor is doing the upgrade. So for example if you left out of DC on the Cardinal and asked the conductor to do an upgrade shortly before Hinton, the charge will be based upon the low bucket fare from Hinton to Chicago. It's also important to realize that even if there is a room available out of DC, if you wait until just before Hinton for example, someone else on board may gobble up the last room. And I'm not sure that the conductor would hold it for you even if you ask early on, since he'd be cutting into Amtrak's revenues by not selling it to someone whose going to pay to move immediately.

I've never heard of anyone however asking to downgrade the next morning and I'm not sure if the conductor would want to do that, much less if he even can do that. So if you really want to ride in a sleeper for just a portion of your trip, you'll need to rebook it into a three segment trip. The first and final segments you'll book in coach, the middle segment in a sleeper. That of course would net you three tickets and since they'll all be for the same train, if you're a member of Amtrak Guest Rewards, you'll get screwed out of points since there is a rule that prohibits one from getting multiple points from multiple tickets for the same train.

Finally, I'm not sure that you'd save all that much money by trying to do something like this. Doing an onboard upgrade as soon as you board isn't going to cost all that much more than playing this game, even if the conductor can do an upgrade and downgrade.

 

[Chessie Hokie]

Thanks. That's pretty much what I expected, as such a scheme really wouldn't be very beneficial to Amtrak. I didn't know about the restriction on AGR points for multiple tickets on the same train, so thats a worthwhile tidbit to remember. I was just wargaming some scenarios and it looks like this one can go into the "circular file"! :lol:

 

[meatpuff]

I have a slightly related situation, so I'll just use this thread.

I'm traveling from Glenwood Springs to Chicago next month. I want to use AGR points to book a sleeper. But DEN to CHI is only one AGR region. I would like to avoid burning 5,000 points just to go a few hundred extra miles from GSC (two regions). So I would like to pay with a credit card to ride in coach from GSC->DEN and use AGR points to book a sleeper DEN->CHI.

I've never switched accomodations class en route before. I would just make the two reservations separately, right? Is this likely to cause any problems or tick off any Ampeople? I assume I can just get off the train in DEN and get in line with the sleeper passengers to get back on. I know the Denver stop takes a long time, I don't know if it's a service stop but the passenger load turns over a ton there. Would you recommend just keeping to myself and go where I need to go at DEN, or talking with a conductor/coach attendant in advance to let them know my plans?

 

[the_traveler]

You can do that yes, but it's also possible (but not guaranteed) the conductor may allow you to occupy the room early. (But you also need to make 2 reservations.)

I've had a coach reservation from Martinez to Sacramento, and a roomette from SAC to CHI. The conductor allowed me to occupy the room from MTZ. Later this week, I have a $9 coach ticket from LAX to Ontario and a roomette from there to CHI. I'm hoping the conductor allows me to occupy the room 53 minutes early! I know many people buy a $9 coach ticket from NOL to Slidell, and they can get into the room at NOL. But I've also heard of times they can not.

I realize your trip is longer, so you may have to change at Denver. (You may not have to go into the station. Ask! )