So, I'm taking a trip, me and two little kids, on Sunday. I had originally booked coach seats, but last week, with encouragement from here, reserved a Roomette, all fine, I'm happy with it.
So, in the meantime, I've been watching pricing, trying to figure out what the various bucket pricings are. Coach seats have nearly doubled, and the available rooms (roomettes and bedrooms; family bedrooms have not been available) have crept up, for roomettes, it's gone from $247 (I think) when I first looked, to $304 when I reserved one, to $360 this weekend; standard bedrooms have likewise moved up in price. I've also looked ahead, trying to find the lowest bucket- the lowest I found for roomettes was $247, and for bedrooms, $589.
So, today! Six days before scheduled departure, the prices for the available bedrooms (but not coach seats) appear to have dropped to lowest-bucket- $190 for a roomette and $589 for the standard bedroom.
I had considered waiting and hoping to upgrade on-board from coach, but decided not to risk that. I'm not sure what I would have decided if I'd known that six days (right past the refund-deadline for sleeper accomodations) before departure the rates would drop back down, but I find it really interesting that it works that way! Thought maybe others would find it interesting, too, and/or could verify that this is how Amtrak does the pricing.
So, in the meantime, I've been watching pricing, trying to figure out what the various bucket pricings are. Coach seats have nearly doubled, and the available rooms (roomettes and bedrooms; family bedrooms have not been available) have crept up, for roomettes, it's gone from $247 (I think) when I first looked, to $304 when I reserved one, to $360 this weekend; standard bedrooms have likewise moved up in price. I've also looked ahead, trying to find the lowest bucket- the lowest I found for roomettes was $247, and for bedrooms, $589.
So, today! Six days before scheduled departure, the prices for the available bedrooms (but not coach seats) appear to have dropped to lowest-bucket- $190 for a roomette and $589 for the standard bedroom.
I had considered waiting and hoping to upgrade on-board from coach, but decided not to risk that. I'm not sure what I would have decided if I'd known that six days (right past the refund-deadline for sleeper accomodations) before departure the rates would drop back down, but I find it really interesting that it works that way! Thought maybe others would find it interesting, too, and/or could verify that this is how Amtrak does the pricing.
