Why doesn't Amtrak advertise stopovers more?

[BCL]

Caltrain has free stopovers on a smaller scale. Tagging a Clipper pass or buying a paper ticket allows for a full trip of up to four hours. One can get off and continue in the same direction. However, it's a proof of payment system, so I'd expect fare inspectors might give citations for going the reverse direction without a new ticket of tagging off and back on with Clipper.

 

[benale]

I used those "All Aboard America" fares a lot.$299 for all three zones thirty years ago. I also wish stopovers were cheaper. I'm contemplating a trip from Harrisburg to LA next Spring. I would love to break it up in Albuquerque and spend the night, but it's a hefty price increase. Don;t know why Amtrak does it, You are on the same route and are not traveling any extra. Same to San Francisco. An overnight stop in Denver would be most welcome,but Amtrak charges too much.

On the other hand, this Thursday I'll be traveling a relatively short distance from Philly to Harrisburg. Double Days under the current system ends next Saturday. Straight through it's less than two hours. I plan to stop in Downingtown and Lancaster. That's 575 points with about an hour between trains. Straight through it;s 225 points with Select. Might as well grab some last minute points before the 100 point minimum is history.

 

[BCL]

Did the All Aboard America fares qualify for AGR points in some way?

 

[neroden]

Not passing any judgement on the desirability or lack thereof of selling longer distance trips for a lower per unit distance price, this seems to be standard practice in passenger railroads all across the world. Amtrak is not unique in that respect.

It's all very well to have a small premium, but this is a LARGE premium. And that is NOT normal.

...it's also one of the causes of the low ridership in the 'bad segments' like DEN-RNO. If you consider the DEN-CHI price correct because it's priced to fill the train DEN-CHI, and if you consider the price for CHI-SAC correct because it's maximixing revenue from 'end-to-end travellers', then it's clearly the price on the *low ridership segment* which is too high. Cut it, get more customers.

Occasionally someone will claim that Amtrak's revenue management people know what they're doing. This sort of incompetence is why I do not take such claims seriously; I have already proven that I could do a better job.

 

[jis]

Ia would like you to look up some LD fares in places that have serious LD service in the world and then please define "LARGE" for us.

BTW, the places where there is significant discount on a per km basis for longer distance travel, there also are fares available that include stopovers with some minor stopover charge. So in effect there is an out for the problem that we are discussing here.

I think Amtrak could follow such example and allow 24 or 48 hours topover with a nominal stopover charge over the direct through fare.

 

[neroden]

Ia would like you to look up some LD fares in places that have serious LD service in the world and then please define "LARGE" for us.

Well, the premium for splitting your trip into two segments was a lot less than 58% in Russia last time I checked, though that was years ago.

Feel free to find another example anywhere in the world where splitting your trip into two tickets increases the price by 58%. That seems like an Only In America thing. (This was also a completely random example. I've seen even larger premiums on Amtrak, upwards of 75%.)

BTW, the places where there is significant discount on a per km basis for longer distance travel, there also are fares available that include stopovers with some minor stopover charge. So in effect there is an out for the problem that we are discussing here.

Sure, that'll do.

 

[benale]

A lot of people can't afford a sleeper. They are getting more expensive every year. I've taken many sleepers on points,but I couldn't afford them if I had to pay. As I mentioned above, it is outrageous how much Amtrak charges for a simple stopover. Albuquerque on the Chief and Denver on the Zephyr.If you are in coach, this breaks up the trip nicely.Yes, people will say the food is included in the sleeper price, but looking at the price for a sleeper from Chicago to LA or Oakland, it would be a lot cheaper, if there was no outrageous surcharge for a break in the journey. This is for one person. If two are getting a sleeper, it's a bit more reasonable., at least under the current system. After January the second person will have to pay the cach fare, from what I understand.

I remember getting a roomette as late as ten years ago for $160 from Chicago to Seattle on the Builder and about $190 from Chicago to LA on the Sunset Limited/Texas eagle. Those days are long gone.

 

[neroden]

The sleeper prices are one thing. If Amtrak has a shortage of sleepers, and can fill up the sleepers at high prices, well, I understand doing that; it's more money to fund other improvements to passenger train service.

But the surcharge for a stopover is quite another thing. It's leaving money on the table while leaving trains empty (through certain segments).

There is a tradeoff between providing best public service and being financially most sound, and I can respect most of the choices along that spectrum. What I do *not* respect is decisions which are financially unsound and make for worse service to the public. Those drive me up the wall. And the way stopovers are priced on Amtrak (at Denver in particular) is a dramatic example of this. It deters customers. A better pricing scheme would fill up that half-empty segment of the train from Grand Junction to Reno -- this section has a plausible price if you're going all the way through from Chicago, but it has an unreasonably high price if you're coming from Denver.

 

[Anderson]

Did the All Aboard America fares qualify for AGR points in some way?

If the fares were mainly advertised in the 1970s and 1980s, AGR didn't exist.

Nathanael: I'm wondering if west-of-Denver seats aren't being automatically filed as "short distance trips" in someone's mind? I know one problem Amtrak has is space DEN-GSC (from what they've said, an extra coach DEN-GJT probably wouldn't be out of order if not for the added time, expense, and hassle of switching the car on and off). If space is tight going west of Denver, Amtrak is stuck either trying to "shake" a Denver-Sacramento passenger or risking losing a Washington-Sacramento passenger (after all, the Zephyr does not operate in a vacuum).