Will they re-use a sleeper room in-route?

[RobertF]

Will they re-use a sleeper room in route. Say I have room C from Chicago to St. Louis on the TE. Then I get off at St. Louis.

Someone boards somewhere in Arkansas bound for San Antonio. Could they also get sleeper room C or do they wait until

the train terminates to clean the rooms for new passengers?

 

[PRR 60]

Will they re-use a sleeper room in route. Say I have room C from Chicago to St. Louis on the TE. Then I get off at St. Louis.Someone boards somewhere in Arkansas bound for San Antonio. Could they also get sleeper room C or do they wait until

the train terminates to clean the rooms for new passengers?

Yes, they do reuse the rooms. The best example is Denver on the Zephyr where a significant number of rooms are vacated and then reoccupied in both directions. The car attendant can be pretty busy cleaning and readying the vacated rooms at the stop in Denver.

 

[RobertF]

Will they re-use a sleeper room in route. Say I have room C from Chicago to St. Louis on the TE. Then I get off at St. Louis.Someone boards somewhere in Arkansas bound for San Antonio. Could they also get sleeper room C or do they wait until

the train terminates to clean the rooms for new passengers?

Yes, they do reuse the rooms. The best example is Denver on the Zephyr where a significant number of rooms are vacated and then reoccupied in both directions. The car attendant can be pretty busy cleaning and readying the vacated rooms at the stop in Denver.

Thanks! Makes sense that they would, but I just could not remember any reuse on any of my trips. Probably just didn't notice.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

Will they re-use a sleeper room in route. Say I have room C from Chicago to St. Louis on the TE. Then I get off at St. Louis.Someone boards somewhere in Arkansas bound for San Antonio. Could they also get sleeper room C or do they wait until

the train terminates to clean the rooms for new passengers?

They reuse rooms. Generally they will block out a room for an extra station, to have time to clean and reset it. On some shorter routes sleepers may not be reused simply because there is no demand due to only one night in the route.

 

[daveyb99]

Sometimes they DO NOT block out time, and 'short sheet' the room. I have boarded before and told to hang in the Sightseer until the room is made up as someone just left.

On the other hand, a room IS BLOCKED from usage when someone books a short trip, say STL-CHI, or between other mid-trip stations.

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

 

[haolerider]

Sometimes they DO NOT block out time, and 'short sheet' the room. I have boarded before and told to hang in the Sightseer until the room is made up as someone just left.
On the other hand, a room IS BLOCKED from usage when someone books a short trip, say STL-CHI, or between other mid-trip stations.

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

There was no demand for the sleeper from Fort Worth to Springfield otherwise someone would have booked it and the attenant would have re-set the room for the Springfield - Chicago leg of the trip. There is a system to monitor these situations and the rooms are sold and re-sold on most trips.

 

[AlanB]

Yup, they'll resell them anyway they can, and without regard for how much time an attendant may have to clean the room. I once boarded the Capitol in Toledo around midnight, it's scheduled arrival time a few years back. Someone had booked the bedroom from CHI to TOL, so I had to sit in handicapped room for about 20 minutes while the attendant cleaned up my room.

 

[daveyb99]

There was no demand for the sleeper from Fort Worth to Springfield otherwise someone would have booked it and the attendant would have re-set the room for the Springfield - Chicago leg of the trip. There is a system to monitor these situations and the rooms are sold and re-sold on most trips.

There was demand: Me.

If you mean "re-set" as in booted the SPI-CHI passenger out or to another room and allowed me to remain in, then that never happened.

If you mean "re-set" as in I had to leave that room and go back to coach or pay for a different room, then HAH.

So, AMTRAK lost the $400 or so revenue for that trip.

But in fairness, explain the 'system to monitor these situations' a little more. If I try to book FTW-CHI, but nothing is available SPI-CHI, what is supposed to happen under this 'system'.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

People who book sleeping accommodations for only portions of a route can lead to empty sleepers. On the other hand, Amtrak charges more for sleepers in shorter segments.

For example, say you wanted to take the Southwest Chief from Chicago to LAX a month from today. Alternately, two different people want to book the same sleeper in smaller segments - say CHI-ABQ, and then ABQ-LAX. The passengers involved would pay the following rates (one adult in a roomette, no discount):

CHI-LAX: $859

CHI-ABQ: $574

ABQ-LAX: $428

As you see, the combined segments cost $143 more than booking the trip straight through. And this discrepancy is relatively minor: I'm not sure if it's a function of higher buckets, but I recently tried booking a trip on the Coast Starlight as LAX-KFS-PDX instead of LAX-PDX, and the difference was several hundred dollars. So, if Amtrak can book more people in shorter segments, they make more money than if someone booked a sleeper for the whole trip. And the more segments there are, the more Amtrak charges. So there are some empty rooms, but they do make up some of those costs.

However, I do think Amtrak needs to make this more visible on the web site. Someone who wants a room for their entire trip may read that it's "sold out", when in reality it may be available for 90% of their trip. If Amtrak showed the "maximum availability" for a person's itinerary, they might get more reservations.

 

[the_traveler]

I once had a bedroom from NYP-ATL. It was during Mardi Gris (sp?), and 3 people had reserved the room for the trip from ATL-NOL. (It's a day trip. The train was sold out.) The attendant had to clean and set the room prior to our arrival in ATL.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

There was no demand for the sleeper from Fort Worth to Springfield otherwise someone would have booked it and the attendant would have re-set the room for the Springfield - Chicago leg of the trip. There is a system to monitor these situations and the rooms are sold and re-sold on most trips.

There was demand: Me.

If you mean "re-set" as in booted the SPI-CHI passenger out or to another room and allowed me to remain in, then that never happened.

If you mean "re-set" as in I had to leave that room and go back to coach or pay for a different room, then HAH.

So, AMTRAK lost the $400 or so revenue for that trip.

But in fairness, explain the 'system to monitor these situations' a little more. If I try to book FTW-CHI, but nothing is available SPI-CHI, what is supposed to happen under this 'system'.

I think they meant reset as in return the room to its starting setup and condition, not re-seat as in move a passenger to a different location.

 

[jis]

I have had the opportunity to be the person who used a sleeper that was vacated enroute when I was traveling on the Silver Star from JAX to NYP a while back. Someone disembarked from that roomette at JAX where I boarded. Apparently he used it as daytime private accommodation, which Amtrak encourages sales of in Florida. The attendant put my bags in there and set me up for dinner in the Diner while he fixed up the room. The Star used to run on an earlier schedule those days.

 

[printman2000]

Sometimes they DO NOT block out time, and 'short sheet' the room. I have boarded before and told to hang in the Sightseer until the room is made up as someone just left.
On the other hand, a room IS BLOCKED from usage when someone books a short trip, say STL-CHI, or between other mid-trip stations.

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

 

[Rail Freak]

Sometimes they DO NOT block out time, and 'short sheet' the room. I have boarded before and told to hang in the Sightseer until the room is made up as someone just left.
On the other hand, a room IS BLOCKED from usage when someone books a short trip, say STL-CHI, or between other mid-trip stations.

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

Hotel experience tells me to book the room every day and make sure you have enough housekeeping staff to handle the turnover!!!!!

 

[daveyb99]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

In a way, I am suggesting that.

To maximize revenue, AMTRAK needs to develop a policy which might lead to longer distances getting priority over shorter distances. Or maybe by time if that is more route appropriate. I could see eliminators like: not onboard during hours of 0100-0700, not onboard covering more than xxx miles, not onboard covering MORE THAN two meals. Something that might give preference to passengers on longer trips.

Then, create a new Inventory Class Code similar to "standby".

Sleepers currently rank S A B C D (high to low). Maybe an E code for standby. If your trip falls within the 'short' definition, then you can book an E category, and that will clear at 7 days before travel. Kinda like the airlines do with upgrades for frequent flyer upgrade to first class. When upgraded, the fare would be whatever is available at the time.

The details and workings of this policy will evade AMTRAK for a long time, and likely never be implemented. And empty rooms will go sailing around the country as a result.

 

[Rail Freak]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

In a way, I am suggesting that.

To maximize revenue, AMTRAK needs to develop a policy which might lead to longer distances getting priority over shorter distances. Or maybe by time if that is more route appropriate. I could see eliminators like: not onboard during hours of 0100-0700, not onboard covering more than xxx miles, not onboard covering MORE THAN two meals. Something that might give preference to passengers on longer trips.

Then, create a new Inventory Class Code similar to "standby".

Sleepers currently rank S A B C D (high to low). Maybe an E code for standby. If your trip falls within the 'short' definition, then you can book an E category, and that will clear at 7 days before travel. Kinda like the airlines do with upgrades for frequent flyer upgrade to first class. When upgraded, the fare would be whatever is available at the time.

The details and workings of this policy will evade AMTRAK for a long time, and likely never be implemented. And empty rooms will go sailing around the country as a result.

As a NEWBIE, I asked an agent on the phone some question ( I don't remember ) and he told me " Amtrack doesn't make their money on you long distance guys. Now I rember the question, "you mean we stop at all these little towns?"

MT

 

[George Harris]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

So, why didn't you say, "OK, can I have it to as far as St. Louis?" and see if they would do that.

 

[daveyb99]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

So, why didn't you say, "OK, can I have it to as far as St. Louis?" and see if they would do that.

That was certainly available. But who wants to get up and move out by 0739AM, hauling our stuff back to Coach. Not very desirable.

So we stayed in our Roomette and kept that extra upgrade $$$ in our pockets.

 

[printman2000]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

In a way, I am suggesting that.

To maximize revenue, AMTRAK needs to develop a policy which might lead to longer distances getting priority over shorter distances. Or maybe by time if that is more route appropriate. I could see eliminators like: not onboard during hours of 0100-0700, not onboard covering more than xxx miles, not onboard covering MORE THAN two meals. Something that might give preference to passengers on longer trips.

Then, create a new Inventory Class Code similar to "standby".

Sleepers currently rank S A B C D (high to low). Maybe an E code for standby. If your trip falls within the 'short' definition, then you can book an E category, and that will clear at 7 days before travel. Kinda like the airlines do with upgrades for frequent flyer upgrade to first class. When upgraded, the fare would be whatever is available at the time.

The details and workings of this policy will evade AMTRAK for a long time, and likely never be implemented. And empty rooms will go sailing around the country as a result.

If I understand you correctly, you say do not sell the room to the short route people JUST IN CASE someone will come along and buy it for a longer distance. It would be hard to say no to someone with money in hand just in case someone else comes along. Especially since there is also a chance they will sell that room on another leg and make even more.

 

[haolerider]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

In a way, I am suggesting that.

To maximize revenue, AMTRAK needs to develop a policy which might lead to longer distances getting priority over shorter distances. Or maybe by time if that is more route appropriate. I could see eliminators like: not onboard during hours of 0100-0700, not onboard covering more than xxx miles, not onboard covering MORE THAN two meals. Something that might give preference to passengers on longer trips.

Then, create a new Inventory Class Code similar to "standby".

Sleepers currently rank S A B C D (high to low). Maybe an E code for standby. If your trip falls within the 'short' definition, then you can book an E category, and that will clear at 7 days before travel. Kinda like the airlines do with upgrades for frequent flyer upgrade to first class. When upgraded, the fare would be whatever is available at the time.

The details and workings of this policy will evade AMTRAK for a long time, and likely never be implemented. And empty rooms will go sailing around the country as a result.

I can assure you that rooms are hard to come by and are not sailing around the country empty.

Also, I don't think many long distance train passengers are going to wait until 7 days before departure to see if their room has cleared. Amtrak needs to make the sale when they have the opportunity. There has been discussion about creating a wait-list that would allow people to access short term empty inventory.

 

[the_traveler]

We rode FTW-CHI and watched a Bedroom sit empty for the entire trip so someone who booked it Springfield-Chicago. Sure, we could have book it FTW-SPI, but then what. What a waste of revenue. AMTRAK needs to devise a way to fix things like this.

I don't understand, what are you suggesting Amtrak do? Should they not sell the room on the shorter trip?

In a way, I am suggesting that.

To maximize revenue, AMTRAK needs to develop a policy which might lead to longer distances getting priority over shorter distances. Or maybe by time if that is more route appropriate. I could see eliminators like: not onboard during hours of 0100-0700, not onboard covering more than xxx miles, not onboard covering MORE THAN two meals. Something that might give preference to passengers on longer trips.

Then, create a new Inventory Class Code similar to "standby".

Sleepers currently rank S A B C D (high to low). Maybe an E code for standby. If your trip falls within the 'short' definition, then you can book an E category, and that will clear at 7 days before travel. Kinda like the airlines do with upgrades for frequent flyer upgrade to first class. When upgraded, the fare would be whatever is available at the time.

The details and workings of this policy will evade AMTRAK for a long time, and likely never be implemented. And empty rooms will go sailing around the country as a result.

You say (using your example) E would clear at 7 days, how do you not know that room was not sold 6 days before - or even at departure? :huh: And you want to eliminate those boarding between 0100-0700? I boarded at NDL at ~0130, so I guess that would eliminate me! And don't even think (according to your idea) of trying to get a sleeper from SLC eastbound, where you board (if on time) between 0300-0400!