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Future scheduling of Summer Rail Fests


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#11 jis

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Posted 12 August 2016 - 11:18 AM

 

 Maybe a double points time.

Double points offers  usually happen early May and again I believe late October/early November but ending well before the Thanksgiving period.

 

This year the targeted double TQP offer appears to be in August through early September, and is currently in effect.

 

BTW, the Solar Eclipse next year will be an issue. I plan to drive up from here to the area of totality for that day. It is not all that far.



#12 pennyk

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Posted 12 August 2016 - 12:58 PM

This year the targeted double TQP offer appears to be in August through early September, and is currently in effect.
 
BTW, the Solar Eclipse next year will be an issue. I plan to drive up from here to the area of totality for that day. It is not all that far.


The current double TQP offer was targeted (and I was not among those targeted :().   There still may be a "typical" double points promotion in the fall.  

 

Although I may try to travel to see the Solar Eclsipse next year, I still plan to attend the fest.



#13 shanghai

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Posted 13 August 2016 - 11:32 AM

I like the mid-January timeframe as we have had in the past.  I also like a late March -

April timeframe to avoid the hot weather summer months.  I appreciate Alan's reference

to the AU Gathering in early October. If we can decide on location and dates early, travel

and hotel costs could be minimized.



#14 AlanB

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Posted 13 August 2016 - 03:09 PM

Dick,

 

As I mentioned back on page 1 of this discussion, knowing dates early is definitely not going to guarantee lower hotel rates.  I went and priced out things for the same cities we just visited last month going 11 months into the future and prices were still very ugly for all 3 cities.  Additionally, for this last fest and in part because of AGR II coming, we knew almost six months before the event where we were going and when.  And it didn't help, prices were still through the roof.  And my additional samplings back on page 1 showed that things are just generally pretty bad in those cities.

 

As for Amtrak, being early isn't always the best choice either.  Amtrak learned a few years ago that people would jump on booking things as soon as the dates opened for sale.  So they tend to eliminate low bucket prices for the first month or so, and then they'll start to drop prices if things aren't already selling well.

 

Finally, since we're putting up potential reasons to move things; one argument for staying put in July, or perhaps moving to June, is the fact that we have the longest days of the year.  This provides for more scenery when riding Amtrak, as well as the potential to do an after dinner run that's still in daylight like we did in Portland this year.


Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#15 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 January 2017 - 05:24 PM

We haven't discussed this in 5+ months, but the need is very close to make some decisions, especially as far as my putting in for the time off (which I should have done in the past 29 days).   Those who preferred the Fest be moved from the traditional mid-July period had good points for moving it, however as mentioned above, we would lose the longer daylight of which we have been accustomed to taking advantage.  The suggestions for alternatives that worked best among people wishing to relocate it were diverse, proving that any changes to the past routine would please fewer people than leaving it where it has been.

 

So as it stands now, I expect to look towards doing as we have within the period of the second and/or third weeks of July.



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#16 steve4031

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Posted 29 January 2017 - 05:41 PM

Thank you for the update Kevin, I agree with your decision making process. I have a homebound student and the proceeds from my extra pay will get towards street service on the fest.

#17 jis

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Posted 07 February 2017 - 10:27 AM

Second or third week of July sounds fine to me. I may not be participating this year if a certain change in career plan does not go into effect this year. I will know by mid-May.






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