1 reply to this topic

[howardj]

A question probably for Kevin or one of the other administrators..... Being a good former Boy Scout I was preparing to make our reservations for next winter on the Auto Train. To my surprise the fares for early December 2014 are double what they have been over the last 5 years! Our trip this year on December 14, 2013 in a sleeping car with a regular vehicle booked last February cost $662 including the AAA discount but not including the priority unloading charge. The same trip for next December is quoted at $1251.60 !!!! Our return trip on April 1, 2014 booked at the stroke of midnight 11 months from the travel date is $1073 and that has always been a more crowded train since the trip trip down is spread out over many days but the trip back is normally crowded into a few days on either side of April 1. I could understand a modest increase in the fares but this is nearly double. So, the question is why ? I'm quite shocked by this increase and I'm now thinking about skipping the train and driving. Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

[AlanB]

Howard, For the last year or so now, Amtrak's practice has been to open up the sales for a train at a higher bucket, if not the highest bucket. Seems that they figured out that many people knew that the trick was to book as early as possible to get the lowest price. So now, again, they start near the top and then typically 2 to 3 months later prices will fall since little to few sales have been made; unless it happens to be around a holiday. Then prices will go up & down as rooms sell or don't sell fast enough. Amtrak has become much more proactive in its revenue management. The best advice is to keep checking things every week or so and be ready to pounce.