vatraveler

I just noticed some $119 fares on Acela for the 8 PM WAS-NYP departure on weekdays. When did this start? Are the fares upgrade-able? I'm not seeing anything in the terms and conditions, but we didn't for the Saturday fares, either (the restriction was deceptively listed in the promo ad only for those).

RogerD408

Where did you see this? Looking at a booking Amtrak.com is showing the First fare as $277 and coach as $158 with a difference of $119. Maybe the fine print is saying only $119 more than coach... Marketing types at work here.

vatraveler

Check 7/29/15, WAS-NYP, Train 2128 - $119 shows in the Saver column. I've only seen this for Saturday trains prior to today.

RogerD408

Ok, I see that too and it's on AmSnag as well. I don't see any limitations on being able to use an upgrade, but Amtrak is good about having hidden rules that pop up when convenient for them. Amtrack.com is showing the FC seat to be $277 which does not add up to $119+$119 ($238). If you have a cert to upgrade, read the T&Cs to make sure they are good on the Saver Fares or call Amtrak and ask.

Just thought it was funny the amount was exactly the difference in the normal fares.

OZ Man

can't upgrade to 1st class with the saver fare
I can upgrade on the value fare which is cheaper for Stamford to Boston ^^^
I wish you could upgrade on the $119 fare to Washington

DCA writer

That $119 fare is still good for 500 AGR points between qualifying city pairs, right?

vatraveler

I figured as much, but where is this defined in the terms and conditions?

You can upgrade the Regional Saver fares, BTW.

Upsilon

FYI, I have used the 12-hour coupons twice to upgrade to Acela First on the Saver fare with no problem whatsoever.

Both times I have received the 500 AGR points on the upgraded Saver fares.

vatraveler

This is an interesting development. I was told no, and it did say they were excluded in emails that went out about this fare (originally the Saturday fares and later another about the weekday off-peak). Wish Anthony would chime in.

Upsilon

I didn't think it was upgradeable either, so for my first reservation I called and asked when I booked. I was told, "huh... it looks like Saver is the only discounted fare you can upgrade." (I had her notate my reservation to that effect.) When I called back to upgrade, I was not questioned or challenged in any way.

I made the second reservation on the Internet. When I called to upgrade, the representative apologized for taking so long because he had to re-price the ticket manually to preserve the original fare. (I haven't heard that one in a long time!) But again, no problems upgrading.

Both times I booked the Saturday Saver fare. And I called the AGR S/S+ number each time, too. @vatraveler, I hope you have better luck with AGR in the future!

AGR Insider

I have confirmed with our Pricing group that just like the NER saver fare, this Acela saver fare is also OK with the AGR upgrade coupons. The limitation is on paid upgrades.

Anthony

vatraveler

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Thanks, Anthony. Appreciate your response.

diburning

This is the problem. Not every agent knows that this is the procedure. HUACA is usually necessary.

vatraveler

HUACA does nothing to educate the agent. Escalate to a supervisor.

I assumed that the CSR I spoke to about the $119 fares was correct, since the terms were unclear in the marketing emails. Now I know better.

GrayAnderson

From what I can tell, Amtrak has started running independent revenue management on Acela FC seats vis-a-vis Acela BC seats so that the two aren't directly correlated. I may have seen an oddity on this front pop up on a Regional or two, but I've seen it in spades on the Acela...

...and frankly, I'm surprised they didn't do this sooner (and do it for Business Class at least on the Regionals...in particular, I can say from experience that BC on the Virginia Regionals gets slam full because you have so many folks traveling 3-8 hours that...well, let's say that I once did coach NPN-NYP and my legs got a little stiff for want of footrests; this was not long after I think they pulled the footrests from Regional coach).