guv1976

It's only $2 to $4 less, but I am finding that a trip from Albany, NY, to Stamford or New Rochelle via Penn Station is often pricing out cheaper than a trip from Albany to Penn Station using the same train for the ALB to NYP leg.

dukenilnil

It is not unique to that section. I have seen it on other trains as well (NYP to Charlottesville vs. NYP-WAS to name one). It happens frequently on flights as well where flying EWR to Dallas to IAH is cheaper than Flying direct using same plane as first leg from EWR to Dallas. I chalk it up to one of the quirks of travelling.

AlanB

Yup, just like Dukenilnil suggested, it's called destination pricing. You can find many such things like that in the Amtrak system. For example, on another forum someone just posted about a trip that they were trying to book. They wanted to go from Chicago to Dallas in a roomette. The fare was $353, however if they booked things through to Austin six stops past and almost 200 miles from Dallas, the total fare drops to $286.

The difference is more dramatic since a sleeper is involved here, but there are plenty of examples of things being cheaper depending on your destination.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7130e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Do all of these "hidden city" fares involve connecting trains? If so, what happens if one skips the additional segment? Does the segment coupon retain any value, and if so, can it be applied to a different itinerary?

AlanB

I've never really gone looking for them, although the example that I cited does not include a connecting train.

Other than your getting off the train early or not bothering to board the connecting train, nothing else happens. You just go on your merry way to whatever it was that you wanted to do. Amtrak won't track you down and demmand that you pay the higher fare for the city where you got off.

Yes, technically the second ticket contains value. Depending on just how the tickets were issued by the system would determine if you could try to get a refund or apply the value to a future purchase. Each ticket contains a breakdown of it's value, but you have to know where to look for it. The problem is that some itineraries list the actual value of each ticket, while other itineraries list the full value on one ticket and zero on the second.

Now, all that said you still have to be careful to read the conditions of the tickets. Some ticket sales include restrictions that state "no refunds once travel has started". In that case you would not be able to turn in the unused ticket for some form of compensation.

Finally, one other warning. This does not apply to connecting trains, and it only applies to times when you've purchased upgraded accomodations. Going back to my earlier example on the Texas Eagle, if one reversed things and brought a ticket from Austin to Chicago, but then tried to board in Dallas, you would probably find yourself without a room to sleep in.

the_traveler

Back in the "Good Old Days" (last year) when you could get 100 points per segment, I purchased 2 tickets for the same train from KIN to BOS (KIN-PVD and PVD-BOS). The conductor seemed confused why I had 2 tickets for the same train, and only pulled the PVD-BOS ticket.

Because this was the next stop, when I requested a refund, I said that I wasn't sure where I would get on, and boarded at PVD (stop 2) instead Of KIN (stop 1) to go to BOS (stop 3). Because I technically did not start my trip , I got a refund for the "unused" portion!

So, yes in my case, it did have value. As AlanB stated, it was notated "No refunds once travel begins", but in my case, the ticket was before travel had begun. (Even though I was on the train! ) I don't think that I would have suceeded if the conductor pulled the KIN-PVD ticket only instead, since I would have started travel.

And yes, I did submit a copy of my ticket to AGR for credit of the 100 points! (In fact even doubled and tripled - it was during the promos last year! )