Amtrak Guest Rewards - Autotrain Rates Rising!

I have just checked the rates for the Autotrain for May/June 2010 and find that bedrooms run about $650, which is a significant increase.
Also fares are also up for seats and cars.
It looks like they emulate the airlines and then some.

I have just checked the rates for the Autotrain for May/June 2010 and find that bedrooms run about $650, which is a significant increase.
Also fares are also up for seats and cars.
It looks like they emulate the airlines and then some.

Amtrak in some ways does emulate the airlines, but I wouldn't say "and then some." There are usually no more than five fare buckets each for coach rail fare and accommodation charges (if you're in a sleeper you'll automatically be charged the D bucket rail fare, which is the lowest).

The only way to tell if AutoTrain fares and/or sleeper rates have actually increased would be to compares apples to apples within each fare bucket. Unfortunately Amtrak.com doesn't display buckets. But if you play with the dates long enough for a given city pair you can usually figure out what the various buckets are, and compare those with what one paid in the recent past.

A quick check with Amtrak.com shows a bedroom on Jan 28th going for $532, above and beyond the railfare and car fare. And jumping to Feb 24th sees a rate of $281 for a Bedroom.

So it just depends on your dates and how many other people have already booked that date.

And so what if the rates really are rising? If Amtrak can charge more and still fill the seats/rooms, then they should charge more. Nothing insidious or sneaky about that.