Originally Posted by
soitgoes
Don't forget that there are no capacity controls. A roomette may cost $100 in the lowest bucket, but as the train fills up, the price goes up, but the points needed do not.
Also, you can get business class on your Wolverine segment (or whatever other train you take where there is no sleeper).
This is very helpful. I didn't know about the business class upgrade, or the capacity controls on the cash price for sleepers. Thanks!
Clearly, I'm going to have a learning curve with Amtrak. I find it difficult to get the answers I need on their site, but a lot of the questions I don't even know to ask. For example, since sleeping compartments are pretty much unique to trains, I didn't realize that booking a sleeper might provide an upgrade on connecting trains that don't have sleeper cars. I'm really glad I have Flyertalk as a resource!
I used to do a lot of long-hauls in Amtrak when I was younger, doing the whole trip in coach. Now that I'm getting older, spending 72 hours straight in coach isn't too appealing! But, cash sleeper fares are generally not competitive with airfares, so I stopped using Amtrak for long-haul. With the info from Flyertalk, though, I can get some really good deals on long-haul trips, so I plan to start using Amtrak again. This is great because I
love trains, and commuting by train is not an option in my area (I live near Detroit, where the auto is king.)