Just Passing Thru

In this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtra...el-rebook.html

There is discussion about how to upgrade a seat, and mention is made of doing it onboard through the conductor. I'm not interested in actually doing it, but I would like to hear about *how* one would go about doing it and what is involved, both in terms of a seat upgrade and purchasing sleeper accommodations when one has only booked a seat.

Can some knowledgeable pax sound off on that, please?

nerd

There are some existing discussions on it. Some of them deal with upgrading an award ticket, since you can't upgrade them ahead of time - only onboard, but the information is relevant to paid tickets as well.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtra...-question.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtra...ile-board.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtra...mmodation.html

ByeByeDelta

If you don't want to upgrade onboard, why the inquiry as to the process?

On the surface, the process should be quick and easy:

1) Board train with coach ticket.
2) Find conductor and ask if space is available in business or sleepers.
3) Conductor sells space and collects fare.
4) Move belongings.

In practice, YMMV.

There are reports of conductors who won't sell upgrades even if they are available. Before selling space the conductor should call in to confirm it is available and have it removed from inventory so it cannot be double booked down the line.

I know Amtrak used to proactively call coach passengers a few days before departure when sleeper bookings were light and offer discounted upgrades. Does anyone know if this is still done? I saw a conductor soliciting upgrades in coach exactly once. Seemed like a good idea to me.

AlanB

I've not heard of any recent reports of that happening anymore. Which isn't to say that I've heard that it isn't happening either.

On many routes the sleeping cars are filling up pretty much on their own. I think that Amtrak only used to do that on runs where less than 50% of the rooms were sold. These days, except at very off peak times, that's generally not a problem for most routes.

trainman74

Or portions of routes, perhaps? The one time I got a call was some years back when I had an L.A.-to-Oakland coach ticket on the Coast Starlight. Hopefully they are still doing outbound calls when a room is unoccupied for a daytime portion of a route that covers a mealtime or two -- seems like it'd be reasonably easy to make the sale. (In my case, I couldn't say yes fast enough.)

Just Passing Thru

I said that I didn't *intend* to do it, but I might someday be in a position where I'd need to or want to do it.

I haven't ever upgraded an airline seat with miles, but I know how to do it in case I need to or want to do it. Same thing here.

Many thanks to you and to all others who responded! ^

Scott64

I have upgraded to a sleeper many times on the California Zephyr.
I just told the conductor that after he got done taking tickets I would like to talk with him, I was very polite and asked if any sleepers were available he would check and get back to me.
I have done this 4-5 times and was successful I was going from Galesburg Il to Glenwood Springs, Co. and I upgraded for $100 all the times I did it.

yashan

How much would it normally have cost if you booked the upgrade to sleeper during ticketing?

nerd

It looks like the cheapest roomette on Galesburg-Glenwood Springs is $164. This is also the rate you get if you book onboard.

If you look at page 127 of the current Amtrak Timetable you can see sample fares for accommodations.

For example, roomettes on a comparable route, Chicago to Denver, range from $173 to $420.

hilton-gold

Any experiences upgrading an Acela Business ticket (paid) to First onboard? How is it done and would you consider it a simple process?

GoAmtrak

There's no price advantage to upgrading Acela on-board versus at the station. The upgrade charge is the same no matter what -- might as well confirm in advance through an agent.

AlanB

Well that's sort of not quite correct.

There is no price advantage for the upcharge to first when doing it onboard. However, if you already have your reservation for BC and you call/visit the station to change to first, the rail fare (aka Business class seat) will reprice to the current bucket. Example:

You booked when a seat cost $139 for business on Acela. A month later the current price for business is $189. If you go with the upgrade ahead of time, you'll not only pay the FC upcharge you'll pay that $50 difference between the rail fares. Doing an onboard upgrade would avoid that $50 penalty. And if you're traveling on a weeked where you used a discount, you would also lose the discount as you're no longer within the 3 day rule.

Personally I don't like the game being played by Amtrak in this instance, they should keep the original bucket for you when upgrading, but in my experience they don't. Granted I haven't tried doing this in about a year now, nor witnessed anyone else trying to do it, so perhaps they've finally changed the policy.

I can understand them charging current prices if you change trains, but penalizing someone who is already going to pay extra for FC isn't right IMHO.

Now all that said, the best & easiest thing is of course to simply decide upon FC right from the beginning and book it that way.

Finally, to answer the question of how hard is it to do an onboard upgrade, actually doing one isn't that hard. It's a bit harder than doing it in advance, but not much. The hard thing is finding a conductor who will do it!

So again, it's really best to just decide on FC right at the time of the original booking as there is no savings over waiting to do it onboard. If you change you mind later on after booking, then waiting till onboard can save money.

GoAmtrak

AlanB, you're right, the base fare bucket can always change. But that can work to your advantage if it's lower than when you originally booked (probably rare on Acela, but not on other routes, especially long-distance trains). In that case, you can actually reprice and get the fare difference refunded even if you're not upgrading!

hilton-gold

So, in my case, I want to retain my ticket stub showing BC fare and seating for expense reimbursement, then put the other costs against other transportation expenses....so, seems like I need to do this onboard, right?

amamba

I would just add to AlanB's excellent post (full of correct and accurate information, as always) that of course the upgrade is space available. Many people get one class upgrade coupons (they are given to Select and Select+ members, and can be purchased in a set of 5 for 10,000 points from AGR), and I happen to use them almost every time I take acela. The FC car has been completely sold out the six times I have been on acela so far this year. So I am not sure how much success you will have attempting to do an onboard upgrade during a busy run - just because the car will already be sold out.