Adding Passenger to Sleeper Reservation
 

Has Amtrak changed their policy regarding adding a second passenger to an existing bedroom reservation? In the past, I could add a second passenger for the cost of the cheapest coach ticket and it would be issued as an open ticket. The agent I spoke with today informed me that the second passenger has to pay a higher 'sleeper passenger' fare. For my itinerary, it would be $100 higher than the coach fare. I plan to call back later to see if this is just an agent who is misinformed, but would like to know if Amtrak's policy has changed.

Yes, I have noticed this as well and it appears to have changed. No longer are additional pax charged at the cheapest fare, it's now one or two buckets up from that. I can't figure out exactly what bucket the sleeper passenger fare is but I originally noted it on the overnight WAS-BOS train, where typically the coach fare is $40-50 but to add a pax to a sleeping car is well over $100.

I found the same thing by checking fares for future travel. When I compared fares for roomette with 1 vs 2 passengers, the cost for the additional passenger was about $100 more than the coach fare. I've also noticed that sleeper accommodation fares have increased substantially, especially for bedrooms. They are now typically twice the cost of a roomette. I've been taking the Southwest Chief from Cin-FLG in a roomette for the past four years in March and point cost has gone up 70%, and bedroom cash price has tripled..

It also seems that bedroom prices went up 30% in the past few days across several routes and several days. Wondering if the cheapest fare buckets were dropped.

Amtrak is definitely charging more for the second sleeper passenger lately. This is especially true on the overnight Northeast Regional trains.

Piggying back on this topic, does anyone know if you can add a passenger to a room booked with points? If so, can the addition be paid with either cash or points?

The rail fare Amtrak is now charging for sleepers is the second "Value" coach bucket. I don't know when they changed it from the lowest "Value" bucket, but they did. They never used the coach "Saver" fare level for the rail fare for sleepers.

All passengers in sleepers pay the second "Value" bucket rail fare, whether on the initial reservation or added later on an Open Sleeper ticket.

And yes you can add a person using an Open Sleeper ticket to a room booked on points. I have done so in the past. Note it is not a change to the existing reservation, but a separate ticket. I don't know whether or not you can use points to book an Open Sleeper ticket. I used cash to buy the Open Sleeper ticket I used with my points reservation.

Using an Open Sleeper ticket will not change your original fare basis. If you try to modify your existing reservation rather than adding an Open Sleeper ticket you may well trigger a price change to current bucket.

I purchased the open ticket for the second passenger and paid the higher fee. Amtrak would not email or mail the ticket to me. We have to pick it up at the station. Cincinnati had dropped their ticket agent but supposedly has added them back, so hopefully someone will be there to give us our ticket. Amtrak has some policies that are definitely not very customer friendly.

Yes, the fact that the Open Sleeper ticket is one of the very few remaining ticket types that remains a paper "value" ticket and not an eticket makes them a pain. I just looked at Cincinnati station services and, while it showed checked baggage service, it shows the ticket office closed, which is odd. When there were more paper value tickets (international journeys on the Maple Leaf, the USA rail pass, many Thruway buses all required them long after the general move to etickets, but those are all now etickets), Amtrak always offered a mail option if the travel dates were more than 7 or 14 days away (I don't recall the exact time period). I am surprised they do not still, especially given how they have cut back on agents.

I have to say if I were you, I would take some defensive actions and not just arrive at Cincinnati hoping that you will be able to pick up that ticket, given that the website says the ticket office there is closed and there are no QuikTrak kiosks, either. Call during East Coast business hours and once you get through to a agent, ask to be connected to Customer Relations (who are only there normal business hours East Coast time). They are the most empowered customer people in the company and are the the likeliest people to be both able and disposed to help. Use the AGR or Select phone numbers if you can to cut through the initial wait, which is horrendous right now. Of course, if the journey is less than about two weeks away, to give time to have the ticket mailed, you are out of luck, although Customer Relations ought to be able to give you a definitive answer on the ticket situation at Cincinnati. You need the physical ticket for Open Sleeper, there is no electronic version to transmit. If the trip is close, your only safe option may be to go the nearest known ticket office, which is probably Indianapolis. In days past, when value tickets were the norm, it was not unknown for a last minute ticket purchased for an unstaffed station for the ticket to be sent out with the conductor from a staffed point. But I suspect that practice is long gone.

Luckily, when I had trips that involved paper value tickets (Open Sleeper once, several trips on the Maple Leaf), I was using stations that had and still have ticket agents, so all I had to do was arrive early enough to allow time to pick them up.

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the Amtrak station information on the website and it indicates there is a ticket agent, but it also says there is no enclosed waiting area which I know to be incorrect. The train arrives at 1:30 am and the conductor typically does the boarding for the sleeper car. I will call AGR customer relations as suggested and plan to bring a printed copy of my reservations as a backup. I think the conductors would let me board with this if necessary, but I will need to get a ticket in Chicago for the Zephyr. Can I get a ticket in the Amtrak Lounge in Chicago?

If there is a ticket agent in Cincinnati, they can issue all paper value tickets required for the whole journey. I usually picked up my Maple Leaf Toronto-New York paper value tickets in Everett, WA.

I am not sure about the ability of the Metropolitan Lounge to print tickets in Chicago. I don't think so, though.

Good luck.