Hi,
I'm looking at going to New England from Orlando and probably back, in June 2008, and was thinking of taking the autotrain up to the virginia area and then driving the rest of the way- when is a good time to book for low fares & availability - now? Or will it not matter if I wait until May or June?

Thanks!

Book ASAP!!!!!!

It's very rare to see discount codes that work on the Auto Train as it is one of Amtrak's most popular trains. Everyday that you wait to book could see someone buying a ticket that kicks the pricing bucket to the next level and that would negate any discount code that might come along.

Prices in coach can vary by as much as $150 from low bucket to high bucket, prices in a sleeper can vary by as much as $100 to $500 for the smallest sleeping compartment. Even more for the larger rooms.

So again, book as soon as you possibly can!

Book it now since, as Alan B says, the price will go up. I have already booked my trip for July/August 2008.

But don't pick up the tickets yet. I am not aware of your travel situation but be aware that for the past several years they have had a promotion where kids travel free during the summer. Depending upon the number of kids, if any, you have, if the promotion is presented again you may be able to rebook for a lower fare.

Steve

Airline ticket prices are all over the place. Even tools like Farecast.com are at most educated guesses at whether prices will go up or down. Nothing's a worse feeling than buying a ticket at $300 only to see it drop to $175 three days later.

Amtrak, however, is much more predictable. There is only one direction train fares can go: up. Amtrak works on a strict bucket system. There are (I believe) four fare buckets. 330 days out, when a ticket is first bookable, the fares start at the lowest bucket. After a certain number of seats are booked (say, 25%, though I'm not sure of the specific percentage), it jumps to the next fare bucket. When 50% are booked, you get the third bucket, and the last 25% of the seats go at the highest bucket.

There is no such thing as fares going down, because unless a rush of people cancel their tickets, buckets will only fill up and make the fares go higher. Amtrak does not do what the airlines do and manually restrict certain buckets only to release them later and/or file new, lower fares. Perhaps Amtrak could make more money by implementing a system more like the airlines (so that they could, say, open only the highest fare bucket on all trains operating at Thanksgiving, their busiest time of year, since by definition 75% of the seats on any given sold-out train are NOT going for top dollar), but until they do, it is ALWAYS and 100% in your favor to book earlier rather than later.

That, combined with the fact that your tickets are fully refundable until you pick up the paper ticket stock from a station/machine, mean that it's a no-brainer to book now.

Actually Jackal, that's not entirely correct.

First, there are indeed 4 buckets for coach seating on LD trains. However there are 5 buckets for sleepers. One nice thing about booking a sleeper though is the fact that one always pays the lowest bucket price for the railfare (coach) price, no matter what bucket level is currently being sold to coach pax.

Second, Amtrak is a bit of an oddity. If I book a coach seat or a sleeper at the lowest bucket price for a trip 5 months from now, and then cancel say 3 weeks before departure, the room that I had confirmed will go back into inventory at the lowest bucket price without regard for what bucket level the remaining sleepers are at. The same is true for coach seats.

Finally, there are occasions on certain trains during the holidays for example, where no seats and/or sleepers start out at the lowest bucket price. Even if Amtrak does put up some rooms/seat at the low bucket price, they might put up less at that low bucket than normal. For example, if we take your number of 25% of seats at the lowest bucket, that might be normal for say the City of New Orleans. However, during Thanksgiving week, they might only put 10% of the seats up for sale at the low bucket price.

Amtrak can and does vary how many seats/rooms are available at what bucket level, based upon anticipated ridership and by train. More popular trains have less inventory available at the lowest bucket, than do trains that aren't very popular.

Thanks, Alan, I wasn't entirely sure on how it worked. It's still FAR simpler and more predictable than airfares, though...

So if your room goes back into the lowest fare bucket but the rest of the rooms are being sold at the highest one, does that mean the next person to come along and check prices for that route will see the room at the lowest bucket? Then, when he books it, the second person to come along will see it at the highest bucket?

Yes, that I agree with 100%. It is far simpler and far fairer in general to the traveling public.

Exactly. If I cancelled and you just happened to be checking, then yes if you booked, you'd get that low bucket price if you were the first person to reserve after my cancellation. One small point though is that my cancellation won't take effect until something like 2:00 AM or so EST on the day following my cancellation.

And then yes, the very next person to come along would once again be presented with rooms/seats at the current bucket level that was in effect when I cancelled. That might or might not be the highest bucket level, but it would still be higher than the bucket that I had and you managed to grab because I cancelled.

Is this still the case or is there a 10% penalty unless you accept an Amtrak credit? If so, then if, by some chance, the fare went down (as it did last year for me as to the bedroom), you could cancel, get a full refund, and book at the lower price?

If the tickets HAVE NOT BEEN PRINTED, they are 100% refundable! If the tickets HAVE BEEN PRINTED, they are either 1) 100% exchangeable for a CREDIT VOUCHER or 2) 90% REFUNDABLE!

Yes. However, it is very rare--probably even completely unheard of EXCEPT in the rare case that AlanB described above--that fares will go down. But if perchance the fare does drop (or if you find a discount code that lowers it), yes, you can cancel and rebook at the lower fare.

If you've already received your paper ticket, you can still exchange it and get 100% exchange credit, but you will receive a voucher good for the difference between the old fare and the new fare (instead of a refund).

I understand that this has been mentioned here and other threads before. BUT, when I called Amtrak (more than once) and inquired of customer service as to this, I was told that once the reservation was made and paid for (on the net or phone), you are subject to the normal refund policy of 100% (credit) or 90% (refund) whether you've picked up the paper ticket or not. So, where in the Amtrak terms and conditions do you find the 100% refund policy if the paper ticket has not been picked up? Or based on what do you say that there CURRENTLY is such a policy. (I understand that there may have been such a policy in the past.)

Ohmark,

There is nothing specifically on Amtrak's website that states this policy, however there is one blurb that states that fees may apply in the online cancellation section. Specifically it says:

You can find that, along with futher info about online cancellations, on this page.

Beyond that I can't offer more proof, other than to say that I just cancelled three reservations that way less than two weeks ago, and I got a full refund to my credit card for each one.

More information is also available here. It still doesn't specifically say that unprinted tickets get a 100% refund, but I will vouch for that, too (I've canceled two reservations this year several weeks after I made them and received a 100% refund).