Railroad Forums 

  • Roomettes Now Available for Sale On the NEC

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1513631  by ThirdRail7
 
If you tune into the website, you'll see that the westbound/southbound Cardinal, Silver Star, Crescent and Silver Meteor opened their roomette space for NEC only reservations.

I was playing around with the prices and at one point, a trip in a sleeper was $175 NYP-WAS while a business class seat on the adjacent regional is $188. Coach on the same regional is $125 (value.) Meanwhile, the surrounding Acela coach seats are $204 while first class will set you back $350.

Well, that's one way to pack the train and possibly show growth on the LD trains.....undercut your other products.

Whatever works. Have fun.
 #1513649  by gokeefe
 
ThirdRail7 wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:56 pmWell, that's one way to pack the train and possibly show growth on the LD trains.....undercut your other products.
Any reason to believe this could simply be adding capacity during otherwise sold out periods on the corridor?
 #1513672  by Tadman
 
I recently rode the Builder MKE-MSP. It was a same-day booking. The coach seat was $139, the roomette was $159. I sure as heck spent the $20 extra. For that, I got my own cabin with an extra seat, total privacy, and a free meal. I skipped the free meal as there was a really good seafood market in Milwaukee and I carried a lobster roll onto the train.

The train was on a Tuesday and coach was sold out, while sleeper wasn't. I can see why the roomette was so cheap, it was last minute, day trip, free money for the railroad.

I'm a bit surprised they haven't created a "day sleeper" ticket where one can book last minute roomette on trips to CHI-MSP/KCY or NYP-WAS with no meal or turndown included in the fine print.
 #1513676  by EuroStar
 
Well, if this is Anderson's doing and it is done in a way that does not otherwise reduce their revenue from the sleepers then good for them for finding a way to get a few extra dollars.
 #1513774  by Arlington
 
Acela 2 will offer lots of additional capacity. Are we worried it won't sell??? (No, plenty of opportunity to take business from the buses and the planes)

As these LDs go "contemporary dining" we can also expect a shift away from end to end land cruises in favor of day room turnover.

People have already said elsewhere on not riding the Crescent on a long journey without a diner. They are absolutely correct.

The new model has to be learning how to sell a roomette multiple times on a long journey, each individual's short trip actually fits better with lower fares and contemporary dining
 #1513775  by Arlington
 
BandA wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:58 pm How close together can they resell the same room? I.e. do they turn the room over at the same station & make the new customer wait while they change the sheets?
I would suggest that the sheets be delivered to passengers on demand or south of Washington only
 #1513779  by SouthernRailway
 
I'm surprised that Amtrak doesn't promote these rooms heavily. Not only is the train more efficient than flying from NY to DC, but you get your own private room? Way better than flying, particularly if you need to get work done on your way to a meeting in DC or NY.
 #1513781  by gprimr1
 
I think they still have to consider if I have 10 sleepers and 1 is open, and passenger A wants to go from NYP to Miami, and passenger B wants to go from NYP to WAS, if passenger B buys first, Amtrak loses out.

I like the idea of selling space on the LD trains on the NEC on a space available basis, but I'd hate to see a potential long distance customer put off because the sleepers are full of NYP-WAS day trippers.
 #1513787  by Arlington
 
gprimr1 wrote: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:00 amI like the idea of selling space on the LD trains on the NEC on a space available basis, but I'd hate to see a potential long distance customer put off because the sleepers are full of NYP-WAS day trippers.
..unless you live in WAS and want to go to MIA.

This "what if I already sold a short segment?" riddle has already been solved and applied...how do they know how many NYP-PHL tix on Acela? What if someone wanted to go NYP-Was? (and on endlessly).

The only thing new here is that the same system that predicts and prices segments-vs-whole on every other route in the Amtrak system will now have to be turned on for LDs on the NEC. It does the math, and optimizes passengers, seat-miles, and dollars. Relax, you're soaking in it.