Superliner: Bedroom or Roomette?
As a matter of curiosity, and probably to substantiate my opinion that, for a couple of reasons, you’re better off buying two roomettes than one big bedroom, I compared the cost of roomettes vs. bedrooms on several long-distance trains using Superliner equipment. I picked dates at random, but all were between the 15th and the 24th of November. All my information came from the Amtrak website and all costs are as of the 21st of this month.
On Monday, November 15th, traveling between Emeryville and Chicago on the California Zephyr, a roomette will cost you $688 and a bedroom will set you back $2,261. Wow!
On Wednesday, the 17th, traveling from New Orleans to Los Angeles on the Sunset Limited, a roomette would run $731 with the bedroom costing not quite $1718.
On Friday the 19th, the gap narrows even more if you were to take the City of New Orleans up north to Chicago: roomette—$421, bedroom-$611
But three days earlier, on Sunday, the 21st, if you want a roomette on the Coast Starlight from Seattle to L.A., it’ll cost you $765. The big bedroom? It’ll run you $820, which is just $55 more.
What’s the Message?
Clearly, the Amtrak computer is busy calculating which trains are filling up faster than other trains and costs of accommodations are adjusted up or down in order to draw passengers to or away from specific dates.
If your travel plans are at all flexible, check and compare the cost of roomettes and bedrooms over several different days. You might be able to upgrade your accommodations with little or even no additional expense.
