I’ve been looking at the prices for various Amtrak trains that I want to ride, and have found that the price for the tickets is steep! Something like $170 for one person to go round trip from Fort Madison, IA to Kansas City on the Chief…?? Then it costs more than $700 to go round tirp to Emeryville on the Zephyr from Iowa, for three people…??
These aren’t the usual prices of train tickets, are they? Surely there is some secret to getting deals. Does anyone know of any ways of getting Amtrak tickets that are a little cheaper than this?
Bob, when I have traveled via Amtrak within Illinois and Wisconsin I have used the Amtrak web site for booking and they frequently have fare specials posted, but my guess is that the long distance trains have far fewer “specials” than do the corridor trains. I have had this complaint mentioned to me by a number of folks…that it is much cheaper to fly than to take the train to places like CA and NY, etc. and I am sure this is true, but today most folks who take the train do it for the travel experience, not to save money or to depart and arrive on time like in the old days.
I was contemplating taking Amtrak from Syracuse to Tacoma a couple of years ago. The airline fares I found were on a par with the train fare, except I didn’t relish three days in a coach and putting myself up in a sleeper of some sort pushed the fare outside what I wanted to pay (time was a factor, too, in that particular instance).
If I still had call to travel that way, however, I’d probably look seriously at Amtrak. My son and his wife moved east, however. I could still do the trip by rail, but the 6-7 hour drive isn’t all that daunting, so I just take my truck.
I’ve found that the lowest regular Amtrak coach fare is on a par with the lowest airline fare for major city pairs on their LD trains. Having an AAA card or NARP membership will get you another 10%, and there are no “junk fees”, so Amtrak usually comes out a bit cheaper than flying.
Also, Amtrak discounts kid’s tickets were airlines don’t so family travel a deal compared to flying.
We get decent rates with the military discount, but that obviously isn’t available to everyone. If you are a vet, I believe you can get discounted fares that way as well.
I’d never been in the sleeping car on Amtrak, so back in Dec., 2006 I rode the Empire Builder between St. Paul & Minot just for the experience. Roomette on the way to Minot, and the bedroom on the way back. It wasn’t all that bad even though I hardly slept on the way there since the roomette was closer to the rails (and was about 4 inches wider than my butt). The trip was fun, including the blizzard I drove around in while in Minot, and the food on the train was pretty darn good. The price wasn’t so fun - over $550 round-trip.
I’m not sure what the IRS reimbursement rate is just now for driving, but even using 50 cents a mile, it’s still less than $150 one way. Amtrak shows a fare of $59 one way…
Holy guacamole Batman, that’s steep…for that money you could easily hire a limo to drive you there. The IRS rate is (I believe) 50.5 cents per mile. Adding insult to injury, U.S. Air just announced they are cutting way back on the number of miles you will now get on their flights.
The best advice I have is BOOK EARLY. Closer to the departure date and the fuller the train gets, the fares keep getting steeper. I booked on Feb 8th for two sr adults from Harrisburg Pa. to Ft.Lauderdale return, two sr.adults, in a roomette. Price $1,264. I almost forgot to phone back 7 days later when I was to give my Visa nbr. If I had forgotten, then I would have been purged from reservations & phoning the next morning would have cost me more. The fares can go rise even several times during the day.
Also if booking early & no space available, Keep phoning just after 4:oo am eastern time as I believe they purge their computers then from anyone like me who do not actually purchase their tickets by then. When reserving, Amtrak always gives you seven days to pay up. Not sure the exact time they purge their computers. A few weeks before our departure I will phone re pricing & will always find it’s considerably higher. On the five or so trips we have taken to Ft.Lauderdale we have always found the trains full to capacity.
Book as far in advance is you possibly can. I booked 6 months in advance last year on the Zypher, the Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder via the Amtrak website. I believe it’s a tip on their site somewhere: book early!
Book your ticket early and your room late, in the off season. Buying the ticket early when the train is still empty is cheaper–but in the off-season, when there are often vacant rooms, rooms get cheaper closer to the departure date. If they have a lot of vacancies they’ll even start calling people with tickets and offer them rooms at lower rates. I took the Coast Starlight a couple years back, and ended up getting a roomette for about $90–that’s less than the cost of meals (for two) that were included with the room! The down side is that you may end up with just a chair spot if they end up selling out of sleepers too soon–but in the off-season it’s a calculated risk.
My other advice is to leave on a weekday, rather than a weekend. My last trip on the Zephyr, we would have paid $100 more for a sleeper leaving Saturday than one leaving Friday.
Thanks about the info re booking coach early and later booking the sleeper. Next year I will probably go that route, and wait two or three weeks before booking the roomette AND if no space available I will find when they purge their systems of all cancellationss and phone a few minutes later every day as there are always cancellations.