Roomettes Now Available for Sale On the NEC

[gokeefe]

Agreed Amtrak is more than capable of handling inventory management and ensuring that core passenger markets are served.

[mtuandrew]

If you’re traveling NYP-MIA, you’ve probably booked a compartment at least a month out as part of a planned trip. If you’re traveling NYP-WAS, you’ll probably book within the week of departure. Shouldn’t be an issue.

[Jeff Smith]

I tend to agree with Arlington. I wonder when they open the seats though... better than being empty in any case. I also think it’s easier to do this north/east bound. It seems almost European! I’d add I recall a topic where folks would book the roomette from Arlington instead.

[chrsjrcj]

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.

Amtrak probably only opens a certain number of rooms between NYP and DC, which may be less than the number of actually open rooms. I believe Trains Magazine did have an article stating that Amtrak will block ticket sales on intermediate points, because it knows it can sell the end points and receive a better return.

[daybeers]

I really like this idea provided it's not taking away too much capacity from the rest of the rooms down the line. I'm particularly concerned with the Cardinal, as it frequently sells out: isn't it still only one sleeper? Delays north/eastbound are also an issues: pretty much all of the NEC LDs are frequently delayed in the 1-2+ hour range.

[Arlington]

What does it mean to say the Cardinal sells out?

I'm guessing that the same historical occupancy that tells you that it "sells out" (is this just a "golden hour of full occupancy, probably west of WAS ?) can also be used to forecast exactly a good number of roomettes and seats to open on it between New York and Washington.

[SouthernRailway]

I took a LD train in a roomette only for a short trip along the NEC. It was great.

I noticed, though, that the only "marketing" that Amtrak does for these is to include them in the list of options at Amtrak.com. They don't appear in the PDF timetables for the NEC. Nor is there any other marketing whatsoever for them.

Surely some of the Acela crowd- wanting top-tier travel and willing to pay for it- would love to have a private room for a trip between NY and DC. But they don't know about it unless their administrative assistants tell them.

Also, on board, I was ignored. Fine, as I wanted quiet. But Amtrak really should get its service offerings more consistent: if this is business class or the like, wouldn't you typically get a free drink (even a nonalcoholic one)? None was offered.

[gokeefe]

Interesting question. I've never heard of "comp" non alcoholic beverages for sleeper passengers outside of dining during meals.

[WhartonAndNorthern]

I took a LD train in a roomette only for a short trip along the NEC. It was great.

I noticed, though, that the only "marketing" that Amtrak does for these is to include them in the list of options at Amtrak.com. They don't appear in the PDF timetables for the NEC. Nor is there any other marketing whatsoever for them.

Surely some of the Acela crowd- wanting top-tier travel and willing to pay for it- would love to have a private room for a trip between NY and DC. But they don't know about it unless their administrative assistants tell them.

Also, on board, I was ignored. Fine, as I wanted quiet. But Amtrak really should get its service offerings more consistent: if this is business class or the like, wouldn't you typically get a free drink (even a nonalcoholic one)? None was offered.

I think that some roomettes or bedrooms on the corridor should be reconfigured to seat 4 with a table (and no toilet) like a reservable, private version of a lounge car table. Even better if it can be quickly restored to sleeper room.

[Rockingham Racer]

The New Haven had day roomettes and drawing rooms in some of their parlor cars. No table, as I remember. The roomettes were over the trucks, and offered quite a rough ride, but they cost only an additional $2.67 over coach [in 1966]. I rode one once--and only once because of the ride. The rest of the times, I had a seat.

[leviramsey]

Agreed Amtrak is more than capable of handling inventory management and ensuring that core passenger markets are served.

I recall reading a fairly recent interview with Anderson in which he expressed shock at how unsophisticated the revenue management systems were compared to the airlines.

Fundamentally the system can estimate the chance that a roomette sold from NYP-WAS gets bought or not WAS-MIA or every other pairing (and have a margin of uncertainty as well) and adjust the NYP-WAS sleeper premium to capture the expected value of the revenue foregone by the NYP-??? segment. If the train leaves NYP and it's getting clear that the premium was underestimated and you have an AGR member riding from WAS south, send a push notification to that member's Amtrak app offering them a discounted upgrade from coach to roomette (which of course also frees up a coach seat for a late sale).

On the upgrade front, Lufthansa allows passengers to bid for upgrades: the credit card gets preauth'd for the bid and the yield management system decides whether the bid is worth taking. Buy a coach ticket (or your employer does, because they won't shell out for anything more) and take a shot on a $200 upgrade to business class to Frankfurt. It's marginally more complex in the Amtrak case (would you allow someone riding NYP-WAS who bids on a roomette to board in coach and then get notified around Trenton that the bid has been accepted, and if yes, do you prorate it some way or do you not allow prorating but allow the bidder to set an expiration on the bid ("Bid expires if still in coach at Philadelphia")), but it would probably improve yield. Could even integrate with AGR and allow AGR members to bid with points.

[mtuandrew]

I took a LD train in a roomette only for a short trip along the NEC. It was great.

I noticed, though, that the only "marketing" that Amtrak does for these is to include them in the list of options at Amtrak.com. They don't appear in the PDF timetables for the NEC. Nor is there any other marketing whatsoever for them.

Surely some of the Acela crowd- wanting top-tier travel and willing to pay for it- would love to have a private room for a trip between NY and DC. But they don't know about it unless their administrative assistants tell them.

Also, on board, I was ignored. Fine, as I wanted quiet. But Amtrak really should get its service offerings more consistent: if this is business class or the like, wouldn't you typically get a free drink (even a nonalcoholic one)? None was offered.

You would, or at least there’d be a cooler & coffee machine available on demand. Was there a sleeping car attendant to greet you? If none, or that person were busy, it would be nice of a crew member to tell you at boarding, “please page us if you need anything room-related and we will see you as soon as we can, otherwise feel free to stop by the cafe (or diner) for your complimentary beverage(s) and snack(s and/or meal-in-a-box.) Thanks for choosing Amtrak and enjoy your trip.”

I think that some roomettes or bedrooms on the corridor should be reconfigured to seat 4 with a table (and no toilet) like a reservable, private version of a lounge car table. Even better if it can be quickly restored to sleeper room.

Would be very nice to include a larger table for conferences, or a fold-out laptop table for the table closer to the door. I’m not sure I’d encourage four people to try to have a meeting in a single Amtrak bedroom - but it would be a cozy, workable fit for three businesspeople on the trip between NYP and WAS. I don’t think there’s any need to “convert” anything in particular though.

Amtrak should definitely offer a GFCI power strip/USB charger to local and long-distance travelers, for a $50 deposit held on their form of payment. (I assume cash tickets for bedrooms are vanishingly rare in 2019, and any such travelers could give credit card info at the time they wish to borrow a power strip.) Such would also be able to limit the current draw per room without tripping a breaker somewhere else in the car - each outlet probably don’t have a high amperage limit.

[Tadman]

Agreed Amtrak is more than capable of handling inventory management and ensuring that core passenger markets are served.

I recall reading a fairly recent interview with Anderson in which he expressed shock at how unsophisticated the revenue management systems were compared to the airlines.

This does not surprise me. There's been a number of times the algorithm misses something and bedroom is cheaper than roomette. I've had two trips in a Bedroom when an open roomette was $150 more expensive. That actually was offered once for a family bedroom but I passed, no idea what I'd do with all the space and don't want to block someone who needs it.

Long story short, that the revenue management system is crummy doesn't surprise me at all.

[gokeefe]

Good news: They are working on it and given the news coverage it's probably fixed now.

[daybeers]

I imagine Amtrak's antiquated ARROW reservation system will be replaced soon. Amtrak has moved all or most of its systems to Amazon Web Services, which runs about half of the internet now.