AutoTrain...best price you've seen?

[Shea&Van]

Hi everyone,

We finally selected a place to stay for our late September trip. I'm trying to see if the prices for the AutoTrain are reasonable or if it might be best to wait for the "kids ride free" promo they normally run in the spring.

For two adults and two kids (ages 4 & 2), the price each way is $279. The car is $190 (I think) going down to FLA and $203 back to VA. Is that a decent price?

I'm shocked that upgrading to a room is so varied between the two legs. I noticed the family room was offered at $230 going to FLA and the leg back was $651!!!!! I almost fainted.

Why such the difference? Any chance these rooms might go on sale. They seem to fluctuate each day, so I'm not sure if to wait till I see a better deal and then jump or actually wait a bit longer to see if they run a sale.

Forgive me if this is a silly questions, we have generally flown when going to FLA, but are considering driving or doing the AutoTrain this time.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Have a happy night!

Best,
Erica
heading to WDW late Sept. 2011
WH townhouse for week

 

[neks]

Our trip down on 5/13 is $750+ for myself and my husband, the two small children, with a family sleeper car, and the minivan. (AAA rate). Having booked other Amtrak trips before, the prices are insanely variable. Do you have any wiggle room in the dates to maximize the savings?

 

[Shea&Van]

Thanks for the response Neks.

We do have a little wiggle room...not too much though. I guess if we are forced to stay a few extra days it won't be the end of the world

$750 sounds amazing...is that round trip? The best I could do round trip was over $1300 and that was on one of the cheaper fares I managed to find.

Flying our family round trip would be roughly $800, but I really want to try the auto train. We can take or leave a rental car or our own vehicle. The offsite we are staying at has a shuttle to WDW that is suppposedly very good.

Argh...guess I need to work on my timing when pricing these fares.

Have a great trip!!

Best,
Erica

 

[JMLBrats]

Hi everyone,

We finally selected a place to stay for our late September trip. I'm trying to see if the prices for the AutoTrain are reasonable or if it might be best to wait for the "kids ride free" promo they normally run in the spring.

For two adults and two kids (ages 4 & 2), the price each way is $279. The car is $190 (I think) going down to FLA and $203 back to VA. Is that a decent price?

I'm shocked that upgrading to a room is so varied between the two legs. I noticed the family room was offered at $230 going to FLA and the leg back was $651!!!!! I almost fainted.

Why such the difference? Any chance these rooms might go on sale. They seem to fluctuate each day, so I'm not sure if to wait till I see a better deal and then jump or actually wait a bit longer to see if they run a sale.

Forgive me if this is a silly questions, we have generally flown when going to FLA, but are considering driving or doing the AutoTrain this time.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Have a happy night!

Best,
Erica
heading to WDW late Sept. 2011
WH townhouse for week

the way the train works is the more rooms that are booked, the more expensive it gets to get a room or a seat for that matter. So on the way back, there must be only a couple of rooms left as opposed to the way down which must have a lot of availability right now. It is very frustrating with the train that you must book way in advance to get the best rate although we have booked sometimes just a couple of months out and gotten the lowest rate-it just depends on how full the train is. Another thing you can consider is doing the train down and just driving back. We have done that when we couldn't get a good rate for one of the ways.

 

[Henlady]

About a year or so ago, Amtrak started charging higher fees for the northbound - Sanford to Lorton - leg of the trip. Not sure why, they just do.

We booked our May '11 trip in December '10. At that time, the family bedroom on the north bound trip was $229, it is now $442. The sooner you are able to book room accommodations the better you are. They sell all rooms on a "tier" level. The first few go at the lower price, the next set at about $100 more and then up higher for the next set.

Our round trip with a regular car for 2 adults, roomette on the way south and family room on the way north came to $1005.80 with a AAA discount.
Our initial ressie was for roomette both ways ($1000.80), but the car fare went down $34, so we used that credit plus $5 to upgrade the return to a larger family room accommodation.

We chose the Auto train because with current airfare, parking at the airport, renting a car in Florida, etc... it was about the same $ wise to take the train as it was to fly, and we have the added advantage of having our own vehicle with us and no airport hassles, plus DH & I are not fans of flying, we do fly occasionally when the price is right.

Once you purchase the AutoTrain fare, it is best not to have your tickets
issued until either right before you leave (you can get them at your local AMTRAK office) or wait till you actually get to the AutoTrain terminal. That way if there is a decrease you can have it applied. If the paper tickets are actually issued you cannot get the credit.

 

[NJBILL]

Autotrain Information and Amtrak Discount Information

www.travelweather.weebly.com