DonQOnIce t1_jad5cy1 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:12 PM

Reply to comment by hdhcnsnd in Pro-tip - currently there are easily found amtrak one way fares to DC and NYC from 30th Street for $10 in April and May by RoughRhinos

I was looking to be in NYC before 3 pm on a Saturday and leave around 11am to 2 pm on the following Monday and there was nothing reasonable. Maybe a Saturday-Monday is harder to find than Friday to Sunday?

It’s definitely worth looking to see if you can get a deal, especially if you’re very flexible, but I find them kind of frustrating if you’re on any sort of schedule. The pricing structure is totally ridiculous to me. Most other countries would have either set or a much smaller window of movement in price for a 90 minute to 2 hour train ride but here it can be between $19 and like $150. Bonkers.

RoughRhinos OP t1_jad6o94 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:20 PM

PA Amtrak rides I believe are set prices. Maybe California as well. No matter what it will be $21 one way to Lancaster from Philly which honestly is a little annoying because it feels too pricey but it is nice to book 20 minutes before the train ride. Really wish Amtrak would get rid of dynamic pricing for the whole system though. And add more sleeper options for way way cheaper.

_jeremybearimy_ t1_jaecnb0 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 8:47 PM

I used to ride Amtrak in California and yeah it was always the same price. Except the years they raised the price of course

tkdnw t1_jad8dn3 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:31 PM

It would need a lot more capacity to be able to get rid of dynamic pricing without every train being sold out well in advance. I don't know if there are any tunnel limitations but hopefully they can get double deckers on the NER at some point.

NotCandied t1_jadbsgq wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:53 PM

I go to NY once a month at similar times. That is the busiest time, so you have to book further ahead to get the lower fares. Once those $19 fares are sold out, they don’t come back because they are nonrefundable. I try to book at least 2 months ahead for the winter and 3 months ahead for summer to ensure I get the cheapest tickets. If there’s a holiday, you need to book even further ahead.

porkchameleon t1_jad6mmy wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:20 PM

> I was looking to be in NYC before 3 pm on a Saturday and leave around 11am to 2 pm on the following Monday and there was nothing reasonable. Maybe a Saturday-Monday is harder to find than Friday to Sunday?

I checked second weekend in April for those days/times (since we are talking about ordering in advance), to-from are about $38 on average each.

Closer to the date could be $50+, and you might not be that flexible on time.