Originally Posted by
JudyS
I used to do a lot of long-hauls in Amtrak when I was younger, doing the whole trip in coach. Now that I'm getting older, spending 72 hours straight in coach isn't too appealing! But, cash sleeper fares are generally not competitive with airfares, so I stopped using Amtrak for long-haul.
Amtrak roomettes and bedrooms most certainly are competitive... with first class airfare, which is the fair fare comparison (sorry). That's even true if you are traveling alone.
Just to pick a random day: Oct 31 New York to Chicago is $400 for two people in a roomette. That's less than first class airfare for one person. A bedroom is $750; that's first class airfare for one person. A return on the 5th (random day) is almost $1000 for two people, so the total r/t is $1743 in a bedroom (roomettes are much less).
For comparison, first class airfare is over $3000 for two people. The cheapest coach round trip for two people on those days would be $650 total (almost $800 nonstop). Even advance purchase you'd be hard pressed to beat $600. The roomette r/t price would be $800 for two.
Bedrooms are quite competitive with first class, and roomettes, if used by two people, are even competitive with coach airfare.