In Europe, a common option on sleep trains is to book night accommodation in space shared with one or more strangers. This is cheaper than a private compartment, but more expensive than having only a seat. Amtrak does not officially offer this option. If I have already booked my roomette, would it be allowed (notwithstanding practical issues) to offer roomless travellers on the same train (i.e. who already have a ticket, just no reservation) to share the roomette with me at a modest fee, or is this against Amtrak regulations?
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1In case you don't need to specify the names of all people who will be using the roomette at the time of purchase, there's little they can do to prevent you from doing this. Otherwise, it's not allowed, since you can't transfer tickets to another person.– JonasCommented Mar 10, 2013 at 22:07
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@Jonas I meant to travellers who already have a ticket, just not a reservation for night accommodation. I've edited the question to state this more explicitly now.– gerritCommented Mar 10, 2013 at 22:11
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oh, because they'd need an upgrade? Then I guess the answer may be no (since you're not allowed to transfer tickets)– JonasCommented Mar 10, 2013 at 22:17
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@Jonas I don't know about the USA, but traditionally in most of Europe, tickets and reservations are technically separated, so a reservation is not technically an upgrade, but just a separate thing (in practice the two are often bought simultaneously and printed on the same sheet of paper).– gerritCommented Mar 10, 2013 at 22:27
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@gerrit Amtrak seems to have the same distinction as in Europe, they mention "tickets" and "reservations": amtrak.com/servlet/…. It would make sense to share your roomette with someone else (who has a ticket). It is only mentioned that a "ticket purchased from an unauthorized third party" is not valid, but they don't talk about reservations.– VinceCommented Mar 11, 2013 at 9:37
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2 Answers
This is a good question that should be asked to an Amtrak representative.
Technically it would not occur additional fees, since the room is already paid in full. According to stories I've heard, passengers have the option to upgrade en-route by asking the conductor; the room fare is then calculated according to the remaining distance at the current train position or passed stops.
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It is technically possible to arrange some sort of shared room when on board. Getting a conductor to actually do it is a different story. What you would need to do is find your companion, and have them book an "Open Sleeper" ticket; it shouldn't have any additional costs with it. It
