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[quote user="Dakguy201"] For the shorter runs, I think time of day might be a factor as well.  Recently, I traveled from Washington to Baltimore in the morning and returned in the afternoon.  Both fares were purchased on a walk-up basis and both coaches appeared 2/3's full.  However, one fare was nearly 40% more than the other. [/quote] The price you pay can differ throughout the day, week, month, and year.  I too have experienced significant swings during the day in the Northeast corridor as well as the southern California corridor.  Also, I have taken trips on the Empire Builder during the first week of December, which is after the heavy Thanksgiving travel period and before the heavy Christmas travel season, for half of what it would have cost to take the same trip during the summer season.  As a rule, the further ahead one makes an booking on Amtrak, the better the price.  For example, the fare from Miami to New York City on September 19th is $135 plus $372 for a roomette or a total of $507.  Two weeks from today the fare would be $176 plus $529 for the roomette or a total of $705.   A room at the Roosevelt hotel for September 20th would be $299 plus taxes. The one way airfare from Miami to New York on September 19th would be $110. The total cost would be $409 plus taxes.  The first class ticket on Amtrak would include meals, but the meal(s) bought between destinations whilst traveling by air would be minimal.   The Roosevelt hotel is located in the heart of Manhattan.  It is a very nice hotel.  With estimated taxes of 20 per cent, the cost of a room would be $358, which is less than the cost of the roomette on the train. I'll take a night in the Roosevelt over a night in a roomette or bedroom, which is even pricier, any night of the year.  As I noted in a previous post, my days of overnight on Amtrak are over.  I'll fly to my long distance destination and use the train for relatively short trips between my destination and other cities that I may want to visit, i.e. New York to Philadelphia, New York to Hartford, etc. An interesting question is how Amtrak sets the base prices that subsequently move up or down depending on demand.  I suspect they use regression analysis to plot historical prices and project future demand, but I am not sure.   Amtrak loses approximately $1.3 billion a year on operations.  It is under significant pressure to capture as many dollars as it can through the fare box.  Doing so is good marketing and good business. It is not gouging. It is called whatever the traffic will bear.
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