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[quote user="VerMontanan"] [quote user="Sam1"] August 11th is tomorrow.  Yep, walk-up fares for flights and/or other forms of commercial transportation tend to be very high for next day or next week travel.  For comparison purposes I priced Amtrak, air, and bus on September 4th.  Potential travelers who do not plan ahead will pay for it. [/quote] As is the case with many oilfield workers in North Dakota.  Their work schedules can be very "changeable."  The long time ticket agent at Williston who retired this year told me that purchasing tickets at the last minute was a daily, commonplace occurrence.  These people don't always know when they will get their time off, but when they do, they want to leave ASAP. That's why your choice of fare comparison nearly a month out was completely unrealistic. [/quote] One anecdotal observation by a retired Amtrak ticket agent is not a valid statistical sample anymore than my sample fares from Chicago to Minot or Spokane to Minot or Williston were a complete survey. Which I believe that I acknowledged.   In my company, which was a Fortune 250 energy company, and was engage in oil and gas exploration in Texas, people were expected to plan and book their travel arrangements well in advance. Of course, emergencies arose, and people needed to book immediately, but they were rare.  So why would oil field workers in North Dakota, most of who appear to be employed by major drillers, be any different? You claim going out a bit more than three weeks is unrealistic?  Where is your evidence?  Who employs the oil field workers?  What is the travel policy for the company(s) that they work for?  What is the booking distribution for the workers who are traveling by Amtrak. Again, what percentage of the oil field workers arrive or depart on the Empire Builder.  What would happen, for example, if the Builder did not run?  Would the oil fields shut down? If I remember correctly, I stated several times that I was using examples and, furthermore, that individual situations would differ.  Are your sure my example is completely unrealistic?  How about just unrealistic.  Or better yet, how about skipping the inflammatory language (unrealistic) and sticking to facts albeit how imperfect they may be. That sounds better, don't you think.
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