Destinations - The High Line park (New York)

As I mentioned in my first post about the trip to New York, the trip was all about Keith.  I pretty much let him set the agenda once he knew where the heck we were going.

With one exception.

I'd heard about the High Line park, and knew it was something I wanted to see and figured Keith would, too.  We weren't disappointed.

What's the High Line?  It was an elevated rail freight line on Manhattan's West Side that was completed in 1934 in order to remove a busy and dangerous street level line.  But as trucking supplanted this type of rail freight traffic, and as Manhattan grew less industrial, the High Line was abandoned in 1980.

As trains ceased using the High Line, nature asserted itself on this man-made structure, and plants took over the right-of-way.  To telescope the story (which you can read in far more detail here) neighborhood residents initiated and the City then joined their efforts to successfully pursue reuse of the High Line as a park, instead of demolishing the structure as some advocated.  The first section of the High Line opened to the public in June 2009.

The result?  The High Line is now a big draw for residents and visitors alike.

What can you do?  Walk, sit, take in close-up views of the adjacent buildings, adjoining neighborhoods, and more distant vistas.  Eat.  (Among a number of vendors, Oakland's renowned Blue Bottle Coffee has a seasonal operation on the High Line.)  Take in the art.

The High Line is a popular place, so if it's a nice day going early is wise in order to avoid crowds.  Normal operation is daily from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., but you should check ahead of time to be sure.

The High Line website is rich with detail including images both of the contemporary High Line and its history.

Here are some more photos of the High Line.

Approaching the High Line, westbound on West 14th Street.  Note how the structure goes into the building on the left.  This was how it was built in the 1930s to directly serve businesses.

Looking south on the High Line and near the "end of the line".  The building under construction on the right will be the High Line park headquarters, and immediately to its right will be the new location of the Whitney Museum of American Art.  The High Line originally continued south of here, but the southernmost section was torn down in the 1960s.

Though it's hard to tell from this picture, a hip and trendy hotel (The Standard) straddles and towers over the High Line.  Believe me, this place has incredible views!

A river runs between. Hard to tell from this perspective, but the skyline in the distance (looking west) is that of Jersey City on the other side of the Hudson. 

Most of the High Line's food stands are found undercover under the building on the left.  Many sidings that lead from the main part of the High Line to adjacent buildings remain.  The High Line is a window into early and mid-20th century industry in an intensely urban setting.

Looking east, here is a snap of Keith against the backdrop of Gansevoort Street from the southern most point on the High Line. Note the 19th century brick buildings behind Keith.

  

Billboard advertising an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Empire State Building off in the distance.

Good advice from a billboard.

You might not expect it but you'll see plenty of the same plants on the High Line that you'd see here in a western garden.  But with a different skyline.

This is where the High Line ends now at West 34th Street at the West Side Rail Yards.  The goal of the High Line organization is to acquire the remaining structure that crosses the West Side Rail Yards as far as West 30th Street, and incorporate it into the High Line park.  In this picture what you are looking at is a remaining and abandoned spur to a business.  It is not part of the existing park or of the West Side Rail Yards.  Its overgrown state is how the entire High Line looked prior to its rebirth.  By the way, the High Line was not a "market solution".  It took a community and city government working together to revitalize a privately built structure that no longer served any purpose.  Many adjacent private property owners subsequently benefitted from the creation of the High Line park.

Destinations - New York, June 2012

Two weeks ago my partner Keith and I headed east for four nights in New York.

The occasion for the trip was to celebrate Keith's 60th birthday.  Back in March, he'd read a review of the show "End of the Rainbow".  It had gotten rave reviews especially for the actress, Tracie Bennett, who played the role of Judy Garland trying to stage a comeback in London in 1968.  I said nothing, but took note of this, and proceeded to assemble the trip without his being aware of it.  (I jokingly told him were going to go to Klamath Falls, and by the time I told him where we really were going, he actually thought that Klamath Falls was our destination.)

New York in June won't win the award for being the most climate-friendly destination, but other than that the trip came off perfectly. (The good thing about going to New York in the summer is that it makes Chico's summer heat seem almost tolerable since it's seldom muggy here.)

I'll follow this post with three more posts about Staten Island, the High Line park, and our visit to Brooklyn, but here are a few items to fill out this post.




Running in Central Park

Our hotel was just six short blocks from Central Park so we ran or powerwalked everyday on the loop that runs in the middle of the park from north to south, up one side and down the other.  (We entered the park where the red arrow is at the bottom of the map at left.)

The distance was a little over six miles - slightly less than the full loop in Chico's lower Bidwell Park.  But tougher.

In part it was the heat and humidity, even fairly early in the morning, but it was more than that; the hills were substantial and frequent.  Know that if you go for a run in Central Park it is not flat at all.

We saw runners and cyclists galore.  On weekends cars are banned altogether from the streets within the park.  During the week we were told that they are allowed in the park until 10:00 a.m., but on Monday we saw only a few (mostly taxis) and on Tuesday virtually none except park service vehicles.

While I never saw a sign indicating it was a requirement, it seemed customary that most runners ran counter-clockwise on the loop.

A run in Central Park is a Big Treat.  And while this is the nation's biggest city, many of the runners know each other and shout out greetings just like anywhere else.

The park is huge, beautiful, with great views of the city coming into view whenever there is a break in the trees.  What's more, it's spotless.  New York banned smoking in its parks and it clearly is enforced in Central Park.  I saw exactly one cigarette butt in four days of running, and no defacement (graffiti).

What a treasure this park is, and I've barely scratched the surface as a runner.  I can't wait to come back to run in the spring or autumn when the weather is milder.

For more info about running in Central Park see this from the park's website.


The 9/11 Memorial

The site of our nation's worst modern tragedy is still in many ways a vast construction site, but the memorial itself is complete.  No pictures to show here, but please take a look at the 9/11 Memorial website for photos and information about visiting.

In the footprint of each of the twin towers is a fountain, where water flows down all four sides from ground level, to then flow out through a smaller square at the bottom of the fountain.  It is an effective and solemn tribute to those who lost their lives that awful day.  The names of the victims are inscribed on the railing that surrounds each of the fountains.


"End of the Rainbow"

This was the catalyst that sparked our trip, and it did not disappoint.  In fact, it was outstanding.  Tracie Bennett, the actress who played Judy Garland, couldn't have been better.  Astoundingly, this was her Broadway debut!  She is a British actress, and played the role in London where the show was first produced.

Judy Garland prints in lobby of the Park Central Hotel

Ben Brantley's New York Times review from 2 April 2012 summed up the show magnificently, and this line from it is perfect: "After watching Tracie Bennett's electrifying interpretation of Garland in the intense production that opened on Monday night at the Belasco Theater, you feel exhilirated and exhausted, equally ready to dance down the street and crawl under a rock".

The Belasco Theater was just the right venue for this show.  You could imagine you were in the Talk of the Town nightclub where Garland performed, as the Belasco Theater is quite intimate.  The show's website currently is selling tickets through early January 2013.  If you're headed to New York between now and then, don't miss it.  (And good news: if you can't go to New York, an article reports the show with Tracie Bennett will come to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in 2013.)

Running - Reno-Tahoe Odyssey 2012

In my account of last year's Reno-Tahoe Odyssey (RTO), I opened with the observation about how smooth the lead-up to the event was for our team, called "DNR".  No injuries or last minute emergency drops.  I'd love to be able to write that this year was a repeat of last year, but that would be false.

We've never had a team carry over intact from one year to another.  (You could knock me over with a feather if that ever were to happen.)  Prior to sending in our registration, we replaced two runners from 2011 with DNR alumni from previous years.  That's to be expected.

But after our team's registration went in, things got interesting.  We lost three runners due to pregnancy, injury, or schedule conflicts, and replaced them with three more alumni.  Then after a two month injury that showed no signs of healing, I decided I had to replace myself in Van 2.  Then less than two weeks before the relay, Jessica Souder, an excellent runner and 4-time RTO/DNR veteran in Van 1 had to drop out.

Paul Smith, my co-captain, and I decided we wouldn't fill Jessica's position, and Van 1 would backfill the missing legs by having some runners run an extra leg.  (We've done this a number of times over the years for both vans when it would have been too late to find replacement runners .)  I also thought it might now be possible for me to run a couple of Van 1's shorter and easier legs if need be, even though I was injured.

All of this was before we stepped up to the starting line.

Trish, Tiffany, and Erin at Wingfield Park prior to the start

(Photo courtesy Reno Gazette-Journal)

I've never run with Van 1, but I was the one who was at the start to run Leg 1 of the 2012 RTO.  Eric Lerude, the man who created the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey who has become a good personal friend, high-fived me prior to our team's 1:30 p.m. start with five other teams.  (See below)

(Photo courtesy Reno Gazette-Journal)

In addition to our team's "staffing issues", we had to deal with a challenge that every other team faced: heat.  Most years the temperature has been pretty mild at the start, and last year it was unusually cool, changing to downright cold in the Sierras.

Not so in 2012.  The thermometer was in the low 90s when we began at 1:30.

Leg 1's 4.8 miles are westbound mostly along the Truckee River bikepath or on quiet suburban streets.  But it was slow going for me being injured and hot.  I loved the places where there was shade.  As I neared the hand-off point, I saw that the runner who had paced the 1:30 group with Nevada DOT's "Chain Gang" team was down and getting assistance.  (I hope he recovered quickly.)  Boy, was I happy to see Trish from Van 1 waiting for the tag and before I knew it she was off blazing a much faster trail for DNR than I had done.

Van 1: Sean Murphy, Erin Gulbrandsen, Trish Frisella
Tiffany McBroom, Paul Smith (photo by Erin Gulbrandsen)

Van 2 assembled at the hotel and then made its way to the Boca hand-off, the first place where Van 1 goes off duty after the first six legs, and hands the relay wristband to a Van 2 runner.  Van 2 then runs its first legs, 7 through 12.

I drove up to the Boca hand-off in my own car, since I was not going to be running with Van 2, but I wanted to see the first hand-off.

Unbeknownst to Van 2 and me, Van 1 was going through its final personnel changes.  Sean Murphy, a 3-time RTO veteran ran Leg 3 and suffered an Achilles heel meltdown.  He finished the leg, but at the cost of not being able to run any more.  On the positive side, Van 1 gained the addition of a full-time driver, a luxury that most vans lack.

Van 2: Sarah Montez, Laurel Hammang, Bryan Bear,

Lisa Duke, Chris Miller, John Maretti (and me in front)

Erin Gulbrandsen ran Leg 6 into the Boca hand-off, passing the wristband to Sarah Montez who took off like a shot on this tough leg.  Van 2 being fully staffed at six runners, proceeded to finish off its first set of legs before handing off again to Van 1 at Homewood along the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

Van 1 now with four runners and a driver tackled its second set of legs.  Erin ran leg 13, Tricia Leg 14, and then Paul ran legs 15 and 16 and Tiffany ran 17 and 18.  Whew!

Sarah, the only person in Van 2 running all three of her legs in the correct order (7, 19, 31) was tagged at the hand-off in South Lake Tahoe near Stateline and did a great job on the super-tough Kingsbury Grade, Leg 19.

Meanwhile Van 1 headed straight to the next van-to-van hand-off at the Walmart in Carson City to get some rest before getting the call from Van 2.

Not DNR's Van 1, but another team's Van 1 crashed out

Walmart in Carson City (photo by Laurel Hammang)

My experience of RTO was considerably different from years passed.  Due to injury I had to replace myself, but then due to other folks having to drop out I decided to help out as much as I could.

I went back to Reno to sleep at the hotel, but set the alarm for 3 a.m. and then headed down to Carson City to run another leg for Van 1, Leg 25, the first one out of the Walmart parking lot.  Happily, this was cool and dark (around 5 in the morning) and short.  3 miles later I tagged Trish.

From that point on my understanding is that Erin and Tiffany divided up the leg that Sean couldn't run.  Erin ran the straight-up killer Leg 30 into the last van-to-van hand-off in Virginia City to tag Sarah for the last time.

It was Van 2's third and final time in charge while Van 1 celebrated with Bloody Marys at the Bucket of Blood Saloon in Virginia City.

Sarah ran the tough couple of miles out of Virginia City to tag John at Lousetown Road, where he continued up to the Geiger Grade summit and then down to tag Chris, who ran the long Leg 33 grind down Geiger Grade.  Chris tagged Laurel at the bottom of the grade, who then ran a long leg 34 through suburban southern Reno.  I ran the first half of Leg 35 through business parks and then passed the wristband to Bryan who finished Leg 35 and did the last hand-off of the relay to Lisa, our stalwart anchor who ran through the attractive older part of south Reno to finish at Idylwild Park, where Van 1 was waiting to rendezvous with Van 2 to run the last hundred yards to the official finish and then the ceremonial finish.

Done!

After all of the personnel changes and the hot weather challenge, the remarkable thing is just how well DNR did.  (RTO 2012 results.)

The final time was 22 hours 31 minutes 14 seconds (shortly after 12 noon on Saturday), for a 41 minute improvement over 2011 (23:12:13).  Overall out of the 247 teams that finished, DNR came in # 11.  Out of the 100 mixed (coed) teams, DNR finished # 4!

Paul Smith, as always, did a terrific job on Leg 4 the toughest in the relay, coming in fourth of all teams at 57:28.  (This is not Paul's fastest.  He ran it last year in 54:10, but this year's heat took its toll even on Paul.)  Chris Miller, ran the other timed individual leg, # 33, the "Geiger Grinder", in 45:28, thirtieth overall.  Nice going, fellows!

What DNR did this year was the essence of relay running.  Working together, being flexible, and, if need be, making it up as the event unfolds.  Sure, it's nice to have everything go smoothly like it did last year, but that's not always the case.  This year there were lots of curveballs before we even got to the starting line, and then another one that was thrown after the relay began.  DNR took it in stride.  What a great team!

Related links:
Reno-Tahoe Odyssey website
Reno Gazette-Journal article (more links there to other RTO articles and photo galleries)
"The Daily Double" - Sean Murphy's account of his attempt to run two BQs in one day

Here follows a selection of pictures from along the way.

"The Flying Monkeys", Van 1, at Boca

Chico's other RTO team

Lisa and Laurel waiting for Sarah

Van 1's Tiffany, Trish, and Sean hanging out while Erin

is out on the road (photo by Paul Smith)

Sarah hands off to Laurel, Leg 7 to 8

Erin, probably running Leg 30

(photo by Paul Smith)

Night moves: John to Bryan, Leg 11 to 12

(photo by Sarah Montez)

Two too fast: Erin hands off to Sarah in Virginia City
Van 1 is done!

Sarah tags John: Leg 31 to 32

John starts Chris on Leg 33, the long Geiger Grade descent

Last hand-off: Bryan to Lisa, Leg 35 to 36 - Go Lisa!

Van 1's prerogative:

Bloody Marys at the Bucket of Blood Saloon

(photo by Paul Smith)

Last of all, here is a memory that Van 2 can take to the bank.

John and I were driving down Geiger Grade in my car while Chris was running Leg 33 and the rest of Van 2 was in the van.  John spotted a home made sign attached to a reflective paddle sign by the side of the road in a pull-out.  He realized it was a Burma Shave-style series of signs and it started with "DNR".  This could not be an accident.  The series read: "DNR - U - Look - Pretty - Run!"  I could attempt to explain the significance of this, but suffice to say that it is a private joke in Van 2 that dates back to the first running of the RTO in 2005.

John and I were mystified as to who might be responsible.

We considered Van 1.  Not likely.  When could they possibly have done it?  The Flying Monkeys?  (This is the other Chico-based team captained by the irrepressible Ed Hudson.)  Within reason, but we didn't think they knew about the joke.  John's wife Cathy or my partner Keith? - nope, they were on the road to Reno from Chico.  We called Lisa in the van to let her know about this, and she's the one who cracked the mystery.  She assigned guilt to Roseann, who was in Van 2 for the last three years.  She was one of the runners who had to drop out this year due to injury, she lives nearby in Reno, and this is exactly the sort of thing she would do.

Nice going, Roseann.  If it hadn't been for Lisa, we might never have known.  And thanks for stopping by at the 34 to 35 hand-off! 

Here is the first  photo that shows the entire Burma Shave series, followed by a close-up of each sign.

Travel - Princess Cruises to home port a ship in San Francisco

Northern California cruise lovers should be delighted to know that starting in May 2013, Princess Cruises will home port the Grand Princess in San Francisco.  That means simply that the ship will sail from and return to San Francisco.


For northern Californian passengers it means avoiding the the cost, time, and hassle of flying to a distant port to take one of these cruises.  Cruisers can deposit their car close to the ship or even better, leave the car with Bay Area friends and get dropped off at the dock or take a taxi.  (Princess's website shows a current parking rate of $12 per day in San Francisco.)


In 2013-2014, Princess Cruises will offer 7 day California coastal cruises, 10 day cruises to Alaska, 10 day cruises to Mexico, and 15 day cruises to Hawaii.

Except for the Alaska cruises which include a Canadian port-of-call, the Hawaii and California coastal cruises include a stop in Ensenada, Mexico in order to satisfy the requirement that non-U.S. flagged ships must call at one international destination.  (This is required by the Mechant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act.)


Related links:
- Princess Cruise Lines press release (includes sailing dates and destinations)
- USA Today article about the overhaul and redo of the Grand Princess

Destinations - "1968" at the Oakland Museum

Because my birthday falls in December, I was 12 during most of 1968.  That didn't stop me from appreciating that I was living in an especially turbulent time.

Even now, the year seems both distant and yet like it happened yesterday.  Some events, in particular the assassinations within two months of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, mark one of the lowest points in American history.  The country has moved on, but these are wounds that scar over, never really healing.

For those of you old enough to remember living through it, as well as for anyone else interested in this pivotal year, a traveling exhibit at the Oakland Museum chronicles 1968 in all of its messy detail.

The largest part of the exhibit in the center of the museum's Great Hall, is a mostly chronological treatment of the year focused on the politics and protest that surrounded the Vietnam War and the continuing civil rights stuggles.  On the edges are exhibits that focus on the culture - both serious and silly.  There was plenty of both.

"1968" runs through 19 August, along with a concurrent exhibit of political posters: "All of Us or None: Social Justice Posters of the San Francisco Bay Area".

_________________________________________________________________________

Never been to Oakland?  Do you think it's only a place to nervously hurry through on your way somewhere else?  Think again.  Check out my Oakland Marathon Neighborhood Tour, a 21 chapter blog series that follows the route of the race through many of the city's interesting neighborhoods.

Amtrak Service and Fares - # 16 - Fares, sleeping accommodations

How Amtrak prices sleeping accommodations is similar in one respect to how it prices business class and first class: it involves a supplemental charge above the coach fare, also called the rail fare.  But beyond that, it is substantially different.  Not particularly complicated - in fact, in some ways simpler - but different.

What you learned about pricing for premium seats (business class, first class) is that that the price and inventory of the premium seat is directly tied to the availability of the corresponding inventory (or "bucket") of coach seat.  For example, for the lowest priced business class seat (JD) between Seattle and Portland to be available on a given train, a YD seat would also need to be available.  If there were only full fare (Y) coach seats available (or no coach seats available whatsoever), any available business class seats would have to be sold at the highest level: JY.

For sleeping accommodations it is simpler.  When a passenger occupies a sleeping accommodation, the underlying rail (coach) fare is always charged at the lowest possible level regardless of whether the lowest priced coach inventory is available or not.

Getting more detailed, the lowest rail fare is normally booked in the YD inventory with a fare basis usually of DOF1.  But it doesn't matter whether YD seats are available or not when any kind of sleeping accommodation is booked; Amtrak's Arrow system automatically applies the lowest rail fare and then adds on the additional accommodation charge for the room.  (If these references to YD and DOF1 don't make sense, then you did not read or don't remember chapter 12 about fares for reserved coach.)

To draw the starkest example, a train could be completely sold out of all coach seats, yet if a sleeping accommodation were booked on the same train, then the coach rail fare applied to the reservation would be at the lowest DOF1 level.

Lest you think this is too easy, what Amtrak does do with sleeping accommodations is similar to what they do with reserved coach fare inventory: they have five different levels that are yield-managed based on historic and forecasted demand.  That means that the cost of the add-on accommodation charge for the room could be at any one of five prices, depending on availability.

Let's take a look at a fare display from Santa Barbara (SBA) to Seattle (SEA) for 3 May to see the five different levels of accommodation charges for each of the four different types of rooms, as well as the coach rail fares.  Note that sleeping car accommodations charges are not seasonal.  The same rates that apply in May would apply in September, December, and so on, however the availability of the lower prices may be scarce or nonexistent in high demand periods.

Starting from the top of the display, on each horizontal line is the range of accommodation charges for each type of room.

The first line shows ES/EA/EB/EC/ED.  These are the five levels - highest to lowest - for the roomette accommodation.

The second line shows DS/DA/DB/DC/DD.  These are for the bedroom acccommodation.

The third line shows HS/HA/HB/HC/HD. These are for the accessible bedroom.

The fourth line shows FS/FA/FB/FC/FD.  These are for the family bedroom.

Here's a long side note about the codes and the names for the rooms.  Up until a few years ago, the roomette was called an economy room (E), the bedroom was called a deluxe room (D) and the accessible room was called a handicapped room (H).  The nomenclature changed, but the codes for the rooms remained the same.  The family room name remained the same, so the code starting with an "F" still makes sense.

Roomette and bedroom are terms that long predate Amtrak as names for Pullman accommodations roughly of the same type as these on Amtrak. When Amtrak introduced Superliner sleepers in the late 1970s, it used "economy bedroom" and "deluxe bedroom" to differentiate them from the roomettes and bedrooms that were still in use on the hand-me-down sleeping cars that Amtrak received at its creation from the railroads. This equipment has all been retired, so Amtrak can go back to using the original terms of roomette and bedroom since confusion is no longer possible.

OK, lets look at the hierarchy of five price levels for the roomette starting with the lowest priced level of "ED".  The application is the same for all of the four different room types.

ED - $227
EC - $295
EB - $362
EA - $430
ES - $497

Remember that the lowest available inventory for the room - in this case a roomette - is added on to the lowest rail (coach) fare, regardless if the lowest coach fare is available.

Look back at the fare display and you'll see the lowest rail (coach) fare is the DOF1 at $106.  If you booked a sleeper from Santa Barbara to Seattle, you would never pay more than $106 for the rail fare.  However the additional amount you would pay for the room, is subject to the lowest available inventory for the sleeping accommodation you desire.

Just for example then, if you wanted to travel in a roomette accommodation you would pay anywhere from $227 (ED) up to $497 (ES) on top of the lowest coach rail fare of $106.  The latter amount does not change; you would always pay the lowest coach rail fare regardless of whether the applicable coach seats are available.  (If that is confusing then just think of it this way: customers pay a handsome supplement to occupy a sleeping accommodation, so Amtrak gives them a break by always giving them the lowest coach rail fare.)

OK, let's turn our attention to the availability, because that will determine what you will actually pay.

Here's an availability display for 3 May from Santa Barbara to Seattle just for sleeping accommodations.  (Note: that the accessible bedroom accommodations HS/HA/HB/HC/HD are not visible - these can only be booked over the phone with an Amtrak call center agent or in person at an Amtrak ticket counter.)

Because you want a roomette we're looking at the availability of the E-type of inventory codes.  Remember that the hierarchy, high to low, is ES-EA-EB-EC-ED.

ED, the lowest cost accommodation add-on for the roomette at $227 shows "ED0", meaning that it's sold out.  However the next lowest inventory, the EC at $295, reads as "EC2", meaning that there are 2 available.  Higher priced inventories - EB, EA, and ES - all show even more rooms available.

We go ahead and sell one EC.  For the heck of it, since Mitt Romney (and most other Republican politicians) professes hatred toward Amtrak, we're going to put Mitt's name on the reservation.  Seems like a nice train ride couldn't make his sour disposition any worse than it already is.

Here's what the reservation looks like in Sabre, which is almost identical to how it looks in Amtrak's Arrow system:

See how it prices? It automatically applied the DOF1 rail fare of $106, plus the EC add-on for the roomette of $295 for a total of $401.

If you're with me this far, then you may also find this aside interesting.

Amtrak instantly assigns the room and car when the room is sold.  After the arrival time and date ("845P04MAY") you see "EC014 1431".  That means Mitt is in room 14 in car 1431.  Sleeping cars are always numbered starting with 30.  The train number, in this case 14, plus the car number, so he's in car 1431.  Car 1430 is closest to the diner (or in the case of the Coast Starlight, the Pacific Parlour Lounge), car 1431 would be two cars away, and 1432 would be three cars away.

Arrow automatically assigns sleepers at the time of sale, based on a goodness factor similar to how cruise lines automatically assign cabins.  Customers using Amtrak.com and travel agents using their own industry systems do not have a way to book a specific room or car.  Amtrak call center agents and ticket agents also normally just sell the room and let Arrow assign it, but they have the ability to request a specific room in the unusual instances where a customer asks.

All rooms on Amtrak will accommodate at least two people, and one of the best things about how Amtrak prices sleeping accommodations is that a second person traveling only has to pay an additional coach rail fare.  The sleeping accommodation charge remains the same, so in essence two people traveling split the cost of the sleeper add-on.  That means that two people have their meals included in the cost of the ticket even though the add-on cost for the accommodation does not change if two people are in the room.

Since Mitt Romney has clearly become great pals with Rick Santorum over the course of the entertaining Republican primary, let's look at this same example with two people, Mitt and Rick sharing.  (Just imagine how much fun they would have spending 28 hours together in a small room.)  Notice how the rail fare doubled to $212 ($106 x 2), but the accommodation charge remained the same at $295.

One more modification of this example is called for to illustrate another point.  In Chapter 12, I touched on passenger type discounts for coach rail fares.  These also apply to the underlying rail fare when passengers are occuping sleeping accommodations.

Passenger type discounts almost never apply to the actual add-ons for sleepers.  (Once in the bluest of blue moons, there will be some kind of short-term promotion that does offer a passenger type discount on sleepers, but it is very rare.)  But passenger type discounts always apply to the coach rail fare that sleeping car passengers also pay.

As of the writing of this post, Romney is 65 and Santorum is 53.  That means that Romney is entitled to Amtrak's 15% senior discount and Santorum does not - one has to be 62 to get the discount.

Here's what the same reservation looks like priced as one senior and one regular adult.

The DOF1 rail fare of $106 less 15% for Romney is $90.10, plus the full $106 for Santorum equals $196.10, plus the one-time accommodations charge of $295 for the roomette (not discounted by passenger type) produces a grand total of $491.10.

Let's look at one last example that consists of a family of four - 2 adults and 2 children (ages 2-15) - occupying the family bedroom.

Below you see a reservation from Portland, Ore. to Chicago on 13 August.  The FS (family bedroom, full undiscounted inventory level, $1255) is occupied by the Obama family.  Barack and Michelle are each paying the full adult DOF1 fare ($159 each), plus Malia and Sacha are paying the child's half fare ($79.50 each).  The total rail fare comes to $477, plus the accommodation charge of $1255, for a grand total of $1732.

A final note about pricing sleeping accommodations.

At one time Amtrak followed the policies  originally set by the railroads requiring a minimum number of railfares in order to occupy a sleeping accommodation.  Amtrak no longer does that.  In theory one person could occupy the family bedroom and pay only one coach rail fare plus the accommodation charge, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense since a roomette would be less expensive and a bedroom would offer more amenities.

Amtrak Service and Fares - navigational links
Backward to # 15 - Fares, first class (Acela Express)
Forward to # 17 - Fares, passenger type discounts
Introduction

Car rental - Out of Arizona for five bucks a day

This is a predictable seasonal subject for my blog:  super low one-way rates in the spring out of Arizona, and the reverse later in the year back to Arizona.

Hertz has bargain rates of $5 per day for economy or compact cars driven one way from anywhere in Arizona to any Hertz location in California (or Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas).

For just a little more per day, you can rent an intermediate, standard, or full-size car, or a mid-size SUV.  Keep in mind that the only additional mandatory cost is tax; there isn't any one-way drop-off fee.  And if you rent from a non-airport location in Arizona, you will avoid airport concession fees.

Pick up the vehicle any day starting on 4 April but no later than 30 June.  You may rent the car for up to 14 days.

Here are three examples.  Prices include tax.

15 April to 19 April - Phoenix airport to San Francisco airport
economy car: $60.54, mid-size SUV: $139.96

21 May to 23 May - Tucson off-airport location to LAX
economy car: $16.58, mid-size SUV: $50.79

11 June - 20 June - Flagstaff Amtrak station to Chico
economy car: $57.44, mid-size SUV: $203.70

For complete details see this page on the Hertz website.

Avis has a similar but not as low-priced offer, and other rental companies may as well.