[Expired] Amtrak: Buy Roomette & Bring A Companion For Free

Deal has ended, view more Amtrak deals by clicking here.

Update 8/11/20: Deal available again. Must book by August 15 for travel from August 14 – September 30.

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Buy a roomette on Amtrak and bring a companion for free

The Fine Print

  • For sale July 7 – 17, 2020
  • For travel July 13 – September 30, 2020
  • Valid for one (1) free companion rail fare with the purchase of one roomette.
  • Advance reservations are required a minimum of three (3) days prior to travel.
  • Offer is valid on all trains with roomettes, except Auto Train.
  • Paying adult and free companion must travel in the same room and reserve in same reservation.
  • Space is subject to availability.
  • Offer is not transferrable and is not combinable with any other discount offer.
  • In addition to the discount restrictions; this offer is also subject to any restrictions, blackouts, and refund rules that apply to the type of fare purchased.
  • Fares, routes and schedules are subject to change without notice.
  • Once travel has begun; no changes to the itinerary are permitted.
  • Sleeper cancellation rules apply.
  • Cancel at least 15 days prior to scheduled departure, a 25% cancellation applies. Rooms cancelled less than 15 days prior to scheduled departure and prior to departure will receive a non-refundable eVoucher and a 25% cancellation fee will apply
  • Cancellation fees waived upon customers request through August 31, 2020.
  • Please refer to discount code V306.
  • Other restrictions may apply.

Our Verdict

Not sure if this type of travel would be better or worse than flying during COVID. Obviously with this you have your own private roomette but total travel time is going to be much longer. I’ll leave that to the medical experts to decide.

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31 Comments
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Wayne
Wayne (@guest_1019280)
July 19, 2020 22:00

This offer is… confusing. Doesn’t the price of a roomette always include two travellers?

channelz28
channelz28 (@guest_1019309)
July 19, 2020 23:52

Yes, but normally both travelers need a regular ticket.

Brian
Brian (@guest_1035050)
August 12, 2020 12:49

The roomette is a supplement to to base rail fare though it is quoted as a single price. So solo would be 1x rail fare and 1x roomette supplement. Normal two person occupancy would be 2x rail fare and 1x roomette supplement. This offer saves the second rail fare which is the lowest coach price, not necessarily the lowest coach price at time of purchase.

EricF
EricF (@guest_1035156)
August 12, 2020 15:29

I think it could be explained a little more simply so I’ll try:

A solo passenger in a roomette pays the roomette fare only. He/she does not need to purchase a coach ticket.

The second passenger in a roomette has to purchase a coach ticket only, but then can stay in the roomette with the first passenger.

Amtrak sometimes offers a free companion ticket as a special promotion. One companion ticket is also included annually with the Amtrak World MasterCard as a perk. The companion ticket eliminates the need for the second passenger to purchase a coach ticket to stay in the roomette with the first person.

Jason
Jason (@guest_1036032)
August 13, 2020 19:29

Last time I wanted to take the roomette, I found that on Amtrak website, a single roomette ticket for two is more expensive than a roomette ticket for one plus a coach ticket. Does this mean I can actually buy the roomette + coach combo and save some money?

escot
escot (@guest_1011911)
July 8, 2020 11:16

Concur with others below, riding Amtrak in a roomette in the present environment has to be one of the DUMBEST ideas ever. (and DoC, this is far, far more dangerous than flying in a plane.) Bad enough in normal times. We booked what we thought might be a “romantic” ride in a roomette on a Christmas train few years ago,, from Denver to Sacramento…. became single worst travel experience, unending dark nightmare of our lives….. The “roomettes” are incredibly SMALL. Think claustrophobia — on stilts! (If you don’t have it, you will after a night in one of these) You won’t fit in the upper bunk if you’re over 5 ft 3 inches, and if you sit up at night, you’ll risk breaking your neck. Re. Covid, the room-ettes are sealed rooms, no windows to open, and all cloistered next to each other with barely a foot and a half wide hallway. Shared sloppy bathroom down the corridor. Super-spreader express all right. Amtrak should have retired these disasters on wheels long ago., and even more so now.

Wayne
Wayne (@guest_1019278)
July 19, 2020 21:58

This is mostly nonsense. I mean, I wouldn’t ride in a roomette right now, either. That much is correct. But the rest of it is silly. I’ve done long-distance roomettes a couple times. They’re quite comfortable. Not really bad at all. I guess somebody who experiences “claustrophobia — on stilts!” should avoid them. But they’re fine for the rest of us. Great experience.

DWhite
DWhite (@guest_1024207)
July 27, 2020 14:00

Wayne I agree with you on this one. It’s not to say that Amtrak doesn’t run terribly behind sometimes (especially on long-haul routes) or that doing so during the health crisis would be advised, but the room sizes are large enough to reasonably easy to lay down in for most people.

http://blog.amtrak.com/2015/02/difference-between-a-roomette-a-bedroom/
https://www.amtrak.com/superliner-roomette

escot
escot (@guest_1034574)
August 11, 2020 18:23

Um, Wayne & DWhite, you guys missed the whole point of this promotion…. this is for TWO people in one of those extremely close quarters roomettes. (If you guys were traveling solo, sure, they might be tolerable. But quite another matter for two…. Happens I’m 6.2, and my wife a foot shorter…. You’re stuck with very narrow BUNK berths for sleeping two. Anybody over 5 ft 6 would need to curl in the top, and the headroom there is barely 3 feet….. And I stand by my assertion that social distancing is utterly impossible on these superspreader cars…. unless they’re only using every third cabin… (barely a foot and a half wide passageway between roomettes) But sure, if you’re with the “do what you’re comfortable with, anti-science crowd,” then sure, have a great trip.

escot
escot (@guest_1034580)
August 11, 2020 18:30

Don’t take my word for it, study the actual dimensions for these roomETTES on the Amtrak web site (if you can find them). Then, if you want to see Delta airlines style marketing (the new amtrak ceo came from Delta), check out Amtrak’s exceptionally misleading photos of these roomETTES….. Sure, they make it look like the rooms are sooooo wide, so inviting, so comfi, even quaint. …. with biiig windows. What you don’t realize til you get into those rooms and try to take the same pic yourself is that you’d have to stand in the room across the hallway, and use a wide angle trick lens.

channelz28
channelz28 (@guest_1034672)
August 11, 2020 20:19

The dimensions are 3’6″ x 6’6″. All I had to do to find them was to click DWhite’s comment.

Upper bunk is 2’0″ x 6’2″
Lower bunk is 2’4: x 6’6″

They are cot length, though narrower.

escot
escot (@guest_1034927)
August 12, 2020 09:09

congratulations, you win the prize. Jefferson’s alcove bed at Monticello is 6 ft, 2 inches too, three times as wide….. and no cabinet doors jutting into his space either….. We were in one of those hellish “room-ETTES” for four nights…. I was reduced to a “fetal” position…. ps, not mentioned in those “dimensions” is the fact that there’s essentially no floor space when the “cots” (foam boards) are deployed. (again, note the video — the attendant is getting your bed ready while standing in the narrow hallway — no doubt half into the room across) Folks can “enjoy” changing while standing in the public space. How romantic. Super-spreader express.

escot
escot (@guest_1034606)
August 11, 2020 19:00

Ironically, one of the very Amtrak videos promoting these roomETTES rather starkly illustrates my “nonsense” about just how SMALL these rooms are for two normal sized folks: http://blog.amtrak.com/2014/02/video-tour-amtrak-roomette/ (ah, she’s getting paid, so puts best face on everything….. but turn the sound off and look for yourselves… and btw, half what she touts is shut down now — the dining and observation cars. )

Dmk11
Dmk11 (@guest_1035018)
August 12, 2020 12:08

Sorry you’ve had such a bad time traveling in a roommette and TOTALLY AGREE that I would not do it during these COVID times, but
I’ve traveled twice now on an overnight trip in a romette with another person and would disagree with some of your assessment. I’m 5’8” and slept fine on the upper bunk. As someone quoted, it’s 6’2” in length and I didn’t feel it’s short (it is narrow, on the other hand). I’m not saying there are other aspects of the travel that isn’t convenient, but I would do it again in the future.
Just putting a different perspective on it, to each their own.

Jeremiah
Jeremiah (@guest_1011882)
July 8, 2020 10:39

Having taken a long distance trip in an Amtrak roomette relatively recently, I’d absolutely not consider this in the current climate. Social distancing is absolutely impossible and you will be in close quarters with everyone else on that train. While I appreciate that taking the train is an experience in itself, I’d drive, fly, or not take the trip at all over doing a roomette trip during COVID.

Daniel
Daniel (@guest_1011809)
July 8, 2020 07:12

They are totally about to bang

HarryTheFirstHarry
HarryTheFirstHarry (@guest_1011800)
July 8, 2020 06:27

Like they say elsewhere…here for the comments. Not disappointed.

Dave
Dave (@guest_1011794)
July 8, 2020 06:05

Do we have to call it a “roomette”?
wth…

earthwormjim
earthwormjim (@guest_1011640)
July 7, 2020 22:11

I wonder what the companion selection is like. Personally I’d prefer a little younger than what is pictured, but beggars cannot be choosers. Certainly can’t argue with a free companion!

Jason
Jason (@guest_1011643)
July 7, 2020 22:15

Calm down Epstein

Jake
Jake (@guest_1011777)
July 8, 2020 03:42

LOL

bait&tacklejohn
bait&tacklejohn (@guest_1034564)
August 11, 2020 18:12

Really? He doesn’t look THAT old… Expand your horizons, Jim.

PJ
PJ (@guest_1011609)
July 7, 2020 21:21

The graphic makes it look like they are providing the companion.

HarryTheFirstHarry
HarryTheFirstHarry (@guest_1011801)
July 8, 2020 06:30
  PJ

Doesn’t show which one is the paid passenger and which one is the free companion though….

escot
escot (@guest_1011930)
July 8, 2020 11:47

either way, they won’t be able to share a bed….. the bunks are too narrow to fit two on. (and as I recall, it’s impossible to only have lower bed down… the most miserable, stupid design ever in rail cars)

Jason
Jason (@guest_1013138)
July 9, 2020 19:07
  PJ

It’s not just he graphic that is misleading, the wording was obviously NOT reviewed before release: “Travel in a Roomette Privately and Comfortably with a Free Companion.” Come on Amtrak, is your PR team short-staffed?

Better: “Travel in a Roomette Privately and Comfortably with Free fare for your Companion.” OR How about the old “Buy One Get One Free space in a Private Roomette”?

Almost as good as Marine Corps news headline: “FAG returns from deployment”… maybe Forward Air Group should be spelled out in a headline?

crimson
crimson (@guest_1011598)
July 7, 2020 21:07

Dont…it’s corona express

dood
dood (@guest_1011597)
July 7, 2020 21:04

Im curious the type of women you could pull with the promise of free amtrak travel.