How Much Does an Amtrak Roomette Cost? Prices for 2023 (Updated: August 26)

Amtrak sleeper cars are awesome. Covered meals, showers, and a bed to sleep on make cross-country traveling way easier. But, with those luxuries comes an added cost; in fact, Amtrak’s smallest sleeper cabin, the roomette, is usually more expensive than flying first-class. And, with all that new federal money coming in the next few ears, we are going to be seeing new trains, new routes, and tons of renewed interest in traveling by rail.

So, how much does an Amtrak roomette cost?

Update August 26, 2023: Prices shown below were updated to ensure they are accurate for trips for late fall 2023 as the peak season for fall foliage begins. Some trains getting more expensive, while many others are are a lot cheaper than they were this summer. I’ll continue to update this article as often as I can to make sure you get an accurate sense of pricing every time.

Quick Answer: What’s the Average Cost of a Roomette?

Amtrak roomettes are on the pricey side, averaging $1,400-$2,000 for two round-trip tickets between major US cities. Longer rides, like cross-country trips, can cost more than $2,500 per round-trip ticket. But, since you’re paying for travel, lodging, and food at once, the costs are easier to justify.

What is Included in an Amtrak Roomette: Features and Benefits, Explained

Okay, so we’ve established that the roomette is one of the most expensive ways to ride Amtrak, which is already pretty darn expensive. So, what do you get for all that cash? Let’s break down what is included in the cost of an Amtrak roomette ticket:

The Roomette

The main thing you get? The roomette! It’s not big – I’d guess it’s about 36 square feet, max – but it’s more than enough room for two people to stretch out, relax, and get some sleep. 

The roomette includes: 

• Two seats, about the size of an airplane business/first-class seat
• Two beds
  • One bed drops down from the ceiling, another formed by sliding the seats together
  • The beds include a mattress and sheets, and they’re slightly narrower than a Twin
• Storage for your luggage
• Access to a shared bathroom, reserved for sleeper car passengers
• Large window
• Private lighting – you decide when it’s lights out

The Food

Every sleeper car passenger gets 3 square meals – and some snacks – included in the price of their ticket. If you’re on the train during meal times, the meal is covered.

You’ll have two choices for dining: traditional dining in the dining car or flexible dining, a service where meals are brought directly to your room. 

The menu available to Amtrak sleeper car passengers is surprisingly good. Each meal includes an appetizer, entree, dessert, and beverage. The breakfast menu is a bit smaller, more like a continental breakfast at a hotel, but it’s tasty. 

Lunches are filling and taste fresh, too. Dinner is where it gets special. Every time you’re on the train for dinner, you’ll be treated to a full 3-course meal, and your first alcoholic beverage is free. 

One night, on the way from Chicago to Seattle, I had the following: 

• Salmon over rice pilaf
• Carrot cake
• Chardonnay
• Bread on the side

You can expect meals like that, and more, when you’re riding in an Amtrak sleeper car!

Here’s what lunch looks like:

And, finally, breakfast:

Coach and Business Passengers Don’t Eat Free

Riding in coach or business classes is fun, too, but it’s not just the bed you’re missing out on. When you ride in coach or business class, you’ll have to bring all of your own food or pay out of pocket at the cafe car. You can’t even sign up for or pay for a meal in the dining car; the dining car is for sleeper passengers only, no exceptions.

The Perks

A private room and included meals aren’t the only thing you have to look forward to, however. Here’s the rest of the stuff you get when you’re in the sleeper car:

• Private(ish) Bathrooms: Roomette passengers don’t get their own bathroom, but they do have access to shared bathrooms reserved for other sleeper car passengers. So, you’re still going to have to share with a few others, but that’s way better than two-to-three-dozen others!
• Shower Access: Being able to shower on a trip thousands of miles long? To me, that feels more like a necessity than a perk!
• Car Attendant: Each sleeper car has a dedicated attendant, there to assist you with anything you might need – including hot coffee ‘round the clock.
• Turndown Service: They aren’t going to put a mint on your pillow, but it’s way easier to get your bed set up and torn down with help from a professional.
• Free Drinks and Snacks: Any time you’re feeling thirsty or peckish (before 10 PM), head down to the cafe car and get yourself a drink and snack – free of charge for sleeper car passengers.
• Access to Amtrak Lounges: Certain Amtrak stations have private lounges with couches, wifi, and snacks that sleeper car passengers can use. 
• Wi-FI: This isn’t a sleeper cabin-only perk, but it’s worth mentioning that the majority of Amtrak trains offer Wi-Fi. It’s not a huge deal, but it is something that airlines don’t have.

Amtrak Roomette Price Breakdown: 22 Common Trips (Prices updated August 2023)

The current average price for a long-distance, round-trip ticket in a roomette, for two people, is $2,005. That’s down about $200, or -10%, from last month’s prices.

Each month, I spend several hours on the Amtrak website, checking prices for various two-person roomette trips, using various popular cities and trips to make sure I got a decent sample. Below, you’ll see round trip prices between many US cities, with prices shown for: 

• Two people, 
• Riding in a roomette, 
• With travel dates that are roughly two months out. Two months is a good “minimum lead-out” to make sure you’re getting a decent price and not subject to price increases as tickets start to sell out.
• I’ve also included notes on how prices have changed since the last update, exactly one month ago.

East Coast

• NYC to Orlando (44 hours): $1,702 (no change since July)
• NYC to Chicago (39 hours): $1,592 (5% cheaper)
• NYC to Los Angeles (136 hours): $4,060 (1% more expensive)
• NYC to Denver (89 hours): $3,270 (14% cheaper)
• Washington, D.C. to Chicago (34 hours): $1,477 (no price change)

Average price change from July 2023 to August 2023: Slightly cheaper (-4%)

West Coast

• San Diego to Seattle (80 hours): $2,216 (12% more expensive)
• Los Angeles to Portland (60 hours): $1,968 (4% more expensive)
• Los Angeles to Chicago (85 hours): $2,691 (6% more expensive)
• Seattle to Chicago (90 hours): $2,076 (22% cheaper)

Average price change from July: Mostly unchanged (-1% average)

Mountain States

• Denver to Chicago (36 hours): $1,774 (19% cheaper)
• Denver to NYC (84 hours): $3,091 (29% cheaper)
• Albuquerque to St Louis (50 hours) $1,846 (2% cheaper)
• Salt Lake City to Chicago (68 hours): $2,347 (15% cheaper)

Average price change from July: A lot cheaper (-15%)

Midwest

• Chicago to New Orleans (40 hours): $988 (38% cheaper)
• Cleveland to NYC (25 hours): $1061 (no price change)
• Pittsburgh to Chicago (20 hours): $951 (no price change)
• Cincinnati to Portland, ME (70 hours): $1,212 (19% cheaper)

Average price change from July: A lot cheaper (-14%)

South

• New Orleans to San Diego (100 hours): $3,403 (20% more expensive)
• Dallas to Chicago (48 hours): $1,424 (28% more expensive)
• New Orleans to Washington, D.C. (56 hours): $1,294 (12% cheaper)
• Tampa to Washington, D.C. (44 hours): $1,365 (5% cheaper)

Average price change from July: More expensive (+8%)

Roomette Price Changes from Last Update (July 2023 to August 2023)

When I first published this article in April 2022, the prices I got for all of these trips were cheaper than they are today. Prices rose in Summer 2023, but it seems like they are falling now that we are heading into fall 2023. October is peak season, so if try to book for early october, you are likely still looking at high prices, but if you book 8-10 weeks out, (late October at time of writing), you will see slightly lower prices.

Once again, we are seeing the biggest price increases on the most desirable summer trips – the ones that cross the country and are famous for their scenery, such as the Empire Builder and California Zephyr – but many less popular trips are getting more expensive, too.

As a whole, Amtrak roomette tickets are currently 10% cheaper than they were a month ago, which makes sense given the time of year. For this update, I was looking at travel dates in late october, which is just after peak season for traveling and a great time to score a ticket.

Amtrak Sleeper Car Discounts: Do Seniors, Active Duty/Veterans, or Anyone Else Get Cheaper Tickets?

Seeing those ticket prices isn’t always easy – especially when gasoline is already hitting $5 a gallon. So, does Amtrak have any discounted fares for different groups of people, say, Seniors or Active Duty military and Veterans?

Amtrak’s Senior Discount gives those 65 and older a 10% discount on most fares, but not for sleeper car tickets. If your route includes a segment where sleeper accommodations aren’t offered, you can use the 10% discount for that segment, but not the rest of the journey.

Amtrak’s Military, Veteran, and Military Child discounts also deliver a 10% price cut on most fares… except for the sleeper car, according to their website. However, Military travelers do get to board the train before other passengers no matter what, which is a nice perk.

You can find details for each military-related discount here:

• Amtrak Military Discount
• Amtrak Veteran’s Discount
• Amtrak Military Child Discount (Ages 2-12)

Amtrak’s Student Discount gives students between age 17 and 24 a 15% discount on most coach and business fares. As with the other discounts, sleeper car tickets do not apply.

Amtrak Sleeper Car: Do I Need a Roomette, Bedroom, or Family Bedroom?

If you’re going to be on an Amtrak train overnight and you have a bit of extra money, you 100% need to be in the sleeper car. There’s no doubt about that – having a private room, food, and all the perks of an Amtrak sleeper car ticket make the price more than worth it. 

That said, the Bedroom and Family Bedroom options on Amtrak trains are way out of my price range. You get extra space, and it’s way cheaper when you’re splitting the cost 2-4 ways, but the Bedroom and Family Bedroom are still crazy expensive. 

If you think you (and a partner/friend) can comfortably fit in a Roomette, get the roomette. The perks are the same and you’ll save hundreds. But, that leads us to the real question at hand:

How Big is an Amtrak Roomette, and Will I Be Comfortable In It?

This is probably the thing that most people think of first. Like plane seats, trains are built to be as compact as possible to increase profitability. So, naturally, when you think about a sleeper car, you think to yourself, “Will I actually fit in this thing?”

I’m 6 foot 5, and I was pushing 300 pounds when I took a trip from Cincinnati to Seattle in an Amtrak roomette. I shared it with my wife, who is normal-sized. We each took one bunk; even two very small people would find it tough to sleep side by side on one bunk alone.

Here’s what the bunk looks like when you’re in it:

That’s where we were for our 60-hour-plus journey. And… we were fine! It wasn’t as roomy as a hotel, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as sitting in an airplane for 17 hours – which I’ve done a few times and would go out of my way to avoid having to do again. 

Statistically speaking, most people on earth don’t take up as much space as I do. So, unless you’re taking up more space, I think you’ll be more than happy in an Amtrak roomette!

Amtrak price tracking methodology

Each month, I gather prices for more than 20 different Amtrak trips to get a sense of how prices are trending overall. The trips are separated into five regions – Midwest, South, Northeast, West Coast, and Mountain States, and I track 4-5 trips in each region.

The routes were hand selected by me, to give a good representation of most routes where purchasing a Roomette would make sense – specifically, routes between major US cities that take at least 24 hours. Roughly 60% of the routes are direct, meaning there are no layovers or train changes, while the rest are two-segment journeys; this is also intentional, to reflect the reality behind many overnight trips where it would make sense to book a roomette.

I keep each month’s prices in a spreadsheet and use the historical data to compare current prices with past ones. When a certain route is listed as “more expensive”, it means the price has gone up since the previous month, although it still may be cheaper than other times of the year.

You can use these prices to get a sense of pricing trends, as well as what prices would look like in your region of the country. While you may be embarking from a different station, the prices will be roughly similar to what you see in the tracker, because Amtrak prices don’t change too much when you embark from a nearby station. For example, getting onboard in Chicago isn’t too different from getting onboard in Naperville in terms of prices. Furthermore, regional price changes and trends should be reflected no matter what specific stations you book.

Frequently Asked Questions

Note: While comments are appreciated, I will no longer be able to reply with specific prices for different trips; I was doing that for a while and simply couldn’t keep up with the number of comments. I suggest using Amtrak’s trip planner to get exact prices for different routes and dates.