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Re: GrandLuxe train from Denver
Author: rjw
Date: 10-30-2007 - 11:03
Catch them while you can. Per Trains Newswire... the service plans have been cutback.
GrandLuxe Cancels More Trips
October 26, 2007
EVERGREEN, Colo. - Citing a shortage of advance bookings, GrandLuxe Rail Journeys again cut back the test of running its luxury railcars on the rear of Amtrak trains this fall to a positioning move from Denver to Emeryville, Calif., on Oct. 30 and then three California Zephyr round trips to Chicago leaving the San Francisco Bay city on Nov. 2, 8, and 14. Chicago departures are on Nov. 5, 11, and 17.
When the experimental service was announced after Memorial Day, GrandLuxe had planned to run three sets of equipment concurrently coupled to the rear of the Zephyr, the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief, and the Washington-Miami segment of the Silver Meteor. Then, over a month ago, the company cut the service back to four Zephyr round trips in November, three on the Chief in early December, and four on the Meteor before and after Christmas, using just one equipment set.
"All logic would tell you that the Florida trips would have been popular, but the numbers for those and the Chicago-Los Angeles route just weren't there," Christina Messa, GrandLuxe's vice president of marketing, said in a telephone interview. The company began calling already-booked patrons for the Chicago-Los Angeles and Washington-Miami trips yesterday, offering full refunds or the ability to get credits for other GrandLuxe trips in 2008 at a rate of twice the amount of the dollar outlay of the trips that the patrons had booked but Grand Luxe had cancelled.
Messa was disappointed that the trips had to be canceled, but stressed that, from the outset, this was a test program and GrandLuxe learned a great deal about the market, not ruling out future excursions on the back of Amtrak trains, but with more lead time to promote them. "We had good demand on the California Zephyr route," she said. Both the one-way move from Denver to Emeryville and the two westbound trips out of Chicago on Nov. 5 and 12 are sold out, with only seven rooms (starting at $2,299 per person, double occupancy) available on the Nov. 17 westbound departure. The only trip with a wide range of accommodations available, as of Oct. 26 in a call to the GrandLuxe reservation center, was the eastbound Nov. 14 trip out of Emeryville, where the least-expensive single occupancy available room costs $2,039. - Bob Johnston
GrandLuxe Cancels More Trips
October 26, 2007
EVERGREEN, Colo. - Citing a shortage of advance bookings, GrandLuxe Rail Journeys again cut back the test of running its luxury railcars on the rear of Amtrak trains this fall to a positioning move from Denver to Emeryville, Calif., on Oct. 30 and then three California Zephyr round trips to Chicago leaving the San Francisco Bay city on Nov. 2, 8, and 14. Chicago departures are on Nov. 5, 11, and 17.
When the experimental service was announced after Memorial Day, GrandLuxe had planned to run three sets of equipment concurrently coupled to the rear of the Zephyr, the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief, and the Washington-Miami segment of the Silver Meteor. Then, over a month ago, the company cut the service back to four Zephyr round trips in November, three on the Chief in early December, and four on the Meteor before and after Christmas, using just one equipment set.
"All logic would tell you that the Florida trips would have been popular, but the numbers for those and the Chicago-Los Angeles route just weren't there," Christina Messa, GrandLuxe's vice president of marketing, said in a telephone interview. The company began calling already-booked patrons for the Chicago-Los Angeles and Washington-Miami trips yesterday, offering full refunds or the ability to get credits for other GrandLuxe trips in 2008 at a rate of twice the amount of the dollar outlay of the trips that the patrons had booked but Grand Luxe had cancelled.
Messa was disappointed that the trips had to be canceled, but stressed that, from the outset, this was a test program and GrandLuxe learned a great deal about the market, not ruling out future excursions on the back of Amtrak trains, but with more lead time to promote them. "We had good demand on the California Zephyr route," she said. Both the one-way move from Denver to Emeryville and the two westbound trips out of Chicago on Nov. 5 and 12 are sold out, with only seven rooms (starting at $2,299 per person, double occupancy) available on the Nov. 17 westbound departure. The only trip with a wide range of accommodations available, as of Oct. 26 in a call to the GrandLuxe reservation center, was the eastbound Nov. 14 trip out of Emeryville, where the least-expensive single occupancy available room costs $2,039. - Bob Johnston
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 GrandLuxe train from Denver
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Keith | 10-30-2007 - 10:58 |
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Re: GrandLuxe train from Denver |
rjw | 10-30-2007 - 11:03 |