If you reach a supervisor who won't budge, consider the following "negotiation points":1) If the past is anything to go by, there's a good chance the California Zephyr will arrive in California several hours behind schedule. Conceivably, you'll miss the connection to that day's final southbound San Joaquins, and won't be able to continue your journey to L.A. until the following day anyway. (Apparently, a variation of this argument sometimes works for Guest Rewards members wishing to transfer to or from the Sunset Limited).
2) As for taking the next day's Coast Starlight from Emeryville to L.A. . . . a sympathetic supervisor might be amenable to bending the "no stopover" rule if you're willing to travel south by coach, rather than sleeper. Empty coach seats, after all, are far more common than empty rooms. Especially on that particular train.
Granted, it's not an ideal solution if you have your heart set on "all sleepers, all the time." But that leg of your trip will be a daylight run. You won't want to waste it sitting in a tiny room where the visibility is limited. As for the Pacific Parlour car. . . sure, the furniture is nicer. But it's just furniture. The view from the regular Sightseeing Lounge is exactly the same.
I've always felt Amtrak should only prohibit Guest Rewards stopovers along a single route (for example, taking the westbound Lake Shore Limited from New York City, getting off in Cleveland, and then reboarding four days later to continue west to Chicago). When switching to a completely different long distance route (say, from the LSL to the Southwest Chief), a stopover of at least 24 hours should be permitted.
But that's just me.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 02-08-2005).]