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- Jan 17, 2019
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I had a few issues in using a 12 hour upgrade coupon earlier this year and I wonder if anyone can offer some insight into the reasons for these problems and how I can avoid them in the future.
My wife and I had made reservations to travel from Boston to DC by Acela business class as we have done a number of times before. In the past we have often used a companion coupon but this year we booked our round trip several months in advance and found that the saver fare (if I recall the now obsolete name correctly) was so low that using a companion coupon would not have saved any money so we booked using the Saver fare.
We booked our round trip on one reservation but I now realize that booking each leg on a separate reservation is recommended and I intend to do that in the future.
A few weeks before our trip, my wife decided that she wanted to stay in DC for a longer time and to fly back. I called Amtrak, canceled her reservation on the return leg, received a voucher for the cancellation and a new eticket reflecting the change. Our southbound trip went fine.
So the night before my return trip, I logged into my Amtrak account once I was within the 12 hour window before departure. Everything seemed to be fine and my upgrade coupon seemed to have been accepted. However just at or near the last stage, a notice appeared stating that 2 upgrade coupons were required. So the computer appeared to believe that my wife was still traveling with me on the return trip.
I then called an Amtrak agent but they were unable to resolve the problem and were unable to successfully apply my upgrade coupon.
I went to Union Station the next morning an hour so so before departure and tried to have a ticket agent apply the upgrade coupon but she was unable to do so.
I was about to abandon the attempt to use the coupon when I walked by the Customer Service office and decided to go in and talk with them. They took me across the hall to the lounge and after a few minutes the lounge attendant was able to apply the coupon. I didn't really receive much of an explanation of the problem as departure was getting close but I believe the lounge attendant said that it was something to do with reserving the ticket with a senior discount and that I would have to pay $7 to be able to apply the upgrade coupon which I gladly paid.
I am curious what the problem was and how to avoid it in the future. I am not sure that it really was due to the senior discount since the terms of an upgrade coupon state that it "may be combined with corporate, senior, disabled and military discounts." Maybe it really had something to do with using the Saver fare.
Thanks.
My wife and I had made reservations to travel from Boston to DC by Acela business class as we have done a number of times before. In the past we have often used a companion coupon but this year we booked our round trip several months in advance and found that the saver fare (if I recall the now obsolete name correctly) was so low that using a companion coupon would not have saved any money so we booked using the Saver fare.
We booked our round trip on one reservation but I now realize that booking each leg on a separate reservation is recommended and I intend to do that in the future.
A few weeks before our trip, my wife decided that she wanted to stay in DC for a longer time and to fly back. I called Amtrak, canceled her reservation on the return leg, received a voucher for the cancellation and a new eticket reflecting the change. Our southbound trip went fine.
So the night before my return trip, I logged into my Amtrak account once I was within the 12 hour window before departure. Everything seemed to be fine and my upgrade coupon seemed to have been accepted. However just at or near the last stage, a notice appeared stating that 2 upgrade coupons were required. So the computer appeared to believe that my wife was still traveling with me on the return trip.
I then called an Amtrak agent but they were unable to resolve the problem and were unable to successfully apply my upgrade coupon.
I went to Union Station the next morning an hour so so before departure and tried to have a ticket agent apply the upgrade coupon but she was unable to do so.
I was about to abandon the attempt to use the coupon when I walked by the Customer Service office and decided to go in and talk with them. They took me across the hall to the lounge and after a few minutes the lounge attendant was able to apply the coupon. I didn't really receive much of an explanation of the problem as departure was getting close but I believe the lounge attendant said that it was something to do with reserving the ticket with a senior discount and that I would have to pay $7 to be able to apply the upgrade coupon which I gladly paid.
I am curious what the problem was and how to avoid it in the future. I am not sure that it really was due to the senior discount since the terms of an upgrade coupon state that it "may be combined with corporate, senior, disabled and military discounts." Maybe it really had something to do with using the Saver fare.
Thanks.