# upgrade coupons - going to attempt for Friday travel



## amamba (May 3, 2010)

So, how lucky have you all generally been with the 48 hour upgrade coupons? I am keeping my fingers crossed because I am going to try for an upgrade on Friday and am literally making myself anxious/nervous about it! I just want that upgrade so bad and am hoping its not sold out. Have you ever tried to use one and NOT been able to?

EDIT: I am trying for a southbound acela BOS-PHL


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## AG1 (May 3, 2010)

amamba said:


> So, how lucky have you all generally been with the 48 hour upgrade coupons? I am keeping my fingers crossed because I am going to try for an upgrade on Friday and am literally making myself anxious/nervous about it! I just want that upgrade so bad and am hoping its not sold out. Have you ever tried to use one and NOT been able to?EDIT: I am trying for a southbound acela BOS-PHL


I have never failed to upgrade on the 48 Hr coupon,RTE(Rt 128)to NYP, usually one day in advance.I have missed a couple one hour coupon upgrades at the station, however.Make sure to call within the 48 hour window to upgrade your phone reservation.


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## amamba (May 3, 2010)

You can call? For some reason I thought I had to stop by the ticket window at the station. Can someone confirm that you can do the upgrade by calling? I live about 0.3 miles from the train station and work less than one mile away so its not that big of a deal to swing by, but parking is iffy around there and if I'm coming from work I'll be driving.


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## AlanB (May 3, 2010)

You can indeed call, however it is easier if you can go to the station to do it. At the station all the agent has to do is print out your ticket for the current BC reservation, have you sign it, and then process the upgrade coupon and trade the BC ticket along with the coupon for the FC ticket.

If you call, assuming that you've already booked the BC seat, then the agent has to credit your credit card back for the BC fare. Then they reserve the FC seat for you. Now when you get to the station, the agent will recharge your credit card for the BC price and then issue the FC ticket. This is not only a time consuming process, but many phone agents don't know how to do it which can further add to the time required to process things. And on occasion, phone agents have screwed things up too. So if you try the phone method, be sure to verify the price with the agent before they start doing any work, and then reconfirm the price when they are done. The computer wants to automatically reprice things to the current bucket level and some agents don't know that they must override things.

Regardless of which method I use, phone or in person, I always carry my printed reservation with me to the station when I go to pick up the tickets as that is the only proof one has should things get repriced accidentally. Once the computer reprices things, the agent cannot go back and see what the old price is. That's why I make sure to point out the price to the phone agent before letting them start to work on things.

Even then I have had occasions where things weren't right when I went to pick up the tickets and had to pull out my printed res to prove what I was supposed to be charged.


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## AG1 (May 4, 2010)

amamba said:


> You can call? For some reason I thought I had to stop by the ticket window at the station. Can someone confirm that you can do the upgrade by calling? I live about 0.3 miles from the train station and work less than one mile away so its not that big of a deal to swing by, but parking is iffy around there and if I'm coming from work I'll be driving.


The phone method has always worked for me on the 48 hr coupons over the last three years.I live 42 miles from the nearest station so phoning saves me two hours of travel and gas.Since you are near a station, you can accomplish the upgrade expeditiously.


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## amamba (May 4, 2010)

Thank you so much for all of the advice! I will indeed physically print out my reservation (which clearly shows the price I paid - although probably 4/5 in terms of the expensiveness of the bucket - which means that I paid pretty high bucket for the tickets) and try to accomplish the upgrade in person - exactly 48 hours prior to my train's departure


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## Dovecote (May 7, 2010)

AlanB said:


> You can indeed call, however it is easier if you can go to the station to do it. At the station all the agent has to do is print out your ticket for the current BC reservation, have you sign it, and then process the upgrade coupon and trade the BC ticket along with the coupon for the FC ticket.
> If you call, assuming that you've already booked the BC seat, then the agent has to credit your credit card back for the BC fare. Then they reserve the FC seat for you. Now when you get to the station, the agent will recharge your credit card for the BC price and then issue the FC ticket. This is not only a time consuming process, but many phone agents don't know how to do it which can further add to the time required to process things. And on occasion, phone agents have screwed things up too. So if you try the phone method, be sure to verify the price with the agent before they start doing any work, and then reconfirm the price when they are done. The computer wants to automatically reprice things to the current bucket level and some agents don't know that they must override things.
> 
> Regardless of which method I use, phone or in person, I always carry my printed reservation with me to the station when I go to pick up the tickets as that is the only proof one has should things get repriced accidentally. Once the computer reprices things, the agent cannot go back and see what the old price is. That's why I make sure to point out the price to the phone agent before letting them start to work on things.
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Alan, I will attempt upgrading to Acela FC tickets as well this coming Tuesday for my wife and myself. In my case, I already have the two tickets. The cost of the tickets were purchased partially with an Amtrak transportation voucher. Will this complicate the process when requesting the upgrade with a phone or ticket agent?


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## AlanB (May 7, 2010)

Dovecote said:


> AlanB said:
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> > You can indeed call, however it is easier if you can go to the station to do it. At the station all the agent has to do is print out your ticket for the current BC reservation, have you sign it, and then process the upgrade coupon and trade the BC ticket along with the coupon for the FC ticket.
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An agent will have no problems, at least so long as you didn't use any discounts when you brought the tickets. And if you're doing it on the same day of travel and leaving from a station with a Club Acela Lounge, just head into the lounge and have the agent there do the upgrade.

Trying to do it by phone I believe will be impossible. Not only are you already holding the tickets which really complicates things, you've used a vocher which means that they can't even credit your credit card back for the purchase.

While he didn't have a voucher in play, Chris (diesteldorf) tried an upgrade by phone while already holding the tickets. The agent totally screwed Chris up leaving him with a First Class seat that he would have to pay about $130 for. When we got to Portland that morning on the Downeaster, even though the Amtrak agent there had never seen one of the upgrade coupons, I helped her to correct things for Chris and get him his free upgrade instead of the mess the phone agent had left for him.


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## amamba (May 7, 2010)

Got my upgrade. Thanks for the help, Alan.


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## Dovecote (May 7, 2010)

AlanB said:


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Thanks Alan for your thoughts and suggestions. I will go inside the NYP Club Acela on the departure day and give it a try. Hope the results will be the same as Amamba.


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## AlanB (May 7, 2010)

Dovecote said:


> Thanks Alan for your thoughts and suggestions. I will go inside the NYP Club Acela on the departure day and give it a try. Hope the results will be the same as Amamba.


When do you get to NY? You don't have to say publicly if you don't wish to, but if you get into NY prior to Tuesday, you can visit the station as early as Sunday to do the upgrade. This will up the odds that you'll be successful in the upgrade. Still a good chance you'll be ok on Tuesday, but trying to do it Sunday or Monday will definately up the odds in your favor.


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## Dovecote (May 7, 2010)

AlanB said:


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> > Thanks Alan for your thoughts and suggestions. I will go inside the NYP Club Acela on the departure day and give it a try. Hope the results will be the same as Amamba.
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I am currently in the NYC suburbs near the Queens/Nassau border spending time with my mother for Mother's Day. I will certainly get on Mom's bad side if I go into NYP on Sunday to try to upgrade but will keep Monday in mind for that attempt. Would you still recommend trying to upgrade with the attendant in Club Acela or would going to the ticket counter attendant be a better alternative since I will not be traveling on that day?


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## amamba (May 7, 2010)

Dovecote said:


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You don't necessarily have to go to NYP to process the upgrade. You can go to ANY staffed amtrak station and they will do it. Not sure if there are any in the NYC suburbs but thought I would throw it out there in case its easier for you.


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## Dovecote (May 7, 2010)

amamba said:


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Thanks for the suggestion but NYP is the nearest staffed Amtrak station for me while staying with family in the NYC area.


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## AlanB (May 7, 2010)

Dovecote said:


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Officially you have to have a same day ticket to go into the Club Acela, unless of course you happen to have a Select Plus card. However, it is possible that the agent may not even notice the data of your trip and just process it anyhow. I did that last October and the agent told me that the train was leaving from gate #9 and that First Class was on the rear. I responded "Boy, you're really good. You already know what track my train will be on 2 days from now." :lol: At which point he really looked at the tickets and realized that he had just assumed that I was traveling that day. Mind you, he's an agent that I see frequently so he knew that I was kidding with him.

Frankly I would suggest just going to the ticket windows though, as if they do notice the travel date, then they won't do the upgrade for you in the lounge. Note that in NYP during the busier hours, that they maintain a special ticket line for those riding Acela. You can use that line and avoid the typically longer line for all other trains if it's open.


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## AlanB (May 7, 2010)

Dovecote said:


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Yup, there are no Amtrak ticket offices within NYC, save for Penn Station.


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## Dovecote (May 7, 2010)

AlanB said:


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Thanks again for all your assistance.


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## Dovecote (May 10, 2010)

AlanB said:


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Got my upgrades late morning Monday at NYP. It could not have been any easier. Just presented the tickets and the two coupons and promptly was handed the FC tickets. Looking forwarded to a nice lunch and a few drinks on way to WAS.


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## AlanB (May 10, 2010)

Dovecote said:


> Got my upgrades late morning Monday at NYP. It could not have been any easier. Just presented the tickets and the two coupons and promptly was handed the FC tickets. Looking forwarded to a nice lunch and a few drinks on way to WAS.


Glad to hear that Dovecote. That's as it should be, and if one gets the right agent it is that easy when in person. Over the phone is always more of a hit or miss operation.

Did you try the lounge or the special line?


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## Dovecote (May 10, 2010)

AlanB said:


> Dovecote said:
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> > Got my upgrades late morning Monday at NYP. It could not have been any easier. Just presented the tickets and the two coupons and promptly was handed the FC tickets. Looking forwarded to a nice lunch and a few drinks on way to WAS.
> ...


I did the transaction at the ticket counter for Acela Express passengers. Thanks again Alan for your suggestions.


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## Dovecote (May 12, 2010)

One final note on the trip. Had the opportunity to meet and talk to fellow passengers U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. Both gentlemen were gracious individuals and we had some interesting discussions. It was an extra bonus to this pleasnt trip.


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## amamba (May 13, 2010)

That does sound like a great trip! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I loved, loved my 1st class acela trip and I think I am now spoiled for life....


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