# Does Amtrak Have a "Standby" Policy?



## theghan (Apr 8, 2013)

Recently, I had a marvelous trip in roomettes from DEN-CHI-WAS-NYP. When I completed the CL leg of the trip, I noticed that I might be able to catch one of the earlier Regionals to NYP instead of the one on which I was ticketed. A young, uniformed man at WAS Union Station said sure I could get an earlier train; all I had to do was take two rights to the ticket counter and everything would be taken care of. Wrong. I was told it would be an addl. $100+ to take an earlier train. I'm pretty sure this issue has come up before, but I haven't been able to find find out what the Amtrak policy is in this instance. I mean, I had no checked baggage and I would have (presumably) taken up an otherwise unoccupied seat. What I was requesting would be akin, I would think, to jumping on an earlier flight as long as there was not a baggage issue, I was ticketed and there was space available. Is there some rational explanation for why Amtrak cannot manage this? Or, is there just an "Amtrak" explanation?


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## amamba (Apr 8, 2013)

Unfortunately this has long been their policy. You are welcome to change your tickets without a change fee, but you will pay the prevailing price of the train at the time. It seems silly in most all cases that they do this. I long for them to change this policy.


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## AmtrakBlue (Apr 8, 2013)

I had the same problem once and decided to just hang out in the food court (we were tired from walking the mall in DC) till it was time for our train. I expected that to happen, but checked with the ticket agent because it doesn't hurt to ask.


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## BCL (Apr 8, 2013)

I think it might have to do with bucket pricing and fare difference. The highest price I can find for WAS-NYP is this Wed (two different times) for $158. The lowest bucket price seems to be $49 (lots of times) a few weeks ahead. That would seem to be your $100+ fare difference there.

Even airlines are trying to discourage "same day standby". It used to be easy; I've done it. These days the pricing structure is so complex that they want people to pay for the privlege with an additional fee. Getting there late is another matter. With that, the passenger doesn't have the benefit of almost being guaranteed a seat later if standby can't be accomodated.

I'm pretty sure Amtrak wants to prevent people from trying to game their pricing structure. Still - you more than likely could have gotten that earlier train for less.


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## J-1 3235 (Apr 8, 2013)

I was able to change to an earlier departure once in NYP, heading home to BOS, for no extra fare. The ticket should have been more expensive, but the CA agent and Arrow could not work it out, so she priced it at the same fare.

Like Amamba, I wish for a change to this policy. In fact, this may be my most annoying Amtrak issue, because unlike the occasional surly agent, conductor, or attendant, this always peeves me when I wish to take an earlier train.


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## BCL (Apr 8, 2013)

theghan said:


> Recently, I had a marvelous trip in roomettes from DEN-CHI-WAS-NYP. When I completed the CL leg of the trip, I noticed that I might be able to catch one of the earlier Regionals to NYP instead of the one on which I was ticketed. A young, uniformed man at WAS Union Station said sure I could get an earlier train; all I had to do was take two rights to the ticket counter and everything would be taken care of. Wrong. I was told it would be an addl. $100+ to take an earlier train.


I think technically everything could be taken care of. However, "taking care of" means forking over the fare difference. If it were only marginally more, would you have taken the offer?


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2013)

BCL said:


> I think it might have to do with bucket pricing and fare difference. The highest price I can find for WAS-NYP is this Wed (two different times) for $158. The lowest bucket price seems to be $49 (lots of times) a few weeks ahead. That would seem to be your $100+ fare difference there.
> Even airlines are trying to discourage "same day standby". It used to be easy; I've done it. These days the pricing structure is so complex that they want people to pay for the privlege with an additional fee. Getting there late is another matter. With that, the passenger doesn't have the benefit of almost being guaranteed a seat later if standby can't be accomodated.
> 
> I'm pretty sure Amtrak wants to prevent people from trying to game their pricing structure. Still - you more than likely could have gotten that earlier train for less.


If the price was $100+ more, that would indicate that that departure was quite full. While it may be more convenient for a traveler to use their cheap ticket on a full train, it is not in Amtrak's best interest to allow it.

Unlike an airplane where when the flight leaves with an empty seat there is no chance for recovery of that lost revenue, Amtrak can still sell that seat down the line. Upon leaving Washington, there is still potential to sell that seat to NYP for more than the $49 dollar fare that would have taken it had they allowed the stand-by traveler to board.


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## J-1 3235 (Apr 8, 2013)

Amtrak would be just as likely/unlikely to sell the seat now freed up on a later train, whose same-day price will not be $49.

In other words, give your current passenger, whose fare you've had for possibly months, a break.


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## Texan Eagle (Apr 8, 2013)

theghan said:


> Recently, I had a marvelous trip in roomettes from DEN-CHI-WAS-NYP. When I completed the CL leg of the trip, I noticed that I might be able to catch one of the earlier Regionals to NYP instead of the one on which I was ticketed. A young, uniformed man at WAS Union Station said sure I could get an earlier train; all I had to do was take two rights to the ticket counter and everything would be taken care of. Wrong. I was told it would be an addl. $100+ to take an earlier train. I'm pretty sure this issue has come up before, but I haven't been able to find find out what the Amtrak policy is in this instance. I mean, I had no checked baggage and I would have (presumably) taken up an otherwise unoccupied seat. What I was requesting would be akin, I would think, to jumping on an earlier flight as long as there was not a baggage issue, I was ticketed and there was space available. Is there some rational explanation for why Amtrak cannot manage this? Or, is there just an "Amtrak" explanation?


I believe airlines do the same thing too, at least for the unprivileged masses (aka not holding frequent flier elite status or refundable or First Class tickets). On more than one occasion I have reached the airport very early and asked if I can be moved to an earlier flight that has empty seats. I was told I could do that *but I have to pay a change fee*. I declined on each occasion. I might as well sit two hours in the airport than pay out $100-$150 asked to move to an earlier flight with an empty seat.


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## battalion51 (Apr 8, 2013)

As stated in earlier posts, when there is a perishable product involved (airline tickets, train tickets, hotel rooms) that product is worth different amounts at different times based on demand and market dynamics. One could be holding a ticket for 67 from Boston to New York and that is in no way comparable to a ticket on 171 earlier in the day/the next morning. So even though the distance covered may be comparable, you received the price for your ticket based on the dynamics in play for your ticketed train at the time of purchase.


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## BCL (Apr 8, 2013)

Texan Eagle said:


> theghan said:
> 
> 
> > Recently, I had a marvelous trip in roomettes from DEN-CHI-WAS-NYP. When I completed the CL leg of the trip, I noticed that I might be able to catch one of the earlier Regionals to NYP instead of the one on which I was ticketed. A young, uniformed man at WAS Union Station said sure I could get an earlier train; all I had to do was take two rights to the ticket counter and everything would be taken care of. Wrong. I was told it would be an addl. $100+ to take an earlier train. I'm pretty sure this issue has come up before, but I haven't been able to find find out what the Amtrak policy is in this instance. I mean, I had no checked baggage and I would have (presumably) taken up an otherwise unoccupied seat. What I was requesting would be akin, I would think, to jumping on an earlier flight as long as there was not a baggage issue, I was ticketed and there was space available. Is there some rational explanation for why Amtrak cannot manage this? Or, is there just an "Amtrak" explanation?
> ...


Depends on the airline. Southwest does that for "anytime" and "business select" fares. If you booked a discount fare you get hit with a fee. Alaska Airlines will do it without a fee if the flight is to/from Seattle or Portland. I believe those are their two main hubs.


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## amamba (Apr 8, 2013)

As another data point, I recently flew US Airways and wanted to switch to an earlier flight at the airport. I was told there was a $75 "same day move up fee." I asked if I could do standby and she told me they no longer did stand by. I don't know if that is truly the case or just what she was telling me, but I was able to sweet talk her into switching my ticket for free. Catch more flies with honey, eh?


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## PRR 60 (Apr 8, 2013)

amamba said:


> As another data point, I recently flew US Airways and wanted to switch to an earlier flight at the airport. I was told there was a $75 "same day move up fee." I asked if I could do standby and she told me they no longer did stand by. I don't know if that is truly the case or just what she was telling me, but I was able to sweet talk her into switching my ticket for free. Catch more flies with honey, eh?


Yes, that is the US policy. Fee is waived for Dividend Miles elite members. Allowing same-day changes with no change of fare for AGR Select and higher would be a nice perk.


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## BCL (Apr 8, 2013)

amamba said:


> As another data point, I recently flew US Airways and wanted to switch to an earlier flight at the airport. I was told there was a $75 "same day move up fee." I asked if I could do standby and she told me they no longer did stand by. I don't know if that is truly the case or just what she was telling me, but I was able to sweet talk her into switching my ticket for free. Catch more flies with honey, eh?


The reason why they do it is that now they can usually get people to pay for the privilege. People now pay for checked luggage. My wife actually tries to get me to slip hotel desk clerks a $20 to see if I can get a better room, but I feel silly trying. Strangely enough, I got upgraded the last time anyways without any kind of prompting.

OTOH - if you can't really lose a ticket any more. Before, tickets had a value. Now they're just containers for a confirmation code or ticket number that are supposed to be verified against a photo ID. Same goes for Amtrak tickets although I've yet to be asked for an ID on board a train. I have been asked for an ID when canceling a ticket and even yesterday when I asked if I could have my eTicket printed at a ticket window.

BTW - I've noticed that all the eTickets printed by a ticket agent have a 1D barcode representing the ticket number. QT eTickets contain a PDF417 code representing the res# and reservation date. The 10-rides I have use a 1D barcode regardless of where they're printed.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 8, 2013)

I've taken "earlier" Trains on Reserved Trains several times since e-ticketing began and in every case was able to have the Agent Rebook me by "Modifying" my Rez, not Cancelling or Changine it! The result has been no Increase in the Fare and of course no Price Gouging, er "Change fees" like so many Airlines!

And I'm not opposed to Amtrak Increasing their Revenue, just don't want them to start copying Airlines with their Ever Expanding " Money Grabs", er Fees from their Customers! (How about Pay Toilets and Drinking Water for Sale like Spirit Airlines tried to Float???  ) Frequent Riders, ie AGR Members, Should be able to Change Tickets without Paying more IF Space is Available, especially on Routes with Frequent Trains like the NEC and the Special Routes!


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## VentureForth (Apr 9, 2013)

The difference here (fundamentally) between the airlines (except Southwest) and Amtrak is that you don't always know the dynamics of what is going to happen down the line at other stations. As mentioned before, the booking algorythms for train travel is much more difficult than for airlines. The goal is to maximize revenue not just between endpoints but any combination of city pairs in between.

Amamba - to Jim's point, how would changing to an earlier/later train be different than shortening a segment by one station? If Jim says this can happen between different trains without a fee, then I imagine the same thing can be applied to truncating a route.

An airline is out to gouge every penny possible. And who can blame them? Since deregulation, competition has been fierce. Airlines operate at a loss for the most part, just like Amtrak does. Avoiding the requisite political subsidy debate... It really would benefit an airline to allow a passenger to board a plane that leaves earlier without fee if seats are available. Time generally takes order and denegrates it to chaos. In other words, by the end of the day, you're probably trying to handle more passengers that had missed connections, delays, reroutes, etc. If a person on a later flight could take an earlier flight, then it would open those seats up for unforeseen circumstances.

But it's a revenue generator. More people are willing to pay BIG $$ for their elite statuses that allow them that priviledge and for the peon who wants to do it occasionally, it lets them or prices them out - their choice. Amtrak could possibly benefit from such additional priviledges for members of Select and/or Select +.


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