# Missed Connections



## pquinn (Feb 27, 2007)

Hello. I have a question about missed connections and what Amtrak's responsibilities are to take care of you if you miss your 2nd train because the 1st one was too late. I'm excited to go on a cross country trip in March from Worcester MA to Seattle WA. I'll be taking the Lake Shore Limited and then the Empire Builder. There is a 4.5 hour layover in Chicago on the way there, and a 4 hour one on the way back. Now I have taken the Lake Shore Limited before and can say that it has never ever arrived in Chicago on time. In my experience it is usually around 2 hours late. After reading some of the posts on this site I started to wonder what would happen if the train was even more late than this - if it was so late that the westbound trains had already left. Would Amtrak have to put me up in a hotel room in Chicago? Does the obligation to provide lodging depend on the type of ticket? Westbound I am going from coach on the Lake Shore to sleeper on the Empire Builder. Eastbound I go from sleeper to coach. Thanks in advance for your replies.


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## AlanB (Feb 27, 2007)

Amtrak is obligated to get you to your destination. That can mean any of the following, busing you to catch up with the EB, giving you a plane ticket, or most likely putting you up in a hotel for the night with a meal allowance and then booking you on the next day's train.

Unfortunately the later could mean that you might loose out on the sleeper, unless there is one still available on that next day's train. If that happens though, where you loose out on the sleeper, then you will get a refund for the amount you paid for the sleeper.

Amtrak's obligation to you is *not* affected by what class of service did you initially travel in, nor what class are you in on the connecting train. If you miss the connection, it doesn't matter what class you are in, it is Amtrak's job to get you where you want to go no matter what.


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## D.P. Roberts (Feb 28, 2007)

AlanB said:


> Amtrak is obligated to get you to your destination. That can mean any of the following, busing you to catch up with the EB, giving you a plane ticket, or most likely putting you up in a hotel for the night with a meal allowance and then booking you on the next day's train.
> Unfortunately the later could mean that you might loose out on the sleeper, unless there is one still available on that next day's train. If that happens though, where you loose out on the sleeper, then you will get a refund for the amount you paid for the sleeper.
> 
> Amtrak's obligation to you is *not* affected by what class of service did you initially travel in, nor what class are you in on the connecting train. If you miss the connection, it doesn't matter what class you are in, it is Amtrak's job to get you where you want to go no matter what.


Okay, here's a twist on the sleeper connection. Let's say you're booked in a roomette when you miss your connection. Amtrak puts you on the train the next day, but there are no roomettes available- only coach and bedrooms. If you take the coach seat, I know Amtrak will refund you for the roomette charge. However, what happens if you take the bedroom- do they keep the charge for the roomette as is? I assume they would charge you for the bedroom- but at its current bucket cost, or the bucket cost at the time you made your original reservation, or the onboard upgrade rate (e.g. lowest bucket), or what?


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2007)

D.P. Roberts said:


> Okay, here's a twist on the sleeper connection. Let's say you're booked in a roomette when you miss your connection. Amtrak puts you on the train the next day, but there are no roomettes available- only coach and bedrooms. If you take the coach seat, I know Amtrak will refund you for the roomette charge. However, what happens if you take the bedroom- do they keep the charge for the roomette as is? I assume they would charge you for the bedroom- but at its current bucket cost, or the bucket cost at the time you made your original reservation, or the onboard upgrade rate (e.g. lowest bucket), or what?


Does that ever happen? Eastern trains are practically always sold out of bedrooms before roomettes, and I would imagine western trains had the same problem, although to a lesser extent due to the better design of superliners.

If somehow they did get in that situation, I would think it was up to the agent you talked to.Most would probably say you had to go coach and upgrade on the train to get the low bucket, or otherwise pay whatever the rate is 18 hours before departure.


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## rmgreenesq (Feb 28, 2007)

Welcome Aboard pguinn from a fellow resident of Central Massachusetts user of the Worcester, MA railway station!

Rick


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## PRR 60 (Feb 28, 2007)

If you have a roomette reservation and get bumped to another train with no roomettes available, Amtrak will first try to accommodate you in any available room, including a bedroom, at no charge to you. The downgrade to coach is the last option. In any event, any accommodation changes resulting from a misconnect will cost you nothing, and if you are downgraded, you will get a refund for the difference in fare.


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## WICT106 (Feb 28, 2007)

D.P. Roberts said:


> Okay, here's a twist on the sleeper connection. Let's say you're booked in a roomette when you miss your connection. Amtrak puts you on the train the next day, but there are no roomettes available- only coach and bedrooms. If you take the coach seat, I know Amtrak will refund you for the roomette charge. However, what happens if you take the bedroom- do they keep the charge for the roomette as is? I assume they would charge you for the bedroom- but at its current bucket cost, or the bucket cost at the time you made your original reservation, or the onboard upgrade rate (e.g. lowest bucket), or what?


What happened in my case last Christmas was that Amtrak put me in a hotel because I missed my connection, then put me in a bedroom the next day on the Capitol (I was going from Minnesota to Florida), even though I had booked a roomette. So, I received an upgrade at no additional charge. That was because of availability of bedrooms, though. The customer service rep who assisted me when I missed my connection made this clear to me in Chicago.


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## Chatter163 (Feb 28, 2007)

For this reason, you may wish to overnight in Chicago, to avoid this scenario.


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## Chang (Jul 11, 2009)

The WB Southwest Chief frequently misses the connection with the NB Coast Starlight in LA, and accommodations on the CS are invariably sold out. Several times I have been at LA Union surrounded by a trainload of angry pax who have misconnected. Plan on an extra day in LA--see adjacent Olivera Street, 'Chinatown', Disney concert hall, MOCA, and you MUST have a meal at Philippe's The Original.


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## Ryan (Jul 11, 2009)

Chatter163 said:


> For this reason, you may wish to overnight in Chicago, to avoid this scenario.


I wouldn't bother with the time and expense.

Checking amtrakdelays.com - for the last month, 49 has been an average of 30 minutes late, has arrived EARLY 9 times, and only been 2 hours late or greater twice (and only if you count the 116 minutes late on 6/29).

I wouldn't worry about the connection.


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## jmbgeg (Jul 12, 2009)

D.P. Roberts said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Amtrak is obligated to get you to your destination. That can mean any of the following, busing you to catch up with the EB, giving you a plane ticket, or most likely putting you up in a hotel for the night with a meal allowance and then booking you on the next day's train.
> ...


If I was in a situation where I knew I was going to misconnect and that there would be no train to my destination until the next day, I would be on my cellular phone to Amtrak to check availability and price of sleeper space before I got to the connection station so that when I got to the ticket counter, I would have requisite knowledge to pursue the best available option. As to whether they would sell you the upgrade from a roomette to a bedroom or family bedroom at prevailing bucket or low bucket, my guess is that there may be some discretion there (I have no foundation for that assumption). If I were an AGR member, especially a Select or Select Plus, I would be arguing for them to make the change at par (bedroom at what you paid for the roomette, or at the least, at low bucket for the upgrade). I would also take into consideration the reason for the delay. You may have more leverage if the delay was a result of something Amtrak controls (e.g. mechanical) as opposed to freight traffic or weather related delays. There again, theory, not practical experience.


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## printman2000 (Jul 12, 2009)

Chang said:


> The WB Southwest Chief frequently misses the connection with the NB Coast Starlight in LA, and accommodations on the CS are invariably sold out. Several times I have been at LA Union surrounded by a trainload of angry pax who have misconnected. Plan on an extra day in LA--see adjacent Olivera Street, 'Chinatown', Disney concert hall, MOCA, and you MUST have a meal at Philippe's The Original.


I would have to disagree with the use of the word "frequently". Looking at the last 4 weeks the SWC only arrived too late for the CS on 4 times and only one maybe 2 of those looks to be so late they would not have held the CS for its arrival.

The SWC is one of the best LD on-time performers.


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## the_traveler (Jul 12, 2009)

Had anyone noticed that most of the current posts are in answer to questions posted over 2 1/2 years ago? :huh: Most times, the connection is made very easily! And if it's not, I've seen them bus pax, such as Barstow to SBA to make the connection.

Every time I've taken it, I have been on time or early, except once - when they did the bus transfer above. Last March, I arrived into LAX over 30 minutes early!


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## Ryan (Jul 12, 2009)

Can't say that I did. 

Stupid zombie threads!


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