# AGR & Handwritten Tickets



## transit54 (Jun 6, 2009)

Yesterday I boarded Amtrak's Vermonter in at an unstaffed station with no Quiktrack with four friends. As is standard procedure the conductor handwrote us a ticket using the reservation number and boarding pass number provided to me by the Amtrak agent on the phone. When I made the reservation, I included my AGR number with the reservation. Does anyone know if my points will automatically post or do I need to do something with the receipt the conductor gave me?

Also, two of my friends have AGR accounts but their numbers were not listed at the time of purchase. Given that we all were on the same ticket, can they get AGR points for this ride?


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## Upstate (Jun 6, 2009)

HAHAHAHA! Welcome to handwritten ticket hell! No, your points are not going to post automatically. You will have to snail mail in copies of the receipts. Then you have to wait for at least a month to post and if they actually get posted after you mail them in the first time you will then have to contact AGR to manually get any promotions or bonus points posted as well.

As far as who gets the points, did he only give you one receipt with one persons name on it for the whole group?


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## transit54 (Jun 6, 2009)

Upstate said:


> HAHAHAHA! Welcome to handwritten ticket hell! No, your points are not going to post automatically. You will have to snail mail in copies of the receipts. Then you have to wait for at least a month to post and if they actually get posted after you mail them in the first time you will then have to contact AGR to manually get any promotions or bonus points posted as well.
> As far as who gets the points, did he only give you one receipt with one persons name on it for the whole group?


Yes, he did, because I put it all on my card to make things simple. He punched the ticket/receipt showing 5 people though.

I was afraid I would run into this which is why I will do almost anything to avoid traveling without printed tickets. However, my friends have an inability to plan anything in advance, which made this unavoidable.


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## AlanB (Jun 6, 2009)

AGR should be able to deal with getting you your points. However, between the combined ticket and the failure to even provide the other AGR numbers at teh time of purchase, you may have an uphill battle on that one.

I'm not sure that it will help in this case, but I would quickly call up Amtrak (not AGR), and get your friend's AGR numbers added to the records while it can still be done. It might help in the long run. Don't mention to the agent that you have a hand cut ticket, just tell him/her that you failed to provide those numbers and want to get them into the record so that they'll get the points. This trick actually does work with regular tickets if you call before the ticket gets scanned.


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## transit54 (Jun 6, 2009)

AlanB said:


> AGR should be able to deal with getting you your points. However, between the combined ticket and the failure to even provide the other AGR numbers at teh time of purchase, you may have an uphill battle on that one.
> I'm not sure that it will help in this case, but I would quickly call up Amtrak (not AGR), and get your friend's AGR numbers added to the records while it can still be done. It might help in the long run. Don't mention to the agent that you have a hand cut ticket, just tell him/her that you failed to provide those numbers and want to get them into the record so that they'll get the points. This trick actually does work with regular tickets if you call before the ticket gets scanned.


Thanks for the advice. Everyone else has already sort of resigned themselves to not getting their points, so I may not even pursue that angle of it. I'm mostly concerned about getting my points, as well as the bonus points for the recent summer promotion.


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## transit54 (Jun 6, 2009)

AlanB said:


> AGR should be able to deal with getting you your points. However, between the combined ticket and the failure to even provide the other AGR numbers at teh time of purchase, you may have an uphill battle on that one.


Alan, I assume you mean that I should mail in my ticket, as Upstate suggested and AGR will handle it? Not that the points will automatically post?


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## AlanB (Jun 6, 2009)

rnizlek said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > AGR should be able to deal with getting you your points. However, between the combined ticket and the failure to even provide the other AGR numbers at teh time of purchase, you may have an uphill battle on that one.
> ...


Definitely *do not* mail in your ticket. If they loose it, something that has happened far too frequently, then you have no proof anymore of your trip. Mail a copy of the ticket only.

And while I do agree with Upstate that it is unlikely that it will post automatically, you still have to wait the normal three weeks before you mail anything in. If you mail it before that, they won't even look at it. You may also wish to try calling first. Get the right agent and they can handle it for you over the phone.

Keep us posted on things and good luck!


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## MrFSS (Jun 6, 2009)

I had a printed ticket with my AGR number on it but upgraded to a bigger bedroom on board. That generated a conductor issued ticket. Will I get the credit for the additional $'s spent or will I have to mail in a copy at some point, too?


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## AlanB (Jun 6, 2009)

More than likely you'll have to mail in a copy of your ticket Tom. Most likely you'll just get credit for the room you originally booked, via the normal automatic AGR process. You'll have to pursue the extra points for the upgraded room.


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## Upstate (Jun 6, 2009)

rnizlek said:


> Upstate said:
> 
> 
> > HAHAHAHA! Welcome to handwritten ticket hell! No, your points are not going to post automatically. You will have to snail mail in copies of the receipts. Then you have to wait for at least a month to post and if they actually get posted after you mail them in the first time you will then have to contact AGR to manually get any promotions or bonus points posted as well.
> ...


So you have to wonder if the AGR folks can decipher the receipt and know that five people rode under that one ticket. From the stories that I have read here and my personal troubles with them I don't think they would be trained/competent enough to figure it out. They may end up giving you the points for the entire amount.


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## the_traveler (Jun 8, 2009)

Upstate said:


> rnizlek said:
> 
> 
> > Upstate said:
> ...


If so, I hope the total of all tickets was more than $50!  Otherwise, if the total was say $48, then you would only still receive 100 AGR points!  However, if *EACH* was $48, it would make a difference!


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## saxman (Jun 9, 2009)

I have the same situation. I had to buy a ticket on board but when I made the reservation with Amtrak, I told them my AGR number. The agent told me to just call them up and give AGR my ticket number. I did that, and she just asked for my reservation number. Needless to say, nothing has happened on that. I guess I too will have to mail a copy of my receipt in. I'm sure my reservation number has been emptied out anyway.


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## transit54 (Jul 31, 2009)

Just as an update to the situation, I faxed in my ticket about two weeks ago with a letter to AGR, requesting the rail points and the bonus points. The rail points posted today as:

07/27/2009 Adjustment Onboard Ticket 2009 100

I'm betting that the bonus points won't show up, for two reasons - 1) The entry shows "Adjustment" not "Amtrak Travel" and 2) The date of travel is not listed. If they don't show up in two weeks, I'll have to follow up with AGR.


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## transit54 (Aug 25, 2009)

Just one final update - I called AGR last week and complained that I hadn't gotten the summer bonus points. They posted on the 19th, a few days after the call. So finally, about three months later, I have all the points I'm entitled to...


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## Shawn (Aug 26, 2009)

All I will say is GOOD LUCK. I have 3 paper tickets and have fax'd them all, twice. And still haven't seen the points...grrr.


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## Dovecote (Aug 27, 2009)

Shawn said:


> All I will say is GOOD LUCK. I have 3 paper tickets and have fax'd them all, twice. And still haven't seen the points...grrr.


My experience with paper tickets has been hit and miss. Overall I have been lucky. On one trying occasion, after faxing twice and calling numerous times to AGR for my missing 100 points, I worked out a deal with a compassionate AGR representative. In this situation, I asked for 100 "goodwill points" with the understanding that I would not make any additional missing point requests for the trip in question. I promptly received the goodwill points and was a happy camper.


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