# Amtrak changes website look



## jmbgeg (Oct 25, 2009)

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServe...Amtrak/HomePage


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## Everydaymatters (Oct 25, 2009)

I just saw it and it's impressive. I like it, but I think it has some problems that need to be worked out.

When putting in a round trip ticket, you can view the availability of the departure, but it doesn't let you click on the return trip.

There might be other problems as well.

Otherwise, it's a lot nicer than the old one.


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## Neil_M (Oct 25, 2009)

Everydaymatters said:


> I just saw it and it's impressive. I like it, but I think it has some problems that need to be worked out.
> When putting in a round trip ticket, you can view the availability of the departure, but it doesn't let you click on the return trip.


Playing around with it now you have to select your outward journey option then add it to your cart before it offers a return journey option.

Certainly seems a bit more user friendly than the horrible effort that went before.


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## lyke99 (Oct 25, 2009)

Looks good. I wish the reservation application could offer "flexible dates" or "+/- 1-3 days" options, though.


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## jim55 (Oct 25, 2009)

The new website does look nice however it did not recognize my password when I tried to log in. I clicked "forgot password" and it sent me the password that it would not recognize. I called, they sent me to an internet rep who had me fill out a profile rest request. Jiml they fixed it, it works now.


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## MrEd (Oct 25, 2009)

I was able to login and purchase tickets, the new option for room selection is nice. It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.


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## acelafan (Oct 25, 2009)

Very nice, they will get the bugs worked out. I really like how you can enter a departure station and it suggests the full name automatically...similar to the way orbitz and other travel websites work.


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## Rafi (Oct 25, 2009)

Have to agree, the new site looks great. There are bugs, which weren't unexpected from what I've heard, but those will be worked out. Rumor is the multi-day low fare finder is in the pipeline and had to be held back from this release at the last moment due to server load issues. All in all, a much needed update when compared against the competition.

Rafi


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## dart330 (Oct 25, 2009)

lyke99 said:


> Looks good. I wish the reservation application could offer "flexible dates" or "+/- 1-3 days" options, though.


They really need to add this feature, you still have to select individual dates to try and find the cheapest price for a week.


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## Trogdor (Oct 25, 2009)

One little pet peeve of mine still exists, which is really more a reservations system issue than a website issue (thought the new website makes it a bit more obvious than the old one, when there was even some debate on this list about whether those reporting the issue were just misreading things).

To demonstrate, on the reservations page, pick CHI-DET on December 20, 2009.

The first one that shows up is train 350 for $41. Select the option for "1 business class seat" (Add $12.00). The fare changes to $53. Click "Add to cart" and the fare becomes $75.

To their credit, at least they put "Estimated" next to the fare, and clicking on that brings up a disclaimer saying that the base fare may change ("In *most* cases the fare will be lower"). Still, business class pricing is one case where the rail fare can go up when adding an accommodation.


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## acelafan (Oct 25, 2009)

dart330 said:


> lyke99 said:
> 
> 
> > Looks good. I wish the reservation application could offer "flexible dates" or "+/- 1-3 days" options, though.
> ...


I am sure they will; I work in web design and you don't want to roll out too much at once especially with an overhaul like this. Better to do incremental changes and improvements to avoid any meltdowns. But you are right...that feature should be a high priority and I think it would help those who don't use Amtrak frequently realize the price can be competitive if you adjust your dates by a few days.

I noticed how you can sort possible itineraries by duration time now. I am sure that will be a big hit with some folks on here...the_traveler comes to mind!


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## wayman (Oct 25, 2009)

acelafan said:


> I noticed how you can sort possible itineraries by duration time now. I am sure that will be a big hit with some folks on here...the_traveler comes to mind!


That depends ... do they allow you to reverse-sort, so the longest itinerary is at the top of the list? :lol:


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## DET63 (Oct 25, 2009)

I liked the old way where you could check train status without having to click on a tab to get to it. Still, the tab-click step is easy to find and do.


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## acelafan (Oct 25, 2009)

wayman said:


> acelafan said:
> 
> 
> > I noticed how you can sort possible itineraries by duration time now. I am sure that will be a big hit with some folks on here...the_traveler comes to mind!
> ...


LOL Good point - you have to click to get to the last page if there are many trains. But still, if there's a will there's a way!


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## BigBlueBuddha (Oct 25, 2009)

MrEd said:


> . . .It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.


I can't seem to find this, where do you see it?

Also, I can't find a "Save Trip" option anymore, anyone see it?


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2009)

acelafan said:


> wayman said:
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> > acelafan said:
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I would like to be able to make all my reservations at once and then put them in my cart and check out ONCE - not have to enter my credit card #, confirm email address, etc. all that each time for every reservation. I make weekly reservations 2 months out at a time, so this would make it much better!


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## Trogdor (Oct 25, 2009)

Guest said:


> I would like to be able to make all my reservations at once and then put them in my cart and check out ONCE - not have to enter my credit card #, confirm email address, etc. all that each time for every reservation. I make weekly reservations 2 months out at a time, so this would make it much better!


That's a good point. The "cart" doesn't work like the shopping cart at a typical online store. You can't add a trip, go back, shop for more trips, and reserve them all at once. Each trip still has to be its own separate booking.


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## Steve4031 (Oct 25, 2009)

It works on my Iphone!!! Nice. I only did a one way test reservation. But it was much easier than the mobile website that was used before. Note that if you have the old website as a favorite on your iphone, that will still show up if you use that favorite. You have to create a new favorite.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Oct 25, 2009)

This is great! Some things are a little weird. Looking at reservations is so much easier and that tripfollio is neat! So far so good.


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## darien-l (Oct 25, 2009)

One of the itineraries the new website offered me from Denver to Emeryville:







Clearly, there are still some bugs that need to be worked out.


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## MrFSS (Oct 25, 2009)

darien-l said:


> One of the itineraries the new website offered me from Denver to Emeryville:
> 
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> 
> ...


I think someone had that same itinerary with the old web site.

Its for the bus lovers. :lol:


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## ALC Rail Writer (Oct 25, 2009)

darien-l said:


> One of the itineraries the new website offered me from Denver to Emeryville:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That was there before.


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 25, 2009)

darien-l said:


> One of the itineraries the new website offered me from Denver to Emeryville:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That was me who had this happen some time ago.


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## ColdRain&Snow (Oct 25, 2009)

MrEd said:


> I was able to login and purchase tickets, the new option for room selection is nice. It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.


When you mention the new option for room selection above, do you mean that we can choose the actual roomette/bedroom number we want? Does it allow you to choose the car # too? Thanks!


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## National Limited (Oct 25, 2009)

Anyone know if there is a plan to allow a user to book a specific room in a sleeper? It would certainly be nice to be able to select the room you wish rather than take what they give you.


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## BeckysBarn (Oct 25, 2009)

MrEd said:


> I was able to login and purchase tickets, the new option for room selection is nice. It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.


I don't see where it shows how many rooms are left. Is this different than the old site?

I've noticed that somethings don't work in FireFox 3.x. For example, clicking on the room details (on the schedule) does nothing in FireFox, but when I try it in Internet Explorer, it gives the dimensions, etc.


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## leemell (Oct 25, 2009)

BeckysBarn said:


> MrEd said:
> 
> 
> > I was able to login and purchase tickets, the new option for room selection is nice. It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.
> ...


Open the site in an IE tab. It is available as an add on to Firefox.


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## PaulM (Oct 25, 2009)

Four pet peeves with old system:

1. Reservation page was not "sticky", i.e., if you wanted to try another date because your first choice was too expensive, it didn't remember that you wanted a roomette or that you had selected Senior for both travelers (it did remember you entered two travelers). In general, a lot of work was required to vary the day of travel.

2. Would not show all existing reservations. I never understood why the source of a reservation (internet, phone agent, station agent, quicktrak, AGR, ...) made a difference when it comes to displaying them. Same goes for changes made to a reservation. They all have to be stored in the same database. I can't picture the database command: "SELECT blah, blah, blah FROM RESERVATIONS WHERE TYPE = INTERNET AND CHANGE = NO AND ....

3. Could not make a realistic, non-NEC AGR reservation. I.e., couldn't change trains nor book a sleeper.

4. Results of a reservation search seemed to be random. It has been explained that this was due to the fact that only the first N (N being random) results appeared; and the route you may have wanted had been sent to the bit bucket.

New System:

1. No change. I thought now that you enter sleeping accommodations into a cart, it might remember; but no.

2. The MY ACCOUNT - TRAVEL HISTORY shows two of my paid reservations, doesn't show two of my paid reservations, doesn't show two of my AGR reservations, shows one of my canceled reservations as canceled (with a cancellation number), and shows another canceled reservations not canceled. When I click VIEW/EDIT for the latter, I get [Error ID: 522S] (can't cancel because it's already canceled). NOT an improvement.

3. No change.

4. This one seems to have been PARTIALLY fixed. E.g., CHI - SLO gave me what I wanted, namely EB & CS, even though it was way down the list of options, below multiple bus options. However, for GBB - SLO, it won't give me IZ, EB, CS, which arrives before several of the bus itineraries that do show up.

One-half out of four is not good. How much did Amtrak pay for what amounts to eye candy? I never complained about the look of the website, only the substance.


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## MrFSS (Oct 25, 2009)

You have to ask, too, did they even bother to ask for customer ideas and input on what was wrong, what needed to be fixed, added, changed, etc?

Its as if the using public didn't have anything to say about the process at all.


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## GoldenSpike (Oct 25, 2009)

One nice feature, for example:

Did a test rezzie DEN - MSP.

As in the past it brings up all three segments. But now you can can hit all three *'BUY ROOMS' *tabs and see the availability of all accomodations at once - not like in the past where one had to wade thru each segment.

This speeds up moving to another date if one segment is sold out.


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## profwebs (Oct 25, 2009)

leemell said:


> BeckysBarn said:
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> > MrEd said:
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Works fine with Firefox 3.5.3 here... No IE tab needed..


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## MattW (Oct 25, 2009)

One thing that irritates me is when you enter a station code or name in the departure box, unless you wait a moment, you'll end up clicking on the "suggested name" list instead of the arrival box.

Also, it doesn't seem to be handling complex trips that well. For instance I did ATL-NOR and on the old system, depending on my departure it would give me Crescent-SL-TE-HF, but now unless I do a multi-city, it wants to bring me through Chicago.


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 25, 2009)

BeckysBarn said:


> MrEd said:
> 
> 
> > I was able to login and purchase tickets, the new option for room selection is nice. It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.
> ...


Works with my Firefox 3.5.


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## BeckysBarn (Oct 25, 2009)

> Works with my Firefox 3.5.


Must've been a hiccup - it's working for me now.


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## the_traveler (Oct 25, 2009)

acelafan said:


> wayman said:
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> > acelafan said:
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Or even a Dave!


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## the_traveler (Oct 25, 2009)

I thought we were supposed to see all the choices - even obscure ones  for you know who? I did a test booking for KIN-PDX in January.

When I left the time as "anytime", I get just 2 choices:


KIN-BBY-ALB-CHI-PDX (on 27)

KIN-NYP-CHI-PDX (on the LSL and 27)


Before, I also got a choice of going via SEA on #7 and coming down on a Cascades.

When I change to "afternoon", I get the above 2 choices plus:


KIN-WAS-CHI-LAX-PDX (via the Cardinal, SWC and CS  )

KIN-WAS-CHI-SAC-PDX (via the Cardinal, CZ and CS  )


However, at no time did I get a choice that included the CL!


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## The Metropolitan (Oct 25, 2009)

National Limited said:


> Anyone know if there is a plan to allow a user to book a specific room in a sleeper? It would certainly be nice to be able to select the room you wish rather than take what they give you.


I'm not so sure I agree, as it would probably reduce availablilty and potentially increase prices.

Lets use the SWC as an example. Let's say 2 roomettes are left: 7 and 8.

Passenger A comes along and books a trip from LA to Flagstaff and chooses roomette 7.

Passenger B then comes along and books a trip from Albuquerque to Chicago and chooses roomette 8.

Now when Passenger C comes along and tries to book a trip from LA all the way to Chicago, they are told that there is no availability of accomodations for that trip as a result even though there is unused roomette space across the entire length of the line.

The current system to use (and re-use wherever possible) the next available space works well in that regard. The only customers who could realistically choose their accomodation space without disrupting availability would be those travelling the full route or nearly so, since the space does not have the chance for reuse on that trip.


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## Kramerica (Oct 26, 2009)

The Metropolitan said:


> National Limited said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone know if there is a plan to allow a user to book a specific room in a sleeper? It would certainly be nice to be able to select the room you wish rather than take what they give you.
> ...


Surely the reservation system can be made smart enough so when your passenger B comes along, the website only gives roomette 7 as a choice. An algorithm should be able to decide when to give room choices to the customer. Obviously a full-route passenger would get the choice of all available roomettes. But a partial-route passenger would only get the choice of all roomettes if there are no other partial-route roomettes available.


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## rrdude (Oct 26, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> You have to ask, too, did they even bother to ask for customer ideas and input on what was wrong, what needed to be fixed, added, changed, etc?
> Its as if the using public didn't have anything to say about the process at all.


I HIGHLY doubt that. It is inconceivable that they would spend ANY effort, time, or $$$ without a GREAT deal of passenger input, either direct (surveys, focus groups, etc.) or indirect (customer suggestions, complaints)


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## Trogdor (Oct 26, 2009)

Kramerica said:


> Surely the reservation system can be made smart enough so when your passenger B comes along, the website only gives roomette 7 as a choice. An algorithm should be able to decide when to give room choices to the customer. Obviously a full-route passenger would get the choice of all available roomettes. But a partial-route passenger would only get the choice of all roomettes if there are no other partial-route roomettes available.


I think such a practice would be more confusing to the customer and cause more trouble than it's worth.

"But it let me pick my own room last time! Why won't it let me pick my own room now?"


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## AlanB (Oct 26, 2009)

The Metropolitan said:


> National Limited said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone know if there is a plan to allow a user to book a specific room in a sleeper? It would certainly be nice to be able to select the room you wish rather than take what they give you.
> ...


One has to consider however that your example only applies under pristine conditions.

For example, now without being able to select a room online, I can still select a room. If I visit with an agent and/or call one, I can still choose roomette #8 and the agent won't deny me.

Additionally if the above scenario is all setup, and then someone cancels room #5 at a lower bucket, when I go online to book that ABQ to CHI trip, I'm going to get roomette #5 assigned to my by Amtrak.com; not #7. So Amtrak will still be left with 2 half sold rooms as it were.

Finally, I'm not even sure that ARROW can actually make such a determination as is being suggested. In other words, I'm not sure that ARROW would even look to see and figure out that "oh, #7 is only sold halfway, so let me put this new person in #7 for the other half. Yes, if #7 is now the only roomette left, then it would sell it to the second person for such a trip. But I don't know that it would go out of its way to sell the other half if other rooms are indeed open.


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## the_traveler (Oct 26, 2009)

Also, using Alan's example, would it say



> Roomette #5 in car 0331 - add $159Roomette #7 in car 0331 - add $273
> 
> Roomette #7 in car 0330 - add $359
> 
> ...


I think that will be much more confusing to the average rider!


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## Rumpled (Oct 26, 2009)

First impression for me is that the conductor image blocks the tops of the Status, Schedule, and My Trip tabs.

I'm using IE 7.0

Bad karma there. Most used browser has a problem.







The other negatives above I agree with

No saved trips, no putting mulitple trips in a cart, no manual date entry,

I do like the upgrades right there w/o going to another page and the numbers of rooms left

At the moment, I only see until 10-30 availaable, this may be part of the systemwide problems today


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## JackieTakestheTrain (Oct 26, 2009)

I have problems downloading the .pdfs. When I select one and choose "Open" verus "Save," it doesn't open (I get a blank .pdf.) But if I click Save, it downloads...

Oh well.


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## AAARGH! (Oct 26, 2009)

Anyone find the fall system-wide timetable on the site? I can't find it. The old link doesn't work of course.


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## acelafan (Oct 26, 2009)

AAARGH! said:


> Anyone find the fall system-wide timetable on the site? I can't find it. The old link doesn't work of course.


I've asked for the system-wide PDF timetable, what was the old link?


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## Tony (Oct 26, 2009)

Wow, Amtrak new website really sucks! :angry:

It doesn't work!

I can enter (type) text into the "From" box, and the "To" box. but I cannot enter anything into the "Departs" box! It has today's date, and I can't change it. If I click on the calendar icon, nothing happens. However, the "Time" pull down works.

What do I do, if I don't want to travel today? :huh:

Doesn't Amtrak bother to test this first? If anyone is interested, I am running IE8.

Boy this really sucks. The old website didn't look as pretty, but it worked.


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## AAARGH! (Oct 26, 2009)

acelafan said:


> AAARGH! said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone find the fall system-wide timetable on the site? I can't find it. The old link doesn't work of course.
> ...


I could look it up, but being that it doesn't work, what is the point?


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## Ryan (Oct 26, 2009)

Tony said:


> Wow, Amtrak new website really sucks! :angry:
> It doesn't work!
> 
> I can enter (type) text into the "From" box, and the "To" box. but I cannot enter anything into the "Departs" box! It has today's date, and I can't change it. If I click on the calendar icon, nothing happens. However, the "Time" pull down works.
> ...


Works fine for me in IE7, Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.x.x.


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## Phila 30th St (Oct 26, 2009)

It feels a lot like Amazon.com to me with phrases like "add to cart" and "apply discount". I'm sure I'll get used to it soon but in the meantime, I hate change.


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## acelafan (Oct 26, 2009)

AAARGH! said:


> acelafan said:
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> > AAARGH! said:
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Depending on how it's set up you can sometimes reverse-engineer the latest URL.


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## Murjax (Oct 26, 2009)

I think they removed the publications page that allowed you to order a free system timetable.


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## Tony (Oct 26, 2009)

HokieNav said:


> Works fine for me in IE7, Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.x.x.


For me, all that really matters is if it works on my pc or not. That's the bottom line.

I had no problems with the old website, even with IE8.

Now, the new website doesn't work. And nothing changed on my end.

I really love these companies which feel a compelling need to fancy up their websites; take something that works, and create out of it something that is broken. What a way to run a railroad.


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## Neil_M (Oct 26, 2009)

Tony said:


> Wow, Amtrak new website really sucks! :angry:
> It doesn't work!
> 
> I can enter (type) text into the "From" box, and the "To" box. but I cannot enter anything into the "Departs" box! It has today's date, and I can't change it. If I click on the calendar icon, nothing happens. However, the "Time" pull down works.
> ...


Sometimes altering the size of your font, making it smaller, works wonders with that type of entry box. Try it, it might work for you.

I use Safari and I had to drop down a font size or two to get the calender to work.


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## Ryan (Oct 26, 2009)

Tony said:


> HokieNav said:
> 
> 
> > Works fine for me in IE7, Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.x.x.
> ...


It's absolutely impossible to test a website for every possible combination of browsers, operating systems, plugins and settings. It's not the website that's broken, it's the combination of website+your particular setup, which proves nothing.

Sorry to be so blunt, but you've really struck a nerve here - I'm a voluntary beta tester for a consumer electronics company, and spend lots of time using preproduction hardware and software. They have a fantastic staff that responds to issues and it's quite rewarding to see a product progress from very beta to ready for the market. However after launch, it's extraordinarily depressing to hear people like you complain about how poorly tested and implemented it is due to some obscure bug that only manifests itself in rare situations.


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## Rumpled (Oct 26, 2009)

Date entry problems earlier today might have been due to the overall reservations problem.

Earlier I couldn't change the date, now I can.

Might want to go back and retry.

Hokinav

I feel you are partially correct. Can plan for every single combination, but they'd better get the vast majority of them correct.

Did you look at my screenshot?

I'm using IE 7.o on a 19" monitor and they have graphics covering their tabs - inexcusable!


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## Ryan (Oct 26, 2009)

T'was fine on my work machine running IE7 (and all the other browsers I listed above) - personally, I think that IE (like damn near every other bit of software that Redmond turns out) is buggy as hell, but that's my own personal bias.

Further complicating the discussion is the fact that we're not talking about a static item here. Even on your computer it could be different from the time that you took the screenshot to the time that I looked at it, and fixing one bug that we didn't see could cause the bug that you observed.


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## cpamtfan (Oct 26, 2009)

The system timetable is not on their website. They also have stopped downloading it down onto the pdf because it was just a big download that noone could easily print. If you need a schedule or something, your only option will be to use the seperate ones.

What I have noticed is that the pdfs aren't really fully loaded onto their website, and although that doesn't ruin it, it makes it a little longer.

I have not had too many bugs with the new site, and thats a big surprise since my computer (ala Vista  ) is crappy.


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## cpamtfan (Oct 26, 2009)

Murjax said:


> I think they removed the publications page that allowed you to order a free system timetable.



Yeah, I was wondering where that was, too. They still have a partial one on the Great American Stations website, but those haven't been updated yet(they have many a gap to fill). I'll write something to Amtrak and see if I can get an answer.


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## cpamtfan (Oct 26, 2009)

I also noticed new route guides, but their bigger than the old ones with up to nine pages(ink costs alot now, so 9 pages is substantial!)!

I also noticed that they didn't update the CONO or TE menus, which have already been changed. And in the CCC vertual tour, there used to be the "all-day" menu, but that link is broken.

Amtrak should just try to fix the problems, but people could also help by emailed them directly.


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## PaulM (Oct 26, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> I thought we were supposed to see all the choices - even obscure ones  for you know who? I did a test booking for KIN-PDX in January.
> When I left the time as "anytime", I get just 2 choices:
> 
> 
> ...


It's pretty obvious that they didn't tamper with the formula for arriving at the possible routes between A and B.


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## PaulM (Oct 26, 2009)

Tony said:


> Doesn't Amtrak bother to test this first? If anyone is interested, I am running IE8.
> Boy this really sucks. The old website didn't look as pretty, but it worked.


I don't worry so much about the bugs because they will be fixed. I'm more disappointed that many of the design flaws haven't been addressed.


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## Trainmans daughter (Oct 26, 2009)

So you can't order publications anymore? I will miss the Timetables, Vacations, and America publications.

Also, I entered a trial trip from SAC to DC, and wasn't permitted to upgrade to a family bedroom on both trains. I could either upgrade on the CZ or the CL. but not both. Anyone else have this problem, or is it just me? Maybe I'll try again tomorrow when I'm sober. (Just kidding, sort of).


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## Long Train Runnin' (Oct 27, 2009)

Maybe I'm wrong (it happens :lol: ) but on the old site you could only book 10 months in advance right? The new site lets you book 11 months out. I could have sworn it was 10 before.

Thanks


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## Ryan (Oct 27, 2009)

No, it was 11.


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2009)

HokieNav said:


> Works fine for me in IE7, Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.x.x.


Just to clarify, you have no problems at all manually typing a date into the *Departs* text box?


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## Ryan (Oct 27, 2009)

Guest said:


> HokieNav said:
> 
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> > Works fine for me in IE7, Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.x.x.
> ...


No, when I click it the calendar opens up.


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## MrFSS (Oct 27, 2009)

HokieNav said:


> Guest said:
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> 
> > HokieNav said:
> ...



Isn't that what is supposed to happen? Pick a date from the calendar and you don't have to type it in.


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## Ispolkom (Oct 27, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> HokieNav said:
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> > Guest said:
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Another way to put it is that you can't type it in. That means that if you're booking a sleeper 11 months out you have to click the arrow key 10 times and then click on the date, rather than just enter the date. I understand what they've done, but it's not an improvement to me.


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## MrFSS (Oct 27, 2009)

Ispolkom said:


> MrFSS said:
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> > HokieNav said:
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I see what you are saying. I had never tried to type a date in and have always used the calendar.


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## Ryan (Oct 27, 2009)

I can see where both would be usable, but Tony's complaint (as I understood it) was that the calendar wasn't coming up, making the website completely unusable to book travel for a day other than today. That certainly isn't the behavior that anyone else has reported seeing.


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## printman2000 (Oct 27, 2009)

I also do not see anything about how many rooms are left. Anyone lead me to it?


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 27, 2009)

printman2000 said:


> I also do not see anything about how many rooms are left. Anyone lead me to it?


Book 1-8 pax on the CZ, EMY to CHI on 11/2/09. Pick Family Bedroom or Bedroom; "Hurry, only 2 rooms left" appears in the heading above that train, to the right of "estimated".

Dennis


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2009)

printman2000 said:


> I also do not see anything about how many rooms are left. Anyone lead me to it?


While booking an upcoming trip when it was time to put in Buy Rooms, a "Only2 rooms left @ this price message" appeared when I entered the

number of rooms to match the number of passengers, however you still cant find out which rooms are available @ this price, they are still assigned by random choice on the computer, an agent has to be contacted to change your assigned room> Not too much of an improvement here IMHO but a work in Progress, do like the graphics and other features! Surely improvements and bugs out will come! :unsure:


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## the_traveler (Oct 27, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> Ispolkom said:
> 
> 
> > MrFSS said:
> ...


Before, if you wanted July 14, you could chose "July" on the drop down list, and "14" on the drop down list. Now you have to advance the calendar over and over until you get to July. It wouldn't be a problem for tomorrow or next week, but it's a lot of clicking for a date 7 or 9 months out!


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## colobok (Oct 27, 2009)

MrEd said:


> I was able to login and purchase tickets, the new option for room selection is nice. It includes how many rooms left, thats helpful info.


Where do you see how many rooms left???

It looks like it displays only when 1 or 2 rooms left. But there is no way to see this info when let's say 5-6 rooms left?


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## transit54 (Oct 27, 2009)

Guest said:


> printman2000 said:
> 
> 
> > I also do not see anything about how many rooms are left. Anyone lead me to it?
> ...


Out of curiosity, what was the train/dates? I'd like to see this feature for myself...


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## MrEd (Oct 27, 2009)

The number of rooms left message only seems to appear at a certain threshold. I happened to hit it on my first reservation attempt. Not sure of the reshold settings though.


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## Bob Dylan (Oct 27, 2009)

rnizlek said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > printman2000 said:
> ...


In my case, an actual booking, Thursday 11/05/09, CZ #5 KCY-SAC 1 roomette chosen, Message "Hurry only 1 room left" next to estimate of total price!

Ive seen it on other test bookings but dont have a clue why it appears when it does? Still cant see which rooms, they are assigned per computer according to AGR and Amtrak agents??? Hope that helps?


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## transit54 (Oct 27, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> In my case, an actual booking, Thursday 11/05/09, CZ #5 KCY-SAC 1 roomette chosen, Message "Hurry only 1 room left" next to estimate of total price!Ive seen it on other test bookings but dont have a clue why it appears when it does? Still cant see which rooms, they are assigned per computer according to AGR and Amtrak agents??? Hope that helps?


Ah, there it is! I had to click on the room to see it come up. Thanks Jim!


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## BeckysBarn (Oct 27, 2009)

MrEd said:


> The number of rooms left message only seems to appear at a certain threshold. I happened to hit it on my first reservation attempt. Not sure of the reshold settings though.


It seems to be if there are 3 or less rooms left. Doesn't matter how many pax you put in either. For example, if you have 1 passenger, it will still let you know that there are only 2 rooms left.


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## acelafan (Oct 28, 2009)

AAARGH! said:


> Anyone find the fall system-wide timetable on the site? I can't find it. The old link doesn't work of course.


I asked Amtrak on several occasions to post the system-wide timetables and they actually did it. It's on the Timetables page and here is the direct link:

Amtrak System Timetable - Fall 2009/Winter 2010


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## AAARGH! (Oct 28, 2009)

acelafan said:


> AAARGH! said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone find the fall system-wide timetable on the site? I can't find it. The old link doesn't work of course.
> ...


THANKS! Downloading it as I write this.


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## Crescent ATN & TCL (Oct 29, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> Ispolkom said:
> 
> 
> > MrFSS said:
> ...


I've heard from ticket agents and phone agents that a lot of people had problems with dates resetting on the old site to current date of chosen month resulting in in accurate reservations, that had to be corrected.


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## rrdude (Oct 29, 2009)

Tony said:


> HokieNav said:
> 
> 
> > Works fine for me in IE7, Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.x.x.
> ...


Chill, chill, chill guys THAT's software. You TRY LIKE HELL, to create a new interface/version that works better than the old, and works on all platforms (mac, Linux, PC) and all browsers (Mozilla, Safari, IE, Chrome, Opera) ..........THAT's the EZ part. What NO DEVELOPER can EVER foresee is all the permutations that individual computer users have on their PC's/laptops. Anti-virus, cameras, RSS feeds, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah the "impact of the change" sucks, 'specially when it doesn't work for you, AT FIRST. But it WILL. I guess if we didn't "change" we'd still be using the old card catalog system down at the library...........


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## Donctor (Oct 29, 2009)

Is this right?

From Chicago to Boston on October 30, a roomette costs more than a bedroom. What?

Roomette: Add $431.00 per room.

Bedroom: Add $370.00 per room.

Again, how is this possible?


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## wayman (Oct 29, 2009)

Amtking said:


> Is this right?
> From Chicago to Boston on October 30, a roomette costs more than a bedroom. What?
> 
> Roomette: Add $431.00 per room.
> ...


Because lots of roomettes have been sold already (they're now in a high bucket) and few bedrooms have been sold (they're still in a low bucket). This isn't all that unusual. I've seen it often.

But on that particular train and date, I can tell you that it's probably actually the fault of this forum -- a number of those roomettes are going to be occupied by regular posters at Amtrak Unlimited


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## wayman (Oct 29, 2009)

Crescent ATN & TCL said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> > Ispolkom said:
> ...


The previous website often worked as follows for me:

I told it origin and destination, date and time, clicked through, and it showed me a list of trains. I decided "ok, what about another date", clicked "back" on my browser ... and the previous screen had lost the date and time I had typed in. Whereas, if I changed the date in the left part of the frames, there was never any confusion. But I never had an issue where the date reset while making a reservation, so long as I never clicked "back".

My beef with the new "choose date on calendar" system is that under the old website I could make a reservation entirely with the keyboard -- no mouse required. Now there seems to be no way to select a date without a mouse. For me, this is largely just an efficiency issue. I like to keep my hands on the keyboard, and I'm adept at doing things like "PHL tab tab LYH tab tab tab AA tab 22222 tab tab tab enter" if I wanted to travel on August 23nd, for instance. (I could be misremembering the number of tabs, but I think that was right; anyway, I could see how many I needed to type when I was doing it, so that part was less important.) But I suspect it means the Amtrak website is no longer compatible with text browsers (I haven't yet tested it with lynx or w3m).

(_Who uses lynx???_ I can hear you saying. Or possibly even _What is lynx???_ from younger forum members. And perhaps you're right that this is irrelevant in 2009. I think the last time I was in a situation where I actually needed to use a text browser was about 2005. But the issue of text browsers used to be linked to browsing for the blind as well, which is an technology issue I haven't kept abreast of for years. Perhaps technology has changed such that readers for the blind work differently today than they used to. But I know it's an issue many web developers don't take into consideration, too, and always has been, so it wouldn't surprise me if Amtrak chose a "pretty" way to do something which actually removes functionality for a small and often forgotten segment of the population.)


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## AlanB (Oct 29, 2009)

Actually the date reverting to the current date, instead of the originally typed/selected date, was fixed several years ago. It was a huge problem with the site way back when, and many people did get caught booking the wrong dates because of it.

But again, it's been fixed for a while.


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## Ispolkom (Oct 29, 2009)

rrdude said:


> Yeah the "impact of the change" sucks, 'specially when it doesn't work for you, AT FIRST. But it WILL. I guess if we didn't "change" we'd still be using the old card catalog system down at the library...........


I don't want to hear any trash talk about card catalogs. There were real advantages to card catalogs, especially for big research libraries, and you have no idea how much wailing and gnashing of teeth saw their disappearance. After all, card catalogs work even when a hard disk crashes or a network goes down, and paper is still the best way to conserve data.

What annoys me is that the new amtrak.com is just a new front end. You still have the same problems that you have with the old front end, plus a lot more mouse clicking.

For example, try to do a multi-city itinerary. You still can't find out what sleeper accommodations cost when you choose them, although now there are little drawings of the room layouts.

Change with increased functionality is great. Change with no increased functionality is pointless.


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## transit54 (Oct 29, 2009)

Ispolkom said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah the "impact of the change" sucks, 'specially when it doesn't work for you, AT FIRST. But it WILL. I guess if we didn't "change" we'd still be using the old card catalog system down at the library...........
> ...


Card catalogs and computer databases aren't mutually exclusive...if the former is significantly better than the latter, why not continue to maintain it?

I'm wondering how much of the increased functionality you suggest is beyond the scope of what ARROW can handle, or at least can be built easily. If that's the case, I don't think that the Amtrak site should be cast in stone till they upgrade to a new reservations system. I agree with you, I have a long wish-list of features I'd like to see added to the website, including the ones you mentioned. But perhaps this website provides the framework to allow them to roll out these changes over time?


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## Ispolkom (Oct 29, 2009)

rnizlek said:


> Card catalogs and computer databases aren't mutually exclusive...if the former is significantly better than the latter, why not continue to maintain it?
> I'm wondering how much of the increased functionality you suggest is beyond the scope of what ARROW can handle, or at least can be built easily. If that's the case, I don't think that the Amtrak site should be cast in stone till they upgrade to a new reservations system. I agree with you, I have a long wish-list of features I'd like to see added to the website, including the ones you mentioned. But perhaps this website provides the framework to allow them to roll out these changes over time?


Card catalogs were abandoned because computer catalogs were cheaper, end of story. Spending even more money to maintain both a card catalog and a computer database wasn't going to happen. At best you leave a closed card catalog, which is no longer maintained. This was even the case at the Library of Congress, where a low-bid effort to computerize the old card catalog was wildly unsuccessful. I haven't worked there in ages, so I don't know if they still have the old card catalogs.

You might well be correct that the new amtrak.com web site is somehow more compatible to improvements in arrow. Given my experience with web designers, I doubt it, but it doesn't really matter. I think that it's wrong headed and bad costumer service to make changes to a consumer web site that merely improve things for the developer, not for the end-user.

On the other hand, I'm probably over-reacting. It isn't as though the old site was any great shakes. I misremembered thinking I could type in a date on amtrak.com. Even on the old site I had to use drop-downs, as if I weren't trusted to type correctly.


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## rrdude (Oct 29, 2009)

Ispolkom said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah the "impact of the change" sucks, 'specially when it doesn't work for you, AT FIRST. But it WILL. I guess if we didn't "change" we'd still be using the old card catalog system down at the library...........
> ...


Umm, HOW MANY DAYS has the new web site been out now? 'Nuff said.


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## the_traveler (Oct 29, 2009)

rrdude said:


> I guess if we didn't "change" we'd still be using the old card catalog system down at the library...........


You mean they don't use the card catalog anymore? 

Maybe I should get of trains and stay at home more often!  (Banish that thought! :lol: )


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## AlanB (Oct 29, 2009)

Ispolkom said:


> I misremembered thinking I could type in a date on amtrak.com. Even on the old site I had to use drop-downs, as if I weren't trusted to type correctly.


You didn't misremember, you could indeed type in the date on the old site. You had the option of typing the date, or clicking the little calendar icon next to the date field if you didn't feel like typing the date. A vastly superior design to the current one where you have no choice; IMHO.


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## the_traveler (Oct 29, 2009)

AlanB said:


> Ispolkom said:
> 
> 
> > I misremembered thinking I could type in a date on amtrak.com. Even on the old site I had to use drop-downs, as if I weren't trusted to type correctly.
> ...


Could you type in the date on the old website? :huh:

If I remember correctly, if you wanted January 15, as soon as you typed "J", a drop down list of the months starting with "J" (January, June, July) opened. If you weren't paying attention and typed in "A", a drop down list of the months starting with "A" (April, August) opened!


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## leemell (Oct 29, 2009)

HokieNav said:


> Tony said:
> 
> 
> > Wow, Amtrak new website really sucks! :angry:
> ...


Works fine in Google Chrome 3.0.195.27, Firefox 3.5.3 and IE 8.0.6001.18702.


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## BigBlueBuddha (Oct 29, 2009)

Rumpled said:


> The other negatives above I agree withNo saved trips. . .


Amtrak responded to my email query about saved trips:

----------

Thank you for your inquiry.

At this time we have removed the "My Saved Plans" feature from the new website. Our IT Department is working on resolving this issue, but do not yet have a definite date when/if this feature will be restored.

We hope that this information will assist you.

Sincerely,

Maureen

Amtrak Customer Service

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I only hope "if" becomes a "when". . . :unsure:


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## GoldenSpike (Oct 29, 2009)

Amtking said:


> Is this right?
> From Chicago to Boston on October 30, a roomette costs more than a bedroom. What?
> 
> Roomette: Add $431.00 per room.
> ...


It happens. Once I ran across a Family Bedroom $60 LESS than a Roomette. Thinking a system error, I went out and back in. It was still there. I grabbed it in a flash MSP-SEA, even though I preferred MSP-PDX. On boarding the car attendant couldn't believe it either.


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## Ispolkom (Oct 29, 2009)

GoldenSpike said:


> It happens. Once I ran across a Family Bedroom $60 LESS than a Roomette. Thinking a system error, I went out and back in. It was still there. I grabbed it in a flash MSP-SEA, even though I preferred MSP-PDX. On boarding the car attendant couldn't believe it either.


I booked almost exactly the same family room, for August 2008, though in my case it was MSP-PDX. I also couldn't believe the deal, and wondered what was so wrong with the family bedroom. On that trip it was clear that several travel groups had offered their guests the choice of roomette or bedroom, thus leaving out the family bedrooms. My wife was so happy with the accommodations on that trip, she forgave me for forgetting the gin. Fortunately, in Portland we attended the Great American Distillers Festival.

Alan, are you right? I swear I remember cussing about the drop downs. I'm old school. I like typing.


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## acelafan (Oct 29, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Ispolkom said:
> ...


I'm pretty sure you could only do the drop-downs for choosing the dates on the old site, unless you could do it on a page that I wasn't using. I actually took a few screenshots before the new design rolled out, just for fun. Here are some oldies but goodies, right? 







Amtrak.com front page as viewed on Oct 24, 2009






Amtrak.com Multi-City page as viewed on Oct 24, 2009


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## wayman (Oct 29, 2009)

acelafan said:


> I'm pretty sure you could only do the drop-downs for choosing the dates on the old site, unless you could do it on a page that I wasn't using. I actually took a few screenshots before the new design rolled out, just for fun. Here are some oldies but goodies, right?


While a drop-down box is the active element on a website, you can do any of the following:

1) use the mouse, locate what you want, and click on it

2) use the down arrow to go through the elements one by one, then hit tab when what you want is selected

3) type a letter/number, and the first element to begin with that character will be selected; type the same letter/number again after a brief pause, and the second element to begin with that character will be selected; etc; then hit tab when what you want is selected

4) type several letters/numbers quickly, and the first element to begin with that string will be selected; then hit tab when what you want is selected

Say I want "August".

An example of (2) is if I tab over to the month field, and hit down once to open the drop-down box, then down to Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, and Aug, then tab once Aug is selected. So, tab, down (x9), tab.

An example of (3) is if I tab over to the month field, and type A which opens the drop-down box and selects April, and then type A again to select the next "A" element, August, and then tab once Aug is selected. So, tab, A (x2), tab.

An example of (4) is if I tab over to the month field, and type AUG quickly, which opens the drop-down box and selects August, then tab once Aug is selected. So, tab, AUG, tab.

This works with most drop-down boxes on most websites; it wasn't anything special to the Amtrak site.


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 30, 2009)




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## Guest (Oct 30, 2009)

Remember when in ancient times people actually made and used flow charts! A museum piece along with IBM cards and sorters and readers, magnetic tape, floppy disks etc. Glad Im retired and out of the rat race, a luddite like me would starve in this high tech world today! Maybe thats why I like diner food on Amtrak (except the flat iron train kill!


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## Montanan (Oct 30, 2009)

Oh, how I love XKCD! Thanks, PetalumaLoco.


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## BillyJo (Oct 31, 2009)

I'm working on a cross-country trip for next summer, and I've noticed some things that are puzzling, particularly when trying to book roomettes. It lists a specific price for a room, but when you try to book two of them, the price goes up dramatically. I've tried this many times on several different routes and days, and most of the time, I could only get one room at the quoted price.

This may have been the same on the older site, but I don't recall.

I understand the bucket system (or so I thought), but it make planning a trip rather confusing! Any ideas/solutions?


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## Ryan (Oct 31, 2009)

Sounds like you're running into the last room available at low bucket, so the second room you are trying to get is more expensive.


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## darien-l (Oct 31, 2009)

HokieNav said:


> Sounds like you're running into the last room available at low bucket, so the second room you are trying to get is more expensive.


I remember running into this problem on the old website as well. Unfortunately, in this case BOTH rooms go up a fare bucket. The only way to avoid it is to book one room at a time.


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## AlanB (Oct 31, 2009)

darien-l said:


> HokieNav said:
> 
> 
> > Sounds like you're running into the last room available at low bucket, so the second room you are trying to get is more expensive.
> ...


Actually I'm not sure that both rooms go up to the same price even on line, but if they do an agent should be able to book one at the low bucket price and the other at the next bucket.


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## JackieTakestheTrain (Nov 10, 2009)

Hi:

So, there is definitely no way to save a trip on the new website?

I am searching frantically here to find the save trip feature for a business trip I am scheduling. I don't want to do this twice! 

-- Jackie


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## the_traveler (Nov 10, 2009)

JackieTakestheTrain said:


> Hi:So, there is definitely no way to save a trip on the new website?
> 
> I am searching frantically here to find the save trip feature for a business trip I am scheduling. I don't want to do this twice!
> 
> -- Jackie


I don't believe there is.

Actually, I never used that feature. I've always just bought a ticket and the res was saved in (IIRC) "My Trips". It still is - although in a different format than before.


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## rrdude (Nov 10, 2009)

Guest said:


> Remember when in ancient times people actually made and used flow charts! A museum piece along with IBM cards and sorters and readers, magnetic tape, floppy disks etc. Glad Im retired and out of the rat race, a luddite like me would starve in this high tech world today! Maybe thats why I like diner food on Amtrak (except the flat iron train kill!



HA! I posed a question today to one of our programmers, and he responded, get this, via Skype, holding up a simple hand-drawn flow-chart....

I almost fell off my chair laughing...................


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