# The Amtrak Website Has a "New Look."



## Thirdrail7 (Oct 8, 2017)

The mobile website refresh will occur later this month. It will take some getting used to.


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 8, 2017)

I found a bug, at least on my end. Once I get to the page where they list the trains for my selected stations/date, if I try to change one of the stations it first doesn't show options (like PHL doesn't produce a drop-down showing Philadelphia) and even if I type in the whole city, state abbr, when I click find trains it returns the same info it returned for my original choices on the main page.

And, of course, the Contact Us is currently down.


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## Thirdrail7 (Oct 8, 2017)

I had a similar problem. Additionally, I wish the "Service Alert" area had more of an impact. I'm sure this is a work in progress. It just went live today. A few tweaks are probably necessary.


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## Skyline (Oct 8, 2017)

Actually, the entire amtrak dot com website seems to be down at the moment.


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 8, 2017)

Skyline said:


> Actually, the entire amtrak dot com website seems to be down at the moment.


If you're just typing amtrak.com and it's already in your history, you need to change it (I guess I need to clear out my history  ).

Remove the last slash and add dot html to https://www.amtrak.com/home/  https://www.amtrak.com/home.html


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## RSG (Oct 8, 2017)

It's more than a few tweaks; I tried to check availability for a new booking and there are prompts in the fields "From" and "To" for station or city and entering the station codes then hitting "Find Schedules" does nothing. Then the page refreshes and the red "Enter a valid station code or city." prompt shows. Searching by state shows a dropdown with a state list, but nothing further after a state is selected.

The availability between the standard online booking site and the mobile app interface also shows discrepancies, as well as the mobile app taking a very long time to return a result.

Also, the 'My Account' tab returns nothing. It appears that it's more than a redesign and instead a whole new front end interface.


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 8, 2017)

Apparently my issue is due to browser. I'm using Chrome. After someone mentioned it was only working in Firefox for him, I tried it in Safari and it worked.


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## Bex (Oct 8, 2017)

Mine works fine on Chrome for Mac but is slightly too large for the page. I had to take the zoom down to 90% to see the whole width.

I did notice the AGR site still has the old look.

Edited to add: the My Account link brings up a box with a summary of info, and my coupons and points links lead me to the appropriate pages on the AGR site. Previously, that had led me to a login redirect loop which I always assumed had to do with the settings of my browser. I'm glad to have that working.


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## RSG (Oct 8, 2017)

Hrmm...I'm using Firefox; I'll try it in another browser (perhaps Internet Exploiter, since that's the lowest common denominator for WWW page design).


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## Triley (Oct 8, 2017)

Thirdrail7 said:


> The mobile website refresh will occur later this month. It will take some getting used to.


The mobile site is already showing the update.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Amtrak Forum mobile app


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## TiBike (Oct 8, 2017)

I'm seeing the "can't change the selected station" bug too -- on a Mac, using Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

It seems to be a work in progress -- lots of pages are inaccessible right now.


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## RSG (Oct 8, 2017)

Tried it in Microsoft Edge and most features (that I've tried) seem to work okay. There still is a bug in the current availability between a new reservation and modifying an existing reservation. If anyone has to do the latter today, I would suggest speaking to an agent in the res center.

EDIT:

Also seems to work with Safari in iOS, though there are a few zoom and page spillover issues.


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## amtrakmichigan (Oct 8, 2017)

When entering a voucher number, the button is "dead" when you try to validate it.


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## RSG (Oct 8, 2017)

amtrakmichigan said:


> When entering a voucher number, the button is "dead" when you try to validate it.


Does it work if you are logged in and use the voucher list option?

I'm also experiencing a "Browser timeout" and "*Please Log In:* To access the requested page you must be logged in" errors, yet the status bar shows me as logged in and the quick info box has the "Sign Out" button.


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## George K (Oct 8, 2017)

For me, Amsnag (2.01) isn't working with the change in Amtrak's site.

Work for anyone else?


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 8, 2017)

George K said:


> For me, Amsnag (2.01) isn't working with the change in Amtrak's site.
> 
> Work for anyone else?


More than likely Paul will need to tweak his code to work with Amtrak's new site. This could take time.


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## amtrakmichigan (Oct 8, 2017)

I never bothered to make a Amtrak log in account. Never needed to log in to use vouchers all these years.


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## Skyline (Oct 8, 2017)

AmtrakBlue said:


> Skyline said:
> 
> 
> > Actually, the entire amtrak dot com website seems to be down at the moment.
> ...


Well, that at least got me through to an Amtrak page. Basically, it was an "under maintenance" page with nothing else.


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## Skyline (Oct 8, 2017)

Could Amtrak be using the same webmaster as the original ACA site had? :help:


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## daybeers (Oct 8, 2017)

Skyline said:


> AmtrakBlue said:
> 
> 
> > Skyline said:
> ...


When I go to amtrak.com it just forwards me to https://www.amtrak.com/home.html


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## Devil's Advocate (Oct 8, 2017)

Thirdrail7 said:


> It will take some getting used to.


It honestly looks like a generic Pinterest account with a focus on coupons and advertising copy rather than on functional services. All I wanted was a slightly more capable website with that further reduced the need to call support staff or bother tying up resources for tasks a computer should be able to manage on its own. For instance, being able to choose your own room online or reserving a meal in advance to ensure it will be stocked when you travel. Instead we get yet another template refresh that doesn't appear to have added much in the way of meaningful enhancements while casually breaking old bookmarks. Rather than diluting the primary website with frivolous visual trends from five years ago, why not simply redirect tablet users to the new mobile site where they can repeatedly click on random objects until something "magical" happens? No need to serve toddlers at the adult table. :lol:


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## Pere Flyer (Oct 8, 2017)

I'm disappointed by the booking bugs, too, and it seems that a reservation I made on the mobile app does not display on the desktop site. (Has anyone else experienced that problem?) But what's most frustrating is that the language setting seems to change from English to Mandarin Chinese (?) every five clicks or so. I have to manually cancel the conversion each time.

That being said, this millennial Amtrak supporter likes the new look. Everything I've explored so far (booking, route guides, OTP, schedules) is much easier to access than what I remember. Before, it was hard to locate and understand the OTP reports. Now, it takes only a few clicks to access them from the "destinations" dropdown. The profiles of each route advertise well, and the route maps have improved from the ghastly beige and red images.

Like it or not, this is what most websites look like in 2017. As bugs get squashed and features tweaked, I believe this redesign is a major step in Amtrak courting those under the age of 35.


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## willem (Oct 8, 2017)

The web site does not recognize Saint Paul as an origin. The information provided expects the screen to be wider than necessary, and certainly wider than my window. These should be easily fixed, but as Devil's Advocate noted, the emphasis seems not to be on usability.

Interestingly, when I searched for a train from Saint Paul to Chicago for October 24, the default premium accommodation for train 8 is a roomette while the default premium accommodation for train 28 is the family bedroom. Each train has both types of rooms available.

I also had, in my brief usage, one instance of the web site changing the origin station to that of a previous search, while presenting the information for the current search. (I had searched for trains from Albany to Chicago, then switched to Saint Paul to Chicago. When I clicked FIND TRAINS, I got results for Saint Paul to Chicago but the top of the page showed Albany to Chicago.)


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## west point (Oct 8, 2017)

All the above problems and more observed. Business class now listed 1st on premium services but not all trains. BC has no way to be selected on some trains but not listed sold out. got station selected change for no reason.


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## tricia (Oct 8, 2017)

Um, didn't anyone troubleshoot this before going live?


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## Ryan (Oct 8, 2017)

Wow, I’ll bet they never thought of that.


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## Maglev (Oct 8, 2017)

I was just looking to see if the new _Cascades_ schedule was posted, and I found this description of the _Cascades _ route:

Amtrak CascadesBoston - Vancouver, BC - Seattle - Tacoma - Portland - Salem - Eugene

Northwest Train Routes

Effective February 20, 2016

I wonder if that's Boston to Vancouver via Concord, NH and Montreal?


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## Chey (Oct 8, 2017)

IIRC, you used to be able to book 11 months in advance. Although their booking calendar for Sept 2018 has only those dates after 9/8/2018 grayed out, I can actually only book for 10 months out (to Aug 8th 2018).


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## Bob Dylan (Oct 8, 2017)

When I try to log on to amtrak.com on my phone, I get an error message.

When I try to use the Mobile app, it tells me that it is under going Maintence work, to log in to amtrak.com!!???


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## Chey (Oct 8, 2017)

Bob Dylan said:


> When I try to log on to amtrak.com on my phone, I get an error message.
> 
> When I try to use the Mobile app, it tells me that it is under going Maintence work, to log in to amtrak.com!!???


It's working on my iPhone. But I haven't tried anything besides buying a ticket and train status.

Edit: I should have said shopping for a train ticket, I didn't buy it.


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## the_traveler (Oct 8, 2017)

One small bug I found is with station name posting.

My home station is FED (Ft Edward). The drop down menu shows Ft Edward, however when you click it, the station name entered is “Ft Edwards” (with an S)!


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## jebr (Oct 8, 2017)

willem said:


> The web site does not recognize Saint Paul as an origin.


It will, however, recognize "St. Paul" (or "Minneapolis", but only for the airport Thruway stop, so that's not entirely helpful.) St. Paul's one of those tricky towns that I've seen other websites (mainly bus services) glitch out with as well if it's not typed in the way they're expecting, so it doesn't surprise me that Amtrak's website suffers from similar issues. Minneapolis only pulling up the airport stop, however, is bad design (the entry still starts "St. Paul-Minneapolis" just like the train station, so I'm not sure what the difference is.)



willem said:


> Interestingly, when I searched for a train from Saint Paul to Chicago for October 24, the default premium accommodation for train 8 is a roomette while the default premium accommodation for train 28 is the family bedroom. Each train has both types of rooms available.


A roomette may be more expensive than a family bedroom on 28 - usually those options will appear based on price (although a train with both sleeper and business class will show sleeper first.) It appears that's the case for that date as of right now.


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## TinCan782 (Oct 8, 2017)

Wanted to look at menus and wound up in Japan (or somewhere like that)!


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## daybeers (Oct 8, 2017)

I think everyone needs to give Amtrak's IT department some time to iron things out. They chose to do this in the very early morning on Saturday, which probably means affecting the least amount of people possible. It is true they clearly didn't do enough testing before rolling it out, but it takes a lot of work to completely overhaul a website.



Devil's Advocate said:


> It honestly looks like a generic Pinterest account with a focus on coupons and advertising copy rather than on functional services. All I wanted was a slightly more capable website with that further reduced the need to call support staff or bother tying up resources for tasks a computer should be able to manage on its own. For instance, being able to choose your own room online or reserving a meal in advance to ensure it will be stocked when you travel. Instead we get yet another template refresh that doesn't appear to have added much in the way of meaningful enhancements while casually breaking old bookmarks. Rather than diluting the primary website with frivolous visual trends from five years ago, why not simply redirect tablet users to the new mobile site where they can repeatedly click on random objects until something "magical" happens? No need to serve toddlers at the adult table. :lol:


These are limitations of Amtrak's Arrow reservation system, not the website. This website overhaul is a step in the right direction, though, so maybe Arrow will be next. I feel like that's being optimistic though. I would also have to disagree about not much adding much to the website. As Pere Flyer pointed out, several things are now much easier to access.



willem said:


> The information provided expects the screen to be wider than necessary, and certainly wider than my window. These should be easily fixed, but as Devil's Advocate noted, the emphasis seems not to be on usability.


I actually think this refresh focuses on both usability and appearance. They need to work together to make a website great. I don't know about everyone else, but I've been looking at the website on my 13 inch laptop and it looks fine to me.


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## SarahZ (Oct 8, 2017)

The layout is fine in Safari, on both my desktop and my laptop. It looks fine in Chrome too.

It kept switching to Chinese earlier, but it seems to be working now. I can also switch city pairs without issues, which I couldn't do earlier, so maybe they've been working on the bugs all day.

I like the layout of the pages where you can read about sleepers and such. It's taking me a moment to find everything again, but that's true of 99% of website changes, so my feathers remain unruffled.


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## Devil's Advocate (Oct 8, 2017)

daybeers said:


> I think everyone needs to give Amtrak's IT department some time to iron things out. They chose to do this in the very early morning on Saturday, which probably means affecting the least amount of people possible. It is true they clearly didn't do enough testing before rolling it out, but it takes a lot of work to completely overhaul a website.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Most of what I commented on has nothing to do with ARROW. In addition, ARROW already tracks your specific sleeper compartment, it's the web front end and/or middleware that prevents individual customers from selecting (or even seeing) their specific room before purchase. I have no idea which system tracks meals and I've never seen it mentioned here. It might be ARROW or it might be something entirely different.



tricia said:


> Um, didn't anyone troubleshoot this before going live?


If this happened where I work it'd be really embarrassing, but its possible it was fully tested and the results of the testing were glossed over by middle management in order to meet a schedule or deadline. It's also possible that the act of migrating the new site to production is what gummed it up. Normally this sort of problem is caught during the migration from a development system to one of the testing environments, but if it's missed or the fix employed is not successful you can end up with a production system that fails in ways you did not expect or anticipate. A news or forum website can simply roll back to a previous state in time, but once a major transactional website is launched into production it can be extremely difficult if not impossible to put the genie back into the bottle.


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## KnightRail (Oct 8, 2017)

Anyone able to figure out how to load the Full Site on a mobile device? Had the old site bookmarked using a long link that stopped the mobile version and immediately loaded the Full Site but of course that bookmark is now broken.

There is this link on the mobile site to view the full site but it just redirects right back to the mobile site! (Tested on both safari and Firefox apps):

https://www.amtrak.com/home.html?stop_mobi=yes&ref=stop_mobile


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## daybeers (Oct 8, 2017)

Devil's Advocate said:


> Most of what I commented on has nothing to do with ARROW. In addition, ARROW already tracks your specific sleeper compartment, it's the web front end and/or middleware that prevents individual customers from selecting (or even seeing) their specific room before purchase. I have no idea which system tracks meals and I've never seen it mentioned here. It might be ARROW or it might be something entirely different.


Fair point. That doesn't mean the web front end won't be changed in the future to allow this, however.


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## RSG (Oct 9, 2017)

KnightRail said:


> Anyone able to figure out how to load the Full Site on a mobile device? Had the old site bookmarked using a long link that stopped the mobile version and immediately loaded the Full Site but of course that bookmark is now broken.
> 
> There is this link on the mobile site to view the full site but it just redirects right back to the mobile site! (Tested on both safari and Firefox apps):
> 
> https://www.amtrak.com/home.html?stop_mobi=yes&ref=stop_mobile


When using Safari for iOS 10 earlier Sunday it loaded the desktop version, though in fairness, it was already preloaded with a random page from several days earlier and when using other links on that page it continued to load the desktop versions.

Meanwhile, the Amtrak for iOS app is partially broken in that the stations will not load, thus making many of the functions of the app non-functional.


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## Anderson (Oct 9, 2017)

I'm giving the new website a "Gentleman's C": I haven't encountered any of the issues above (yet) but I can't really say there's anything about it to thrill me, and I don't like having ad copy slapped right behind the booking area (it is a bit distracting). So all in all it's coming off as a flashy waste of money at the moment...

...but I'm also a guy who wouldn't be too broken up if he was given an instruction manual and a way to book tickets using a fairly straight-up text interface, so please do take my grumbling with the appropriate grain of salt.


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## willem (Oct 9, 2017)

jebr said:


> A roomette may be more expensive than a family bedroom on 28 - usually those options will appear based on price (although a train with both sleeper and business class will show sleeper first.)


Thanks for that information. I had not noticed that before, probably because the roomettes have been the lowest priced accommodation.


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## willem (Oct 9, 2017)

daybeers said:


> [...] I've been looking at the website on my 13 inch laptop and it looks fine to me.





SarahZ said:


> The layout is fine in Safari, on both my desktop and my laptop. It looks fine in Chrome too.


Perhaps my laptop is too small. However, requiring a customer to have a larger laptop or live with horizontal scrolling, when the layout could be compressed, is a poor business decision. A company that wants money should make it easy for a customer to decide to give it.


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## jis (Oct 9, 2017)

So far I have been unable to pull up any of my existing eVouchers to apply them to a new reservation. I guess this is a new feature to force use of new cash instead of reusing cash put away in vouchers. 

I have tried on Chrome and Firefox so far.


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## KmH (Oct 9, 2017)

I like the new look.

Much more modern and clean.


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## TiBike (Oct 9, 2017)

The "can't change the selected station" bug is still there. At least on Chrome and Opera on Mac OS X, and Chrome on Linux. It worked properly on Safari and Firefox for OS X.

Functionality is impaired in Opera -- the popup menus block the text entry fields.

And it's running very slow this morning, taking a minute or more to display train/ticket info.


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## jis (Oct 9, 2017)

Now we await to see it work properly


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## Eric in East County (Oct 9, 2017)

As of 11:10 a.m. PDT, the site down for maintenance.


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## Devil's Advocate (Oct 9, 2017)

KmH said:


> I like the new look. Much more modern and clean.


Except now it looks and feels nothing like the product they're selling. What the website really needs is a gritty stained carpet background with bossy safety commands and extraneous dining announcements randomly flooding your computer speakers. Then you'd only be missing the chem-soap, fabric detergent, and blue wash potpourri. :lol:


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## neutralist (Oct 9, 2017)

The main page loads quickly, anything after that is slow as hell. Can't make any reservation at all... keep timing out.


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## sitzplatz17 (Oct 9, 2017)

I too tried to go through the reservation process and ended up getting a "page not found" error.

While the new look is fine with me, the launch of the site looks to be very poorly done.

There's a difference between "a few bugs" and "I can't even purchase your product".


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## jis (Oct 9, 2017)

Oooh! Now we get the "Amtrak.com Lite Mode", on which I still cannot do what I need to do. But at least one can book a ticket apparently, if no vouchers are involved.

I wonder what it takes for such spectacular level of competence for production cut over to a new user front end. Sigh....


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## PerRock (Oct 9, 2017)

willem said:


> daybeers said:
> 
> 
> > [...] I've been looking at the website on my 13 inch laptop and it looks fine to me.
> ...


The new website is set up with auto-scaling. So as your screen width gets smaller the website should flow into a tablet version then down into a mobile version. This functionality is pretty common these days across the internet, but is also pretty new. Some (mainly older versions of) browsers may break the auto-scaling. What browser are you using?

peter


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## Anthony V (Oct 9, 2017)

I got the site to work by clicking on it through Google, but when I get to the site, most of the stations and route pages have large amounts of Mandarin Chinese characters as text, I can't read Mandarin (and I doubt many people on this site can)! Is this just a bug they still haven't worked out on the new site, or are we going to have to learn to read Mandarin in order to use Amtrak.com.


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## AmarilloByMornin (Oct 9, 2017)

Just for fun I tried booking a future trip, just to see how it's working. It didn't have the same look it had earlier but I was able to navigate it. The first screen didn't offer senior passage so I chose adult. Next screen showed the base price of $129 for a coach seat. There was a link for upgrade options which showed the additional price above the base for the various upgrades, biz class, roomette and bedrooms, So I chose one and went on. The next screen gave me the opportunity to change my status to senior. When I did that, the base price became $136.85, about a 10% increase...

I expect the phone reservation lines are busy today.

Even if they did the math wrong, adding instead of subtracting, I thought the senior discount was 15%.


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## the_traveler (Oct 9, 2017)

One problem I see is that to use the disability discount, you must call. And apparently if you want any discounts (AAA, Senior, NARP, etc...) - the only options are adult, child and infant.

You no longer can check a discount fare.


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 9, 2017)

the_traveler said:


> One problem I see is that to use the disability discount, you must call. And apparently if you want any discounts (AAA, Senior, NARP, etc...) - the only options are adult, child and infant.
> 
> You no longer can check a discount fare.


This is only because they they have the Amtrak.com Lite version up right now. The new website does have the ability to book discounts- I checked it out yesterday.


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## SarahZ (Oct 9, 2017)

AmtrakBlue said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > One problem I see is that to use the disability discount, you must call. And apparently if you want any discounts (AAA, Senior, NARP, etc...) - the only options are adult, child and infant.
> ...


Ditto. I was able to select my AAA discount yesterday.


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## jebr (Oct 9, 2017)

AmarilloByMornin said:


> Just for fun I tried booking a future trip, just to see how it's working. It didn't have the same look it had earlier but I was able to navigate it. The first screen didn't offer senior passage so I chose adult. Next screen showed the base price of $129 for a coach seat. There was a link for upgrade options which showed the additional price above the base for the various upgrades, biz class, roomette and bedrooms, So I chose one and went on. The next screen gave me the opportunity to change my status to senior. When I did that, the base price became $136.85, about a 10% increase...
> 
> I expect the phone reservation lines are busy today.
> 
> Even if they did the math wrong, adding instead of subtracting, I thought the senior discount was 15%.


This is likely because the $129 rate was a saver rate, ineligible for discounts. When the senior option was chosen, it reverted to a higher value fare and took the discount off of that.
This isn't the "new website," though, just a basic version when the main website fails.


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## Bob Dylan (Oct 9, 2017)

Currently (@ 630pm CDT/10/09) logging on to the full amtrak.com shows a message that due to "issues" one can only book one way and roundtrip fares and check train status.

All other features are unavailable.


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## Skyline (Oct 9, 2017)

Until this new Amtrak site is fully functional, without bugs, why can't they simply revert to the old site which worked reasonably well?

At my company, we go through something like this with our intranet every time it undergoes changes--some of those significant, involving a new OS. There is ALWAYS the option to back out of the "new" and temporarily go back to the "old" until the "new" is proven through exhaustive testing to be ready for prime time. This has actually happened more than once, unfortunately. Is this beyond the Amtrak IT department's capabilities?

I really hate when software developers unleash a Beta version to the public sphere so real-world users can do the developers' job of discovering bugs. I know some computer nerds will disagree, claiming a new system can't be fully evaluated unless thousands of simultaneous users are in queue. Bull! There is a software solution to simulate thousands of users without infuriating the public.

That is sort of what happened when the original ACA website was launched. That is part of the reason the ACA never reached its full potential. Now Amtrak? Exasperating!


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## TinCan782 (Oct 9, 2017)

Skyline said:


> Until this new Amtrak site is fully functional, without bugs, why can't they simply revert to the old site which worked reasonably well?


Been wondering the same thing!


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## SP&S (Oct 10, 2017)

Maglev said:


> I was just looking to see if the new _Cascades_ schedule was posted, and I found this description of the _Cascades _ route:
> 
> Amtrak CascadesBoston - Vancouver, BC - Seattle - Tacoma - Portland - Salem - Eugene
> 
> ...


The Talgos are nice but that's a long long haul without a sleeper. :wacko:


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## daybeers (Oct 10, 2017)

As of ~8:00 AM EST on 10/10, the new website is back up. I was seeing the Lite Mode at first, but after I refreshed the page while clearing its cache, it loaded the new page. This can be done by pressing Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, and Command+Shift+R on Mac.


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## jis (Oct 10, 2017)

Vouchers still not working


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## willem (Oct 10, 2017)

PerRock said:


> The new website is set up with auto-scaling. So as your screen width gets smaller the website should flow into a tablet version then down into a mobile version. This functionality is pretty common these days across the internet, but is also pretty new. Some (mainly older versions of) browsers may break the auto-scaling. What browser are you using?


Firefox 56.0 on MacBook.


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## TiBike (Oct 10, 2017)

It's still a mess. The data entry bug is still there. A lot of information is missing. The bicycles page doesn't mention that you can roll up a bike and check it on long distance trains. The info is there for some of the corridor trains, but not LD. Even the PDF schedules are out of date -- a new schedule went into effect for the Surfliner yesterday, but the site still has the old schedule. The Coast Starlight schedule is from January 2016, before roll up check ins began.

There's a button to add a bike to a ticket on the CS, but if you didn't know about rollups, you'd think it was for checking boxed bikes -- that's what the info on the site points to.

I think the new look is fine. Personally, I prefer data-rich sites, but the new design is what websites look like these days. If the site ever becomes fully functional and the information is updated, it should be more useful for most people. Assuming that it responds quickly enough -- that's a combination of server hardware and architecture, and coding.

Right now, though, 48 hours after it was supposed to have gone live, it's still a botched job.


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## KmH (Oct 10, 2017)

Multi-City booking function is still AFU.

I hope there was a clause in the developer's contract that allowed for penalties if the web site failed to perform as intended at launch.

There's no excuse for this new site being so far from actually being functional.


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## PerRock (Oct 10, 2017)

daybeers said:


> As of ~8:00 AM EST on 10/10, the new website is back up. I was seeing the Lite Mode at first, but after I refreshed the page while clearing its cache, it loaded the new page. This can be done by pressing Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, and Command+Shift+R on Mac.


That depends on the browser, Chrome for example does not have a no-cache refresh (Google claims all refreshes are no-cache...)

peter


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## daybeers (Oct 10, 2017)

PerRock said:


> daybeers said:
> 
> 
> > As of ~8:00 AM EST on 10/10, the new website is back up. I was seeing the Lite Mode at first, but after I refreshed the page while clearing its cache, it loaded the new page. This can be done by pressing Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, and Command+Shift+R on Mac.
> ...


Huh, interesting. Then I suppose one could go into the browser settings and clear the entire cache.


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## the_traveler (Oct 10, 2017)

I just tried directly, and got the lite version (with the error message). However, I found a workaround! 

Pull-up the AGR site. On the top right is a link that says go to Amtrak.com. If you click that, youll get the full version with the senior fare!


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## jis (Oct 10, 2017)

I could get the senior fare even in the Lite mode. The problem has been the inability to access Vouchers in any mode at the present time.


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## CHamilton (Oct 11, 2017)

jis said:


> The problem has been the inability to access Vouchers in any mode at the present time.


I just made a reservation, and the voucher problem is still there. Clicking on "add vouchers" does nothing. Which is odd, because of the rest of the reservation system seems to be the old one, just reformatted.


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## Rover (Oct 11, 2017)

Skyline said:


> Could Amtrak be using the same webmaster as the original ACA site had? :help:


Now that's exactly what I was thinking!!!

Just more Embarrassment for the travel Industry and their website troubles...


----------



## Ronbo (Oct 11, 2017)

jis said:


> I could get the senior fare even in the Lite mode. The problem has been the inability to access Vouchers in any mode at the present time.


I just did a potential booking, SEA-PDX, just to see what would happen as far as payment options. Seems that the use of eVouchers is now available!


----------



## jis (Oct 11, 2017)

Show Vouchers still does not work for me, so as far as I am concerned Vouchers are unusable since I did not memorize my Voucher ids.


----------



## CHamilton (Oct 11, 2017)

jis said:


> Show Vouchers still does not work for me, so as far as I am concerned Vouchers are unusable since I did not memorize my Voucher ids.


They are showing up in My Account, My Trips, Vouchers, Show Vouchers. Try copying the voucher numbers and adding them manually. I haven't tried this yet, and am curious as to whether it will work.


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## Ronbo (Oct 11, 2017)

jis said:


> Show Vouchers still does not work for me, so as far as I am concerned Vouchers are unusable since I did not memorize my Voucher ids.


Okay, so I see what you mean by the Show Vouchers button not doing anything. I didn't go as far as actually trying that. However, when I tried a second time and still didn't get any results, I scrolled to the top of the page and clicked on my account. When that window opened, I clicked on My Trips. The voucher info shows up there. Then I hit the back button and got a prompt about whether or not to resubmit, clicked submit, and returned to the payment page with the vouchers then showing up. I hope this makes sense. Give it a try.


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## Ronbo (Oct 11, 2017)

CHamilton said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > Show Vouchers still does not work for me, so as far as I am concerned Vouchers are unusable since I did not memorize my Voucher ids.
> ...


You beat me to it!


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## jis (Oct 11, 2017)

I have given up on it for today and booked an air ticket instead [emoji6]Incompetence has consequences.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## Ronbo (Oct 11, 2017)

jis said:


> I have given up on it for today and booked an air ticket instead [emoji6]Incompetence has consequences.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


Sorry you had to give up on it. I just booked travel from SEA-PDX on the Coast Starlight in business class using just a portion of an eVoucher I had. No Problemo!


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## Chey (Oct 11, 2017)

I was able to book a trip 11 months in advance today. Maybe I could've done it the other day too, I don't know. My workaround was to put in what it considers a valid date (which is any date from tomorrow till 10 months out) and go through to the next page. Once I got to the next page I could change the date to the Sept 2018 date and select the type of fare I wanted and it let me go all the way through to purchase the ticket. My eTicket came to my email box right away.


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## Pere Flyer (Oct 11, 2017)

The desktop site still has issues jiving with the iOS app. Two weeks ago, I purchased with the app roundtrip tickets for this weekend. The tickets show up on the app, but not on the website. I don't remember that being an issue with the old site.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## PaulM (Oct 11, 2017)

TiBike said:


> I think the new look is fine. Personally, I prefer data-rich sites, but the new design is what websites look like these days.


The real question is what is so great about the new look that justifies the expense and frustration?

What do you mean by "data-rich" site? What new data are we getting?

About the only thing I see is that it takes an extra click to retrieve fares (you have to click DONE after a silly pop up before clicking FIND TRAINS).


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## jebr (Oct 11, 2017)

The one thing that does appear to be an improvement over the old site is the mobile web experience. It used to be a very old, extremely limted site that, while perhaps useful for a few things, didn't really offer a lot of information. The new website uses responsive design so it can show up well on screens of pretty much any size.

Of course, if the website isn't working properly that doesn't matter, but once those things are ironed out it will bring a much better experience to mobile browsers.


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## zephyr17 (Oct 11, 2017)

Seems to have settled down today.


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## LookingGlassTie (Oct 11, 2017)

I was just playing around with reservations on the website and I selected a hypothetical trip from NPN to ALX. What I found interesting is that one of the itineraries which was offered had me taking the 94 Northeast Regional all the way to WAS and then taking the 19 Crescent back toward ALX. Which was weird because another itinerary had me taking the same NER train straight to ALX without going all the way to WAS and then transferring.

Is that a glitch in the site, or is it a new way that Amtrak is doing travel itineraries? I don't recall having seen that before.


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## Pere Flyer (Oct 11, 2017)

LookingGlassTie said:


> I was just playing around with reservations on the website and I selected a hypothetical trip from NPN to ALX. What I found interesting is that one of the itineraries which was offered had me taking the 94 Northeast Regional all the way to WAS and then taking the 19 Crescent back toward ALX. Which was weird because another itinerary had me taking the same NER train straight to ALX without going all the way to WAS and then transferring.
> 
> Is that a glitch in the site, or is it a new way that Amtrak is doing travel itineraries? I don't recall having seen that before.


How did the two compare in travel time and price? Perhaps the Crescent itinerary was favorable in one metric or another?


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## Skyline (Oct 11, 2017)

zephyr17 said:


> Seems to have settled down today.


Nope. Using Chrome, it still fails trying to go to https://www.amtrak.com/home

As it has for days now, here is what I get:

We are currently conducting site maintenance.Sorry, our site is temporarily unavailable. We are working to address this issue.

Please try again shortly. Or, for immediate assistance, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

Thank you for your patience.

Reference #


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## Pere Flyer (Oct 11, 2017)

Skyline said:


> zephyr17 said:
> 
> 
> > Seems to have settled down today.
> ...


I'm using Chrome, and that link works for me.


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## niemi24s (Oct 11, 2017)

I too use Chrome, but it doesn't work for me as of about 2 minutes ago. Probably one of those infernal square electrons.


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## jis (Oct 11, 2017)

Ronbo said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > Show Vouchers still does not work for me, so as far as I am concerned Vouchers are unusable since I did not memorize my Voucher ids.
> ...


I am happy you have the time to play with this. I don't. Thanks for the suggestion. However as I mentioned, my booking for the trip I was working on is done and Amtrak did not make the cut this time. Hopefully when my next trip comes around Amtrak's quality of user interface will be able to give it a chance to be in the running for potential selection.  

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 12, 2017)

Skyline said:


> zephyr17 said:
> 
> 
> > Seems to have settled down today.
> ...


You need to clear or refresh your cache. Your computer still thinks that address is the old one./home is now /home.html

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## jis (Oct 12, 2017)

You mean /home.html?


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 12, 2017)

jis said:


> You mean /home.html?


Yes. Thanks, I fixed it.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## Skyline (Oct 12, 2017)

AmtrakBlue said:


> Skyline said:
> 
> 
> > zephyr17 said:
> ...


Nope. I cleared the cache. Physically TYPED https://www.amtrak.com/home.html

This is what I am STILL getting...

We are currently conducting site maintenance.Sorry, our site is temporarily unavailable. We are working to address this issue.

Please try again shortly. Or, for immediate assistance, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

Thank you for your patience.

Reference #

_*****_

_Work computer. Chrome is only option, because it updates everything across server and all workstations, even company cell phones._


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## KmH (Oct 12, 2017)

I use Chrome and can access the new web site.

I just type amtrak.com.


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## jis (Oct 12, 2017)

Still can't update my Profile, or get to the Vouchers directly. One can work around the Voucher problem using the trick suggested by mondo a few posts back. Don't know a work around the profile update issue.

On flyertalk the discussion of Amtrak's new web site petered out on the 10th with the general consensus that the site is just broken. There have been no further posts since then.


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## Chey (Oct 12, 2017)

Pere Flyer said:


> LookingGlassTie said:
> 
> 
> > I was just playing around with reservations on the website and I selected a hypothetical trip from NPN to ALX. What I found interesting is that one of the itineraries which was offered had me taking the 94 Northeast Regional all the way to WAS and then taking the 19 Crescent back toward ALX. Which was weird because another itinerary had me taking the same NER train straight to ALX without going all the way to WAS and then transferring.
> ...


LOL, I got that option too, looking at NOL-ALX. Pretty weird.

It actually cost more to go to WAS and then back to ALX!! Although it does give me the option of a different arrival time at ALX, not that I would want to pay more for something like that.


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## neroden (Oct 12, 2017)

I also hope there were some penalties for the developers. They obviously didn't have a test protocol before the site went live, which is absurd.


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## TiBike (Oct 12, 2017)

If the website is more attractive to potential customers, and consequently generates more business, it's worth the money. That's basic marketing. The frustration? That's poor implementation, not bad visual design.

I wasn't clear -- I don't consider the new site to be data rich. The PDF schedules are data rich -- there's a large amount of data that's accessible and understandable (with a bit of mental exertion) at a single glance. That's not the direction that online marketing is heading, though. So even though it's not to my taste, I think the new website is fine, or would be if it were competently implemented.



PaulM said:


> TiBike said:
> 
> 
> > I think the new look is fine. Personally, I prefer data-rich sites, but the new design is what websites look like these days.
> ...


----------



## C855B (Oct 12, 2017)

[sigh]

Most of the buttons don't work for me; the site is all but useless. This is like other recently (over-)designed sites these days that don't work on my browser config. I think in my case there must be javascript functions I have blocked because they are tools "the bad guys" use to tunnel viruses, etc.

Change is one thing, change that breaks stuff without adding function, features or utility is another. :angry2:


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## west point (Oct 12, 2017)

One thing is that if sleepers are sold out or close to sold out premium column will show Business class 1st if it is scheduled on a train. You then have to select the arrow to get sleeper space whether some spots available or sold out ? That may increase BC sales a lot ?


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## lo2e (Oct 13, 2017)

One new "enhancement" to the site is that the page where the monthly performance reports are posted has completely disappeared. I don't know if it is going to come back or if the reports on it are being moved to a different part of the site. Previously, that page was a part of the "News and Media" portion of the website, but now clicking on News and Media takes you to the all-new (or at least new to me) media.amtrak.com site with absolutely no mention of performance reports. I hope they don't disappear completely. hboy:


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## jis (Oct 13, 2017)

lo2e said:


> One new "enhancement" to the site is that the page where the monthly performance reports are posted has completely disappeared. I don't know if it is going to come back or if the reports on it are being moved to a different part of the site. Previously, that page was a part of the "News and Media" portion of the website, but now clicking on News and Media takes you to the all-new (or at least new to me) media.amtrak.com site with absolutely no mention of performance reports. I hope they don't disappear completely. hboy:


They are under "Reports and Documents" at https://www.amtrak.com/about-amtrak/reports-documents.html


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## lo2e (Oct 13, 2017)

jis said:


> They are under "Reports and Documents" at https://www.amtrak.com/about-amtrak/reports-documents.html


Oh, thank you! That'll teach me to use Google... next time I'll just ask here!


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## jis (Oct 13, 2017)

lo2e said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > They are under "Reports and Documents" at https://www.amtrak.com/about-amtrak/reports-documents.html
> ...


Dunno. I just went to the "About Amtrak" page and looked it up, without using any fancy search engine  Sometimes engaging ones own brain instead of depending on mindless search engines yields better results I suppose


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## RSG (Oct 14, 2017)

Amtrak Lite is once again in effect this morning...

Also, the home page advises users to also use the app in addition to calling, but much of the app basic functionality is also impaired.


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## Hytec (Oct 15, 2017)

Is the system wide schedule selection still available? I'm referring to the pages that listed NEC #1, #2. and #3, or the ones for each train. I use these most times when I trying to decide on connections, especially with the NEC.

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed, but I read the first three pages and didn't see it.


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## Hytec (Oct 15, 2017)

Hytec said:


> Is the system wide schedule selection still available? I'm referring to the pages that listed NEC #1, #2. and #3, or the ones for each train. I use these most times when I trying to decide on connections, especially with the NEC.
> 
> I'm sorry if this has already been addressed, but I read the first three pages and didn't see it.


Forget it, just found the link in a "lower left corner". I would have expected that a timetable link would have been made more obvious. However, I get the sense that the "new" Amtrak wants to do everything for the traveler, rather than expecting that they might be able to think for themselves.


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## west point (Oct 15, 2017)

Well if you found timetables where ? ? ?

can you provide a link ?


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## Ryan (Oct 15, 2017)

They're cleverly hidden under "Schedules" with a link that says "Get downloadable schedules for all routes".

Sneaky bastards.


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## PaulM (Oct 16, 2017)

KmH said:


> I like the new look.
> 
> Much more modern and clean.


I don't mean to pick on you specifically because others have said the same thing.

Could you point me to something like "Modern and Clean Web Design for Dummies" or a text book for a course entitled "Computer Science 101: Principles of millennial website design"?

From what y'all are saying it seems that principle #1 is to make the action area (where the customer is working at the moment) as small as possible.

Principle #2 is to surrounded the action area by as many distractions as possible.

Principle #3 is to require as many clicks as possible for the straight forward request.

Principle #4 is to have drop downs and pop ups cover at least part of the action area whenever your mouse hand twitches.

etc.


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## PaulM (Oct 16, 2017)

I'm surprised to see that you can now select an upper or lower room. Interesting also is the fact that on this two segment trip, BC on the first segment and a roomette on the second cost only $4 more than coach all the way.

I clicked on "Add to Cart" to see if this was for real; but the summary box on the upper left is no longer provided (that would fowl up the clean, new look). When I got to the point where it wanted my credit card, I gave up.


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## jebr (Oct 16, 2017)

My guess is that it's another bug where it's not properly switching to 1 Reserved Coach Seat. Once I keep going through, doing the drop down of the summary in the upper right shows that it becomes a "Reserved Coach Fare."


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## Hytec (Oct 16, 2017)

I am a bit disappointed that Amtrak management, or their webmaster felt it necessary to build a completely new architecture from the ground up. The previous site was well laid out, convenient, and easy to maneuver, even for a dinosaur like myself. For instance it would have been quite easy for the webmaster to expand the Superliner sleeper selection to include Upper/Lower. I can easily imagine that some lower level newbie at 60 Mass. Ave. NE got the bright idea to attract the Millennial generation with something new and exciting that would be flashy like their smart phones, regardless if it was good idea. When it was pitched upwards, the always disconnected management thought it sounded good and approved it because their grandchildren were always praising their smart phones. Of course management never uses the website for travel, they buzz their secretary.

There was a wonderful article in one of my trade journals 40-50 years ago whose title was, "Mr. CEO, When Was The Last Time You Called Your Company's Phone Number To See What Your Potential Customer Hears?". I would love to have that article updated and force current company executives, including Amtrak's, try to maneuver their automated call routing systems and websites. I imagine there would be a number of changes made quickly, especially if their wives/husbands made those calls. :angry:

OK, so I'm opinionated, but they say I'm Lovable..... :giggle:


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## Bob Dylan (Oct 16, 2017)

Hytec wins this thread hands down!


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## VAtrainfan (Oct 16, 2017)

Pere Flyer said:


> Like it or not, this is what most websites look like in 2017. As bugs get squashed and features tweaked, I believe this redesign is a major step in Amtrak courting those under the age of 35.


When I read this, I was worried that Amtrak had followed the general trend of light grey text on a white background or white text on a light grey background, like all things iOS tend to insist upon these days. Just checked it out, and I'm glad my fears were unfounded. The new site actually looks rather nice.


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## willem (Oct 17, 2017)

Bob Dylan said:


> Hytec wins this thread hands down!


Wins, yes. Hands down, maybe not so much. *PaulM* had a pretty good list of principles that might have guided development of the new site, which could be considered complementary to *Hytec*'s scenario of approval for the site.


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## Devil's Advocate (Oct 17, 2017)

willem said:


> Bob Dylan said:
> 
> 
> > Hytec wins this thread hands down!
> ...


I agree with both take downs but I'm also curious to hear a thoughtful explanation for why Millennials would think this new site is better than the last. Other than being fat and flat enough for fingertips to tap I don't see the benefit. Additional selections like radio buttons for upper and lower floors could have easily been added to the previous site, so to me that's not much of a draw on its own. Personally, I think the new website is a genuine improvement over the old _mobile_ site and I believe it would have made a lot more sense to roll this out as a new mobile site instead of a new primary website.


----------



## PerRock (Oct 17, 2017)

Devil's Advocate said:


> willem said:
> 
> 
> > Bob Dylan said:
> ...


I don't know why it's a Millennial issue that the website got redesigned. In fact based off from what I see around Amtrak, there aren't that many millennials working for Amtrak. But as a "millennial" (although I think of myself as Gen-Y) I'll try and explain for you old fogies.

*The new "main" website is the same website as the mobile one.* It is what we call "responsive;" meaning that no matter what size your screen is, you'll have (almost) full functionality. If you take your browser window on your computer and make it narrower and narrower you'll see the website "magically" redesign it's self to fit your screen.

The old main site did not work on smaller screens. Depending on your browser it either tried to resize it's self down, breaking links, causing drop-downs to get confused, etc. Or It just wouldn't resize at all, meaning that you have to zoom in and swipe around to find something. Not to mention, that hover-dropdowns just don't work on touch screens. Try this as an example: Grab a microscope, flip your dictionary open to a random page, then try and find a word elsewhere in the dictionary while only looking thru the microscope.

Yes, the old site had a mobile version, but it regularly did not work & had very limited information. It also was a completely different website. In the new "mobile" site, you have all the information the "main" site has, but displayed for a smaller touch screen. As maintenance goes, they only have to change something on the "main" website & because the "main" website is the "mobile" website that change is reflected there.

As to why they couldn't have just made some stuff bigger on the old site. At that point you're going to have to redesign things regardless, making something bigger for touch means that _everything _below it on the page _has_ to be tweaked. At that point your redesigning the whole site already, so it makes sense to make it responsive.

The new site also incorporates a print-design which the old site did not. Now when you print a webpage, it prints a page designed for a printer. That means things are sized down for paper, less color, more contrast, no interactive elements that can be lost (forms are notorious for breaking when printed), etc.

There may also be accessibility features that the new site incorporates that the old one did not. Accessibility is often a big driving factor for government website redesigns.

HTH

Peter


----------



## neroden (Oct 17, 2017)

PerRock said:


> There may also be accessibility features that the new site incorporates that the old one did not. Accessibility is often a big driving factor for government website redesigns.


I strongly suspect this is the primary reason. The new site looks screen-reader and large-print friendly. So that's good.

However, they still should have tested it before rolling it out!

Right now the AGR site is broken. They seem to have some rollout procedure problems. :-(


----------



## jis (Oct 17, 2017)

Yeah. I think the intention is good. The execution leaves much to be desired.

I have been playing with the mobile version of the new page, and it still needs quite a bit of work to become truly "responsive". But they are headed in the right direction, and there is a reason that they have not announced the mobile version yet, though anyone can bring it up in a browser on any device, since the full scale version is the mobile version which automatically rearranege itself to suite the screen size - or well - it is supposed to but doesn't quite do it yet.


----------



## willem (Oct 17, 2017)

I just noticed that the Amtrak home page now fits in my browser window. Since my screen is unchanged, I suspect that someone tweaked something that tells the web site how to fit in a window (but maybe it's because I closed my browser and re-opened it).

In any event, I'm happier not scrolling horizontally.


----------



## Devil's Advocate (Oct 17, 2017)

PerRock said:


> The old main site did not work on smaller screens. Depending on your browser it either tried to resize it's self down, breaking links, causing drop-downs to get confused, etc. Or It just wouldn't resize at all, meaning that you have to zoom in and swipe around to find something. Not to mention, that hover-dropdowns just don't work on touch screens.


Personally I found the old desktop site to be practical on a tablet but tedious on a phone screen. The old mobile site was so limited it wasn't worth bothering with regardless.



PerRock said:


> Yes, the old site had a mobile version, but it regularly did not work & had very limited information. It also was a completely different website. In the new "mobile" site, you have all the information the "main" site has, but displayed for a smaller touch screen. As maintenance goes, they only have to change something on the "main" website & because the "main" website is the "mobile" website that change is reflected there.


I don't think there is much opposition to replacing the previous mobile site. The old mobile site was far too limited and the new site will be an objective improvement there. I also agree that having both sites using similar designs and templates is an obvious benefit. However, inadvertently trashing important desktop website functionality as part of the upgrade process has made it more difficult for me to plan and purchase a trip with a currently unusable account credit. Better to deploy to the mobile side first, where the affected volume and severity of impact is likely to be substantially reduced, and then replace the primary site later after any migration problems are resolved and everything is functioning properly.



PerRock said:


> The new site also incorporates a print-design which the old site did not. Now when you print a webpage, it prints a page designed for a printer. That means things are sized down for paper, less color, more contrast, no interactive elements that can be lost (forms are notorious for breaking when printed), etc. There may also be accessibility features that the new site incorporates that the old one did not. Accessibility is often a big driving factor for government website redesigns.


The rest of the travel industry seems to be doing what they can to get away from casual printing. My phone and ID can get me from the airport curb through security and into my aircraft seat, so I'm not sure why this would be considered a major benefit in and of itself. However, the accessibility aspect makes a lot of sense as a major design factor.


----------



## jis (Oct 17, 2017)

Yeah, for travel purposes I have dispensed with printed paper almost entirely.

Interestingly, at airports equipped with Clear, I don;t even have to pull out my Id, since my Id is in my fingertips, in a manner of speaking. So just the smartphone suffices.


----------



## PerRock (Oct 17, 2017)

Devil's Advocate said:


> PerRock said:
> 
> 
> > Yes, the old site had a mobile version, but it regularly did not work & had very limited information. It also was a completely different website. In the new "mobile" site, you have all the information the "main" site has, but displayed for a smaller touch screen. As maintenance goes, they only have to change something on the "main" website & because the "main" website is the "mobile" website that change is reflected there.
> ...


The point of a responsive site is that you do not have a "mobile" site and a "main" site. It's all literally the same site. Because of this, you cannot (ok there are ways...) realistically roll out only a mobile upgrade and keep the main, it's all one thing.

If they wanted to change the navigation bar from "Destinations" to, say, "Stations" they only need to do it one place (since it's all the same file) and the change is reflected on the other "versions" of the website.

ps. After writing my fun fact below... A better way to think of it as "formats" not "sites."


Fun fact, if your screen is narrower than 1000px then you'll get the Tablet formatting, narrower than 690px, you get the Phone formatting; anything wider than 1000px, and it the standard formatting.

peter


----------



## west point (Oct 17, 2017)

For the trains having Business Class there now is no way to book BC except calling. Is not even shown of trains section.

My IE-10 will not let me touch screen expand or compact. Have to use control - or + to adjust screen so not to have to go horizontal.


----------



## Devil's Advocate (Oct 17, 2017)

My point is more about isolation of issues rather than division of experiences. Amtrak could maintain the goal of having both mobile and desktop sites becoming a unified destination, but start out by only serving the new site to devices specifically requesting the mobile version. Meanwhile the primary desktop site would remain fully functional during the initial roll out to maintain full functionality until it was replaced after most of the bugs and other complications had been worked out. This assumes they'd planned the middleware changes to support both sites simultaneously. In that situation mobile users would benefit with improved functionality in exchange for helping to troubleshoot the initial result before it became the one and only site for everyone.


----------



## Ryan (Oct 17, 2017)

west point said:


> For the trains having Business Class there now is no way to book BC except calling. Is not even shown of trains section.


For corridor trains, it is right there.
For LD trains (I checked the Crescent), it's there in the premium column, you just have to use the arrows. It's misnamed as a roomette, but it's there:









west point said:


> My IE-10 will not let me touch screen expand or compact. Have to use control - or + to adjust screen so not to have to go horizontal.


IE 11 works fine on my work laptop. Maybe stop using an unsupported browser?


----------



## jis (Oct 17, 2017)

It works just fine on the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome and Safari (on my iPhone), except the scaling and formatting still needs a little work for the phone form. That is why they have not announced it for devices yet I suppose.


----------



## west point (Oct 17, 2017)

Good catch on the finding the Business class AKA Roomette. Now how are the other 99 out of 100 going to find it ? ?


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## Ryan (Oct 17, 2017)

It was the same way under the old site.


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## TiBike (Oct 18, 2017)

So, for giggles, I googled "Principles of millennial website design", and here are the top 10 results:

Five design principles to attract the Millennial traveller - tnooz

The Seven Principles of Millennial-Minded Design for Customer ...
The Design Principles of Simplicity - Speckyboy
How to design UX for millennials | Webdesigner Depot
The In-Depth Guide to Branding for Millennials - Tim B Design
Designing for Young Adults (Ages 18-25) | Nielsen Norman Group
Top Web Design Trends To Watch In 2017 - Forbes
8 Effective Web Design Principles You Should Know - ConversionXL
Applying the principles of psychology to design - Marketing Week
Crafting UX/UI for the Millennial Audience - UX Motel
It boils down to keep the design simple and uncluttered, thinking is done on the server side, and execute competently.

The new Amtrak site gets two out of three.



PaulM said:


> Could you point me to something like "Modern and Clean Web Design for Dummies" or a text book for a course entitled "Computer Science 101: Principles of millennial website design"?


----------



## AmtrakBlue (Oct 18, 2017)

Ryan said:


> It was the same way under the old site.


Except it was called Business Class on the old site (not Viewliner Roomette).


Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## willem (Oct 18, 2017)

Devil's Advocate said:


> However, inadvertently trashing important desktop website functionality as part of the upgrade process has made it more difficult for me to plan and purchase a trip with a currently unusable account credit.


I have long thought that a primary goal in sales would be to make it easy for the customer to decide he or she wants to give the company money. I am repeatedly surprised by uninformative (at best) websites that want me to click here or add to cart without providing enough description of the product for me to make an informed choice. (The most recent example is a hotel that offered several gradations of rooms without a description of what changes.)

On the plus side, I do have more money and fewer possessions than I would if web sites were more informative.


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## jis (Oct 18, 2017)

Has anyone received an emailed eTicket for a reservation made using the new website yet?


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## John Bobinyec (Oct 18, 2017)

Good one, jis. I have bought several tickets via the new site, and have received no emails.

jb


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## jis (Oct 18, 2017)

So how are people printing their e-Tickets these days for reservations made using the new web site?

That would appear to be a fundamentally essential feature for using e-Tickets for presentation to the train crew?


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## TiBike (Oct 18, 2017)

The site is still giving out the wrong information about bicycles. The "Trainside Checked Bicycle Service" drop down on the "Bring your bike onboard the train" page under the "On board" tab under the "Experience" tab only lists corridor trains. Nothing about long distance trains. A reasonably intelligent person should infer from the text that the corridor train info means rolling up unboxed bikes, but it isn't explicitly stated.

If you book an LD train, there's a button for bicycles, but all the hover-over text says is "This train accommodates bikes. If space is available, select them in this reservation on the Add-Ons page". Based on the information that's on the Bring your bike page, the logical conclusion would be that you're booking a space for a boxed bike.

The PDF schedules only make it more confusing. The Coast Starlight PDF schedule is still pre-roll up service (January 2016) and was never revised. The California Zephyr PDF is also from January 2016, but it was revised with updated bike language. The Empire Builder was updated this year and also has updated bike language. But it's as vague as the roll over text:



> Trainside checked bicycle service offered between staffed locations handling checked baggage. Customers will check in with the station agent, get a claim check/baggage tag for their bike, and hand up to a crew member inside the baggage car. Visit Amtrak.com/bikes for more information.


Again, based on the new bike page, it's easy to conclude they're referring to boxed bikes.

Regardless of whatever design wizardry they're attempting, the ancient law of computing still applies: garbage in, garbage out.


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## niemi24s (Oct 18, 2017)

jis said:


> Has anyone received an emailed eTicket for a reservation made using the new website yet?


I received one at 2157hrs on 16 Oct 2017.


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## Thirdrail7 (Oct 18, 2017)

I'm having trouble finding information about services in or around the stations. It seems like information regarding the availability of red caps, taxis and connecting transit have been eliminated. It still has the map but parking information is as vague as ever.


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## AG1 (Oct 19, 2017)

There are 100+ posts above that have pointed out problems with the revised Amtrak website. 
How many of you have contacted Amtrak directly and informed them of the mistakes, shortcomings, unworkability and omissions of the new site. I don't see any posts about a reply on a complaint made to Amtrak.


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 19, 2017)

RRRick said:


> There are 100+ posts above that have pointed out problems with the revised Amtrak website.
> 
> How many of you have contacted Amtrak directly and informed them of the mistakes, shortcomings, unworkability and omissions of the new site. I don't see any posts about a reply on a complaint made to Amtrak.


On Sunday when it first rolled out, I did contact Amtrak via their FB page (a PM) (since the link to "contact us" was broken, too). They responded back and we went back an forth a few times. As I recall, the person I was "talking" to was happy that I contacted them about the issue I was reporting. Eventually my issue was fixed (just double checked it).


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## ChuckL (Oct 19, 2017)

RRRick said:


> There are 100+ posts above that have pointed out problems with the revised Amtrak website.
> 
> How many of you have contacted Amtrak directly and informed them of the mistakes, shortcomings, unworkability and omissions of the new site. I don't see any posts about a reply on a complaint made to Amtrak.


Prior to this fiasco of a new website, I had another issue with the iOS mobile app. The regular Amtrak agent transferred me to Internet support, so there's actually a possibility that you could be connected to someone that could carry the concerns forward to, dare i think it, problem resolution. 
I'm retired from IT after 30 plus years and this frankly has to be one of the worst software upgrades and migrations that I've seen. But I I'll be good and keep biting my tongue so I don't say what I've really wanted to say for the past couple of weeks.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## TiBike (Oct 19, 2017)

Just wrestled through my first booking on the new site. It wouldn't let me change a booking I had already started from one way to round trip, then my credit card disappeared from my account. It was there, I clicked to book, the response came back saying that the card had expired (it hadn't and it was showing correctly). When I went back to reenter it, my card info had disappeared. I tried logging out and logging back in and it was still gone. Had to reenter it.

On the plus side, I did get a PDF confirmation via email very quickly.

ChuckL - +1


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## west point (Oct 19, 2017)

No replys here yet !


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## neroden (Oct 20, 2017)

People should definitely give specific complaints to Amtrak. I haven't actually made a booking since the new site was rolled out, so I haven't felt that I could give a proper bug report.


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## jis (Oct 20, 2017)

Unfortunately Amtrak seems to be trying to do requirements gathering and the entire development project in terms of a giant bug report


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## quadrock (Oct 20, 2017)

I made several reservations on the new website two days ago and immediately received email confirmations for all of them. All my reservations show up correctly under "My Trips" on the website as well as under "Upcoming Trips" on the app, so it looks like they were at least able to resolve some of the reported issues.


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## Chey (Oct 20, 2017)

niemi24s said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > Has anyone received an emailed eTicket for a reservation made using the new website yet?
> ...


Same here, I had mine within a minute of making a reservation on the new site.


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## AmtrakBlue (Oct 20, 2017)

jis said:


> Unfortunately Amtrak seems to be trying to do requirements gathering and the entire development project in terms of a giant bug report


Kinda sounds like the people at my work. Getting complete requirements AND good data to work with is like pulling teeth.


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## jis (Oct 20, 2017)

I have a recent reservation that was modified by Amtrak to reflect a change in schedule. After they made the change, the changed itinerary appears fine on my Smartphone Amtrak App, but the itinerary content has disappeared from the Amtrak web site. Sigh. The original booking was done on the new Amtrak web site.

I just requested an email of the eTicket. Let's see what happens. When I made the original reservation no email was sent to me, and now even the content of the itinerary is blank. Needless to say, I am yet to be able to print any eTicket out.

Fortunately I have preserved the essentials of it on my Apple Wallet.

This whole thing is pretty disconcerting when compared to the few airline reservation web sites that I use often.


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## PaulM (Oct 22, 2017)

I've been getting this since yesterday afternoon.


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## keith9016 (Oct 22, 2017)

PaulM said:


> I've been getting this since yesterday afternoon.


Likewise




Guess that is why Amsnag 2.01 is returning strange results!


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## Rover (Oct 24, 2017)

ChuckL said:


> I'm retired from IT after 30 plus years and this frankly has to be one of the worst software upgrades and migrations that I've seen. But I I'll be good and keep biting my tongue so I don't say what I've really wanted to say for the past couple of weeks.


The worst migration I have ever been a part of in my lifetime was the change in Texas when the Electricity market was de-regulated in 2002, (except for those served by a company owned by a municipality or a utility cooperative.) If Texas were an independent nation, its electricity market would be the 11th largest in the world.

All orders for residential and commercial electric service, start service, and stop service, for about 85% of the state now went through a clearing house, who was then supposed to notify each local operator of power stations and power lines to start or stop or repair service.

Many hundreds of thousands of orders for stops and order for starts statewide, got delayed for months at the clearing house, due to programming glitches that _somehow_ had not been foreseen in the pre-lauch "testing". One of the larger electric providers, poo pooed the problems by stating that over 98% of all service orders had been accomplished. Well, yeah, with 6 million customers statewide, that 2% of orders still mucked up in the "pipeline" was a LOT of customers calling in to sort out their problems. And that was 2% of all orders over many months... as old orders finally got fixed, new orders coming in were being delayed.

I know, because I worked in the telephone frontline customer service for a large electric provider.

Before de-regulation, there might have been 3 or 4 times a day when the call light turned yellow to indicate that there were customers holding. That usually cleared up after 10-15 minutes.

But, after the de-regualtion mess got into full swing, I would log into my phone pad in the morning, and the call light would be red, meaning there were many many customers already on hold. And the call light stayed red all day long, and was red when I logged off each day.

Eventually, after many months, the programmers contracted to come in and fix the mess got it fixed.

But you would have just expected more testing for a $24 Billion electric market. Texas, after all wasn't the first state to de-regulate their electric market...

I say all that, particularly, because before de-regulation the utility company operation was regulated by Govt. And Amtrak, is also Govt. regulated.


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## jis (Oct 25, 2017)

Has anyone been successful in updating their Profile using the new website? I seem to be having singular level of non-success over the last week or so. All that I am trying to do is change a telephone number.


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## TiBike (Oct 26, 2017)

It's still sloppy and confusing as all get out. The text for "required medical devices" and "bicycles and bicycle trailers" on the baggage policy page is swapped. The way it reads, only bicycles, bicycle trailers and folding bicycles qualify as medical devices. Personally, I think that's fine, but some people might have an issue with it



.

On the plus side, the page lists long distance trains as having trainside checked bike service, while the dedicated bicycle page still does not. Even so, it's not clear about where roll up service is available or what, exactly, it is.


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## John Bobinyec (Oct 26, 2017)

Getting the correct train status interactively is a bit tricky. For example, I checked the status of a train yesterday, the 25th. Today, the first time I wanted to check on a train, the date (26th) was already filled in. So I just sent off the request. It came back with YESTERDAY'S data. So evidently the pre-filled-in time is just for guidance. The first time you need to look up a train for that date, you need to click on the date.

jb


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## jis (Oct 26, 2017)

I managed to get the site to finally send me an email by over-writing the pre-filled in email address with the same address. Spectacular user friendliness I see.


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## PaulM (Oct 26, 2017)

Is anyone still getting this using *firefox*? Internet explorer does load Amtrak's home page.



PaulM said:


> I've been getting this since yesterday afternoon.


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## keith9016 (Oct 26, 2017)

PaulM said:


> Is anyone still getting this using *firefox*? Internet explorer does load Amtrak's home page.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Can't speak for Firefox but IE, Chrome and Safari work for me although did have to clear cookies in Safari. Amsnag fare watch still appears to be down on all three browsers though


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## willem (Oct 26, 2017)

Using Firefox on a Mac, I just got to the Amtrak home page with no error. Since I didn't ask it to do anything, it did everything I asked.


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## jis (Oct 26, 2017)

I have had no problem getting to the site using Firefox, Chrome, Safari, IE or even Edge the last few days. Of course once you get there it is a crap shoot, but that is a separate rant.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## daybeers (Oct 27, 2017)

All good on Firefox with Windows 10 here!


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## PerRock (Oct 27, 2017)

PaulM said:


> Is anyone still getting this using *firefox*? Internet explorer does load Amtrak's home page.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Try clearing your cache. If I recall it's a [shift]+[F5] to get FF to refresh and not use cache. Either that or change your DNS.

peter


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## Maglev (Oct 27, 2017)

Maglev said:


> I was just looking to see if the new _Cascades_ schedule was posted, and I found this description of the _Cascades _ route:
> 
> Amtrak CascadesBoston - Vancouver, BC - Seattle - Tacoma - Portland - Salem - Eugene
> 
> ...



This error has now been corrected.


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## PaulM (Oct 28, 2017)

PerRock said:


> PaulM said:
> 
> 
> > I've been getting this since yesterday afternoon.
> ...


Thanks for trying, but clearing cache, refreshing FF, and reinstalling it didn't work (notebook, Windows 10.

But it does work with Firefox on my Windows 7 desktop. So, hypothetically speaking, how does the same URL on one machine- operating system-browser combination retrieve a different web page than all other combinations. Incidentally, I'm googling Amtrak to get to https://www.amtrak.com/home/;so it's not like I'm entering a bad URL.


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## jis (Oct 28, 2017)

Dunno what’s going on with you. FF on Windows 10 works just fine for me for accessing the amtrak.com site.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## keelhauled (Oct 28, 2017)

jis said:


> Has anyone been successful in updating their Profile using the new website? I seem to be having singular level of non-success over the last week or so. All that I am trying to do is change a telephone number.


I just tried and it worked fine for me. Using Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.


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## jis (Oct 28, 2017)

keelhauled said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > Has anyone been successful in updating their Profile using the new website? I seem to be having singular level of non-success over the last week or so. All that I am trying to do is change a telephone number.
> ...


Surprisingly, I was able to do it using Safari on an iPhone (not the mobile app). Just logged into amtrak.com using Safari. 
So chalk that one up for a possible FF specific problem with the amtrak.com site.

Oh, and it also let me login using my email address as the id, and did not insist on my AGR number.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## jis (Oct 28, 2017)

Thankfully the train status system finally started working properly.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## jis (Oct 31, 2017)

jis said:


> keelhauled said:
> 
> 
> > jis said:
> ...


Well, the Profile change that I thought I had succeeded with was a fake success indication from the web site, since the change did not go to the database. So no, it is not an FF problem. Same result from Chrome too. haven't tried IE or Edge. Maybe it only works from Microsoftware, who knows?
Also, apparently now they have a secret list of acceptable domains to which they will send emails. They will silently ignore other email addresses and leave you wondering what happened. At least I know they will send email to att.net.



But they certainly silently fail to send email to several of my private domain addresses.

Really, Amtrak could not be quick enough in summarily firing whoever is doing their web site upgrade. But of course they won't. They thrive on the mysteries brought forth by incompetence it would seem.


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## neroden (Oct 31, 2017)

Something to talk to Mr. Anderson about. :-(


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## City of Miami (Oct 31, 2017)

The site has been inaccessible to me today from Amtrak Connect on 171!


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## John Bobinyec (Nov 1, 2017)

Does anyone know how to get to a list of stations? It seems to have disappeared.

jb


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## daybeers (Nov 1, 2017)

John Bobinyec said:


> Does anyone know how to get to a list of stations? It seems to have disappeared.
> 
> jb


It doesn't look like there is a specific page listing all the stations, but you can click on Destinations and search for a station from there, or browse by region. If you know the station code, you can also add it to the end of the address like so: https://amtrak.com/*stations/was* using WAS as an example.


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## west point (Nov 1, 2017)

On the site under reports and documents the links to all Monthly performance reports has disappeared.


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## acelafan (Nov 1, 2017)

John Bobinyec said:


> Does anyone know how to get to a list of stations? It seems to have disappeared.
> 
> jb


Hmmm, looks like that handy link is definitely gone. It seems you'd have to do some Javascript scraping to get a combined list of all stations. That's too bad.


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## jis (Nov 1, 2017)

John Bobinyec said:


> Does anyone know how to get to a list of stations? It seems to have disappeared.
> 
> jb


Maybe they no longer know for sure what stations they do have




So they are just hedging their bets on that one.


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## John Bobinyec (Nov 1, 2017)

jis said:


> John Bobinyec said:
> 
> 
> > Does anyone know how to get to a list of stations? It seems to have disappeared.
> ...


I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume that they decided that they didn't need the list anymore. When you need to fill in a station name in a field, the page takes what you have typed so far and provides an automatic drop-down list of station names which might be applicable. That seems to work reasonably well, except that you actually have to click on one of the entries in the list, rather than submitting what you've typed.

Things are a little more difficult when you try and find some information on a particular station. Now you'll have to drill down through many pages to find it. A faster way is to use the search function which is located in the Site Tools section at the lower right-hand part of each page.

In any case, there seems to be no more concise list.

jb


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## PRR 60 (Nov 1, 2017)

west point said:


> On the site under reports and documents the links to all Monthly performance reports has disappeared.


Interesting find. Unless they are hiding in somewhere, the monthly report links are gone. I thought that public access to those reports was written into the Amtrak legislation.

You may not be able to get the monthly reports right now, but there is this one. If you go to "About Amtrak" and go to the last item of the listing on the left side of the page, you will see a link for "Alaska Airlines." Click that and you will get this message:



> Effective July 15, 2007, Amtrak will cease to be a Travel Partner in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Program. Amtrak will continue to honor all rail travel awards issued before July 15, 2007 for a period of one year ending July 15, 2008.


Someone took the time to ensure that link carried into the new site. Very helpful and timely.


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## jis (Nov 1, 2017)

More like the random link shuffler that is in charge, did not happen to randomly remove it.


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 1, 2017)

Yep, "Back to the Future" seems to be Amtraks MO!


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## ChuckL (Nov 1, 2017)

daybeers said:


> John Bobinyec said:
> 
> 
> > Does anyone know how to get to a list of stations? It seems to have disappeared.
> ...


It’s available by state in the mobile app. Go to Status, select the station in Where’s My Train, and then scroll to the bottom of Recents and you’ll see a See Full List button. Silly that they forgot about it on the website, but at least there’s this option if you need it and have the iOS mobile app. 

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## Philly Amtrak Fan (Nov 6, 2017)

This should interest jebr, norfolkwesternhenry, and others from the Minneapolis area. I tried to play around with the new Amtrak website and typed in Minneapolis. Instead of MSP, MSL comes up as the default option. You have to manually type in MSP to get it to work.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 6, 2017)

Philly Amtrak Fan said:


> This should interest jebr, norfolkwesternhenry, and others from the Minneapolis area. I tried to play around with the new Amtrak website and typed in Minneapolis. Instead of MSP, MSL comes up as the default option. You have to manually type in MSP to get it to work.


MSL = Minneapolis - St. Paul International Airport in Amtrak's world. Start typing "Minneapolis," and the airport bus stop is not just the default option, it's the only option. The train station is not even shown as an option. Even if you enter "St. Paul." the airport is the first option, but the Union Depot is at least an option.


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## jebr (Nov 6, 2017)

Philly Amtrak Fan said:


> This should interest jebr, norfolkwesternhenry, and others from the Minneapolis area. I tried to play around with the new Amtrak website and typed in Minneapolis. Instead of MSP, MSL comes up as the default option. You have to manually type in MSP to get it to work.


Yeah, I remember discovering this back on launch (though it was buried way back and probably got lost in the shuffle to some extent):



jebr said:


> willem said:
> 
> 
> > The web site does not recognize Saint Paul as an origin.
> ...


But yeah, while I haven't notified Amtrak of it yet, I'm surprised they haven't noticed it and fixed it on their end. I usually just type "MSP" somewhat instinctually anyways (even on airport websites) so I haven't really noticed it other than that time, as MSP does still pull up St. Paul Union Depot.

The only thing I can forgive Amtrak for slightly is being particular on the spelling of St. Paul. I'm frustrated, though, that Amtrak hasn't fixed it to at least put Union Depot as the default option for both St. Paul and Minneapolis. I'm honestly not even sure _why_ they list MSP airport as an option. The connection isn't even built properly for anyone going west of Saint Paul (it requires going down to La Crosse and then back up to the airport on 8/28, which is a nice little 6 hour detour, and the connection won't even build for 7/27.) East of St. Paul isn't much better, either - the website won't build the connection from the airport for anything east of St. Paul. The connection from 7/27 for points east of La Crosse is also no faster than simply going up to St. Paul and then taking the local 54 bus to the airport, and by that point it's so late that you're likely looking at an overnight anyways.

I'm not a fan of eliminating options, but in this case the "option" is so sparse and doesn't really build properly for anyone to be able to make a round trip that it's essentially worthless. Given that it seems to be throwing the website into a tizzy (not to mention that the service from Union Depot is easily replaced by a frequent local bus) I say remove the MSL stop on that Thruway. Its main purpose is to connect to Rochester anyways, so just let it do that and stop trying to add a pretty much useless option with it as well.


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## willem (Nov 6, 2017)

jebr said:


> The only thing I can forgive Amtrak for slightly is being particular on the spelling of St. Paul.


You're more forgiving than I am. I maintain that it should recognize Saint Paul, and that it should recognize St Paul, but it does neither. Maybe I underestimate the effort required to make the interface recognize variations that the user might enter.

But I do agree with you that Union Depot should be the default and that making Union Depot the default is a higher priority that recognizing Saint Paul and St Paul (but completing all these tasks should be simple and quick).


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## John Bobinyec (Nov 6, 2017)

*BLIND DATES*

No, not the kind you go out to dinner with. When you attempt to book a reservation, Amtrak's website lists the available trains *and used to show you the dates.* It no longer shows the dates. This presents problems when trying to take a train which does not run everyday.

For example, try to book a train from SPG (Springfield, MA) to RNK (Roanoke, VA) on a *weekday. *There is, of course no direct way to do this. Amtrak should show various combinations of trains which will get you there, but it doesn't. What it does instead is put up a very passive warning:

*"PROBLEM WITH YOUR ITINERARY - PLEASE CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE BELOW:* The train(s) you selected are not available on the date(s) you requested. "

Below that warning it lists the train, 147, which will presumably get you there. It doesn't mention that this train runs only on Saturday, or show the date. So, an unsuspecting novice might go ahead and go through the motions to try to book this train and if lucky, realize near the very end when the summary page is presented, that this train is for the wrong day.

jb


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## daybeers (Nov 6, 2017)

John Bobinyec said:


> *BLIND DATES*
> 
> No, not the kind you go out to dinner with. When you attempt to book a reservation, Amtrak's website lists the available trains *and used to show you the dates.* It no longer shows the dates. This presents problems when trying to take a train which does not run everyday.
> 
> ...


Wow, I just tried that on the website and got the same results. This really needs to be fixed. Have you reported this to Amtrak?


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## John Bobinyec (Nov 7, 2017)

No. We have folks here on AU who work for Amtrak. Hopefully they would know whom to talk to. I don't.

jb


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## AmtrakBlue (Nov 7, 2017)

If you’re on FB, you can either post on Amtrak’s FB page send a FB message to one of the page’s admins.

I️ messaged someone and got a response the day the new website rolled out.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## Anderson (Nov 11, 2017)

I don't work at Amtrak, but...right now? I'd say they should sack the website rebuild, bring back the previous edition, and tell whomever wrote this website up to get their head out of their ass. A lot of the issues haven't gotten fixed (for example, I can manually access the MPRs but it feels like we'd have to have someone hack the website to find what should be publicly-available documents going forward) and they've had close to a month.


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## jis (Nov 11, 2017)

I find the multi-city booking page to borderline unusable in its present form. Yes, it can issues a ticket, but is very hsrd to use for any trip planning, unlike most airline websites that I have used.


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## TiBike (Nov 11, 2017)

The bike info has mostly been fixed -- bikes are no longer the only medical devices allowed



The info re roll up/roll on/etc seems to have been sorted out, although the links to station info are broken.

In figuring out what went (and still goes) wrong, some distinctions need to be made. The actual web design -- the look and layout -- would have been done separately (likely outsourced) from the IT integration for live info and likely also the static content migration/editing. I'd bet that at least three different departments are involved, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were 4 or 5. I don't think there's anything wrong with the design, even if it doesn't particularly appeal to me. Looking at the source code, it seems professional enough on the superficial level I operate at.

The static content migration was just sloppy work, maybe because the people doing it were fighting other alligators at the time, or maybe because it was the responsibility of a separate department with its own work ethic and/or no adult supervision. Imagine that at Amtrak.

The big fail was on the IT integration side. I don't think there was any testing or planning beyond "yeah, we can handle that". The designers walk in on Sunday morning, hand a box labeled "hot new website - this end up" to the CIO (played by Patrick Stewart) who tosses to the team and says "make it so".

Culling the middle management ranks, as Amtrak seems to be doing now, is a good first step toward preventing a repeat.


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## Rover (Nov 16, 2017)

A Plus for the new web site is that I can go directly to "Track A Train".

Before, to get there, I always had to go to the Amtrak home page and then link out to Track A Train.


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