# Basic Rail Pass questions



## Brian Dufton (Jan 26, 2018)

Hi - I am planning a trip to fly from England in April 2018 and use the AMTRAK rail pass so see some of America.

It seems that I can buy a Rail Pass online.

Q1. How do I make a reservation using the pass?

Q2. Are Rail pass seats always available - what happens if the train is full?

Q3. Do I need to book well in advance or are there plenty of seats?

Thanks

Brian


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## zephyr17 (Jan 26, 2018)

You call the Amtrak reservation number to reserve segments.

My understanding is the pass seats are only available as long as there is "low bucket" Saver inventory left. If coach inventory has moved to a higher bucket, you cannot get a seat with a pass.

You need to book in advance. You need to approach booking segments exactly the same way you'd do it if you were buying a ticket without a pass. It is nothing like getting a seat reservation on a pass in Europe.

April is during the spring break period here (which does not happen all at one time, different schools go out at different times), and is a high travel period.


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## caravanman (Jan 26, 2018)

Hi Brian,

I have used the railpass myself, and I believe the same system is still in use...

You buy the railpass on the Amtrak website.

You receive a confirmation email with pass reference number.

(You collect the actual paper pass from whichever Amtrak station you nominated later, once you get to America.)

You can use a special overseas Amtrak email address to make your reservations. I recommend that as the folk there are experienced with passes and foreign customers... You can phone and talk to an agent too, quoting your pass reference...

Make your reservations as early as possible.

You collect your pass and the pre arranged reserved tickets from the Amtrak station.

If all the lowest price railpass seats are sold out, you may still travel by paying the extra, so long as the whole train is not sold out.

Be aware that each time you change trains or even Amtrak connecting bus services you use up a pass segment.

You can try making dummy bookings on Amtrak.com to see how busy any train is at this moment for your required dates.

Ed.

PS This page should help: https://www.amtrak.com/deals-discounts/multi-ride-rail-passes/rail-passes/take-the-trains-across-america-with-usa-rail-pass


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## me_little_me (Jan 26, 2018)

caravanman said:


> Hi Brian,
> 
> I have used the railpass myself, and I believe the same system is still in use...
> 
> ...


You should also mention that it is often advisable, if more than the number of segments is needed, that one should pay cash (i.e. credit card also) for the short cheap segments and save the pass for the more expensive ones.


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