# does Amtrak every check senior citizen for IDs?



## TimSpencer (Oct 7, 2008)

I just reserved a couple of tickets(with the senior discounts) for a long weekend trip for my parents.

Does Amtrak every check senior citizen for IDs?

The reason I'm asking is that they don't look old enough to qualify for senior citizens...

will the conductor ask them for IDs?


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## MrFSS (Oct 7, 2008)

TimSpencer said:


> I just reserved a couple of tickets(with the senior discounts) for a long weekend trip for my parents.
> Does Amtrak every check senior citizen for IDs?
> 
> The reason I'm asking is that they don't look old enough to qualify for senior citizens...
> ...


I'm a senior. The only time I get asked for my ID is when I'm picking up tickets from an agent. I've never had a conductor ask. And, if I use the kiosk to pick them up then it doesn't ask, either. 

Make sure they have them signed so the conductor doesn't have to and probably even more reason the conductor won't ask.

Do they have ID's in case they are asked?


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## George Harris (Oct 7, 2008)

Depends upon where. When I buy or pick up tickets at the San Francisco Ferry Building Station, they always check.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2008)

TimSpencer said:


> The reason I'm asking is that they don't look old enough to qualify for senior citizens... will the conductor ask them for IDs?


I carry my AARP ID card just in case. 

I first became a grandparent when I was still "thirty something". Now, I have people to a double take when I correct them that I am the teenager's grandfather, not father.


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## TimSpencer (Oct 7, 2008)

Guest said:


> I carry my AARP ID card just in case.



Doesn't Amtrak's senior 15% discount starts at age *62*?

Anyone over age *50* can join the AARP and get a mermbship ID.

Are you saying Amtrak accepts the AARP ID for the senior discount?


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## George Harris (Oct 7, 2008)

TimSpencer said:


> Are you saying Amtrak accepts the AARP ID for the senior discount?


Unless it had a birthdate I would think it would be meaningless. I show a driver's license.


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## sky12065 (Oct 7, 2008)

TimSpencer said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > I carry my AARP ID card just in case.
> ...


Amtrak does not have an AARP discount. Here are the discounts from the Amtrak site:





Children Kids 2 through 15 years old ride half-price every day. Infants under 2 ride free. 




Seniors More information about how to take advantage of our discounts for seniors. 




Veterans Advantage Save 15% with your Veterans Advantage card. 




Student Advantage Save 15% with your Student Advantage card. 




Student (ISIC) Save 15% with your International Student Identity Card. 




Military Active duty US military personnel, their spouses and their dependents, are eligible to receive a 10% discount off most Amtrak rail fares. 




AAA Members Save 10% when you use your AAA card. 




NARP Members National Association of Railroad Passengers members save 10%.


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 7, 2008)

The Amtrak seniors discounts page says "proof of age required". Doesn't say a thing about AARP.

BTW, does AARP stand for Advanced Age Recliner People? I'm a member but I don't have my recliner yet.


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## amtrakwolverine (Oct 7, 2008)

if your conducter is blue jean girl she will ask ID i bet she would ask a 2 year old for ID.


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## gswager (Oct 7, 2008)

sky12065 said:


> TimSpencer said:
> 
> 
> > Guest said:
> ...


Add handicapped/disabilities discount- 15%


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## BlueJeanGirl (Oct 7, 2008)

KISS_ALIVE said:


> if your conducter is blue jean girl she will ask ID i bet she would ask a 2 year old for ID.



Don't be silly. Anyone who's purchased children's clothing in those sizes knows designers don't include pockets large enough to hold an ID! :lol:

Travel light!

~BJG


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## sky12065 (Oct 7, 2008)

gswager said:


> sky12065 said:
> 
> 
> > TimSpencer said:
> ...


That's right and you can't combine it with any other discounts - and rightfully so!

There is something however that I didn't know about the above discounts I posted and that's they are only good on rail fares and not on sleeping accomodations.

Also, there's a discussion on another topic about Red Hat Society discounts that you won't find indicated on the Amtrak site; but the RHS website indicates that their members can get a 20% discount on rail fares. What really strikes me as strange about that discount is that the RHS get 20% while veterans and active military get only 15% and 10% respectively? Anybody else see something wrong with that picture? If it were up to me I would take 5% away from the RHS - possibly 10% - and give it to active military.


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## sechs (Oct 7, 2008)

sky12065 said:


> Also, there's a discussion on another topic about Red Hat Society discounts that you won't find indicated on the Amtrak site; but the RHS website indicates that their members can get a 20% discount on rail fares. What really strikes me as strange about that discount is that the RHS get 20% while veterans and active military get only 15% and 10% respectively? Anybody else see something wrong with that picture?


The Pentagon won't cough up to Amtrak for a discount?


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 8, 2008)

sky12065 said:


> Also, there's a discussion on another topic about Red Hat Society discounts that you won't find indicated on the Amtrak site; but the RHS website indicates that their members can get a 20% discount on rail fares. What really strikes me as strange about that discount is that the RHS get 20% while veterans and active military get only 15% and 10% respectively? Anybody else see something wrong with that picture? If it were up to me I would take 5% away from the RHS - possibly 10% - and give it to active military.


I wouldn't be against a higher military discount either. A friend remarked the other day that during the Vietnam war he got half price fares if he was in uniform.

Like I said on that other thread, I wonder if the Red Hat discount is negotiated, and that the society is paying a fee for reduced fares for members. I would not blame Red Hats or Amtrak for special treatment until this was researched.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2008)

TimSpencer said:


> Doesn't Amtrak's senior 15% discount starts at age *62*?
> Anyone over age *50* can join the AARP and get a mermbship ID.
> 
> Are you saying Amtrak accepts the AARP ID for the senior discount?


Sorry for the confusion. All I said was that I carry my AARP card when I travel.

IMHO, if you have one, it is a pretty good thing to have with you, and not left at home. Even if Amtrak doesn't offer an AARP discount, many hotels do. So, unless you like to spend your entire vacation sleeping in the station's parking lot, an AARP discount at a hotel is worthwhile.

BTW, if the guy behind the bar asks me for ID ("proofs me"), he gets a big hug!


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## Ispolkom (Oct 8, 2008)

PetalumaLoco said:


> sky12065 said:
> 
> 
> > Also, there's a discussion on another topic about Red Hat Society discounts that you won't find indicated on the Amtrak site; but the RHS website indicates that their members can get a 20% discount on rail fares. What really strikes me as strange about that discount is that the RHS get 20% while veterans and active military get only 15% and 10% respectively? Anybody else see something wrong with that picture? If it were up to me I would take 5% away from the RHS - possibly 10% - and give it to active military.
> ...


Note that most of the discounts, including the Veterans Advantage one, require that you buy a membership in some organization, be it AAA, NARP, or that evil Red Hat Society. I'd guess that you're right, PL, and that there is some payment for discount going on here.

WRT active military, I noticed a sign at the St. Paul station saying that active military in uniform would go immediately to the front of the queue, and that's what happened when a remarkably young man in BDUs presented himself. It reminded me of the signs you used to see in the Soviet Union: "All Heroes of the Soviet Union, veterans of the Great Patriotic War and cavaliers of all orders of glory are served first."


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## Tony (Oct 8, 2008)

Ispolkom said:


> Note that most of the discounts, including the Veterans Advantage one, require that you buy a membership in some organization, be it AAA, NARP, or that evil Red Hat Society. I'd guess that you're right, PL, and that there is some payment for discount going on here.


Membership in the evil Red Hat Society is free. It is only if a member wants to also join their Purple Perks Discount program, that there is a fee. Its the Purple Perks which gets someone the Amtrak discount.

Then again, there is a fee to join Sams Club, Costco, and DirectBuy. So, paying to get a discount is the norm today, no?


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## caravanman (Oct 8, 2008)

I heard on another forum that airlines are considering charging more for overweight passengers.. would a reduced Amtrak fare for slim passengers attract customers?

Ed B)


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## Ispolkom (Oct 8, 2008)

caravanman said:


> I heard on another forum that airlines are considering charging more for overweight passengers.. would a reduced Amtrak fare for slim passengers attract customers?
> Ed B)


Or should Amtrak advertise their wide seats as a selling point for overweight passengers tired of being squeezed into economy seats on airplanes?


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## PetalumaLoco (Oct 8, 2008)

caravanman said:


> I heard on another forum that airlines are considering charging more for overweight passengers.. would a reduced Amtrak fare for slim passengers attract customers?
> Ed B)


Well what the heck did they make those *wide body* jets for anyway?


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## sky12065 (Oct 8, 2008)

caravanman said:


> I heard on another forum that airlines are considering charging more for overweight passengers.. would a reduced Amtrak fare for slim passengers attract customers?
> Ed B)


Some overweight people are already paying extra and have been doing so for years. Different carriers have different policies on this and more information can be found at this LINK.

I am one of those that would require a second seat if I flew (which I don't and haven't in over 30 years) and I feel that not being accomodated or even being made to pay extra is somewhat discriminatory. After all, one is paying to get from one point to another and the bigger person is a human being and should not be virtually treated as freight to be shipped with a bill of lading.

However, I do understand both sides of the argument on this and therefore personally feel that the best solution, using comprimise, is where the big person pays for the second seat, but at the lowest price offered and eligible for a full refund if all seats on the flight were not filled. Can it work on Amtrak? I don't really think so because of the transiency of passengers


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## AKA (Oct 9, 2008)

TimSpencer said:


> I just reserved a couple of tickets(with the senior discounts) for a long weekend trip for my parents.
> Does Amtrak every check senior citizen for IDs?
> 
> The reason I'm asking is that they don't look old enough to qualify for senior citizens...
> ...



My wife and I have been " carded " a very few times. Because we dont look old enough. However I only hug female Amtrak employees.


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## George Harris (Oct 9, 2008)

Homeland Insecurity also requires that their be random ID checks on trains.


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## AlanB (Oct 9, 2008)

George Harris said:


> Homeland Insecurity also requires that their be random ID checks on trains.


Which is about as useful as asking the passenger what color the Amtrak ticket is. :blink:


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