RickIronton
Train Attendant
- Joined
- May 2, 2013
- Messages
- 92
Here it is Feb 19th and still no luck with Amsnag,.... any suggestions?
AmSnag Oddity/Status
- Thread starter niemi24s
- Start date
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The only suggestion I have is determination, perseverance and several hours of free time on the standard Amtrak site with a spreadsheet. Of course, you would have to do that every single day – which sounds like a nightmare.
With the current reduced schedule, the first step is to figure out which days are even possible for you to get the trains that you need. If you’re making a connection, the number of days that will work will probably go down significantly.
In my case, I was looking for a round trip itinerary from the Midwest to Florida at some point during the month of March. After about 75 minutes on Amtrak.com, I figured out that there were exactly 4 days southbound, and four days northbound that would work at all.
That resulted in 4 potential round trip itineraries to compare. Because March is coming up, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference in pricing between the four. So I ended up picking out the one that was a little bit cheaper but by far the most convenient date wise.
I don’t know the specific itinerary you are looking for nor the timeframe in which you’d like to travel. But unfortunately there’s not a shortcut that I can offer you. Amsnag was a terrific tool. Our only hope is that Amtrak will reverse course on their anti-scraping efforts, or bring their website into modern times with a useful search tool for travelers with flexibility looking for lower fares.
With the current reduced schedule, the first step is to figure out which days are even possible for you to get the trains that you need. If you’re making a connection, the number of days that will work will probably go down significantly.
In my case, I was looking for a round trip itinerary from the Midwest to Florida at some point during the month of March. After about 75 minutes on Amtrak.com, I figured out that there were exactly 4 days southbound, and four days northbound that would work at all.
That resulted in 4 potential round trip itineraries to compare. Because March is coming up, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference in pricing between the four. So I ended up picking out the one that was a little bit cheaper but by far the most convenient date wise.
I don’t know the specific itinerary you are looking for nor the timeframe in which you’d like to travel. But unfortunately there’s not a shortcut that I can offer you. Amsnag was a terrific tool. Our only hope is that Amtrak will reverse course on their anti-scraping efforts, or bring their website into modern times with a useful search tool for travelers with flexibility looking for lower fares.
As it has been stated earlier in the thread, the programmers have unable to get the data from Amtrak since the routes went to 3 days a week. Everyone is hopeful that it will be back up and running when full service is reinstated.
I know the low buckets on the routes I normally take. I have never paid more than low bucket. Being retired,I have the luxury of choosing my dates. If there are no low bucket fares on the train I want I'll check other dates and trains
Booked 421 for May Chi-Lax. It is now well over $1000 for a senior roomette for one.
Booked 421 for May Chi-Lax. It is now well over $1000 for a senior roomette for one.
Devil's Advocate
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Amsnag was an incredibly useful tool that saved money and helped further or settle fare related discussions. Are there any potential avenues for future solutions? Would it make sense to start a crowd funding option? I'd be happy to make the first donation.
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Any rumblings that AmSnag might return when daily service returns?
While I am not, and I don't know, the developer, my opinion is that the latest redesign of the Amtrak website makes Amsnag's screen(HTML) scraping method of collecting the data very challenging. I am not optimistic Ansnag will return, unless Amtrak exposes a public or semi-public API which is extremely doubtful. I'd expect a multi day fare search tool from Amtrak itself, like many airlines have, before a public API.
Many thanks to the developer for a very useful too while it lasted.
Many thanks to the developer for a very useful too while it lasted.
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acelafan
Conductor
I think this is just a tough nut to crack - I do know the data can almost certainly be gathered since it appears in the web browser, but making it automated, reliable and decently fast is another matter.
Too bad Amtrak just won't change their web display to show a fare calendar view like the airlines. It might actually work to their advantage.
Too bad Amtrak just won't change their web display to show a fare calendar view like the airlines. It might actually work to their advantage.
I can't recall where I read it now, but I know I saw somewhere in either the 5 year plan or the budget request that Amtrak has aspirations to bulk up the online fare and reservations systems to allow a seven day window in searches.
One of our Members was the Major Figure behind this great tool!
PaulM
Engineer
Yes, I'm certain it was the redesign of the website which, coincidentally or not, happened at the same time as the three day a week, that caused the program to fail. So don't hope for good news if and when they go back to daily.
The first version of the fare page that I worked with contained the information needed in plain old text; so it was possible to scrape. The second version a few years later contained the information in javascript functions and was much more complicated; but I was able to scrape it with the help of an AUer. But latest version is above my pay grade. Searching the result page, I can't find the train number, train name, coach price, or departing or arriving station.
Agreed. For many years the website just presented pretty static HTML in response to answered prompts. Now it appears to have gone to an AJAX style where much more of the process is done in the browser. As a result, it is more interactive and has more navigation paths. The increase in options and paths exponentially increases the complexity of creating a program that essentially has to imitate a human user, recursively. Let alone parsing the data results Also, the data presented is more opaque, even to human users. Just try and find the breakout between rail fare and accommodation charge now. It can be done, but it isn't easy.
That and supposedly they've changed their security so it is looking for rapid repeated queries, which makes sense from a security standpoint, but also adds to Amsnag's woes.
That and supposedly they've changed their security so it is looking for rapid repeated queries, which makes sense from a security standpoint, but also adds to Amsnag's woes.
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A seven-day window doesn't do much for long-term planning (i.e. for low fares). Maybe that's their goal.
Maybe it’s 7 days based on the date you provide.
That was my interpretation.
From the Five Year Plan:
The next major enhancement, slated for release in early 2021, expands on the existing search result experience by presenting a seven-day calendar of available fares: those of the requested date as well as the lowest fare up to three days prior and three days forward. In addition to
offering customers more—and potentially lower—fare options with a single search, this solution will provide a better path for long distance customers to find available travel dates on trains operating less than daily.
The next major enhancement, slated for release in early 2021, expands on the existing search result experience by presenting a seven-day calendar of available fares: those of the requested date as well as the lowest fare up to three days prior and three days forward. In addition to
offering customers more—and potentially lower—fare options with a single search, this solution will provide a better path for long distance customers to find available travel dates on trains operating less than daily.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2019
- Messages
- 45
I found this thread by Googling "biketrain amsnag not working". First Paul nice to meet you- you're a bit of a legend with me and my son. We love(ed) your site.
My son and I are also teaching ourselves html, css and Java. I'm wondering if this might be a good "final project" to work towards? Sounds like it's may be possible just really tedious to building something to scrape the current amtrak site? If so maybe we'll give it a go.
My son and I are also teaching ourselves html, css and Java. I'm wondering if this might be a good "final project" to work towards? Sounds like it's may be possible just really tedious to building something to scrape the current amtrak site? If so maybe we'll give it a go.
acelafan
Conductor
If you can get it going, all power to you! It would be great if you can play around with it and get it working again.
AUs own Paul M., who developed Amsnag, has pretty much indicated that this is a Cluster Flub that in reality isn't possible, thanks to Amtraks "Crack" IT system changes.
Devil's Advocate
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I don't think enough investigatory research has been done to establish the potential suitability of alternative mechanisms. It sounds like future solutions will be slower and more tedious thanks to Amtrak's increasingly clumsy website but implying a usable solution is nearly impossible seems premature at this point.
Thanks for the update from a Pro Chris!
This Luddite knows nothing about IT stuff, just that the Wizards that do it get the Big Bucks!
And acelafan is the one who developed the status map/archive websites which use Amtrak data. He has also tried to help Paul with Amsnag. He’s well aware of the issues.
