amtrak.com Changes

[The Davy Crockett]

The new booking pages have a "swa.com" look and feel to them. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amtrak really wants to be an airline.

My thoughts EXACTLY.

And yeah, from the limited poking around I've done, it seems that the 'flex' fares defy common sense. :blink:

 

[amamba]

Ok I figured out how to get it to display the saver fare when looked in. In the box on the top left you have to click on the tab for "other discounts" and then change the pax to adult instead of AAA adult. Then it will display the saver fares. But that it annoying because then if you want to book the AAA fare you have to go BACK to that, change the pax type to AAA adult and then research.

They should really fix that.

 

[printman2000]

I'm still not sure why it matters. What matters is the total cost of the trip, who cares how that cost is split between "room charge" and "rail fare"?

Because when you are looking for low bucket rooms, it is much easier to see the room cost on the first screen.

 

[Shanghai]

Didn't the previous site remember your discount status (AAA, senior, etc)? I had to change from regular to senior when creating a test reservation.

If you login to your account on the first screen and have identified yourself as a senior, you automatically get the

senior fare - but only for yourself. If you are traveling with a senior, you need to make the senior number as 2 or

for how many seniors will be traveling (including yourself).

 

[Ryan]

I'm still not sure why it matters. What matters is the total cost of the trip, who cares how that cost is split between "room charge" and "rail fare"?

Because when you are looking for low bucket rooms, it is much easier to see the room cost on the first screen.

Why can't you just look at the overall cost? Railfare is always going to be the same (unlike the old screen), so the info is still there, the numbers are just a little different.

 

[TinCan782]

Didn't the previous site remember your discount status (AAA, senior, etc)? I had to change from regular to senior when creating a test reservation.

If you login to your account on the first screen and have identified yourself as a senior, you automatically get the

senior fare - but only for yourself. If you are traveling with a senior, you need to make the senior number as 2 or

for how many seniors will be traveling (including yourself).

I was logged on and, Senior is checked in my profile yet, the starting point is one person regular fare. Not only do I have to select senior and number of travelers, I have to remember to change regular to zero! If that is not done, you wind up with one of each for the trip.

And yes, I do know I have to enter that for a traveling companion which brings up my mention of being able to store a traveling companion's info as part of the main account. So I wouldn't have to enter it.

 

[guest]

The biggest plus to this overhaul, IMHO, is that nobody gets forced into non-refundable tickets anymore. That was the biggest issue with the "E" tickets on the NEC: You couldn't opt not to get the restricted 14-day fare, which is an issue if you've got arrangements that are at all soft.

Problem is, a lot of the buckets that were refundable are now non-refundable. It's not just the "E" tickets anymore.

 

[City of Miami]

I checked a price last night (old system) and again this morning (new system) and the cost is ~5% higher. That trip was TOL-CVS sleeper senior Jan 13: $210.....now $221

• I just realized that on this trip I mentioned earlier the new system automatically put me in business class for the NER portion of the trip - that accounts for the $15 increase. Using the 'change' button to toggle to 'coach seat' the price reverts to $205.....thus, NO OVERNIGHT PRICE INCREASE :hi: :wub:
• We will all spend some time adjusting to a new system.

 

[City of Miami]

Perhaps if I knew what a "Premium" Fare was I might consider it.?

I think it probably just means Business Class, Jim.

 

[PRR 60]

How is this rationalized?

First, Amtrak says this:

Value Fares

Value Fares are refundable with a 10% fee. Value Fare reservations can be canceled and modified for the full value of the ticket saved as an eVoucher that can be used for future Amtrak travel or as a money back refund after a 10% refund fee. The Value Fare is available on all trains or buses.

Then, on the same screen they say this:

Refundable Seats - Saver, Value and Flexible Fares

Coach class tickets sold as a Saver fare are non-refundable. Coach class tickets sold as Value and Flexible fares are fully refundable prior to train departure and a 10% refund fee applies after train departure.

So, which is it? Are Value Fares 100% refundable prior to departure, or are Value Fares subject to a 10% refund fee?

 

[Train2104]

Some things I think Amtrak should do:

-The fares are supposed to display in ascending order. If saver > value, hide the saver fare even if it's available.

-If someone changes the premium options to nothing "premium", display the value fare.

-Change the matrix of checkboxes to include "refundable with fee", "refundable no fee", and "refundable after departure". Remove the rooms row.

This is my understanding on refunds based on Amtrak's convoluted and conflicting information...

Saver fares: before departure full refund to voucher, no cash refunds, no refunds after departure

Value fares: before departure full refund to voucher, 10% fee for cash refunds, no refunds after departure.

Flexible fares: No-fee refunds and vouchers before departure, 10% fee for cash refunds after departure

Premium accommodation charges: same as today

Premium railfare charges: ??

They need to make this into a table.

Also: Why are there two types of fares listed for PA Keystone travel? I thought the Keystones only had one flat fare for a given pair (excluding holiday periods)

 

[boxcarsyix]

I think it included Value Seats as refundable after departure (10% fee)

 

[gaspeamtrak]

Anybody know where to enter the ISIC or AAA discount? I'm not seeing it anywhere - _ -

On the homepage where you're entering your search criteria, you'll see a new tab labeled "Other Discounts." If you click on that, you'll see a drop-down menu at the bottom for Passenger #1 where you can select from a variety of discounts.

Just went on the Amtrak website and had it for a minute then it disappeared!?????

 

[guest]

The new booking pages have a "swa.com" look and feel to them. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amtrak really wants to be an airline.

My thoughts EXACTLY.

And yeah, from the limited poking around I've done, it seems that the 'flex' fares defy common sense. :blink:

Saver = Wanna Get Away?

Heck, they even have A-list and A-List Preferred, just before AGR started Plus and Executive.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The new booking pages have a "swa.com" look and feel to them. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amtrak really wants to be an airline.

Well they still have a long way to go in that case. It's been over a decade since I had to bother calling anyone at Southwest Airlines simply because I can handle virtually everything at southwest.com. Doesn't matter if it's a revenue ticket or a points reward or a voucher or a credit or a coupon or a change or a cancellation or whatever. It's all handled through the website with no other contact required. If there's something the southwest.com website still cannot handle I haven't found it yet. To this day I still have to call Amtrak for most of my needs because their website is still far too limited to accomplish whatever I'm trying to do. Maybe a fully functional website is part of what allows Southwest Airlines to field millions of fewer phone calls and undercut Amtrak by hundreds of dollars per ticket?

 

[jebr]

The new booking pages have a "swa.com" look and feel to them. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amtrak really wants to be an airline.

Well they still have a long way to go in that case. It's been over a decade since I had to bother calling anyone at Southwest Airlines simply because I can handle virtually everything at southwest.com. Doesn't matter if it's a revenue ticket or a points reward or a voucher or a credit or a coupon or a change or a cancellation or whatever. It's all handled through the website with no other contact required. If there's something the southwest.com website still cannot handle I haven't found it yet. To this day I still have to call Amtrak for most of my needs because their website is still far too limited to accomplish whatever I'm trying to do. Maybe a fully functional website is part of what allows Southwest Airlines to field millions of fewer phone calls and undercut Amtrak by hundreds of dollars per ticket?

What all can't the website do in terms of booking a reservation? Modifying a reservation can be an exercise in frustration, but that's a lot rarer than booking a reservation, and I doubt would make a huge difference in terms of cost per ticket. Most people buy their ticket and go without doing a whole lot.

Yes, Amtrak's ticketing system needs a makeover, but I'm curious what happens most of the time that requires a call to Amtrak to get it done. I haven't had that experience in terms of booking, and I don't modify my reservations too much (honestly, at this point it's easier to just refund my ticket and buy new. Since I buy coach, there's been no penalty up to this point.)

 

[jebr]

Found this link on the upper-right hand side of the main Amtrak page. Seems to indicate value fares are now always subject to a 10% deduction for refunds.

I wonder if SmartFares will be integrated into the Saver fares...that would be nice. (Curious, though: are SmartFares eligible for an eVoucher if you cancel the ticket?)

 

[amamba]

Found this link on the upper-right hand side of the main Amtrak page. Seems to indicate value fares are now always subject to a 10% deduction for refunds.

I wonder if SmartFares will be integrated into the Saver fares...that would be nice. (Curious, though: are SmartFares eligible for an eVoucher if you cancel the ticket?)

What is frustrating is that link doesn't explain what the refund policy is for the premium fares.

For example, with the rules as of last week, business class on the NEC and FC on acela was fully refundable (no fee) up until departure, whereas the regular coach on the NEC and BC on acela had the 24 hour rule. So again it wouldn't make sense to book a "flexible fare" if the premium fare is cheaper.

 

[Acela150]

I can't believe that this took off to 4 pages in 12 hours or so.

Anywho..

The one thing I noticed doing a test booking is that AE fares from PHL-RTE LB is $157. High is $257. Then it has the FC seat listed as $276. This has me wondering, does that FC seat go up when the Buckets go up?? Same with BC on a NER, and so on.

Sorry if it's been brought up, but I really don't feel like going through 4 pages at 145am.

 

[Anderson]

Yes, FC goes up when buckets go up. FC (and BC for Regionals) have been "whatever the prevailing bucket is plus the fixed FC accommodation charge".

 

[diesteldorf]

On the regionals, it really appears that Business Class has gone up dramatically. Previoualy , the low bucket fare from WAS to BOS was around $76 and it was possible, if you booked early enough to add the Business Class upgrade for around $50 more--total $126.

Of course, since Business Class also had a bucket system, this was not always possible and Business Class could be higher than $126, even when the low bucket $76 fare was still available in Coach Class.

Now, it doesn't seem possible to get Business Class on a Regional from WAS to BOS for anything less than $151.

It just isn't worth it, especially when you don't know what type of Business Class car you are paying for.

 

[Anderson]

One issue I see: "Mixed" reservations are slightly less-than-intuitive. Honestly, a PR/notice on the site with a guide would go a long way towards making this work better.

 

[NorthShore]

It still lists fares distinctly for separate sections of long distance trains going to the same place rather than compiling all of that into one available fare quote. So much for simplifying for the average consumer on that front.

 

[mignyc]

I am trying to buy a ticket and don't see the option to enter my AAA membership for the discount, so I called Amtrak. Holding time: 34 minutes.

Guess this new fare structure is driving their call center volume.

 

[mignyc]

Oh, never mind... I read the thread and found the "other discounts" tab.