Amtrak Companion Coupon- how does it work?

[dlagrua]

I received a companion coupon from Amtrak and not sure how this works. It says that the coupon is good on all Amtrak routes.

"Valid for one one-way or roundtrip reservation. Must be reserved at the same time as paid travel.

Valid between 09/18/2015 6:26 AM CT - 09/17/2016 6:26 AM CT "

Then it says something that is not clear:

Offer valid for Coach class travel only. ---- OK easy to understand

It goes on to say, Upgrade to Business class or First class (excluding sleeping car accommodations) is available upon full payment of applicable accommodation charges. Upgrade available upon full payment? What does that mean? Do you buy the coach tickets get two for one and then pay an upgrade fee on your ticket plus the same additional upgrade fee on the comparion ticket????? BUT if the coupon is only valid for coach class only then why even make mention of any upograde?

Anyone have any idea what all this means???

 

[SubwayNut]

It means you can upgrade to business or Acela first class by paying the additional accommodation charge on BOTH to tickets.

So you would pay:

Coach Fare X1

Accomidation Charge x2

 

[BCL]

I believe it means you need to pay the difference between coach and business/first (for both tickets) to upgrade. The "accommodation charge" is just the difference between coach and the upgraded class.

 

[dlagrua]

It means you can upgrade to business or Acela first class by paying the additional accommodation charge on BOTH to tickets.

So you would pay:

Coach Fare X1

Accomodation Charge x2

As far as I can see, outside of sleepers, Amtrak does not list a separate coach "accomodation" charge for business class and First class tickets. Do you just compare the ticket price differential and figure the upcharge yourself? I cannot see how this type of booking can be done online. What am I missing here?

 

[Kat314159]

It is on the itinerary details once you've selected the fare you can see the break down of coach vs business class upgrade. The one gotcha to this would be if there is only one seat at a lower price.

 

[BCL]

As far as I can see, outside of sleepers, Amtrak does not list a separate coach "accomodation" charge for business class and First class tickets. Do you just compare the ticket price differential and figure the upcharge yourself? I cannot see how this type of booking can be done online. What am I missing here?

Not sure where you got it, but the Select Plus companion coupons I have say they can only be redeemed by calling in or presenting to an Amtrak agent. So they would have the information to determine the upgrade charge.

 

[dlagrua]

As far as I can see, outside of sleepers, Amtrak does not list a separate coach "accomodation" charge for business class and First class tickets. Do you just compare the ticket price differential and figure the upcharge yourself? I cannot see how this type of booking can be done online. What am I missing here?

Not sure where you got it, but the Select Plus companion coupons I have say they can only be redeemed by calling in or presenting to an Amtrak agent. So they would have the information to determine the upgrade charge.

I assume then that to use the coupon for the companion fare and apply any upgrades, the booking must be doine online. That would make sense.

 

[BCL]

As far as I can see, outside of sleepers, Amtrak does not list a separate coach "accomodation" charge for business class and First class tickets. Do you just compare the ticket price differential and figure the upcharge yourself? I cannot see how this type of booking can be done online. What am I missing here?

Not sure where you got it, but the Select Plus companion coupons I have say they can only be redeemed by calling in or presenting to an Amtrak agent. So they would have the information to determine the upgrade charge.

I assume then that to use the coupon for the companion fare and apply any upgrades, the booking must be doine online. That would make sense.

The booking can't be done online. These coupons can only be applied by an agent over the phone or at a station. There's no way to apply the coupon online. You'd need to give the coupon number to the agent over the phone, or print out the coupon and a station agent could scan it.

Basically you can't just do it yourself. You would need a human agent to look up the fare difference (i.e. "accommodation charge").

 

[PaulM]

Not sure where you got it, but the Select Plus companion coupons I have say they can only be redeemed by calling in or presenting to an Amtrak agent. So they would have the information to determine the upgrade charge.

I think it would be more accurate to say should rather than would have the information.

Just prior to boarding a train yesterday I called to use one of the upgrade coupons that came with the new CC application. All the agent needed was my AGR # and BC was booked in about 10 second. Later while on the train I called to apply the second upgrade coupon for the return trip. The agent said that the coupon was not valid with my senior discount. So I had to pay the additional $4. The T&C were clear, or as clear as you'll get from Amtrak, that the agent was correct.

Last year I had also upgraded to BC on a senior discount ticket without paying extra. So agents were wrong 2 out of 3 times on something that, in my opinion is much clearer than the companion issue.

 

[BCL]

Not sure where you got it, but the Select Plus companion coupons I have say they can only be redeemed by calling in or presenting to an Amtrak agent. So they would have the information to determine the upgrade charge.

I think it would be more accurate to say should rather than would have the information.

Well - it might be a bit different if you're talking about companion coupons. Upgrade coupons are probably different. In any case, this is what my companion coupon says for station agents:

STATION AGENT INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Sell space into PNR

2) ~F3 (Discounts), Option 4 (eCoupon)

3) Scan eCoupon bar code, or type in the eCoupon#, then hit "Enter"

4) Price free companion using passenger type provided on screen (Companion must be priced together with paid passenger)

So I guess step 4 is where they have options for price. I'm assuming that means they will have a price for business or first class already available on their terminal, and the difference between coach and the upgrade is what Amtrak refers to as the "accommodation charge".

 

[PaulM]

STATION AGENT INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Sell space into PNR

2) ~F3 (Discounts), Option 4 (eCoupon)

3) Scan eCoupon bar code, or type in the eCoupon#, then hit "Enter"

4) Price free companion using passenger type provided on screen (Companion must be priced together with paid passenger)

I especially like that "Price free companion ..." and "Companion (presumably free) must be priced .."

With instructions like that I'm beginning to sympathize with employees that can't get things right?

 

[BCL]

STATION AGENT INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Sell space into PNR

2) ~F3 (Discounts), Option 4 (eCoupon)

3) Scan eCoupon bar code, or type in the eCoupon#, then hit "Enter"

4) Price free companion using passenger type provided on screen (Companion must be priced together with paid passenger)

I especially like that "Price free companion ..." and "Companion (presumably free) must be priced .."

With instructions like that I'm beginning to sympathize with employees that can't get things right?

I get that they mean although it is clumsy; they probably should have "Price companion fare". The "price" is going to vary depending on passenger type, which is probably coach, business, or first. Coach is obviously going to be $0.00. Coach to to business upgrade will have an incremental cost for the companion. Business to first will also.

Also - it could make a difference if you're talking AGR points. It's my understanding that "free tickets" aren't eligible for points, but even a small amount and it collects at least 100 points (at least until the change).

 

[Railroad Bill]

Ok for those of us who do not often ride NEC trains..

Can I take my companion fare coupon and ride with my wife roundtrip from WAS to NYP and back on the Acela trains?

or is it only good on regular regionals in coach class? If we cannot do that, then could I pay the additional fare for a BC ticket on the Acelas and still just pay one fare for the roundtrip? Or would I need to pay the additional fare for two tickets?

Was not sure since a regular seat on Acelas is considered BC vs First Class.

Thanks for your help.

 

[diesteldorf]

Ok for those of us who do not often ride NEC trains..

Can I take my companion fare coupon and ride with my wife roundtrip from WAS to NYP and back on the Acela trains?

or is it only good on regular regionals in coach class? If we cannot do that, then could I pay the additional fare for a BC ticket on the Acelas and still just pay one fare for the roundtrip? Or would I need to pay the additional fare for two tickets?

Was not sure since a regular seat on Acelas is considered BC vs First Class.

Thanks for your help.

The coupon works on Acela just fine. Technically, you are not supposed to earn points for the paid fare, unless the wording has changed, but sometimes people luck out.

If you wanted to upgrade to Acela First, your wife would still get her Business Class fare for free and you would pay the first class accomodation charge for you and your wife.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Ok for those of us who do not often ride NEC trains..

Can I take my companion fare coupon and ride with my wife roundtrip from WAS to NYP and back on the Acela trains?

or is it only good on regular regionals in coach class? If we cannot do that, then could I pay the additional fare for a BC ticket on the Acelas and still just pay one fare for the roundtrip? Or would I need to pay the additional fare for two tickets?

Was not sure since a regular seat on Acelas is considered BC vs First Class.

Thanks for your help.

The coupon works on Acela just fine. Technically, you are not supposed to earn points for the paid fare, unless the wording has changed, but sometimes people luck out.

If you wanted to upgrade to Acela First, your wife would still get her Business Class fare for free and you would pay the first class accomodation charge for you and your wife.

thanks Chris

 

[Orie]

Im a little confused on the points.

There is person A and person B, person A is the full fare, using the tickets, and person B is the companion. Obviously person B doesn't get points, but does person A get any?

 

[BCL]

Im a little confused on the points.

There is person A and person B, person A is the full fare, using the tickets, and person B is the companion. Obviously person B doesn't get points, but does person A get any?

I believe the full fare passenger always gets regular points. There's a question as to whether or not the companion passenger gets points if there's an upgrade (and thus a cost) involved.

 

[Orie]

Im a little confused on the points.

There is person A and person B, person A is the full fare, using the tickets, and person B is the companion. Obviously person B doesn't get points, but does person A get any?

I believe the full fare passenger always gets regular points. There's a question as to whether or not the companion passenger gets points if there's an upgrade (and thus a cost) involved.

Ah, got it. Thanks!

 

[Railroad Bill]

I booked the Acela BC round trip tickets from WAS to NYP and used the companion coupon. The agent took my AGR number and said I would receive the appropriate points but my spouse would not since I was the one actually paying for the cost of the two trips. It will be a nice round trip for the companion fare coupon. And by using the BOA World Card to pay for it I should get a boatload *trainload^ of points.