GAT
GAT
I apologize for the length of this post. However, I think my experience with these latest series of cancellations – real and phony – is worth recounting because of the great help I received from AGR CSRs.
I had one real and one phony cancellation. They relate to my circle journey out of San Francisco coming up in April on the CZ, Cardinal, Crescent, SL, and CS, with scheduled stopovers in Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, and New Iberia. The Cardinal and SL have traditionally operated only three days a week. So, devising my itinerary around days of service and my own stopover schedule was a bit of a challenge, but I was able to put it all together in early January.
Then, late last Saturday morning, two emails were waiting for me notifying me that the CZ SFO-CHI and ATL-NOL Crescent legs had been cancelled, with a lot of convoluted instructions about how I could go about finding another train online or cancelling my reservation.
These cancellations were going to have a domino effect on my ongoing Amtrak connections, especially on the 3-day-per-week Cardinal and SL, as well as hotel reservations and personal time with my extended family in Atlanta.
I dickered around online with five Amtrak routes and hotels in four cities for about three hours trying to see what I could put together, without making much headway. That’s when I decided to call AGR.
AGR has a call-back feature, so you don’t have to wait on the phone, and I kept noodling alternatives until the callback arrived about ninety minutes later. (It was Saturday, fewer CS staff than on weekdays.)
A wonderful lady, Patty, started investigating. She first assured me that the CZ leg had not in fact been cancelled, and she immediately sent me another e-ticket so that I could rest easy about that. I asked how that could have happened, and she said that either a computer or human glitch was sending cancellation notices to all customers on the CZ, no matter which day they were travelling, when the notices should have gone only to passengers on the cancelled train. She had been fielding calls all day about it.
She then told me that the Crescent leg had indeed been cancelled, due apparently to Amtrak’s decision to delay reinstating 7-day service on that route, which they had scheduled for the end of March when I made my original reservation. She got me the same sleeper accommodation for the next day at no price adjustment. (She knew Amtrak policy, and she also threw in 1,000 AGR points as compensation for the inconvenience. Nice touch!)
Being a day late to NOL meant I had to change my SL reservation to NIB. That meant I had to spend a couple of extra days in NOL, but I guess there are worse fates, and I was able to extend my hotel reservation using HHonors points. It also turned out that my $25 original fare to NIB was only $20 on this new train, so I received a $5 credit.
I then mentioned I would have to decide whether to cut short my NIB stayover or still try to explore Cajun country, which was one of the two main reasons I was taking this trip. My decision would affect which trains to take homeward. She urged me to take my time in deciding, and she assured me that not only would my ongoing roomette be guaranteed at the original fare, but also that if roomettes were sold out, I would be put in a bedroom with no price adjustment. She laughingly said, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you home one way or another.”
After confirming that my NIB AirBnB could be altered, I called AGR back on Sunday. Another great lady, Gina, heard my story, then went silent for quite a while. I finally asked, “Are you still there?” She said that she was reading all the notes that Patty had put in my record. She then went to work and re-scheduled my SL and CS legs at the same accommodation and price.
So, I’m a very happy camper, in spite of Amtrak’s IT incompetencies. Thank goodness for AGR customer reps! IMO, even if you ride Amtrak very seldom, you should join AGR. Their CSOs tend to be much more responsive. The only downside is that they operate only from 8:00am to 8:00pm ET.
By the way, a good portion of my rail fare was paid for with the 50K sign-up and subsequent spending points on my AGR credit card. I took out the card precisely for this bucket trip.
I had one real and one phony cancellation. They relate to my circle journey out of San Francisco coming up in April on the CZ, Cardinal, Crescent, SL, and CS, with scheduled stopovers in Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, and New Iberia. The Cardinal and SL have traditionally operated only three days a week. So, devising my itinerary around days of service and my own stopover schedule was a bit of a challenge, but I was able to put it all together in early January.
Then, late last Saturday morning, two emails were waiting for me notifying me that the CZ SFO-CHI and ATL-NOL Crescent legs had been cancelled, with a lot of convoluted instructions about how I could go about finding another train online or cancelling my reservation.
These cancellations were going to have a domino effect on my ongoing Amtrak connections, especially on the 3-day-per-week Cardinal and SL, as well as hotel reservations and personal time with my extended family in Atlanta.
I dickered around online with five Amtrak routes and hotels in four cities for about three hours trying to see what I could put together, without making much headway. That’s when I decided to call AGR.
AGR has a call-back feature, so you don’t have to wait on the phone, and I kept noodling alternatives until the callback arrived about ninety minutes later. (It was Saturday, fewer CS staff than on weekdays.)
A wonderful lady, Patty, started investigating. She first assured me that the CZ leg had not in fact been cancelled, and she immediately sent me another e-ticket so that I could rest easy about that. I asked how that could have happened, and she said that either a computer or human glitch was sending cancellation notices to all customers on the CZ, no matter which day they were travelling, when the notices should have gone only to passengers on the cancelled train. She had been fielding calls all day about it.
She then told me that the Crescent leg had indeed been cancelled, due apparently to Amtrak’s decision to delay reinstating 7-day service on that route, which they had scheduled for the end of March when I made my original reservation. She got me the same sleeper accommodation for the next day at no price adjustment. (She knew Amtrak policy, and she also threw in 1,000 AGR points as compensation for the inconvenience. Nice touch!)
Being a day late to NOL meant I had to change my SL reservation to NIB. That meant I had to spend a couple of extra days in NOL, but I guess there are worse fates, and I was able to extend my hotel reservation using HHonors points. It also turned out that my $25 original fare to NIB was only $20 on this new train, so I received a $5 credit.
I then mentioned I would have to decide whether to cut short my NIB stayover or still try to explore Cajun country, which was one of the two main reasons I was taking this trip. My decision would affect which trains to take homeward. She urged me to take my time in deciding, and she assured me that not only would my ongoing roomette be guaranteed at the original fare, but also that if roomettes were sold out, I would be put in a bedroom with no price adjustment. She laughingly said, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you home one way or another.”
After confirming that my NIB AirBnB could be altered, I called AGR back on Sunday. Another great lady, Gina, heard my story, then went silent for quite a while. I finally asked, “Are you still there?” She said that she was reading all the notes that Patty had put in my record. She then went to work and re-scheduled my SL and CS legs at the same accommodation and price.
So, I’m a very happy camper, in spite of Amtrak’s IT incompetencies. Thank goodness for AGR customer reps! IMO, even if you ride Amtrak very seldom, you should join AGR. Their CSOs tend to be much more responsive. The only downside is that they operate only from 8:00am to 8:00pm ET.
By the way, a good portion of my rail fare was paid for with the 50K sign-up and subsequent spending points on my AGR credit card. I took out the card precisely for this bucket trip.
, that's going to hurt Redcaps tips for sure!
