diesteldorf
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2006
- Messages
- 391
I didn't really know which forum to post in as both Amtrak and Guest Rewards share some of the blame in my opinion.
I am looking for opinions and advice.
My parents planned for months to go on a cruise to Miami, FL. They've done this before and started taking the train after they realized how much more relaxing it is to driving and flying. I booked them the round trip in Deluxe bedrooms using points. The total cost was 60,000 AGR points.
Their itinerary was as follows:
La Crosse to Chicago on the Empire Builder-Leaving 6/2
Chicago to Washington DC on the Capitol Limited Leaving 6/2 arriving 6/3
Washington DC to Miami on the Silver Meteor Leaving 6/3 arriving 6/4
Cruise ship departs Miami, FL 6/6
When they arrived in La Crosse on 6/2 the train was running 30-45 minutes late. However, Amtrak didn't realize and may not have been told that there was unscheduled track maintainance. By the time, the Empire Builder arrived, it was over 4 hours late and the Capitol had left.
Upon visiting passenger services in Chicago, my parents found out they would be spending the night in Chicago.
When the agent at passenger services looked at my parents tickets she remarked that because it was a Guest Rewards reservation that I would need to authorize any changes made so that my parents could have similar accomodations on the next train leaving 6/3 and on the Silver Meteor leaving 6/4.
I know that Amtrak can't always do this if accomodations aren't available but there were accomodations that had opened in Cleveland and even Pittsburgh so, at the very least, they would have had accomodations for part of the way to Washington DC. Even luckier, there were bedrooms available (more than 1) on the 6/4 Silver Meteor. The agent shrugged her shoulders and said she could do nothing without my approval and Guest Rewards.
Other paying passengers were offered accomodations. My parents were told they could always exchange there tickets for coach because "there is always room in coach."
I realize that Amtrak cannot magically invent new accomoations if there are none. My issue is that the agent in passenger services said she could do nothing to secure them an itinerary at that time when it was available. Yes, Guest Rewards is closed, but I know from experience that Amtrak can intervene, especially when missed connections are involved and AGR is closed.
When my parents told me this, I had a feeling that I would be the only one that could affect the outcome since passenger services would not. Needless to say, when I got home a couple hours later, I checked inventory and could see that the Capitol leaving Chicago 6/3, didn't have accomodations straight from Chicago to DC. At the time, the train was completely sold out, even in coach---As an aside, the 6/4 Silver Meteor had bedrooms, roomettes and coach.
Back to the Capitol Limited, I know from experience that if Guest Rewards is closed, the next best thing is to create a reservation from Amtrak to secure the inventory until AGR is open. I saw a deluxe bedroom from Cleveland to DC was open and called Amtrak.
The Amtrak agent was extremely helpful and snagged my parents a deluxe bedroom from Cleveland to DC. As I was on the phone, she also mentioned a roomette was available (truly must have just opened up) from Chicago to Cleveland.
She booked both segments and also booked the 6/4 segment on the Silver Meteor from DC to Miami in a bedroom.
I was happy and called my parents after midnight with the good news. The small negative was that they would need to transfer from a roomette to a bedroom at around 2 AM but they didn't care under the circumstances.
The next morning on 6/3, I called Guest Rewards and wanted to pay for the reservation with points. The AGR agent told me she would need to call Amtrak reservations in order to cancel the Amtrak reservation and book it with Guest Rewards.
She also mentioned that since since they were stopping in Cleveland, she would need to book the reservation as 2 rewards since AGR doesn't permit stopovers. I told her it wasn't a stopover and that the only reason they were switching accomodations in Cleveland was because the train was sold out of everything and they had no choice.
We hung up and she told me she would call me back when it was done shortly. When she called me back around 45 minutes later, she told me that she was able to book Cleveland to DC and DC to Miami, FL. However, when she had my original Amtrak reservation canceled, someone snapped up the Chicago to Cleveland roomette before she could add it to the Guest Rewards reservation. I paid 20,000 points for the Cleveland to Miami portion and figured that my parents would need to be in coach at least until Cleveland.
Within the next 60-90 minutes, the Chicago to Cleveland roomette opened up so I called AGR directly and had to pay another 20,000 points. I couldn't really afford to argue and was concerned about my parents first as they were leaving that night or would not arrive in Miami in time to catch the ship on Saturday. The good news was that now my parents had accomodations for the whole trip.
When I told Guest Rewards during and after the 1st and 2nd reservations that they should be considered one reward for 30,000 points because going from a roomette to a bedroom on the same train should not be considered a stopover, the 1st agent told me she would talk with her supervisor and see if they could give me back 10,000 points. She also offered 500 courtesy points to make up for the inconvenience. As of now, I have seen no adjustment beyond the 500 token courtesy points.
I also spoke to the 1st AGR agent about the original set of tickets from La Crosse, WI to Miami, FL --30,000 points for bedrooms all the way--would be handled. She said I could mail the tickets back. I told her I would but that the La Crosse to Chicago portion was used. She said they would refund 10,000 points. I was polite but told her that paying 20,000 points for a 5 hour trip seemed hardly fair. I'm still upset but realize that AGR and even Amtrak didn't intentionally make the train late.
I would never intentionally use points for accomodations on a 5 hour trip and only did with the original reservation because it was a part of something much larger---30,000 points to cover the entire trip.
At this point, the 30,000 point trip from La Crosse to Miami, FL has cost a combined 70,000 points with the possibility of 20,000 points in adjustments.
I am upset at Amtrak for demonstating their lack of empowerment to offer a solution at passenger services. I feel they should have had the ability to offer some form of accomodations at the moment--even if it would have involved coach for part of it. I don't feel it should've been up to me to deal with Guest Rewards to secure accomodations for my parents when there was a missed connection and accomodations were available on the next day's train
I am upset at Guest Rewards for their handling of the rebookings and maintaining that my original reservation would only be getting 10,000 out of 30K returned.
On the bright side, my parents are on the train and have accomodations for the whole trip to Miami.
They built an extra day into their schedule but had planned to spend it in Miami, FL and, unfortunately lost their paid hotel room for that night----that was beyond Amtrak's control.
Amtrak put them up in a hotel and gave them $80 cash for food and taxis.
Please feel free to offer advice. I have already told my parents to call Customer Relations before they leave on the cruise.
What are your opionions of Amtrak's and AGRs handling of the situation and do you have any advice for how I shoul follow up with AGR to try and recoup my points?
Maybe my expectations are too high, but any responses are welcome.
I am looking for opinions and advice.
My parents planned for months to go on a cruise to Miami, FL. They've done this before and started taking the train after they realized how much more relaxing it is to driving and flying. I booked them the round trip in Deluxe bedrooms using points. The total cost was 60,000 AGR points.
Their itinerary was as follows:
La Crosse to Chicago on the Empire Builder-Leaving 6/2
Chicago to Washington DC on the Capitol Limited Leaving 6/2 arriving 6/3
Washington DC to Miami on the Silver Meteor Leaving 6/3 arriving 6/4
Cruise ship departs Miami, FL 6/6
When they arrived in La Crosse on 6/2 the train was running 30-45 minutes late. However, Amtrak didn't realize and may not have been told that there was unscheduled track maintainance. By the time, the Empire Builder arrived, it was over 4 hours late and the Capitol had left.
Upon visiting passenger services in Chicago, my parents found out they would be spending the night in Chicago.
When the agent at passenger services looked at my parents tickets she remarked that because it was a Guest Rewards reservation that I would need to authorize any changes made so that my parents could have similar accomodations on the next train leaving 6/3 and on the Silver Meteor leaving 6/4.
I know that Amtrak can't always do this if accomodations aren't available but there were accomodations that had opened in Cleveland and even Pittsburgh so, at the very least, they would have had accomodations for part of the way to Washington DC. Even luckier, there were bedrooms available (more than 1) on the 6/4 Silver Meteor. The agent shrugged her shoulders and said she could do nothing without my approval and Guest Rewards.
Other paying passengers were offered accomodations. My parents were told they could always exchange there tickets for coach because "there is always room in coach."
I realize that Amtrak cannot magically invent new accomoations if there are none. My issue is that the agent in passenger services said she could do nothing to secure them an itinerary at that time when it was available. Yes, Guest Rewards is closed, but I know from experience that Amtrak can intervene, especially when missed connections are involved and AGR is closed.
When my parents told me this, I had a feeling that I would be the only one that could affect the outcome since passenger services would not. Needless to say, when I got home a couple hours later, I checked inventory and could see that the Capitol leaving Chicago 6/3, didn't have accomodations straight from Chicago to DC. At the time, the train was completely sold out, even in coach---As an aside, the 6/4 Silver Meteor had bedrooms, roomettes and coach.
Back to the Capitol Limited, I know from experience that if Guest Rewards is closed, the next best thing is to create a reservation from Amtrak to secure the inventory until AGR is open. I saw a deluxe bedroom from Cleveland to DC was open and called Amtrak.
The Amtrak agent was extremely helpful and snagged my parents a deluxe bedroom from Cleveland to DC. As I was on the phone, she also mentioned a roomette was available (truly must have just opened up) from Chicago to Cleveland.
She booked both segments and also booked the 6/4 segment on the Silver Meteor from DC to Miami in a bedroom.
I was happy and called my parents after midnight with the good news. The small negative was that they would need to transfer from a roomette to a bedroom at around 2 AM but they didn't care under the circumstances.
The next morning on 6/3, I called Guest Rewards and wanted to pay for the reservation with points. The AGR agent told me she would need to call Amtrak reservations in order to cancel the Amtrak reservation and book it with Guest Rewards.
She also mentioned that since since they were stopping in Cleveland, she would need to book the reservation as 2 rewards since AGR doesn't permit stopovers. I told her it wasn't a stopover and that the only reason they were switching accomodations in Cleveland was because the train was sold out of everything and they had no choice.
We hung up and she told me she would call me back when it was done shortly. When she called me back around 45 minutes later, she told me that she was able to book Cleveland to DC and DC to Miami, FL. However, when she had my original Amtrak reservation canceled, someone snapped up the Chicago to Cleveland roomette before she could add it to the Guest Rewards reservation. I paid 20,000 points for the Cleveland to Miami portion and figured that my parents would need to be in coach at least until Cleveland.
Within the next 60-90 minutes, the Chicago to Cleveland roomette opened up so I called AGR directly and had to pay another 20,000 points. I couldn't really afford to argue and was concerned about my parents first as they were leaving that night or would not arrive in Miami in time to catch the ship on Saturday. The good news was that now my parents had accomodations for the whole trip.
When I told Guest Rewards during and after the 1st and 2nd reservations that they should be considered one reward for 30,000 points because going from a roomette to a bedroom on the same train should not be considered a stopover, the 1st agent told me she would talk with her supervisor and see if they could give me back 10,000 points. She also offered 500 courtesy points to make up for the inconvenience. As of now, I have seen no adjustment beyond the 500 token courtesy points.
I also spoke to the 1st AGR agent about the original set of tickets from La Crosse, WI to Miami, FL --30,000 points for bedrooms all the way--would be handled. She said I could mail the tickets back. I told her I would but that the La Crosse to Chicago portion was used. She said they would refund 10,000 points. I was polite but told her that paying 20,000 points for a 5 hour trip seemed hardly fair. I'm still upset but realize that AGR and even Amtrak didn't intentionally make the train late.
I would never intentionally use points for accomodations on a 5 hour trip and only did with the original reservation because it was a part of something much larger---30,000 points to cover the entire trip.
At this point, the 30,000 point trip from La Crosse to Miami, FL has cost a combined 70,000 points with the possibility of 20,000 points in adjustments.
I am upset at Amtrak for demonstating their lack of empowerment to offer a solution at passenger services. I feel they should have had the ability to offer some form of accomodations at the moment--even if it would have involved coach for part of it. I don't feel it should've been up to me to deal with Guest Rewards to secure accomodations for my parents when there was a missed connection and accomodations were available on the next day's train
I am upset at Guest Rewards for their handling of the rebookings and maintaining that my original reservation would only be getting 10,000 out of 30K returned.
On the bright side, my parents are on the train and have accomodations for the whole trip to Miami.
They built an extra day into their schedule but had planned to spend it in Miami, FL and, unfortunately lost their paid hotel room for that night----that was beyond Amtrak's control.
Amtrak put them up in a hotel and gave them $80 cash for food and taxis.
Please feel free to offer advice. I have already told my parents to call Customer Relations before they leave on the cruise.
What are your opionions of Amtrak's and AGRs handling of the situation and do you have any advice for how I shoul follow up with AGR to try and recoup my points?
Maybe my expectations are too high, but any responses are welcome.
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