Are vouchers transferrable?

[Rider]

As noted elsewhere, I have been promised a voucher as compensation for trip delays.

Is it in any way transferable to another passenger? Or does it have to be me riding.

I would assume if I use it for sleeper travel, that it's good for two passengers as long as each pays for a coach seat.

 

[MrFSS]

I would assume if I use it for sleeper travel, that it's good for two passengers as long as each pays for a coach seat.

No matter if you purchase sleeping accommodations with cash or card, pay with a voucher, or AGR points, the total amount includes the sleeper for all people the room is allowed to accommodate and meals for those folks. No extra coach tickets are ever needed.

 

[me_little_me]

I would assume if I use it for sleeper travel, that it's good for two passengers as long as each pays for a coach seat.

No matter if you purchase sleeping accommodations with cash or card, pay with a voucher, or AGR points, the total amount includes the sleeper for all people the room is allowed to accommodate and meals for those folks. No extra coach tickets are ever needed.

I think you missed what Rider was asking in the question. If Rider uses the voucher (or other form of payment) to "cover" the room charge, they still have to pay for the rail transportation. And if a friend came along, there would be a rail transportation charge for the friend.

Rider, if the voucher were for $400 and the roomette was $400 and transportation was $100, then the cost to you would be the voucher plus $100. If you brought along someone, the total would be $400 +$100 + $100 and you would have to lay out $200 plus the voucher. The voucher has a dollar value so if roomette was $375 and transportation was $100PP, you would have to lay out $75 in cash for one or $175 for 2.

 

[yarrow]

we recently recieved and did a partial redemption on a voucher. my understanding is that of the person or persons named on the voucher, at least one of them must travel. for example, our voucher was in my and my wife's name. we used it to get tickets for myself and one of our sons. as long as one person named on the voucher travels, others can travel on the same reservation

 

[MrFSS]

I would assume if I use it for sleeper travel, that it's good for two passengers as long as each pays for a coach seat.

No matter if you purchase sleeping accommodations with cash or card, pay with a voucher, or AGR points, the total amount includes the sleeper for all people the room is allowed to accommodate and meals for those folks. No extra coach tickets are ever needed.

I think you missed what Rider was asking in the question. If Rider uses the voucher (or other form of payment) to "cover" the room charge, they still have to pay for the rail transportation. And if a friend came along, there would be a rail transportation charge for the friend.

Rider, if the voucher were for $400 and the roomette was $400 and transportation was $100, then the cost to you would be the voucher plus $100. If you brought along someone, the total would be $400 +$100 + $100 and you would have to lay out $200 plus the voucher. The voucher has a dollar value so if roomette was $375 and transportation was $100PP, you would have to lay out $75 in cash for one or $175 for 2.

And, I see what you are saying - what I was trying to get across to him is, when you buy the room you get it for everyone who is eligible to be in that room and they don't have to pay any room charge, either. I guess I always price the entire package as a unit (rail and room) and that was what I was trying get across. You don't have to pay for the room twice.

Thanks for you explanation to help make it clear.

 

[AlanB]

My understanding is that you cannot physically give the voucher to someone else for them to take to the station and use. You have to be there at the time of booking and surrendering the voucher.

However, you don't have to be one of the travelers on the reservation for which the voucher gets used. In other words, as long as you go to the station to hand in the voucher, you can gift someone else the actual trip that the voucher helped to pay for.

 

[Rider]

My understanding is that you cannot physically give the voucher to someone else for them to take to the station and use. You have to be there at the time of booking and surrendering the voucher.

However, you don't have to be one of the travelers on the reservation for which the voucher gets used. In other words, as long as you go to the station to hand in the voucher, you can gift someone else the actual trip that the voucher helped to pay for.

Hmmm... so, I take it you can't book a trip on the phone or on line and use the voucher to pay for it? Surely there must be a record in their system that the voucher exists in my name - do I understand correctly that the person named on the voucher must show up at the station the train is departing from to pay for the trip with it? But that others can also ride, e.g. I could book a trip in coach for two people as long as one of them is named on the voucher?

Still confused here...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Hmmm... so, I take it you can't book a trip on the phone or on line and use the voucher to pay for it?

You can reserve a room online and then let them know you'll be turning in your voucher to a staffed station over the following week. I believe you can send it back through the mail if you prefer, but in either case the voucher must be back in Amtrak's hands before they can settle the bill and provide you a new ticket. You can use the voucher to book a trip for anyone you please. You don't need to book yourself (or any other previous customer) on a trip that's paid for through a voucher. You can also combine vouchers if you have more than one or split a voucher if the cost is less that the total value. It's a tedious process that will probably become easier as Amtrak moves toward electronic tickets. However, with new technology will likely come new rules that may be far more restrictive in other ways.

 

[Rider]

Hmmm... so, I take it you can't book a trip on the phone or on line and use the voucher to pay for it?

You can reserve a room online and then let them know you'll be turning in your voucher to a staffed station over the following week. I believe you can send it back through the mail if you prefer, but in either case the voucher must be back in Amtrak's hands before they can settle the bill and provide you a new ticket. You can use the voucher to book a trip for anyone you please. You don't need to book yourself (or any other previous customer) on a trip that's paid for through a voucher. You can also combine vouchers if you have more than one or split a voucher if the cost is less that the total value. It's a tedious process that will probably become easier as Amtrak moves toward electronic tickets. However, with new technology will likely come new rules that may be far more restrictive in other ways.

Texas that truly answers my question - thank you! It now seems very flexible, in allowing me to share the trip(s) with someone, even if I am not going. Or to travel and bring a friend with me. Thanks again.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Hmmm... so, I take it you can't book a trip on the phone or on line and use the voucher to pay for it?

You can reserve a room online and then let them know you'll be turning in your voucher to a staffed station over the following week. I believe you can send it back through the mail if you prefer, but in either case the voucher must be back in Amtrak's hands before they can settle the bill and provide you a new ticket. You can use the voucher to book a trip for anyone you please. You don't need to book yourself (or any other previous customer) on a trip that's paid for through a voucher. You can also combine vouchers if you have more than one or split a voucher if the cost is less that the total value. It's a tedious process that will probably become easier as Amtrak moves toward electronic tickets. However, with new technology will likely come new rules that may be far more restrictive in other ways.

Texas that truly answers my question - thank you! It now seems very flexible, in allowing me to share the trip(s) with someone, even if I am not going. Or to travel and bring a friend with me. Thanks again.

Actually I gummed that up. Where I said "online" I meant by phone. D'oh! :wacko:

 

[AlanB]

As noted by Texas Sunset, you can make a phone reservation and inform them that you're going to use a voucher. It is possible to make arrangements to mail in the voucher, but it's not easy. It's much easier to just go to a station to turn in the voucher and complete the payment. And it doesn't have to be the station from where you, or anyone else will depart from. It just needs to be a staffed station.

You should also know that that typically you are only given 7 days to get to a station and turn in that voucher, before the reservation is automatically cancelled. You can sometimes get the agent to push that limit a few days, but it's rare to be granted more than 14 days. So make sure when you call, that you'll be able to get to a station within the alloted time.

But for example if you wanted, you could go to a station here on the east coast and use the voucher to pay for tickets for your family members on the west coast. Then you could mail those tickets to them, do it via secure mail if you do, so that they could take a trip on their own without you. I'm not saying that you want to give away your voucher to them, but the point is that in effect you can do so by picking up the ticket for them even though you're not traveling with them.

If you decided to book a trip from Boston to Chicago in a sleeper that costs $300 for the room and $100 for the rail fare, you voucher would cover that. If you added someone else to the room, that would bring the total to $500, so you'd be short $100 after turning in the voucher and would have to pay the balance either in cash or by credit card. Up to you if you want to make the other person pay you the $100 or not.