Awful Trip on The Zephyr

[dlagrua]

The original subject of this post was that a passenger paid $794 for a 190 mile roomette trip. That's over $4 per mile. You could do that in your car in three hours for far less and its private. The price is not competitive.

 

[jis]

The original subject of this post was that a passenger paid $794 for a 190 mile roomette trip. That's over $4 per mile. You could do that in your car in three hours for far less and its private. The price is not competitive.

Without taking any specific position about how high it is, just in the interest of accuracy .... It was about an $800 round trip on a 185 mile segment, so, a total distance of 370 miles, which boils down to $2.16 per mile.

 

[Tlcooper44]

Hopefully with the 80 Billion $ in Amtrak fundings, such experience shouldn’t happen

Not sure that the 80 billion is actually a reality yet.

 

[user 14106]

My trip is wonderful so far. At DEN - got my seat in the SSL for the mountains.

 

[BoulderCO]

My trip is wonderful so far. At DEN - got my seat in the SSL for the mountains.

Enjoy !!

 

[user 14106]

Enjoy !!

Spectacular views on that stretch. Approaching grand jct with still impressive views. Delays due to intense heat - Grand Jct is supposedly 108.

 

[deBASHmode]

Spectacular views on that stretch. Approaching grand jct with still impressive views. Delays due to intense heat - Grand Jct is supposedly 108.

Yikes! Heading the opposite way on the zephyr in July - can't wait to see the mountains!

 

[tonys96]

The original subject of this post was that a passenger paid $794 for a 190 mile roomette trip. That's over $4 per mile. You could do that in your car in three hours for far less and its private. The price is not competitive.

I disagree. The original subject was a customer thought he had a bad experience.
The cost was just an additional comment
My guess is that the OP thought his experience was bad at any cost.

This does not mean that I agree with the OP about his experience , but certainly agree with his being able to express his disappointment.

 

[ShiningTimeStL]

The original subject of this post was that a passenger paid $794 for a 190 mile roomette trip. That's over $4 per mile. You could do that in your car in three hours for far less and its private. The price is not competitive.

That line of thinking is going to end up landing us European-style "couchette" or corridor coach accommodations. Eugh...

 

[Pierre Tong]

I think the OP is in the right to complain about the trip.

However, there's just so much information out there that there - tons of Youtube videos on people's experiences riding the California Zephyr, blogs, articles etc.... Shoot, there are even TripAdvisor/Yelp reviews of the Zephyr trip now (most of them mentioning delays).

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...653-Reviews-California_Zephyr-California.htmlhttps://www.yelp.com/biz/amtrak-california-zephyr-sacramento-2
Just doing a quick Google search of "California Zephyr" and developing reasonable expectations about delays/the quality of the meals could have made the trip more enjoyable for the OP (or even caused the OP to reconsider booking for the high cost or whatever reason). Would have certainly saved some heartburn and disappointment.

 

[user 14106]

Just has a wonderful cross country trip on the Zephyr (first leg in Boston sleeper of lake shore.) got into Emeryville 120 ML. The long days this time of year made for not missing any of the Rockies stretch even with the lateness - sunset was getting toward Helper UT. Lateness mostly due to speed restrictions related to abnormally hot Rockies. Also some freight meets (but not terrible) and a couple PTC stops.
Grand Jct 100 degrees! The heat delays however had the beneficial side effect of slow travel thru some of the most scenic stretches such as Gore Canyon and climbing up to the Moffatt tunnel improving the ability to take photographs. Sunny the entire trip except for thunderstorms right out of Chicago. Even survived flexible dining - I’m guessing this crew was using some kind of oven instead of a microwave to heat because they didn’t have as much of a nuked feel as trips on one night trains.

 

[quilttours]

You should contact Customer Relations( not Customer Service) with the details about the lack of meals, Lateness of your Train and since you paid $800 for what's really worth about maybe $400, you should receive a Partial Refund or a Travel Voucher.

I'm curious why you didn't just ride in Coach for the Short trips, that would probably have been around $200 RT Max( even Less if Low Bucket).

Don't join the Never again Bunch based on 1 trip, especially since you agreed to this Outrageous Fare knowing the Meals sucked!

I got a travel voucher when my sleeper car flooded. Everyone else got a refund, and I have tried to get a refund instead of a travel voucher, but they are not budging. I have even contacted my Senators...

 

[toddinde]

And unfortunately, in those cases it is often the best of the employees that do that. The less than ambitious ones, are the ones that remain....

That’s always the case with drawdowns. Same thing happened in the military after Desert Storm.

 

[toddinde]

I think you do have a point their. Quite often the most ambitious employees, specially in managerial positions can be remarkably destructive for the organization. They helicopter in and out leaving the organization in shambles. Have seen that happen many times. Actually the outward helicopter trip is to get out of town before anyone can pin any of the destruction on their backs, leaving the next guy to clean up their mess. Of course the next guy could be equally ambitious playing the same game and the cycle goes on. Often it is the less ambitous but more knowledgeable who stick around and try to help clean up the mess simply to restore a more stable work environment that they can be proud of.

I experienced that too. An organization I worked for hired a new leader to bring in new blood and shake things up. She didn’t know what she was doing and was totally toxic. They fired her after six months, but the damage was almost irreversible.

 

[5280 Guy]

I never plan for things to go perfect. But, you have the right to complain. You cant buy time though.

edited after further review of your complaint. $$ is not the object.

You're right. I did get over $300 back, though.

 

[Tlcooper44]

You're right. I did get over $300 back, though.

That’s good! Was it cash or a voucher?

 

[me_little_me]

I got a travel voucher when my sleeper car flooded. Everyone else got a refund, and I have tried to get a refund instead of a travel voucher, but they are not budging. I have even contacted my Senators...

File for arbitration.