I know I have to call to get the current mess straightened out, but what I’m wondering is if it’s possible to change to a later train on the same routing on a round-trip reservation without calling (this would be if I can’t make that train). Does anyone have any idea about this?
Booking online on Amtrak website
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Yeah, you could. It is a very simple change, about the simplest possible, assuming it is not an AGR ticket. Coach, multple daily service Corridor, no sleeper accommodations to worry about. You'd almost certainly have to pay any difference between your original fare and the current bucket on your chosen train, though.
Even I might do that one online.
OK - for some reason I thought this was possible for one-way but not roundtrip.
I called Amtrak, and the reason I couldn't do anything with the remaining leg of the trip was because there was a 17 minute schedule change. That is silly - why should that block any changes or even seeing the reservation on the mobile app? In any case, they accepted the change on their end, and when they went to cancel it offered an eVoucher significantly bigger than the voucher amount used to pay for it ($83 instead of $47), and significantly lower cash refund than the original cash amount paid ($13 instead of $49). While I can now see/modify the reservation online, it shows the same cash/voucher breakdown when cancelling on the website. As the regular Amtrak agent couldn't override this, I was transferred to Customer Relations, though they closed before I could get through. Guess I'll have to call back tomorrow - may see if they can just refund the vouchers, as those funds were from repricing my since-cancelled trip that fell under the medical cancellation policy.
My service dog weighs only 11 lbs. so he wouldn’t have a problem in a roomette. I would be needing a round trip ticket,this would be my first time ever on a train.I was only thinking about the sleeper because I have back problems. But it sounds like a pain in the butt to get one & too expensive. How are the coach seats for comfort, are they straight up right? Or can they lean back some? My back can’t stay in a straight up right position for a trip that long.
There are a few threads regarding coach seats (linked below). I have not traveled overnight in a coach seat in years so I cannot personally provide any information, but they are certainly more comfortable than airline seats. However, there is no arm rest between the seats.
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/seats-in-roomette-verses-coach-for-comfort.80028/
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/leg-rests-on-long-distance-coaches.83330/
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/first-time-overnight-in-coach.82027/
BCL
Engineer
I'm thinking of making a trip but I've been having way too many issues trying to use the V712 code for trips to/from Anaheim. I can't seem to get it working on the website.
But it has been working on the iPad version of the app. Not ready to book yet, but it's been weird.
But it has been working on the iPad version of the app. Not ready to book yet, but it's been weird.
I have found that customer service can do things that I can't online. They've always been very nice, patient and helpful.
Everydaymatters
Engineer
I'm trying to visualize how a "service dog" that weighs 11 pounds could help a person with back problems.???
She didn’t say the service dog was for her back. Read her original post.
From the "training a service dog" segments I've seen on the animal-themed channels on Pluto TV, even a small dog could be trained to pick up things like dropped keys for someone who has trouble bending over. (And they can then jump up to where their human is sitting and deliver the keys.)
AcrossTheOcean
Train Attendant
I believe seizure alert dogs are trained to detect physiological changes that precede a seizure, so the patient can place themselves into a safe environment before the onset.
I called Customer Relations, and they ended up just issuing a refund for the entire ticket that was purchased part-voucher, part-cash (which was a pleasant surprise). I then rebooked the same segment (Friday’s Wolverine 353) with the remaining voucher, and was intending to book the other train I wanted (the early Monday morning 350 return on the Wolverine) with AGR points. However, before I got around to doing that, Amtrak cancelled Monday morning’s 350, and the Sunday trains became sold out. Given that, I figured I’d either change or cancel the departure - however, it would not let me do anything with my 353 trip online at all. Ugh - I booked that online specifically to make sure I could change or cancel online (there was a slim chance I’d miss Friday’s 353, so I wanted the option to switch to Saturday last minute in that case). So I figured I’d just call and cancel, and evidently there’s a glitch in the system that wouldn’t let them cancel, so they had to send it to Customer Relations to send me a new voucher.
Ugh - I know I was trying to do some complex things, but the system shouldn’t decide not to allow changes online arbitrarily. It would have been simpler had I not had a voucher I wanted to make sure I’d use if I did the trip (not sure how much I’ll take Amtrak in the meantime, given the current woes). At least this was just a fun little trip and not something I had to do - if I had a ticket for a train I was not going to make, tried to cancel, and had the system refuse to do it online I wouldn’t be happy… Figure I’ll just wait until I know there are Ventures running to do this, as riding on those is one of the things I wanted to do on this trip.
Ugh - I know I was trying to do some complex things, but the system shouldn’t decide not to allow changes online arbitrarily. It would have been simpler had I not had a voucher I wanted to make sure I’d use if I did the trip (not sure how much I’ll take Amtrak in the meantime, given the current woes). At least this was just a fun little trip and not something I had to do - if I had a ticket for a train I was not going to make, tried to cancel, and had the system refuse to do it online I wouldn’t be happy… Figure I’ll just wait until I know there are Ventures running to do this, as riding on those is one of the things I wanted to do on this trip.
The "system" you are interacting with on the website is the tippy top layer of an accretion of overlays around an antique 1970s era core. It is probably pretty much a large and stinky pile of technical debt in a "hairball". Plus, the folks that really knew the core system I understand are largely gone, either retired or pushed out. And I am pretty sure Amtrak has a difficult time attracting quality corporate IT talent, their pay scale is likely not particularly competitive and their corporate culture likely sucks. Good IT people have options.
Whatever you ran into was likely an inadvertent artifact of a very brittle and over complicated system and not a design choice. The only way around it was Amtrak's Customer Relations staff doing the task directly on ARROW's own, native old "green screen" interface and avoiding all the encapsulating layers.
I do not try to do anything other than very straightforward and simple things on the website in actual transactions. Just researching fares now I have run into several weird dead ends on the current UI.
I understand your frustration. I personally prefer to do most of my business online generally, and not over the phone. But not with Amtrak. For Amtrak, I call and deal with an agent that can cut through the layers of accretion and interact with ARROW directly.
jis
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Right. Never mistake the Amtrak website to be anything remotely close to the Delta or United web sites in functionality or robustness.
I would at least hope you could change or cancel a trip without calling, though. The problem with having to call then is if you miss a train and can’t get through before it departs, you end up with a no-show and losing the money/voucher you spent on the trip. In my case, there was a slim chance an appointment would run long in the morning, causing me not to make the train (in which case I’d have wanted to change or cancel). I’d imagine the same applies to other people, particularly on the NEC.
As for airline websites and robustness, I actually had similar problems with Delta earlier this year. Wanted to change a ticket, and the website refused to do it. Used chat because the phone line hold times were insane, and while they changed it they also inadvertently changed my refundable ticket to a non-refundable ticket despite them telling me it was still refundable. When I ended up having to cancel that ticket, I had to go through Delta’s version of Customer Relations to get a refund and had to call back after waiting several weeks and not getting one,
As for airline websites and robustness, I actually had similar problems with Delta earlier this year. Wanted to change a ticket, and the website refused to do it. Used chat because the phone line hold times were insane, and while they changed it they also inadvertently changed my refundable ticket to a non-refundable ticket despite them telling me it was still refundable. When I ended up having to cancel that ticket, I had to go through Delta’s version of Customer Relations to get a refund and had to call back after waiting several weeks and not getting one,
You can if it is a simple change, a different train between the same points on a one segment cash ticket. That is straightforward enough and the most common use case, especially for the NEC. That one I imagine they've tested sufficiently.
Anything much more complex, I'd avoid the website. I think you might have gotten caught up in your ticket's complex payment history in this case. Ticketing systems are deliberately persnickety about payment and it likely got itself wrapped around the axle.
jis
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There will always be corner cases that a website cannot handle specially when vouchers are used with a mix of original fare rules that apply to them. I don't think that will ever get fully automated. Also anything involving interline stuff barring a few JV exceptions will tend to require human intervention.
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As an update to my case, Customer Relations issued a new voucher, but it was a Transportation Voucher instead of the original eVoucher - meaning it can only be used once. I called to see if they could give me an eVoucher (or failing that a refund), and they said it is not possible. They said I could cancel/change trips booked with such a voucher and get another voucher, but warned not to do it too much because the voucher would get corrupted (as the eVoucher did in my case). So I guess the moral of the story is not to cancel/change trips involving vouchers too many times because it messes up Amtrak’s system. At least it’s a relatively small amount…
Well, it's good information to have, to not get too creative because of the headaches that might ensue. I was actually just looking at roundtrips to Chicago for the weekend and there are definitely fewer options than there used to be.. and still only 2 trains a day in either direction. The spur of the moment trip isn't happening.
They’re supposed to resume the third Wolverine on October 25th. That date was previously October 24th, but pushed back a day - which is actually what messed up my plans. I was going to take the Wolverine to CHI tomorrow and wanted to change my return from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning.
Since Monday morning was less than Sunday afternoon and I paid entirely with a voucher, I wanted to cancel and rebook both legs to maximize voucher use (as the trip there was part-cash/part-voucher). Doing that is where I first ran into technical difficulties, and then after doing all that Monday morning’s 350 was cancelled (and Sunday’s return trains quickly sold out).
If I was going to do it over, I’d have just booked it as a round-trip, which would have removed the need to rebook to maximize voucher use (as it would all be applied to one reservation), and as such would have had less risk of having the voucher corrupt. Though there are valid reasons to book as two one-ways - primarily if there’s a chance I want to cancel one leg but not the other, or if you’re concerned about the return leg being cancelled by a no-show of the first leg.
Since Monday morning was less than Sunday afternoon and I paid entirely with a voucher, I wanted to cancel and rebook both legs to maximize voucher use (as the trip there was part-cash/part-voucher). Doing that is where I first ran into technical difficulties, and then after doing all that Monday morning’s 350 was cancelled (and Sunday’s return trains quickly sold out).
If I was going to do it over, I’d have just booked it as a round-trip, which would have removed the need to rebook to maximize voucher use (as it would all be applied to one reservation), and as such would have had less risk of having the voucher corrupt. Though there are valid reasons to book as two one-ways - primarily if there’s a chance I want to cancel one leg but not the other, or if you’re concerned about the return leg being cancelled by a no-show of the first leg.
jis
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All I said is Amtrak’s generally is worse. Did not say anything about pristine, so that bit is on you
BCL
Engineer
The website seems all wonky. I can't enter certain discount codes, because they seem to break the ability to bring up choices. And the multi-city (add trip option) also seems to create a situation where "Find Train" goes light colored where I can't really click on it.
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