acelafan
Conductor
I checked Amtrak this morning and tickets for Cary are working for 3/11. So who knows what happened.
Booking online on Amtrak website
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So I spent the day making bookings for a Canadian/Empire Builder circle trip for November. Everything worked out nicely, except when I tried to book on the Cascades from Vancouver to Seattle. Oh, I found the trains, all right, and went through the booking process, entered my passport information and then clicked the "purchase ticket" button. I was then informed that the "selected promotion does not apply to this trip." There seemed to be no way to remove the "promotion," and the transaction did not go through. I rechecked the booking and could not see that I had attempted to buy on any sort of "promotion." I then tried booking it on the app on my phone (I had been using the website on my laptop) and I got the same error message. Then I tried calling the AGR Select Plus phone number, and was on hold for so long that I gave up. I'm going to try calling tomorrow and seeing if things work better. Otherwise, I might have to hitch-hike from Vancouver to Seattle.
I had no problems with the other Amtrak reservations, including a NER/Empire service to Albany, the Maple Leaf from Albany to Toronto, the Empire builder to Chicago, and the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington. All of them took my money (or points, in the case of the Empire Builder segment) with no problem. Oh, and I', booked in the 830 sleeper on the Empire Builder. Is that the base sleeper that will always run or do I need to call to get switched to minimize my chance of having my ride cancelled due to having a sleeper pulled at the last minute? Also, Amtrak sleeper prices are really high, even for November -- Coach from Chicago to Baltimore via the Capitol was priced at $78, you don't want to know what the roomette cost.
I had no problems with the other Amtrak reservations, including a NER/Empire service to Albany, the Maple Leaf from Albany to Toronto, the Empire builder to Chicago, and the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington. All of them took my money (or points, in the case of the Empire Builder segment) with no problem. Oh, and I', booked in the 830 sleeper on the Empire Builder. Is that the base sleeper that will always run or do I need to call to get switched to minimize my chance of having my ride cancelled due to having a sleeper pulled at the last minute? Also, Amtrak sleeper prices are really high, even for November -- Coach from Chicago to Baltimore via the Capitol was priced at $78, you don't want to know what the roomette cost.
1. To my mind, the Cascades problem sounds like Amtrak IT has struck again. Have to ask, though, did you clear cache before you tried again? I'll likely be booking a trip to Vancouver next week, I'll see how that goes.
2. The 30 car is the base sleeper on the Builder.
3. On my trip in November last year, the roomette prices on the LSL and Builder didn't drop until sometime in June. At this point, both were still high bucket. In June the LSL dropped to low bucket and the Builder to second lowest, which I immediately booked. If you have already booked, keep checking, there's a reasonable chance they'll drop and you can call to get the difference refunded.
We may be on the same Canadian. This year on my November trip, I'll be taking it both ways, one direction on Preference points (westbound so as to avoid the Ontario taxes for trips originating in Toronto). So I'll avoid playing Amtrak's bucket games this year. I'll post it on member trips once I book the non-award points parts (Cascades, eastbound Canadian, Maple Leaf) which should be this week or next week.
2. The 30 car is the base sleeper on the Builder.
3. On my trip in November last year, the roomette prices on the LSL and Builder didn't drop until sometime in June. At this point, both were still high bucket. In June the LSL dropped to low bucket and the Builder to second lowest, which I immediately booked. If you have already booked, keep checking, there's a reasonable chance they'll drop and you can call to get the difference refunded.
We may be on the same Canadian. This year on my November trip, I'll be taking it both ways, one direction on Preference points (westbound so as to avoid the Ontario taxes for trips originating in Toronto). So I'll avoid playing Amtrak's bucket games this year. I'll post it on member trips once I book the non-award points parts (Cascades, eastbound Canadian, Maple Leaf) which should be this week or next week.
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trimetbusfan
OBS Chief
I would definitely call.
Probably high bucket. Think Chicago to DC is around $630. Outrageous price for that short a trip with flex
I now have my Vancouver-Seattle ticket in hand. I called the AGR phone number this morning and got answered on the first ring. After verifying my identity, the agent booked the ticket almost instantly. Not sure what happened here. My only guess is that Amtrak's "IT 'Center of Excellence'" struck again. 
Also, I guess one shouldn't call the AGR number on a Sunday (even though they say it's staffed 7 days a week), as I was on the line for close to a half hour before I decided to bag it and wait for the next day.
Also, I guess one shouldn't call the AGR number on a Sunday (even though they say it's staffed 7 days a week), as I was on the line for close to a half hour before I decided to bag it and wait for the next day.
moselman66
Service Attendant
Noticed something new today on the Amtrak site in the home page booking engine. When you choose Milwaukee Intermodal or Milwaukee Airport it says the number of departures beneath the station.
Anybody see anything like this before, or see it now with any other stations? I poked around some but didn't find other cities with this. And (at least for the two Milwaukee rail stations) only seems to be when choosing it as the departure. (For what it's worth it must be couting certain or all Thruway busses at MKE to get 24 departures.)
Obviously not anything earth shattering but it makes you wonder what they might be doing or testing.
I'm also wondering if others see this same thing for MIlwaukee. In theory it could be locational / IP related and if I was instead pinging as Baltimore show something similar for BAL and BWI, for example. MIght be a tad on the fancy side for them to do, but it just seems odd that I'm only finding it for MIlwaukee...where I am.
mber of departures right beneath the
Anybody see anything like this before, or see it now with any other stations? I poked around some but didn't find other cities with this. And (at least for the two Milwaukee rail stations) only seems to be when choosing it as the departure. (For what it's worth it must be couting certain or all Thruway busses at MKE to get 24 departures.)
Obviously not anything earth shattering but it makes you wonder what they might be doing or testing.
I'm also wondering if others see this same thing for MIlwaukee. In theory it could be locational / IP related and if I was instead pinging as Baltimore show something similar for BAL and BWI, for example. MIght be a tad on the fancy side for them to do, but it just seems odd that I'm only finding it for MIlwaukee...where I am.
mber of departures right beneath the
I'm in CLT. Seeing the same thing you are for Milwaukee.
It might be an effort to help newbies determine which station is the best for them. There are other ways of doing it, but this might be the easiest way to tack onto the Amtrak site:
Compare PDA versus PDX to see this illustrated.
Compare PDA versus PDX to see this illustrated.
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
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There is a tendency to use codes among us aficionados. It does help establish our bonafides as at least a marginal expert afterall, and helps a little in requiring less typing. I do it all the time, and I know I should not.
Anyway, a convenient place to decode can be found at:
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/amtrak-station-codes.80673/
Anyway, a convenient place to decode can be found at:
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/amtrak-station-codes.80673/
My quick way to look up codes is to Google Amtrak <code>
Kbyrdleroydogg
Service Attendant
When Amtrak says 3 coach seats left at this price or whatever number sleeper rooms at this price, are they really set aside at certain prices, or is this Amtrak's way to spur sales of the seats and rooms until they become more expensive?
They have "buckets". X number of seats are set at a low price, then when that # of seats are sold, they price goes up for the next # of seats. So, yes, once those 3 seats (not specific seats in a car) are sold the price will go up. Same with rooms - not specific rooms but # of rooms.
I'd amend that slightly to note that at any given time the entire inventory of every accommodation type is allocated across various buckets. You just see the lowest one with available inventory on the website. When that inventory is sold, the next one up with inventory assigned is shown.
Not every bucket price point will necessarily have inventory allocated to it on any given train, but the entire inventory will be assigned against some of them.
It goes the other way, too. When someone cancels it might open inventory in a lower bucket.
Individual rooms are not assigned to buckets, just a given number of them are allocated to each bucket. Sometimes agents will say that they are, and if you want to change you have to pay the bucket for the new room. That is not true and reflects the agents relative lack of skill with ARROW. They just requested another room while holding one, consuming inventory and jumping into the next bucket. Experienced agents can change rooms without forcing a bucket jump.
I was looking for the Gathering and seeing similar fares in late October on the Capitol Limited. The Lake Shore Limited was even more, but a couple days ago came down to about $480 CHI-NYP and the reverse. Grabbed that from NYP-TOL (with a PHI-NYP Regional on one end+TOL-ARB bus connection the other) for $333, though hoping the Cap goes down for the way there (as it’s schedule is better eastbound, particularly boarding in Toledo). May just book for now as I can always call for a refund if it goes down…
What it says on the tin. I'm looking at BAL-NFK for Monday. Aside from the midday train not having a bus to NPN (I'm going to gripe about that...), I've noticed a BIG discrepancy on the through-DC fare vs splitting the fare there - like $50 in coach and $18 or so in business. What's up with this?
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I was just messing around to see the prices of Greensboro to Tampa.
I am sure this has been discussed with other paired cities, before but there are some crazy options given that really are not practical unless one is truly traveling with NO worries for time compared to more reasonable options.
The southbound ride has one take the Crescent to Alexandria, VA and then transfer to the Silver Star. At that point one might as well go extra 20 minutes and transfer at DC and be at a full service station that has some food options and the Metro Lounge. I understand the computer is working with the closest points where routes connect for a transfer but to be so close to a hub such as Union Station make it an option at least. It is not changing the length of the trip from start to finish. It seems the transfer wait is 2 hours , so plenty of time. But the real oddity is that the Piedmont stops at Cary and Raleigh around 6 pm to 6:30 pm with the Silver Star coming in at 9:00 to 9:30. Why not suggest the Piedmont from Greensboro to Cary or Raleigh and then the Silver Star South. The only option given on the website is adding over 1/2 a day of travel on a train and a larger cost.
The north bound does make the connection with the Piedmont in Cary and also gives the option for the Crescent.
I can see giving the option for the Crescent if one absolutely wants or needs a sleeper, but to be the only option on the southbound is just odd.
I could do the routing myself as the website can work with multiple stops but so many would not know to do that.
I am sure this has been discussed with other paired cities, before but there are some crazy options given that really are not practical unless one is truly traveling with NO worries for time compared to more reasonable options.
The southbound ride has one take the Crescent to Alexandria, VA and then transfer to the Silver Star. At that point one might as well go extra 20 minutes and transfer at DC and be at a full service station that has some food options and the Metro Lounge. I understand the computer is working with the closest points where routes connect for a transfer but to be so close to a hub such as Union Station make it an option at least. It is not changing the length of the trip from start to finish. It seems the transfer wait is 2 hours , so plenty of time. But the real oddity is that the Piedmont stops at Cary and Raleigh around 6 pm to 6:30 pm with the Silver Star coming in at 9:00 to 9:30. Why not suggest the Piedmont from Greensboro to Cary or Raleigh and then the Silver Star South. The only option given on the website is adding over 1/2 a day of travel on a train and a larger cost.
The north bound does make the connection with the Piedmont in Cary and also gives the option for the Crescent.
I can see giving the option for the Crescent if one absolutely wants or needs a sleeper, but to be the only option on the southbound is just odd.
I could do the routing myself as the website can work with multiple stops but so many would not know to do that.
Greensboro to Tampa crazy options.
Since there aren't any discounts for booking multiple trains, I have been known to book each piece separately.
Some years back, I was travelling Los Angeles via Albuquerque to grab friends as we went thru, ultimately to Raleigh. Because the Chi to DC piece couldn't be counted on to be on time, my friends who booked thru to Raleigh got booked by the online system DC to Raleigh the next day. If the Chi to DC piece arrived in time to grab the Raleigh piece the same day, my friends would get their tickets changed at DC.
I, on the other hand, booked thru to DC on one ticket, DC to Raleigh for the same day on another ticket. I figured if we missed DC to Raleigh, I had 23 hours to change my ticket*.
Upshot was they frantically ran off to get their tickets changed in time to catch the Raleigh train while I stood calmly trackside.
*Edit: as AmtrakBlue noted, these days I'd get a NoShow, have my ticket cancelled, and probably have to buy a new ticket. But these days, I can modify my ticket via mobile before I get to DC.
Since there aren't any discounts for booking multiple trains, I have been known to book each piece separately.
Some years back, I was travelling Los Angeles via Albuquerque to grab friends as we went thru, ultimately to Raleigh. Because the Chi to DC piece couldn't be counted on to be on time, my friends who booked thru to Raleigh got booked by the online system DC to Raleigh the next day. If the Chi to DC piece arrived in time to grab the Raleigh piece the same day, my friends would get their tickets changed at DC.
I, on the other hand, booked thru to DC on one ticket, DC to Raleigh for the same day on another ticket. I figured if we missed DC to Raleigh, I had 23 hours to change my ticket*.
Upshot was they frantically ran off to get their tickets changed in time to catch the Raleigh train while I stood calmly trackside.
*Edit: as AmtrakBlue noted, these days I'd get a NoShow, have my ticket cancelled, and probably have to buy a new ticket. But these days, I can modify my ticket via mobile before I get to DC.
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If you missed your train to Raleigh you would have been a no-show and your ticket would have been cancelled. I'm pretty sure you would have had to buy a new ticket.
This was years before that policy was fully implemented. Now, I'd change it via my phone at the earliest point I knew we weren't going to make it.
How is that any different than riding 5 hours north on a train that can be 2 hours late on a normal day to turn around to ride 5 or 6 hours south? Either way one has to make a connection. And with the Piedmont trains there are a few options to pad the time a little or not. and since they are not traveling as far they are not as likely to be that late.
OK I am fighting with the lame Amtrak online booking system.
I am trying to reserve a trip with myself and my son, with me as primary and a senior, and my son as adult and 2nd traveler.
However the *&%$! system will not let me enter traveler 1 as senior, it forces traveler 1 to be an adult.
So the only solutions I can come up with are:
1) Make my son the primary which means he gets the e-tickets and email notifications, not what I want.
2) give up the senior discount and book as 2 adults.
3) Book each person as a separate ticket.
4) Book on the phone via AGR - I assume they can get around this?
I'll probably end up doing #3 which is twice as much work.
Arrrrgh!
I am trying to reserve a trip with myself and my son, with me as primary and a senior, and my son as adult and 2nd traveler.
However the *&%$! system will not let me enter traveler 1 as senior, it forces traveler 1 to be an adult.
So the only solutions I can come up with are:
1) Make my son the primary which means he gets the e-tickets and email notifications, not what I want.
2) give up the senior discount and book as 2 adults.
3) Book each person as a separate ticket.
4) Book on the phone via AGR - I assume they can get around this?
I'll probably end up doing #3 which is twice as much work.
Arrrrgh!
I ended up doing #3 anyway since I had points to use up but not enough for both tickets.
Still it would be nice to have a way around this for future trips.
Call, an agent can get around it. It is only a "feature" of the current iteration of the website, it isn't part of the reservation system itself.
