Can I use tickets 2 days earlier?

[colobok]

I have AGR tickets SAN-OXN-PDX (SAN-OXN on Surfliner and OXN-PDX on Starlight).

Could I ride SAN-OXN segment 2 days earlier to do stopover in OXN?

Will they check dates on tickets? I know seats on Surfliner are unreserved,

so I hope they will not mind? I was riding train in Maine on a different date

and they didn't care. Do they care in California?

The possible problem is that tickets are for bussiness class.

 

[AlanB]

If the tickets were for coach class, and you weren't trying to travel before the first date of travel listed on the ticket, then you'd be ok since the Surfliner's are unreserved trains.

However, since you've got business class, that will prevent you from going 2 days early. You must travel on the correct day, as BC is considered reserved seating.

 

[TransitGeek]

You could, of course, call Amtrak and have the tickets changed. You'll probably have to exchange them at a staffed station, but that should be as simple as showing up to SAN a bit early. (You may also have to pay the difference between ticket prices, if the later train is more expensive.)

Of course, if you haven't printed the tickets, no exchange will be required.

 

[AlanB]

You could, of course, call Amtrak and have the tickets changed. You'll probably have to exchange them at a staffed station, but that should be as simple as showing up to SAN a bit early. (You may also have to pay the difference between ticket prices, if the later train is more expensive.)

Of course, if you haven't printed the tickets, no exchange will be required.

He said it was an AGR reservation and I'm assuming that he booked everything on one reservation. Therefore he can't change things unless he wants to part with extra points. AGR will not allow a stopover on one reservation for the same amount of points.

 

[TransitGeek]

You could, of course, call Amtrak and have the tickets changed. You'll probably have to exchange them at a staffed station, but that should be as simple as showing up to SAN a bit early. (You may also have to pay the difference between ticket prices, if the later train is more expensive.)

Of course, if you haven't printed the tickets, no exchange will be required.

He said it was an AGR reservation and I'm assuming that he booked everything on one reservation. Therefore he can't change things unless he wants to part with extra points. AGR will not allow a stopover on one reservation for the same amount of points.

Indeed... I missed the AGR bit. Apologies! (Of course, the Surfliners are only an extra 1k points.)

 

[colobok]

You could, of course, call Amtrak and have the tickets changed. You'll probably have to exchange them at a staffed station, but that should be as simple as showing up to SAN a bit early. (You may also have to pay the difference between ticket prices, if the later train is more expensive.)

Of course, if you haven't printed the tickets, no exchange will be required.

He said it was an AGR reservation and I'm assuming that he booked everything on one reservation. Therefore he can't change things unless he wants to part with extra points. AGR will not allow a stopover on one reservation for the same amount of points.

Indeed... I missed the AGR bit. Apologies! (Of course, the Surfliners are only an extra 1k points.)

The problem is that if I go 2 days earier - I will be on blackout period for AGR, so I can't buy AGR tickets for extra 1k points each. Instead I have to pay $130 for 4 persons by cash.

I really don't want to pay extra $130 when I already have free tickets from AGR.

What is the problem with business class? If they don't care for coach class if I go 2 days earlier - why would they care for business class? Can I ask them to let us ride in the coach class instead of business, but 2 days earlier?

 

[AlanB]

The problem with business class is that they don't oversell the seats, you are guaranteed a seat; unlike coach.

I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to go coach. You might get a sympathetic conductor who wouldn't care that you were essentially wasting your money. Or you might get a by the book conductor who would refuse you passage unless you paid for the correct ticket.

The other side of the coin might also be, what if anything might AGR do when they realize that you violated the rules.

And let me remind you again, that there is a very good chance if you're starting your trip in SAN on that reservation, that the tickets will be dated with a valid from date on the date you are supposed to travel. If indeed that is the case, then you're out of luck, unless the conductor doesn't notice. But if he notices, then he can't take the ticket from you as it wouldn't yet be valid. And if he doesn't notice, he'll have some explaining to do later.

 

[Acela150]

Keep in mind that if your Select Plus you can use the "blackout buster" rule. Not really sure how that works but I'm sure someone else could.

 

[colobok]

The problem with business class is that they don't oversell the seats, you are guaranteed a seat; unlike coach.

I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to go coach. You might get a sympathetic conductor who wouldn't care that you were essentially wasting your money. Or you might get a by the book conductor who would refuse you passage unless you paid for the correct ticket.

The other side of the coin might also be, what if anything might AGR do when they realize that you violated the rules.

And let me remind you again, that there is a very good chance if you're starting your trip in SAN on that reservation, that the tickets will be dated with a valid from date on the date you are supposed to travel. If indeed that is the case, then you're out of luck, unless the conductor doesn't notice. But if he notices, then he can't take the ticket from you as it wouldn't yet be valid. And if he doesn't notice, he'll have some explaining to do later.

So maybe I could call AGR and ask them to change tickets from business class to coach and then try to use them 2 days earlier because they are unreserved?

 

[GiantsFan]

The problem with business class is that they don't oversell the seats, you are guaranteed a seat; unlike coach.

I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to go coach. You might get a sympathetic conductor who wouldn't care that you were essentially wasting your money. Or you might get a by the book conductor who would refuse you passage unless you paid for the correct ticket.

The other side of the coin might also be, what if anything might AGR do when they realize that you violated the rules.

And let me remind you again, that there is a very good chance if you're starting your trip in SAN on that reservation, that the tickets will be dated with a valid from date on the date you are supposed to travel. If indeed that is the case, then you're out of luck, unless the conductor doesn't notice. But if he notices, then he can't take the ticket from you as it wouldn't yet be valid. And if he doesn't notice, he'll have some explaining to do later.

So maybe I could call AGR and ask them to change tickets from business class to coach and then try to use them 2 days earlier because they are unreserved?

If you can get them to change it to a coach ticket ... yes, you can use it whenever since it would be unreserved.

 

[wayman]

The problem with business class is that they don't oversell the seats, you are guaranteed a seat; unlike coach.

I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to go coach. You might get a sympathetic conductor who wouldn't care that you were essentially wasting your money. Or you might get a by the book conductor who would refuse you passage unless you paid for the correct ticket.

The other side of the coin might also be, what if anything might AGR do when they realize that you violated the rules.

And let me remind you again, that there is a very good chance if you're starting your trip in SAN on that reservation, that the tickets will be dated with a valid from date on the date you are supposed to travel. If indeed that is the case, then you're out of luck, unless the conductor doesn't notice. But if he notices, then he can't take the ticket from you as it wouldn't yet be valid. And if he doesn't notice, he'll have some explaining to do later.

So maybe I could call AGR and ask them to change tickets from business class to coach and then try to use them 2 days earlier because they are unreserved?

If you can get them to change it to a coach ticket ... yes, you can use it whenever since it would be unreserved.

I think that's not quite true. If it is a coach ticket on an unreserved train, you can use it on the day of the ticket's reservation or any day up to one year after that date. I don't believe you can use an unreserved ticket for any date before the date printed on the ticket (which would be whatever date you told AGR you would be traveling on when making the award redemption). To travel earlier, even on coach class tickets, those tickets would have to have an earlier date printed on them, which AGR probably won't do because that would mean you'd have an overnight layover mid-itinerary.

 

[AlanB]

The problem with business class is that they don't oversell the seats, you are guaranteed a seat; unlike coach.

I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to go coach. You might get a sympathetic conductor who wouldn't care that you were essentially wasting your money. Or you might get a by the book conductor who would refuse you passage unless you paid for the correct ticket.

The other side of the coin might also be, what if anything might AGR do when they realize that you violated the rules.

And let me remind you again, that there is a very good chance if you're starting your trip in SAN on that reservation, that the tickets will be dated with a valid from date on the date you are supposed to travel. If indeed that is the case, then you're out of luck, unless the conductor doesn't notice. But if he notices, then he can't take the ticket from you as it wouldn't yet be valid. And if he doesn't notice, he'll have some explaining to do later.

So maybe I could call AGR and ask them to change tickets from business class to coach and then try to use them 2 days earlier because they are unreserved?

If you can get them to change it to a coach ticket ... yes, you can use it whenever since it would be unreserved.

I think that's not quite true. If it is a coach ticket on an unreserved train, you can use it on the day of the ticket's reservation or any day up to one year after that date. I don't believe you can use an unreserved ticket for any date before the date printed on the ticket (which would be whatever date you told AGR you would be traveling on when making the award redemption). To travel earlier, even on coach class tickets, those tickets would have to have an earlier date printed on them, which AGR probably won't do because that would mean you'd have an overnight layover mid-itinerary.

Correct!