Changing origin station on itinerary (in sleeper)?

[Simsuper80]

So I am scheduled to take the California zephyr from reno to Sacramento tomorrow, then the starlight up north.

I would love to be able to take a train to Emeryville and catch the starlight from there, so I don't have to get on at midnight. (As of right now, the zephyr is on time)

So I'm wondering, is it even possible to change the origin point of a sleeper ticket?

 

[TinCan782]

Call Amtrak and see what they say.
If your accomodation is available from EMY it is possible. Be aware of a fare increase (it costs more (greater distance) to go from EMY than SAC to destinations up north. Also, available accomodations my now be in a higher "bucket" than your original purchase. You could luck-out and the bucket could also be lower.
Make sure you have a savy agent to handle this for you. If you are an AGR member, call them!

 

[niemi24s]

FWIW, incase you hadn't already looked, a Roomette for one adult from RNO to EMY tomorrow is $165 which is 22$ more than to SAC tomorrow.

 

[zephyr17]

If space is available, the entire Starlight trip will be repriced at current bucket. Depending on what bucket you originally booked in, current bucket could be a steep increase in the fare.

Sacramento is the only valid, guaranteed, connection point between 5 and 14. What you propose makes me think you made two, separate reservations, one RNO-SAC, the other SAC-whereever. It is never a good idea to put a same day connection on separate reservation numbers. You lose the protection of the guarantee (hotel room, rebooking), if missed. You will also just be considered a no-show on the outbound train, forfeiting your fare and canceling any other segments on that reservation. If your trip is on one reservation, Amtrak will not change your connection from SAC, since it is the only valid connection point.

If you have two reservations and are okay with keeping the SAC connection, call Amtrak and see what they can do. They probably cannot reissue as one reservation without triggering a reprice, but it doesn't hurt to ask. In any case, they will be able to put a manual note in the reservations. That won't get you on the automatically generated mis-connection list and so be provided with a hotel room billed to Amtrak and rebooking automatically.
But it does give you documentation with Amtrak that you can ask for, and probably receive those benefits, especially rebooking. For hotel, you may be in reimbursement situation rather than an Amtrak direct bill, though.

If you have separate reservations and still want to connect at EMY, bear in mind that Amtrak will not take any responsibility for a missed connection. You will be entirely on your own and out whatever fare you paid for the Starlight.

For the future, do not book any more same day connections on separate reservations. It is just inviting trouble.

 

[Simsuper80]

Well considering I have a 10 hour window in Sacramento. The odds of missing that train are very slim. It could be possible to catch a capital corridor train to Emeryville, and then catch the starlight there.

But at this point, I might have to keep it as it is. Thanks for all your help guys

 

[TinCan782]

Well considering I have a 10 hour window in Sacramento. The odds of missing that train are very slim. It could be possible to catch a capital corridor train to Emeryville, and then catch the starlight there.

But at this point, I might have to keep it as it is. Thanks for all your help guys

Yes, you could do that but you still need to change your Coast Starlight ticket from Sacramento to Emeryville - with the danger of possible fare increases mentioned above.

 

[zephyr17]

I have personally been on several long distance trains that were over 10 hours, some as much as 16 hours. A recent Builder was over 20 hours late.

In the last year, the Zephyr missed the Starlight connection at SAC 9 times. It would have missed it at EMY 32 times.

While the odds are relatively slim of missing this long of a connection, they are measurable. That is why one should never separate same day connections into separate reservations. You never know when you'll have to rely on the guarantee.

You certainly could take a Capitol Corridor train to EMY. You'd have to change your Starlight reservation, which is now clear is separate. Assuming space is even available, you'd likely incur a bucket jump by changing the reservation now if you got a halfway decent price when you booked.

 

[zephyr17]

PS, I checked prices and availability for tomorrow LAX-SEA, which what I can compare easily against @niemi24s' bucket chart. It is $846, the highest bucket. So there is space to be had to change your reservation to EMY. For a price.