conductors still scanning e-tickets?

[yarrow]

the first couple trips we took after e-ticketing began a conductor would scan our e-ticket with his/her phone before we boarded. got on the eb in spk a couple nights ago. the sca came and got us but nobody ever looked at or scanned our e-ticket. yesterday, in pdx we checked into the metro lounge and the attendant looked at our e-ticket but didn't scan anything. i asked a conductor later and was told everything was ok. anyone else with similar experience?

 

[the_traveler]

The way they can tell if you actually boarded is by scanning your ticket. They can also look up on the phone your reservation by your name. That is what I think happened at the ML.

When you checked in to the ML, Greg (I think) crossed off your name from his list. Me thinks that the conductor just took the crossed off names and entered them into his phone. Most people do not check into the ML and fail to board either #28 or #11 out of PDX!

i was on #28 out of PDX just last week, and I can't say for certain if my ticket was scanned aboard #28! I want to say that it was not. Yet it showed up on my AGR account.

 

[jis]

And then there is the case where the Conductors genuinely forget. Happened to me boarding on a Regional to Lynchburg out of Metropark. Boarded on the BC car and settled down. Nobody came to check ticket and we were getting close to Philly. I happened to walk down to the Cafe to grab some Coffee, and of course saw the Conductors holding court occupying two tables. So I walked over and asked them to please scan so I can get my points. The guys were genuinely surprised and asked me what car I was on, which was strange since they just scanned by BC ticket. But then I pointed out to them that three others boarded the BC at Metropark too. At which point one of them said "Oh ****, I better go and check the BC"! I guess the Coffee must have been really potent that day in the Cafe!

 

[Barciur]

I've never had my ticket NOT scanned on either the Keystone or the Pennsy

 

[TVRM610]

I've noticed it's fairly common to not have tickets scanned in sleepers. I think it's pretty easy for the conductors to look up the sleeping car reservations by space and then they either ask the SCA, or just walk by the rooms. I've also had the Conductor stop by, confirm my name, and then look at his phone and say "welcome aboard!" And move on.

 

[JeffW]

A few months ago my mother traveled on the LSL to visit us for a weekend, and her ticket was not scanned on the first segment (EKH-ROC). She later received an email saying that her return trip (ROC-EKH) had been canceled because they didn't think she had traveled the first segment, and the entire trip refunded through an eVoucher. I was surprised they did this!

As it turns out, we were able to get the return trip reactivated by calling Amtrak, but the cost of the return trip (probably because we made "new" reservations an hour before the trip) cost $1 more than the combined total of the original trip. I was actually a bit perturbed, but not enough to call and complain.

Is it common practice for Amtrak to cancel an entire trip if one segment is not scanned?

 

[City of Miami]

I want to say that it was not. Yet it showed up on my AGR account.

Assuming you did not purchase this ticket, I think an AGR redemption appears on your account as soon as you make the reservation.

A purchased ticket would appear after it has been scanned.

For a long time I was confused by the AGR practice of recording activity by the original date, as opposed to the date of posting to the account.

 

[Blackwolf]

I've never had a case where my ticket was not physically scanned while riding the Capitol Corridor, but the same does not hold true on trips with a Long Distance train. Ever since the roll out of E-Ticketing, not having my ticket scanned is the norm. It leads to a little heart-burn, and has resulted in a still-ongoing issue of points not posting to my AGR account. Not once in six separate trains (x2 Coast Starlight; x2 California Zephyr; x1 Capitol Limited; x1 Cardinal) when traveling in sleeper has a conductor scanned my ticket, leading me to pester the SCA. I want to know if my ticket had been lifted on account of worry that subsequent legs don't get auto-cancelled because of "no-show" rules! Coach trips on the Long Distance trains (I sometimes take the Coast Starlight from SAC to the Bay Area due to a lower price than the CC) it is about a 50/50 shot that my ticket gets physically scanned or if I'm left to wonder and seek out a crew member.

 

[Ryan]

Assuming you did not purchase this ticket, I think an AGR redemption appears on your account as soon as you make the reservation.A purchased ticket would appear after it has been scanned.

His point is that the ticket doesn't need to be physically scanned in order to be lifted and show up in the system.

Is it common practice for Amtrak to cancel an entire trip if one segment is not scanned?

Yes, that's a new "feature" of e-Tickets.

 

[City of Miami]

His point is that the ticket doesn't need to be physically scanned in order to be lifted and show up in the system.

That may be his point but you missed my point. The post on his AGR account, what you term as showing up in the system, had nothing to do with him being on that train, merely the redemption he had made. Any further legs he had on that trip could/would have been cancelled because his presence on the train had not shown up in the system if his ticket had not been scanned.

It seems unfair of Amtrak to shift the burden of responsibility to the customer like this. For some reason, before the conductors felt they had to have that coupon in their breast pocket; now they don't seem to care.

 

[crescent2]

Maybe traveler meant showed up in AGR for the points he earned if he purchased that ticket? I don't recall when our points show up, whether it's immediately after we purchase, or only after we actually travel.

That they might cancel your other segments is scary, though. Should everyone make sure the etickets are scanned? Thanks-

 

[City of Miami]

Maybe traveler meant showed up in AGR for the points he earned if he purchased that ticket?

But traveler has told us repeatedly that he never purchases Amtrak tickets.

In December I waited a couple of hours in a sleeper on #22 for the conductor to come by and scan. Then I approached the SCA who was around. He said yes it was imperative that I get that ticket scanned and he implied that 2 hours was pushing the window that the connected reservations would remain uncancelled. He thought my ticket had been scanned at the station before I boarded which has always been the procedure for coach passengers; I admit that I jumped their system by just boarding the sleeper car early and he allowed me to do that. Had I waited I guess the conductor would have scanned the ticket when I came to the head of the line. Thanks to AU I knew I had to take care of that or create a disaster in my trip.

 

[KrazyKoala]

I'd say this is getting very common if you're in a sleeper car. All SCA's have a list of who should be in their car, and they only bring it up to a conductors attention if someone doesn't show up. I have also had SEVERAL tickets lifted on trains I haven't even been on. For missing it for one reason or another, and had to argue over the phone that I never physically boarded the train. I think they are getting a little too loose with this automation upgrade and in turn, earning Amtrak a few extra bucks for the times stuff like this slip by.

 

[TinCan782]

On 422/421 sleepers several months ago, the conductor just came by our room, verified us by name and moved on...never looked at our e-ticket but, he had the info on his phone. My points were posted before I even completed the trip! Same thing with Business Class on the Pacific Surfliner.

I did have one experience on Surfliner BC right after e-tickets came into effect where the conductor (or maybe A/C) came through the car and wrote down all our reservation numbers on a piece of paper to input later. It never happened and I had to call and have my points posted after I explained what happened.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

And then there is the case where the Conductors genuinely forget. Happened to me boarding on a Regional to Lynchburg out of Metropark. Boarded on the BC car and settled down. Nobody came to check ticket and we were getting close to Philly. I happened to walk down to the Cafe to grab some Coffee, and of course saw the Conductors holding court occupying two tables. So I walked over and asked them to please scan so I can get my points. The guys were genuinely surprised and asked me what car I was on, which was strange since they just scanned by BC ticket. But then I pointed out to them that three others boarded the BC at Metropark too. At which point one of them said "Oh ****, I better go and check the BC"! I guess the Coffee must have been really potent that day in the Cafe!

My short trip from WIL to PHL for NTD last year, I had to find the conductor as we were heading into PHL. He was coming out of the cafe car with his bag(s) as I headed that way to look for him.

 

[NorthCoastHiawatha]

Yes, that's a new "feature" of e-Tickets.

Yeah had that happen where a ticket wasn't scanned (conductor never came through the train) NYP to BOS segment of a trip to Portland (ME), had to have my reservation reactivated in Boston.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

On the LSL coming home, a couple people had issues with their tickets when our conductor tried to scan them. He took their tickets and went and called Amtrak to clear up the issue, he said that the previous conductor had not lifted their ticket so the final leg had been cancelled, they did not have to pay anything more and he handled the problem for them. Not sure all conductors do this, but he did say, make sure your ticket is scanned and this would not happen again. I am kind of lucky that my little WOR station still uses the tear off type ticket so I had no problem with this, I just made sure that all tickets were scanned and lifted to ensure no problems along the way.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

I'd say this is getting very common if you're in a sleeper car. All SCA's have a list of who should be in their car, and they only bring it up to a conductors attention if someone doesn't show up. I have also had SEVERAL tickets lifted on trains I haven't even been on. For missing it for one reason or another, and had to argue over the phone that I never physically boarded the train. I think they are getting a little too loose with this automation upgrade and in turn, earning Amtrak a few extra bucks for the times stuff like this slip by.

Looks Like We may have a problem that Needs to addressed Pronto...

If they cancel a multy segment trip due to a lack in conductor involvement . Its going to Cost Amtrak Loads of cash ...

I have a Idea . Lets use the amrak face book page as a way to Prove we were on Our first train ...... hehehe . Problem will be fixed reallll fast ....

GPS tag and instagram that thing ! ,.

 

[librarian]

For our recent Pittsburgh - Houston Amtrak trip, we encountered the fact that IF you have an Amtrak Thruway Bus as part of the train trip, you cannot obtain an e-ticket. In Pittsburgh, they printed us the old-fashioned train tickets and told us not to lose them! The Conductor scanned the regular barcode on the old ticket format, and sometimes took the ticket leaving us the stub. Other times, he did not pull the ticket, nor scanned it, and I have two segments of ticket sitting on my desk. Amtrak called me three times about the Bustitution on our return trip from Ft. Worth to Longview, and tried to refund part of our sleeper room, but couldn't due to the lack of an e-ticket. I received a voucher at the San Antonio Station after a lot of head scratching. None of our segments were cancelled due to not scanning our ticket, and it was a great trip, but the problems and shortcomings of the e-ticket need to be addressed.

 

[TimePeace]

I took the Downeaster last weekend to Boston and back, and they scanned my eticket off my Android device on the way down. I had a paper ticket issued in POR for the return trip.

I have yet to see an advantage to the eticket system - except to Apple who sold Amtrak a whole lot of new iPhones - good marketing. As demonstrated by this thread, it is still causing problems and misunderstandings months after implementation. My recent trip was fine going with one of each.

 

[AlanB]

I have yet to see an advantage to the eticket system - except to Apple who sold Amtrak a whole lot of new iPhones - good marketing. As demonstrated by this thread, it is still causing problems and misunderstandings months after implementation. My recent trip was fine going with one of each.

There are considerable advantages to the eTickets, not the least of which is that one doesn't need to first obtain a traditional paper ticket. This helps people boarding at stations that have no ticketing facilities. Next, Amtrak gets real time manifests now, something that the NTSB & the FRA have wanted for years. It improves Amtrak's revenue control. And there are other advantages I'm sure.

Some of the problems are of Amtrak's own making. For example, this idea of cancelling entire reservations for people who no-show. I understand why Amtrak wants that function, so that they can resell space down the line of no shows. The problem is in the implementation, in that Amtrak can't seem to depend on conductors missing checking people in.

 

[Barciur]

I have yet to see an advantage to the eticket system - except to Apple who sold Amtrak a whole lot of new iPhones - good marketing. As demonstrated by this thread, it is still causing problems and misunderstandings months after implementation. My recent trip was fine going with one of each.

There are considerable advantages to the eTickets, not the least of which is that one doesn't need to first obtain a traditional paper ticket. This helps people boarding at stations that have no ticketing facilities. Next, Amtrak gets real time manifests now, something that the NTSB & the FRA have wanted for years. It improves Amtrak's revenue control. And there are other advantages I'm sure.

Some of the problems are of Amtrak's own making. For example, this idea of cancelling entire reservations for people who no-show. I understand why Amtrak wants that function, so that they can resell space down the line of no shows. The problem is in the implementation, in that Amtrak can't seem to depend on conductors missing checking people in.

Yeah exactly.. it's very harsh to say there is no advantages. When I lived in Parkesburg, I was not able to use AGR when going into Philadelphia, as I had to buy the ticket on the train, and then had to wait 21 days to report it, often forgetting about it.. and I was not able to my ISIC since it requires a 3 days advance reservation.

Another thing is that you can calmly just buy the tickert online, print it out and have it with you. If you lose it, then you can have your info or get a print out at the Quik Trak. Those are massive conveniences to passengers.

 

[chakk]

And on a trip on the CZ last month, the SCA noted my name on his manifest when I boarded in GSC. A while later, the conductor came by my roomette to see if I had really boarded. He said I did not appear on his smart device as having boarded in a sleeper (he showed me booked into coach), but that I did appear on his asst conductors smart device as being in a sleeper. For the record, I had originally booked the trip in coach, but had upgraded to sleeper on the Amtrak telephone reservations line the night before after noting on amsnag.net that lowest bucket roomettes were still available, while coach was then selling at several bucket levels higher. Thinking that the coaches might be quite crowded (and I confirmed this to be the case when walking through the train later on), I decided to get more comfort for myself at modest additional cost by upgrading to the sleeper.

After satisfying himself that I was indeed where I should be, the conductor was then was very interested to hear my tale about my experience on the SL in January (using an AGR award ticket issued in March 2012), when the conductor on the SL out of LAX could find no record of me anywhere in his smart device, even after I handed him my paper ticket with Record Locator clearly printed on it. Then, he proceeded to grouse out loud about all the foul-ups he was experiencing at that time with the new e-ticketing system.

Perhaps it will get better in time as all of the bugs are worked out of it.

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

As with any new technology, its going to take time to really get things settled in. Rome wasnt built in a day.

 

[Bronzeman]

I am new to Amtrak's new eTicket world.

It would certainly be inconvenient to have to follow-up to receive AGR credit for travel during which the conductor failed to properly scan an eTicket. Inconvenient but not the end of he world.

That said, I find it inconceivable that a passengers who has paid for their eTickets and have travelled their first legs would be at risk of having the balance of their itineraries cancelled because a conductor failed to do his or her job. If I am reading this thread correctly that is even more likely to happen to first class passengers.

Frankly, I find bizarre that well-informed passengers (read: AU members) should be compelled to hunt down conductors and force them to do their jobs or be put in jeopardy of a travel disruption. We've a CIN-NWK roundtrip scheduled on the Cardinal for the end of the month. I guess I must now plan to spend time after our 3am boarding insuring that our eTicket has been promptly and properly scanned rather than turning in in our bedroom.