Doors didn't open (an Amtrak story...) :)

[crescent-zephyr]

So here's a new one! Was in New York City and flying out of Newark NJ - I booked a Northeast Regional Train from NYC to Newark Airport. Boarded the train, sat in the quiet car which was the second car on the train, the 1st car being Business Class. Departed on time, and everything was going great. Train pulled into Newark Airport and I proceeded to grab my luggage and head into the vestibule, a few passengers followed me, they were international travelers and had very large suitcases. The doors didn't open - at first I thought the train may have missed it's "spot" and was going to move forward but then I saw passengers entering from the other end of the car - we all tried to get to the open door but of course, with passengers boarding and heading into the car and the passengers with large suitcases in front of me, it was hard to get through and we missed our stop. There were 4 of us altogether, the other man was from the business class car, so we went to the Conductors at the Cafe car, who of course insisted that all the doors opened.

We all got off the train at the next stop and transferred to a northbound New Jersey Transit train but of course that took much longer because it made more stops.

The good news... I was able to rebook and still make it home last night. The bad news... the rebooked flight cost $120 more.

As a bonus... at least I got to do a little train watching on the platform while waiting for the NJ Transit train haha.

 

[caravanman]

My experience on the LSL last week had similar vibes... The Conductor seemed to take pride in speaking as fast as he could when making announcements about station stops, doors, attendants, etc. As I was going end to end it did not concern me to not understand his spiel,
but I noticed several passengers were left puzzled and uninformed each time he machine gunned us with his "words of wisdom".

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The good news... I was able to rebook and still make it home last night. The bad news... the rebooked flight cost $120 more.

Did you book the flight on a credit card with travel protections? You might be able to get the difference back in that case. As Amtrak is supposedly included among common carriers in the US it might be possible to get a free re-booking for matters beyond your control. I'm just not sure how that is supposed to work these days. I've also been told that many travel protections are undone if you accept new flights outside staff assistance (such as on apps or kiosks) so you need to call and explain to a manager instead.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Did you book the flight on a credit card with travel protections? You might be able to get the difference back in that case. As Amtrak is supposedly included among common carriers in the US it might be possible to get a free re-booking for matters beyond your control. I'm just not sure how that is supposed to work these days. I've also been told that many travel protections are undone if you accept new flights outside staff assistance (such as on apps or kiosks) so you need to call and explain to a manager instead.

I tried calling Delta but couldn't figure out how to talk to a human - if I could have talked to anyone in person I think I could have been given some options but the alternative was the flight sells out or increases and I would rather pay $120 vs. not get home at all or pay much more.

I'm hoping to at least get some Amtrak points or travel credit for this issue.

Since I booked the Amtrak trip with Amtrak points, I don't think I make a claim with the credit card since they would only cover the flight itself.

 

[daybeers]

Contact Customer Relations this upcoming week. Four passengers unable to detrain is a serious crew error.

 

[PVD]

The NER trains only have a Conductor and an AC or a fairly long train and rely on "automatic" doors at most high platform stations. They may not have known the door didn't open.