Early deboarding

[railiner]

The train crew can be surprisingly accommodating. One time I was on a spectacularly late Cardinal heading to NWK. My original plan was to catch an NJT back to Metropark where my car was parked. It was so late that by the time it got to NWK I would most likely miss a connection to 67 even, forget about NJT. I mentioned this to the Conductor asking permission to stay on to NYP. Surprisingly he said, we were going to be on track 1 through Metropark due to track 2 out of service. He'll see if he can just let me off there. And lo and behold, the train stopped briefly at Metropark to let me off! That saved me many hours of hassle and got me home early enough so that I could get several hours of sleep before heading off to my work desk at home for a late morning meeting.

While that worked out great for you, I can imagine it conceivably could cause problems if other passengers decided they wanted off too, and possibly delaying the train while they scrambled for their belongings. Or other passengers maybe asking to be left off at some other unscheduled stop…or if someone got off at an unscheduled stop, and suffered some mishap, it could be a legal liability…far-fetched, perhaps, but still possible…

 

[jis]

While that worked out great for you, I can imagine it conceivably could cause problems if other passengers decided they wanted off too, and possibly delaying the train while they scrambled for their belongings. Or other passengers maybe asking to be left off at some other unscheduled stop…or if someone got off at an unscheduled stop, and suffered some mishap, it could be a legal liability…far-fetched, perhaps, but still possible…

I did not ask for it. I asked to be allowed to stay on till NY instead of getting off at NWK. The entire thing was the Conductor’s idea. I trust his judgement on this more than yours under the circumstances

I suspect the other passengers had no clue what was going on. They opened one Sleeper door in the dead of the night when no one was around, and let me off There was not one other soul on the platform either. I just walked across the connecting elevated walkway from the platform to the parking garage and got in my car and drove off.

 

[railiner]

I did not ask for it. I asked to be allowed to stay on till NY instead of getting off at NWK. The entire thing was the Conductor’s idea. I trust his judgement on this more than yours under the circumstances

Right…not your worry…only his..

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I did not ask for it. I asked to be allowed to stay on till NY instead of getting off at NWK. The entire thing was the Conductor’s idea. I trust his judgement on this more than yours under the circumstances

I wonder how many people thought you were being "thrown off" the train for bad behavior.

 

[jis]

I wonder how many people thought you were being "thrown off" the train for bad behavior.

Yeah, no one would dream of joining me in getting thrown off at Metropark in the middle of the night when there literally is zero public transit for a few hours at least.

 

[Nick Farr]

And then there was an example of a late boarding. One time in Denver a lady left her kids on the train and went off shopping during the Denver stop of 6. The train left without her creating quite a situation.

This actually isn't a terribly infrequent occurrence. There's always some folks during the summer that board at Winter Park or Granby who got distracted in Denver.

For a while when I was taking the 6 regularly, I would take the time to have a relaxing Brunch (or, sometimes lunch) with a friend in Denver and then continue talking with them as we drove up to Granby to meet the train. The conductors were always a little bemused.

 

[Brian Battuello]

And miss going up the front range? I guess if you took it often enough, but I've never gotten tired of it.

 

[jis]

And miss going up the front range? I guess if you took it often enough, but I've never gotten tired of it.

Driving the route 6 - I-70 - 40 to Granby has its own charm that I have enjoyed almost as much as the Front Range on the D&RGW.

 

[saxman]

Speaking of unscheduled stops, I was making a connection in Milwaukee from #8 to the Hiawatha to get off the Milwaukee Airport. The airport stop is a mire 8 miles from downtown, but the Builder doesn't stop there. We were running a couple hours late and I knew the timing wasn't going to workout for the next Hiawatha and that I'd have good 2-3 hour wait in downtown just to go a few more miles. The conductor actually tracked me down after he saw that I was making a connection to the Hiawatha and told me he would try to get approval to stop the EB for me at the airport. He tried, but it didn't work. The airport stop only has one platform on the double track railroad. While the Hiawathas all make the switch over, the Empire Builder always takes the outside track (away of the platform) and CP didn't want to switch the track just for me. I guess they had several northbound trains to contend with. Understandable, but it was a cool gesture. Conductors can see connections from their devices.

 

[jis]

The airport stop only has one platform on the double track railroad. While the Hiawathas all make the switch over, the Empire Builder always takes the outside track (away of the platform) and CP didn't want to switch the track just for me. I guess they had several northbound trains to contend with. Understandable, but it was a cool gesture. Conductors can see connections from their devices.

This is another perennial probem in this country of doing passenger service on the cheap with patently inadequate facilities to do a decent job of it.

 

[Brian Battuello]

That was nice of him to try. Sometime you get a conductor that actually cares!

 

[jersey42]

If I am in coach with no checked baggage, will I have any issues getting off the train before my scheduled departure station. I can save about 25% by booking a longer trip. Specifically I am looking at New York to Richmond VA and departing at Alexandria VA or Washington DC.

 

[bonzoesc]

I was ticketed for the Silver service to DC last year, and got off at Alexandria. I warned the car attendant like an hour beforehand, he was totally fine with it. The trip home wasn't affected.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

If I am in coach with no checked baggage, will I have any issues getting off the train before my scheduled departure station. I can save about 25% by booking a longer trip. Specifically I am looking at New York to Richmond VA and departing at Alexandria VA or Washington DC.

You should be fine if you get off at DC, since they change conductors there and a new crew will be “starting fresh” checking tickets. They won’t even notice you’re gone.

For Alexandria, I don’t know how that would work, but I can’t see how they can charge you extra on the train for getting off earlier.

 

[railiner]

If I am in coach with no checked baggage, will I have any issues getting off the train before my scheduled departure station. I can save about 25% by booking a longer trip. Specifically I am looking at New York to Richmond VA and departing at Alexandria VA or Washington DC.

Amtrak must have learned that pricing strategy from the airlines.
While there may be some sort of repercussions for “hidden city flying” on airlines, I’m pretty sure Amtrak doesn’t know or care if one does it…

 

[Old MM]

I’ve done this several times and if you give them notice the Conductors never seem to have an issue with it. They like to know who is on or not on the train, and sometimes apparently it affects how the train parks at the platform. So just let them know.

 

[1976steve]

Was this on an LD train? I've never seen a person be able to just jump on an LD train without having someone make sure they're a passenger

Happens everyday especially at smaller stations out west, in fact i would estimate that 70% of the hoardings I've made at rural stations it would be 10 to 30 minutes before my ticket was actually scanned

 

[Cal]

Happens everyday especially at smaller stations out west, in fact i would estimate that 70% of the hoardings I've made at rural stations it would be 10 to 30 minutes before my ticket was actually scanned

Yeah but usually they make sure they’re passengers first getting on the right car. And at rural stops the conductor usually knows how many people are getting on.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Happens everyday especially at smaller stations out west, in fact i would estimate that 70% of the hoardings I've made at rural stations it would be 10 to 30 minutes before my ticket was actually scanned

Nobody checks tickets on the Pacific Surfliners when boarding. Same in the northeast at a lot of stops.

 

[Anderson]

Amtrak must have learned that pricing strategy from the airlines.
While there may be some sort of repercussions for “hidden city flying” on airlines, I’m pretty sure Amtrak doesn’t know or care if one does it…

Look at the old chatter about NYP-ATL vs NYP-ATN, or NYP-DYE+DYE-CHI vs NYP-CHI on the Cardinal. In the former case, the ticket price plummeted by going one more stop. In the latter, connecting through to CHI causes a "get lost" fare...but if you paired the former with a quick leg in coach you generally saved a few hundred bucks.

[There was also the old "Stupid Roomette Tricks" I wrote about, where a roomette on 98 would generally be cheaper than Business on the next Regional or two...and one of those options came with a nice breakfast thrown in and the other didn't ;-) ]

Edit: And of course, there's also the fact that under some old timetables, NYP-ALX was a permissible city pair on the SB LD trains but NYP-WAS wasn't...despite the two being a short Metro ride from one another. I know I wasn't the only one to take advantage of that to have a nice steak dinner while going from NYC to DC...

 

[railiner]

Look at the old chatter about NYP-ATL vs NYP-ATN, or NYP-DYE+DYE-CHI vs NYP-CHI on the Cardinal. In the former case, the ticket price plummeted by going one more stop. In the latter, connecting through to CHI causes a "get lost" fare...but if you paired the former with a quick leg in coach you generally saved a few hundred bucks.

[There was also the old "Stupid Roomette Tricks" I wrote about, where a roomette on 98 would generally be cheaper than Business on the next Regional or two...and one of those options came with a nice breakfast thrown in and the other didn't ;-) ]

Edit: And of course, there's also the fact that under some old timetables, NYP-ALX was a permissible city pair on the SB LD trains but NYP-WAS wasn't...despite the two being a short Metro ride from one another. I know I wasn't the only one to take advantage of that to have a nice steak dinner while going from NYC to DC...

Agreed.
One that I used a few years back, was a somewhat lower fare Chicago to Poplar Bluff, than the Chicago to St. Louis fare at the time of booking. And even though I bailed at St. Louis, I believe I received the AGR points for the longer trip.
This was a “rare mileage” trip on the detouring Eagle, via the former C&EI route.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Look at the old chatter about NYP-ATL vs NYP-ATN, or NYP-DYE+DYE-CHI vs NYP-CHI on the Cardinal. In the former case, the ticket price plummeted by going one more stop. In the latter, connecting through to CHI causes a "get lost" fare...but if you paired the former with a quick leg in coach you generally saved a few hundred bucks.

[There was also the old "Stupid Roomette Tricks" I wrote about, where a roomette on 98 would generally be cheaper than Business on the next Regional or two...and one of those options came with a nice breakfast thrown in and the other didn't ;-) ]

Edit: And of course, there's also the fact that under some old timetables, NYP-ALX was a permissible city pair on the SB LD trains but NYP-WAS wasn't...despite the two being a short Metro ride from one another. I know I wasn't the only one to take advantage of that to have a nice steak dinner while going from NYC to DC...

I first took a roomette on one of the Silvers to ALX as my end point from New Jersey (still had real dining cars with real food, so it was a while back!) when I needed to be in the DC area. But I decided to stay in ALX and just go back and forth to DC on the Metro.

The ironic thing is that I really liked Alexandria, and it’s become my favorite town to the south for a short getaway!

 

[BCL]

I started thinking about this with the controversy over the kid who was tossed off a flight where he apparently admitted that he was doing hidden city ticketing (aka "skiplagging"). That's not specifically an issue with Amtrak, and I've booked tickets a different endpoints - especially if the cost was the same. I spent a little bit more on 10-ride tickets where I wanted a little bit of flexibility. The cost of 10-rides for BKY-SCC were the same as EMY-GAC.

I have booked some rides where I just threw away a segment. At one time (and it still seems to be in effect to some degree) a bus segment (with a couple of exceptions) has to be booked with a train segment in California because of subsidies. Once I went with the kiddo EMY-SBA on the Coast Starlight followed by an almost immediate return SBA-OKJ on a bus with OKJ-EMY on Capitol Corridor. I booked it as a round trip using AGR points, so theoretically it was already a train segment with a bus segment. However, the bus's penultimate stop was EMY and I got off there. The driver didn't care. For some reason it was booked as a return with that extra train segment even though I was already booking a train segment and the bus already got off there.

Last year I booked several trips with AGR points EMY-ANA even though I boarded at LA Union Station. But those were with points and the terms generally allowed getting off early. I ran out of points and then I booked one trip ANA-EMY with a cash fare, but took advantage of a 20% Pacific Surfliner Disneyland discount if Anaheim was one of the endpoints. I may have boarded in LA Union Station even though the terms say that Anaheim was required.

eTickets for Unreserved Coach services are valid within the limits of the city-pair paid for and within one year of purchase, unless otherwise restricted by any special or promotional fare paid.​

​

https://www.amtrak.com/disneyland-discount​

Travel is valid to Anaheim, CA and return only.​

​

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/offers/promotions/save-on-disneyland/​

Travel is valid to Anaheim, CA and return only.​

I don't think this is specifically a Disneyland discount. They've published the same discount code for other events in Anaheim. It's older, but it's a little less clear.

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/pages/kroq/​

Use promo code V712 to save 20% on your trip to Anaheim. Simply use our booking tool to explore options and prices. Make sure “Adult” is selected as the passenger type. Or, call 800-USA-RAIL or visit a staffed station and refer to the discount code.​