Is it all eticketing now or can I still get paper ticket?

[rickycourtney]

There's really no reason to ever print out an eTicket.
I often hear "What if my phone battery dies? Conductors really don't mind looking your name up. It takes just a fraction of a second longer.

But if you really shredding trees into pulp to create the official Amtrak ticket stock and then having something printed on it... you can request one from an agent at a staffed station or use a QuikTrak machine.

It's a pedantic point, but jis is absolutely correct: "live" printed tickets aren't really in use on Amtrak anymore, they just print your information on ticket stock.

 

[jis]

There's really no reason to ever print out an eTicket.
I often hear "What if my phone battery dies? Conductors really don't mind looking your name up. It takes just a fraction of a second longer.

The only caveat I feel compelled to mention is that the Gate Dragons in certain major stations may be a different matter. If you don't even make it onto the platform, whether a Conductor accepts you or not is a moot matter.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The only caveat I feel compelled to mention is that the Gate Dragons in certain major stations may be a different matter. If you don't even make it onto the platform, whether a Conductor accepts you or not is a moot matter.

Chicago and Philadelphia come immediately to mind here!

 

[Qapla]

At the Palatka Station - there is no agent or kiosk - if the phone signal is bad they just scan your printed ticket ... if you have it printed. They seem to prefer this over "looking your name up"

 

[rickycourtney]

The only caveat I feel compelled to mention is that the Gate Dragons in certain major stations may be a different matter. If you don't even make it onto the platform, whether a Conductor accepts you or not is a moot matter.

Fair point. I'm mostly used to how the west coast stations work... and they work well without Gate Dragons!

 

[Anderson]

There's really no reason to ever print out an eTicket.
I often hear "What if my phone battery dies? Conductors really don't mind looking your name up. It takes just a fraction of a second longer.

But if you really shredding trees into pulp to create the official Amtrak ticket stock and then having something printed on it... you can request one from an agent at a staffed station or use a QuikTrak machine.

It's a pedantic point, but jis is absolutely correct: "live" printed tickets aren't really in use on Amtrak anymore, they just print your information on ticket stock.

Another case that comes to mind is if you pop upstairs at WAS to grab some food while on a VA train (I've done this many, many times).

 

[tomfuller]

Tomorrow night I get on an an Amtrak train for the first time in 14.5 months. I printed my tickets on my computer printer. All the way from Chemult Oregon to Yuma Arizona (and return) on AGR points

 

[Old MM]

It's been difficult for me to break the paper ticket habit... I like having a paper copy, and my kids like to poke fun at me because of it. So if we are traveling together I grit my teeth and go without paper. When the conductor comes by one of them will have their phone with the bar code ready in half a second. Traveling alone, I'll stop by the machine or ask the agent to print. I know that is so "yesterday"

 

[hlcteacher]

i do not have a fancy dancy phone...i love paper!!!

 

[zephyr17]

i do not have a fancy dancy phone...i love paper!!!

I do have a smartphone, but almost always have a hard copy boarding pass.

 

[Skeets]

I have paper tickets for my upcoming Rail PAss trip

 

[MARC Rider]

The only caveat I feel compelled to mention is that the Gate Dragons in certain major stations may be a different matter. If you don't even make it onto the platform, whether a Conductor accepts you or not is a moot matter.

Gate dragons stopped checking tickets at Washington a few years ago. I boarded at 30th St. in Philadelphia through a regular gate just last week and nobody looked at my ticket. I boarded at New York in the new train hall and nobody asked to see my ticket at the gate. And at Chicago nobody asked for my ticket, but I've always been part of the kindergarten walk from the lounge, so maybe that explains it.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I assume that one can still obtain paper tickets from a quicktrack machine?

I have not seen a functional Quik-Trak kiosk in several years. Outside of commuter corridors they seem to be retired.

That means putting your trust in everything being correct. And not having information readily available if something is wrong. Why chance it, I use e-tickets all the time, but print a paper copy and stick it in my pocket just in case.

In the e-ticket era you're putting your trust in a database. A printed copy of a record locator means nothing on its own.

 

[zephyr17]

In the e-ticket era you're putting your trust in a database. A printed copy of a record locator means nothing on its own.

Exactly correct, when the conductor scans your boarding pass, be it on your phone or a hardcopy, it had better match the manifest. If it doesn't, it means nothing at all and you do not have valid transportation.