Is the westward Zephyr usually on time getting into Salt Lake City?

[Mauh]

I've been reading horror stories about the Zephyr being late getting into Denver and other stations. We are supposed to get into Salt Lake City around 11pm in October and we are getting worried. If the train is really late, our motel reservation would be of no use. Any information on the Zephyr schedule for getting into Salt Lake City this summer would really be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[John Bobinyec]

You can see how it's been doing by going to:

http://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php

Just put in the train number, the city (SLC) and the date range.

jb

 

[Bob Dylan]

You never know what may happen when you travel but you can Guarantee your Hotel Rez @ most places if you don't have a " Special Cheapie Rate! Can you call the Motel and tell them you're arriving via Train and see if they'll hold your room?

If not you may want to rebook @ a Hotel that will do this!

 

[oregon pioneer]

I called my San Antonio hotel from the train once, and said: "We're on a very late train, and we won't be there by midnight, when you'll charge us for the room and figure we'll be 'no-show'. But I just want to ask if you'll have someone at the desk all night, because we WILL be there before morning, and we'll be very grateful for that room." The answer was YES, we'll be holding the room for you and happy to see you whatever time you arrive. It was 4am before we got there, and we slept till 10am when we had to get up and be ready to leave by 11am checkout. Very much worth it.

But if you mean that you'll just sit up and "gut it out" if you arrive at 3 or 4am, well, check your hotel's cancellation policies. Sometimes when a trip goes that wrong, you know it a full day in advance.

 

[acelafan]

Looks like #5 has been at least 1 hour late the last few weeks with several occurrences of 3-4 hour delays. Always good to plan for late arriving train because you never know what you'll run into out there. On the flip side, that part of the CZ route is absolutely spectacular when you go west from Denver.

 

[CoachSlumber]

You never know what may happen when you travel but you can Guarantee your Hotel Rez @ most places if you don't have a " Special Cheapie Rate! Can you call the Motel and tell them you're arriving via Train and see if they'll hold your room?

If not you may want to rebook @ a Hotel that will do this!

Well, sure, any hotel will guarantee your room if you pay for it, and most require you to guarantee if you don't cancel by 6 pm. I think OP meant the "night's stay" in the room is rather worthless if you arrive at 7 am.

 

[zephyr17]

You never know what may happen when you travel but you can Guarantee your Hotel Rez @ most places if you don't have a " Special Cheapie Rate! Can you call the Motel and tell them you're arriving via Train and see if they'll hold your room?

If not you may want to rebook @ a Hotel that will do this!

Well, sure, any hotel will guarantee your room if you pay for it, and most require you to guarantee if you don't cancel by 6 pm. I think OP meant the "night's stay" in the room is rather worthless if you arrive at 7 am.

I have a hotel release my room and rent it before I arrived at 4am once, even though it was guaranteed. They said they thought I wasn't going to show up and they were booked up. They took pity on someone who showed up in the middle of the night and gave them my room, so it can happen. Since then, if there is a chance I will be super late, I notify the hotel that I am late, but I am still coming.

 

[NW cannonball]

Call the hotel from some station-stop on your mobi. Tell them you are delayed. They almost always say "thanks for calling, your room is ready, when may we expect you" .

ALMOST always. If they sold the room at last-minute -- you probably didn't want to stay there anyhow.

 

[andersone]

I was grateful when 7 was four hours late getting into GPK but when it did, the driver from the Glacier Park Lodge was there with the Van,,,,, Grand Old Gal ,,,,,

 

[pennyk]

I arrived in SLC around 5 hours late in July. There were 4 of us staying in 3 rooms at the hotel. We called in advance to inform the hotel, and we had no problem. When we arrived in SLC after 4am, we phoned the hotel and their shuttle picked us up at the station.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Hey when I was late on the Sunset from LA I called my hotel (La Pavillion on Poydras St) to tell them I would be there after midnight. They have me a two bedroom squire upgrade. Free.

 

[chakk]

#5 arrived SLC this morning at 0700 with a one-time reroute from Denver thru Wyoming, due (I've heard) to a landslide yesterday in Utah.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[Texan Eagle]

I traveled westbound to SLC last month and was monitoring its arrival every day for a month prior, it has NOT reached SLC on time even once! Delays range from 1 hour to 8 hours, so be prepared.

When I traveled, we reached SLC at 1am. I had called the motel in the evening and told them to keep the room irrespective of however late we reach, so that was not a problem.

However, getting a cab from SLC station was a problem. There were none present and about 5-6 groups of passengers who needed a cab. We called Yellow Cab and they said they "may" be able to send a cab in 15-20 minutes. Thankfully, I had the UBER app on my phone. Pulled it out and got assigned a driver who arrived in 6 minutes (no signs of any cabs yet) and took us to the motel before everyone else who were still waiting for cabs!

 

[SubwayNut]

My funniest late arrival story was coming into Vancouver BC on the evening Amtrak Cascades train that was just one ridiculous delay after another. I arrived at about 2:30am and must have called the hostel I was staying in at least 3 times while we were still in Washington State, (first I said around midnight and then later and later) luckily they had a 1-800 number (I only have a U.S. cellphone) and the desk agent was as unfriendly as possible, as I checked-in and quietly went upstairs and into my shared bunk bed room.

(My Blog Post) from that day.

 

[Ind Ben]

I May while on the enroute Glenwood Springs on the CZ we were 24 hrs late ,I called the hotel expained our situation,they held our reservations and did not charge for the night we missed.

 

[Shanghai]

I arrived at the hotel where I had a guaranteed reservation very late

and was given the Presidential Suite at the standard room rate.