Is there a loophole for 2nd passenger in sleeper?

[JackieTakestheTrain]

Hi!

Question: I originally made a reservation for a sleeper for myself from BOS to CLE. My husband decided he wants to go with me and he has enough points on his own AGR for a one-way When I called AGR Travel Specialist they told me that he could not ride in my sleeper unless he has a *paid* ticket, otherwise, the conductor would kick him out.

Why is that? Is it because the AGR and the Amtrak reservations systems can't talk to one another? Has anyone found any loopholes around this problem?

I am sure that this topic has been addressed before, so if someone can lead me to the thread or answer my question that would be great.

Thanks!

-- Jackie

 

[Ryan]

The award covers up to the max capacity of the room, so I'm not sure why AGR gave you any gruff about him coming along. They should just add him to the reservation, I would think.

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

HokieNav:

I agree.

But the AGR reservation person said that I couldn't do it. I think if I had used points to buy my sleeper, he could have been added using his points..but since I bought the sleeper, he couldn't. He also advised us not to try it either because he has had complaints when passengers tried it on the train and the conductors booted people out of the sleeper!

The agent said he thinks it is the same as not being able to upgrade tickets purchased with points....For example, you can't get a ticket with AGR points and then buy a sleeper.

It isn't a huge deal, but it is kinda crazy considering Amtrak is getting the moola for the sleeper whether I ride in alone or have a guest! Luckily, we both signed up for the fall promotion, so we could get double points for our trip.

-- Jackie

 

[Shanghai]

If you have a paid ticket for a sleeper, I would suggest that you call Amtrak (not AGR) and get railfare for your husband and have him added to your sleeper reservation. I think Amtrak would do that since you have already paid for your railfare and sleeper fare.

Good Luck.

 

[Ryan]

I'm sorry, I misunderstood and thought that you had got the sleeper on an award. Yeah, Amtrak's going to want to get their money for the second person in that room.

 

[MrEd]

Is it possible to cancel the original amtrak reservation and then rebook the entire trip using husband's AGR points ?

 

[rms492]

A bit confused here..............I always thought you can bring along a guest NO CHARGE at all in sleeper, with the assumption that the first person calls AGR and gets the award......and they inform AGR that they are bringing a guest, am I right???

So one would get two tickets, right?

 

[the_traveler]

That's what I was going to suggest too! As I understand it, you BOUGHT a ticket for yourself in a sleeper. Now your husband decided to join you. You say he has enough AGR points for his ticket. (I assume you mean 5,500 for a coach ticket.)

You can not combine a paid ticket with an AGR award (for a discount price). But an AGR award for a sleeper includes the room, rail fare and all meals in the dining car for up to the rated occupancy of the room. (In this case 2.) So if you and your husband get a sleeper award, it would include BOTH of you!

A roomette from BOS to CLE costs 15,000 AGR points. If your husband has at least enough for his award, that means he has at least 5,500 AGR points. That means you are less than 9,500 points away from a roomette award! You can BUY up to 10,000 AGR points per calendar year. (Remember also that 12/31/09 and 1/1/10 are 2 different calendar years! ) Assuming you need them all, the cost of 10,000 points is $275.

If the difference is over $275 between the fare and meals, you may want to consider buying the points, and redeeming for a sleeper award instead!

 

[the_traveler]

A bit confused here..............I always thought you can bring along a guest NO CHARGE at all in sleeper, with the assumption that the first person calls AGR and gets the award......and they inform AGR that they are bringing a guest, am I right???
So one would get two tickets, right?

If you redeem an AGR sleeper award, you can include 2 people on the award. But a paid sleeper ticket includes the room and the rail fare for 1, the second person must pay his or her rail fare. An AGR sleeper award includes the room and BOTH passenger's rail fare!

And you do get 2 tickets (1 for each passenger) - but the cost is only 1 award (15,000 points for a roomette)!

 

[Bob Dylan]

A bit confused here..............I always thought you can bring along a guest NO CHARGE at all in sleeper, with the assumption that the first person calls AGR and gets the award......and they inform AGR that they are bringing a guest, am I right???
So one would get two tickets, right?

If you redeem an AGR sleeper award, you can include 2 people on the award. But a paid sleeper ticket includes the room and the rail fare for 1, the second person must pay his or her rail fare. An AGR sleeper award includes the room and BOTH passenger's rail fare!

And you do get 2 tickets (1 for each passenger) - but the cost is only 1 award (15,000 points for a roomette)!

Of course the traveler is correct about this, the confusion came about because it wasnt clear whether she had made a paid rez or used her AGR points!

The way I read it, since she said she called an AGR agent was that she made herself an AGR rez, if this is so she needs to call back, if necessary talk with a supervisor (Ive found this really helps in most cases of confusion/misinformation)and rebbok her award using either her points or his, if either has enough (remember points cant be combined) for the award! This will cover both of them as the traveler said, shell get two tickets, everything is now cool!

Buying points is a deal if it gets you over the hump for an AGR award! Sleepers on #449 are usually pricey, and full, so it would be deal for 2 if its an award!

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

My apologies for not making it clear in my original post.

I did *pay* for my sleeper using moola and not points, but I did call the AGR rez to inquire about husband's fare because I wanted to use points to pay for him to be in my paid sleeper.

Whew!!!

 

[the_traveler]

My apologies for not making it clear in my original post.
I did *pay* for my sleeper using moola and not points, but I did call the AGR rez to inquire about husband's fare because I wanted to use points to pay for him to be in my paid sleeper.

Whew!!!

No need to apologize!

If you're thinking of buying points and using them to redeem for a sleeper award instead, FIRST make a new AGR sleeper award THEN cancel the paid reservation! You would hate to cancel your room reservation and then call AGR and find out that someone already grabbed it - and that there are no rooms left at all!

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

Traveler:

I will file that way for future knowledge. Unfortunately, I don't have enough points for a sleeper because I used some for another trip I am taking over the holidays...

This year is really the first time I have thought about using my AGR points for anything because I finally have enough to play with! What I am finding is that you need a Ph.D. in "Amtrak-ology Guest Rewards" to learn all the rules, blackout dates, etc.

Case in point: Over the holidays, we are taking another trip together from BOS to CIN (via NYP and spending the night) and I wanted to try to use some points for that trip. I was short some points for a sleeper and was going to buy points until I learned that I would have to buy the points first, let them post to my account, call back and make the reservation for the sleeper, and then call the regular Amtrak reservation office to buy tickets and another sleeper for the return! This was over the summer (in August I think) when AGR offered additional points if you purchase points.

It was not clear to me how long it would take for the points to post and they were short on sleepers so I decided to use the points for the return trip back from NYP to BOS and save the point balance for a future date.

Frankly, I find/found AGR really confusing. Maybe Amtrak does this by design or maybe it is me! :lol:

My apologies for not making it clear in my original post.
I did *pay* for my sleeper using moola and not points, but I did call the AGR rez to inquire about husband's fare because I wanted to use points to pay for him to be in my paid sleeper.

Whew!!!

No need to apologize!

If you're thinking of buying points and using them to redeem for a sleeper award instead, FIRST make a new AGR sleeper award THEN cancel the paid reservation! You would hate to cancel your room reservation and then call AGR and find out that someone already grabbed it - and that there are no rooms left at all!

 

[AlanB]

Jackie,

As an FYI, the buy points function while not immediate, typically takes no longer than 1 to at max 2 days for the points to post.

And why call Amtrak for the paid reservations? Either do it online or visit one of the ticket offices in Boston.