My AGR Nightmare

[ALC Rail Writer]

I called Customer Relations and explained that all I wanted was to travel. The guy there, Mark Jordan, said he would call people to see if I could be issued the ticket Nathan was trying to get-- that is a sleeper ticket on train 8 from SPK-CBS/CHI.

I repeated the idea over and over, its just my bad luck that April 2nd is a blackout date and that transferring from 28 to 8 at 1:15AM on April 2nd is not beyond reasonable.. especially considering Nathan was willing to give me other concessions.

 

[saxman]

Are they still offering you your free sleeper from ALC to CHI, and then CHI to KCY?

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

They're not offering me anything but the very reservation they screwed up on...

3-29: BC KWD-KCY

3-29: Bedroom KSC-LAX

3-31: Bedroom LAX-PDX

4-1: Coach PDX-CBS

Jake said I can either do the above, or return to the tickets for a refund of my points.... four days from my anticipated departure date.

 

[PRR 60]

Well, this is some saga. I'm really sorry it worked out so badly for you. The blackout enforcement when you move to a room at Spokane on the Builder is total nonsense.

One suggestion if you decide to cancel: be sure to call in the cancellation before your planned departure from Kansas City (KCY), and get some record of the cancellation (name, number, something). AGR has a new policy where points are forfeited if you do not cancel an AGR sleeper reservation prior to the scheduled departure. If you just mail the tickets in and they don't get them until after departure from KCY, I can see them pulling the "no show forfeit" rabbit out of their hat. After all, that Spokane blackout deal is just as ridiculous.

BTW, I assumed you were boarding the Chief at Kansas City. Amtrak does not have a KSC code.

Good luck!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

that is total BS they should allow you go switch rooms after all it was the first agents fault this was screwed up after all they should have called you weeks before with this. now the train is sold out and they won't do **** to fix the first agents screw up. corporate cover up.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Part of its my fault-- I did only book it two weeks in advance...

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

I have decided to fight fire with fire.

I talked to a regular booking agent and she assured me that when I pay and reserve space on a train, then cancel the rezzie, that the room goes back in to the pool instantly. Thus I have made the following reservations and paid for them online, so I can cancel today with seven days still out--

4/1 #28 PDX-ESM Bedroom

4/1 #8 EPH-CHI Bedroom

Now armed with reserved space on both trains anybody think there is a way to convince AGR to, I don't know... issue me two tickets with one going from PDX-ESM on 28 and the other from EPH (the stop before SPK, still on the right side of the blackout 2nd) to CBS so that I can actually have space to... well, use?

I know it makes no sense, but I don't know what other cards I can play. You, me, and the rest of the world sees how utterly simple this should be, but alas--

And yes I realize that it will look like I'm a no-show on 8, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it...

 

[had8ley]

The_Traveler is probably your best bet to connect with on this one. Good luck.

 

[rrdude]

Part of its my fault-- I did only book it two weeks in advance...

Micah, "........only booking two weeks in advance....." is in now way your fault. Amtrak screwed up, made a change, and didn't notify you.

 

[daveyb99]

First, let me say your plans are way too complicated. Trying to fool the computer always leads to problems. Even more, trying to mix paid coach tickets with AGR awards in the same reservations and trying to say 'i want this but dont want to get on until there'. Come On.......

To me, it does not get easier, or AGR Point cheaper, to break up a trip like you tried to.

Just book two roundtrips and be done with it. No complications, no mess.

Good Luck.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

VICTORY IS MINE!!

 

[RRrich]

VICTORY IS MINE!!

ALL RIGHT!!

​

Details?

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Okay-- I called back and got Stephanie who was able to clear it with her supervisor to double-book me. I have two separate Bedrooms, one on 28 (4/1) from PDX to ESM and 8 (4/1) from SEA-CHI. I can even stay in the PDX sleeper through breakfast (no need to get off at o'dark hundred in SPK) and sleep.

Davey: I understand your point, but this is a flaw in the AGR system. As somebody (who may choose to reveal themselves if they wish) explained to me, the idea that they couldn't have moved me from 28 to 8 at SPK is nonsense. This affects "straightforward" trips too, for instance-- if you were traveling from WAS-MSP, a perfectly valid two-zone routing starting on the CL at 4/1 AGR would NOT give you a ticket to MSP from CHI because that ticket would be dates 4/2.

 

[saxman]

Nice. So you have an AGR bedroom from PDX to ESM, and an AGR bedroom from SEA to CHI. Nicely done. Yeah, I would now call on your departure date from PDX and tell them you'll get in your bedroom down the line, and to not sell it to someone else. Shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[had8ley]

UPDATE:
Nathan called back. He said he checked (as I had too) all of my other possible dates of departure and (as I had discovered) found that one of the trains was sold out on each of the other possible dates...

So he said what he's done is called Customer Relations (again) and the technical department to see if they can override the blackout date code. According to him they can't code a sleeper on a blackout date under any circumstances... at least the computers can't. So his problem is this:

There is a bedroom for me on 28 (4/1) from PDX-SPK. At SPK the room is sold through to CHI. There is a roomette available from SPK-CHI in the crew dorm, on train 8.. so as we previously discussed I would have to get off 28 at SPK and re-board once 8 was put at the head end... however the ticket on 8 would read "4-2-10" the blackout date. So the computer won't let me do this.

I feel sorry for him.

He's trying to get an exception ticket that would allow me to have an AGR roomette ticket printed, since the blackout date takes affect only an hour before, and because I am technically not switching trains (even though I have to detrain and re-board) in the middle of o'dark hours.

I'm delighted to hear Nathan has been going to bat for you. At Christmas, we promised our grand daughter we would take her to New York for spring break. I called AGR around New years and the nice lady booked us on Easter Sunday, April 4th.

About a month ago a frantic agent calls and says, "Your tickets are no good- you cannot travel on that date; it's blacked out". Well, we had everything from limos to hotels lined up for this date. We really wanted to pull into NYP on Monday. I immediately asked for this obviously frustrated agent's supervisor who happened to be Nathan. He explained that the "only" day blacked out was Sunday and we could travel Saturday or Monday. I told him our plans and he called Amtrak and re-validated our tix. Just wondering what would have happened IF no one contacted us; I guess we would have been sitting in someone's lap all the way to NYP !

 

[had8ley]

I have decided to fight fire with fire.
I talked to a regular booking agent and she assured me that when I pay and reserve space on a train, then cancel the rezzie, that the room goes back in to the pool instantly.

Maybe one of the admins can straighten me out on this one. I've always been told by Riverside res to call at 3 a.m. to see if any rooms had been released from the day before and were re-entered in the middle of the night. Has this changed?

 

[Trogdor]

I have decided to fight fire with fire.
I talked to a regular booking agent and she assured me that when I pay and reserve space on a train, then cancel the rezzie, that the room goes back in to the pool instantly.

Maybe one of the admins can straighten me out on this one. I've always been told by Riverside res to call at 3 a.m. to see if any rooms had been released from the day before and were re-entered in the middle of the night. Has this changed?

If you cancel a reservation, the space goes back immediately.

If you don't cancel, but instead let a reservation lapse because you didn't pay for it by its hold date, then it goes back at whatever that cutoff time is (midnight Pacific/3 am eastern, I believe).

 

[jis]

Considering how much trouble and utter confusion some AGR agents suffer from in my attempts to book a simple straightforward itinerary, I shudder to think what would happen if I tried a loophole thing. I am willing to concede that it is most likely my unparalleled charm that throws the agents off. I am sure the for someone with the savvy of the_traveler things always work out just fine.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Nathan was very attentive, I was sorry he ended up calling in sick and handed the ball to the other supervisors, both seemed to know less and one seemed to care less about what happened. Stephanie was good though, she didn't abandon me to the dogs and worked with me instead of telling me what I could and couldn't do.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

Well we haven't heard from ALC_Writer for a while, I hope the trip is going well and the silence is from no Wi-Fi connections.

 

[the_traveler]

I am sure the for someone with the savvy of the_traveler things always work out just fine.

My nightmare would be if they say I can't do something!

 

[the_traveler]

Aloha
Well we haven't heard from ALC_Writer for a while, I hope the trip is going well and the silence is from no Wi-Fi connections.

Per Twitter, he's rolling up the California coast on the CS on 3/31!