Online Reservation Form VS Calling an Amtrak Agent

[Bob Dylan]

I'm not a youngster, nor am I an old fogie , and most of my jobs have been public contact (including some VERY public contact). I enjoy talking to people on the train (and even some AU members that I've met on the train ), but personally I would rather use the internet than talk on the phone.
I do have a cell phone (it's actually combined with others on a family plan) but I think the most I used one time was 200 minutes! Most months, it's more like 40-50 minutes a month!

Thought your "job" was riding trains on AGR loopholes and being the AGR guru on this forum! :lol: I too like to talk with people on the train, even talked with you on the Eagle! :lol: I use my cell phone @ the most 100 minutes a month, even my computer is mostly used in reference to travel and e-mails,

my job is "Retired government employee"! :lol: Folks that have "real" jobs I have no problem with utilizing high tech, wish I had some of the toys for m y trips and knew how to use them!

 

[GG-1]

I'm not a youngster, nor am I an old fogie , and most of my jobs have been public contact (including some VERY public contact). I enjoy talking to people on the train (and even some AU members that I've met on the train ), but personally I would rather use the internet than talk on the phone.
I do have a cell phone (it's actually combined with others on a family plan) but I think the most I used one time was 200 minutes! Most months, it's more like 40-50 minutes a month!

Thought your "job" was riding trains on AGR loopholes and being the AGR guru on this forum! :lol: I too like to talk with people on the train, even talked with you on the Eagle! :lol: I use my cell phone @ the most 100 minutes a month, even my computer is mostly used in reference to travel and e-mails,

my job is "Retired government employee"! :lol: Folks that have "real" jobs I have no problem with utilizing high tech, wish I had some of the toys for m y trips and knew how to use them!

Aloha

I agree, I thought your job was investigating and reporting Loophole train trips

 

[the_traveler]

my job is "Retired government employee"! :lol:

Isn't that an oxymoron? :lol:

Even when I was a Government employee, I was retired (or at least I didn't do too much)! :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

Thought your "job" was riding trains on AGR loopholes and being the AGR guru on this forum! :lol: I too like to talk with people on the train, even talked with you on the Eagle! :lol: I use my cell phone @ the most 100 minutes a month, even my computer is mostly used in reference to travel and e-mails,

my job is "Retired government employee"! :lol:

I agree, I thought your job was investigating and reporting Loophole train trips

It's a tough job - but someone has to do it! (And it involves a lot of first hand research too - don't want to give out bad information!)

 

[GG-1]

my job is "Retired government employee"! :lol:

Isn't that an oxymoron? :lol:

Even when I was a Government employee, I was retired (or at least I didn't do too much)! :lol:

Not an Oxymoron, as a government worker he was "tired" now Jim is retired" :lol: Aloha

 

[GAT]

Do you know why government employees don't look out the window all morning?

Because if they did, they wouldn't have anything to do all afternoon!! :lol:

 

[Bob Dylan]

Do you know why government employees don't look out the window all morning?
Because if they did, they wouldn't have anything to do all afternoon!! :lol:

Another contestant on "Who will replace Conan on Late Night NBC"! :lol: Actually we read the paper, drank our coffee, took our breaks and discussed the sports and political gossip till early lunch, then spent the afternoon looking out the window until afternoon break, then it was time to go home to "beat the rush"! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[oldtimer]

my job is "Retired government employee"! :lol:

Isn't that an oxymoron? :lol:

Even when I was a Government employee, I was retired (or at least I didn't do too much)! :lol:

Not an Oxymoron, as a government worker he was "tired" now Jim is retired" :lol: Aloha

And all this time I thought that being retired was when I took my car to the Goodyear shop!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[AlanB]

I prefer booking online, but sometimes I need to call an agent when the computer does not offer me the connection I want when traveling from Miami to Boston. I have started taking Roomettes for that trip and the northbound journey makes me connect (via online booking) in Washington, DC. I prefer to take the sleeper all the way to New York Penn and then change there to catch a regional train to Boston. No problem...when I call an agent they are able to route me with a change in NYP instead of WAS. On the southbound journey, the computer automatically routes me through NYP with a change of trains there so I just book it online.
I just checked and both of my reservations (one via online, one via agent) have the barcode on the reservation summary.

For the issue mentioned in your post, just use the Multi-City function and you can force the northbound connection in NY, instead of the automatic connection in DC.

The one drawback to the Multi-City function can be that it is sometimes possible to book a connection that isn't guaranteed. But that is not the case in the above example. It's still a guaranteed connection.

Alan, thanks for clearing that up. Funny you mention it...getting a guaranteed connection was exactly my reason for calling and not doing a multi-city booking.

How do you know when an online multi-city booking will be guaranteed? Is it just applicable to travel on the NEC?

Chris

Chris,

Well in this case we already know that it's a guaranteed booking, since the agents are doing it for you already via the phone. However, it can be tough to know for sure when booking other trips I agree.

One general rule is to never accept any connection that sees less than 1.5 hours between trains. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but in most cases any such connection won't be guaranteed. One exception is the north bound Talgo that connects to the east bound Empire Builder out of Seattle. But otherwise, if the connection is less, I would call to check on things.

Part of knowing is simply having been around long enough to know that other's have also made the connection.

You can always plot out things via the Multi-city option and then call if you're unsure and want to play it safe.

 

[Chris J.]

One general rule is to never accept any connection that sees less than 1.5 hours between trains. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but in most cases any such connection won't be guaranteed. One exception is the north bound Talgo that connects to the east bound Empire Builder out of Seattle. But otherwise, if the connection is less, I would call to check on things.
Part of knowing is simply having been around long enough to know that other's have also made the connection.

You can always plot out things via the Multi-city option and then call if you're unsure and want to play it safe.

According to the website it's 1hr, unless you're connecting onto a NEC train from a LD; when it's 1.5hrs.

Amtrak does not normally guarantee connections of less than 60 minutes (90 minutes between arriving long-distance trains and local trains in the Northeast Corridor).

Also, I believe (from posts here) that the Acela doesn't officially connect with anything, so if you need to use the NEC you should book a regional.

 

[acelafan]

Very good, thanks fellas. I wasn't sure if the policy was spelled out somewhere and now I see it is. I'll definitely call in the future if I am in doubt, too.

 

[the_traveler]

Actually we read the paper, drank our coffee, took our breaks and discussed the sports and political gossip till early lunch, then spent the afternoon looking out the window until afternoon break, then it was time to go home to "beat the rush"! :lol: :lol: :lol:

You must have had a tough boss! :lol: I didn't get there until late morning (to avoid all that morning traffic), but by the time I got in I had to rush not to miss lunch! I in fact did some work in the afternoon! (Do you know how hard it is to clean cobwebs? ) By then, it was almost 2 PM and I had to leave and get home before rush hour began! :lol: