My family took our second Amtrak trip a few weeks ago. The report of our first trip is found here: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/48430-first-trip-in-25-weeks-cant-wait/&do=findComment&comment=386992
Our route was on Empire Builder travelling Columbus, WI (CBS) to Portland, OR (PDX). It's supposed to be a ~ 41 hr trip.
We'd previously had a family sleeping room, but since the kids are getting too tall too quickly, we opted for two roomettes.
We used 40,000 points to do so (we were travelling 1-way).
The train arrived 2.5 hrs late from Milwaukee, WI.
Once we boarded, crew scuttlebutt was that a member of the conducting crew didn't show up (was sick or something) and that Amtrak had to scramble to find a replacement.
No matter, our SCA this time was Darryl and he had a great personality, was chatting and very helpful. This was in direct contrast to our previous two SCAs.
Dinner was great. The service was really pleasant and it was a good first night.
The next morning at breakfast we overheard one of the crew saying that it was slow going over night so we were now 4 hrs behind schedule. No big deal to me. I like being on the train.
Around lunch time we had to wait about an hour at a station (I think Minot, ND AGAIN) for a replacement crew. This put us at a little over 5 hrs behind schedule.
We were supposed to arrive in Portland at 10:10 AM the following day, but we were told prior to going to sleep that we might have to take a bus once we hit Spokane because we were just getting too far behind and might be bumping up against the eastern-bound PDX trip that was supposed to leave on our arrival time.
Sure enough when we got up, we were told to get ready to get on a bus (I think it was 9 AM or so). We had a "prepared breakfast" (read cold sandwich and yogurt).
We crammed on to the "express" bus with less legroom than economy class in the worst budget airline. I'd already been making out with my knees before the 900-pounder in front of me nearly broke the seat when he flopped into it. He smelled like he'd just smoked a carton of cigarettes. The person seated with him reaked of "herb". We proceeded to be on this bus for over 6 hours with no snacks, water, or anything (although we did stop at a rest stop for 10 minutes, so I was able to regain feeling in my left leg).
Once we got to Union Station in Portland and I went to get our checked bags we were told that the express bus wasn't carrying any luggage, so we'd have to wait another hour for the other bus to arrive with our luggage.
I used that time to call 1-800-USA-RAIL and spoke with Diane. She was very empathetic and said she'd see what she could do to compensate us but that it was late on a Friday and could she get back to me. I gave her 2 numbers to contact me and I didn't hear anything back from her.
When we returned from our trip, I called Customer Service and waited 1hr 5 minutes before I got through to someone.
I was told that based on our distance travelled (about 2000 miles) and the amount of that we spent on the bus (about 300 miles) that only .15% of our trip was impacted (that's not a typo). I tried to inform the agent that she either needed to remove the decimal or the percent sign. After 40 minutes of her talking over me I told her that I didn't want any compensation and that I was going to transfer my Amtrak miles to Choice Hotels, cancel my Amtrak credit card and just be done with them. Being on the train is fun, but dealing with Amtrak is far, far from fun.
I did end up with a travel certificate that I'm not sure I'll use. I only accepted it because my dad has never long-distance rail travelled I might book something where we can take a trip (since I can't even gift the certificate to him).
So, for our 2 trips (3 legs total) on Amtrak:
1. 6 or more hours late to arrive twice
2. never got out of Spokane on the train. Took a bus each time.
3. missed at least one meal or had "downgraded meal" service each trip due to delays or them running out of food
4. departed 2 or more hours late all three times
Our route was on Empire Builder travelling Columbus, WI (CBS) to Portland, OR (PDX). It's supposed to be a ~ 41 hr trip.
We'd previously had a family sleeping room, but since the kids are getting too tall too quickly, we opted for two roomettes.
We used 40,000 points to do so (we were travelling 1-way).
The train arrived 2.5 hrs late from Milwaukee, WI.
Once we boarded, crew scuttlebutt was that a member of the conducting crew didn't show up (was sick or something) and that Amtrak had to scramble to find a replacement.
No matter, our SCA this time was Darryl and he had a great personality, was chatting and very helpful. This was in direct contrast to our previous two SCAs.
Dinner was great. The service was really pleasant and it was a good first night.
The next morning at breakfast we overheard one of the crew saying that it was slow going over night so we were now 4 hrs behind schedule. No big deal to me. I like being on the train.
Around lunch time we had to wait about an hour at a station (I think Minot, ND AGAIN) for a replacement crew. This put us at a little over 5 hrs behind schedule.
We were supposed to arrive in Portland at 10:10 AM the following day, but we were told prior to going to sleep that we might have to take a bus once we hit Spokane because we were just getting too far behind and might be bumping up against the eastern-bound PDX trip that was supposed to leave on our arrival time.
Sure enough when we got up, we were told to get ready to get on a bus (I think it was 9 AM or so). We had a "prepared breakfast" (read cold sandwich and yogurt).
We crammed on to the "express" bus with less legroom than economy class in the worst budget airline. I'd already been making out with my knees before the 900-pounder in front of me nearly broke the seat when he flopped into it. He smelled like he'd just smoked a carton of cigarettes. The person seated with him reaked of "herb". We proceeded to be on this bus for over 6 hours with no snacks, water, or anything (although we did stop at a rest stop for 10 minutes, so I was able to regain feeling in my left leg).
Once we got to Union Station in Portland and I went to get our checked bags we were told that the express bus wasn't carrying any luggage, so we'd have to wait another hour for the other bus to arrive with our luggage.
I used that time to call 1-800-USA-RAIL and spoke with Diane. She was very empathetic and said she'd see what she could do to compensate us but that it was late on a Friday and could she get back to me. I gave her 2 numbers to contact me and I didn't hear anything back from her.
When we returned from our trip, I called Customer Service and waited 1hr 5 minutes before I got through to someone.
I was told that based on our distance travelled (about 2000 miles) and the amount of that we spent on the bus (about 300 miles) that only .15% of our trip was impacted (that's not a typo). I tried to inform the agent that she either needed to remove the decimal or the percent sign. After 40 minutes of her talking over me I told her that I didn't want any compensation and that I was going to transfer my Amtrak miles to Choice Hotels, cancel my Amtrak credit card and just be done with them. Being on the train is fun, but dealing with Amtrak is far, far from fun.
I did end up with a travel certificate that I'm not sure I'll use. I only accepted it because my dad has never long-distance rail travelled I might book something where we can take a trip (since I can't even gift the certificate to him).
So, for our 2 trips (3 legs total) on Amtrak:
1. 6 or more hours late to arrive twice
2. never got out of Spokane on the train. Took a bus each time.
3. missed at least one meal or had "downgraded meal" service each trip due to delays or them running out of food
4. departed 2 or more hours late all three times
