Ticketing/ID

[transit54]

I assume when purchasing tickets at a station (with an agent, not on a Quiktrak) only one party needs to be present. For instance, if I want to buy two tickets, one for myself and one for person B, I can do this without person B being present, correct?

Now, can I send someone else to a station to purchase tickets for me? Assuming they have valid photo ID but are not traveling? Now, what about in a Quiktrak situation - I book tickets for pickup at a station. I send person B to that station with my confirmation number. Can they use that to pick up my tickets for me on the Quiktrak, even though they do not have a credit card with my name on it or one that was used to purchase the tickets?

 

[RRrich]

Wifey and I went to the station - I went to the window and requested my tickets from the agent - he told me to sign them both. He might have noticed that a woman was with me, but he did NOT know if it was the woman that I was traveling with.

IMHO Amtrak is very careless about identification of their pax. Just as I like it!!

 

[the_traveler]

I really can't say about buying the tickets at the ticket window, but just a few days ago, I picked up both our (internet booked) tickets for myself and my traveling partner at the ticket window. (He was not at the window.) The agent asked for my ID, but there was no problem getting both tickets. (Each reservation had it's own res number.)

At NHV, I used a QT machine to print both our tickets. (Again they were pre bought.) I used my AGR credit card on both reservations (gotta get those points ), but his also came up. There was no problem printing each one.

 

[transit54]

Wifey and I went to the station - I went to the window and requested my tickets from the agent - he told me to sign them both. He might have noticed that a woman was with me, but he did NOT know if it was the woman that I was traveling with.
IMHO Amtrak is very careless about identification of their pax. Just as I like it!!

Perhaps if you share a last name that was also a clue?

In my scenario, this wouldn't be the case.

 

[the_traveler]

Wifey and I went to the station - I went to the window and requested my tickets from the agent - he told me to sign them both. He might have noticed that a woman was with me, but he did NOT know if it was the woman that I was traveling with.
IMHO Amtrak is very careless about identification of their pax. Just as I like it!!

Perhaps if you share a last name that was also a clue?

In my scenario, this wouldn't be the case.

Mine were not - and both our names are strange names (not "Smith" and "Jones" or something "normal" - I'm far from "normal"! )

 

[amtrakwolverine]

for the QT machine you do not need a CC or guest rewards card if the tickets are pre-paid just scan the barcode on the recept you printed from the home computer and the machine will print your tickets. i know i did it this way.

 

[Tony]

In my experiences, as long as the person who is buying the tixs in person has ID which matches the name of the person paying, it is OK. I think Amtrak (like most retailers), for example, is more interested that the ID matches the name on the credit card, than the name on the tixs.

 

[sechs]

I've picked-up tickets in San Jose many times with only the reservation number.

As posts may show, I expect that different agents at different stations may lead to different results.

 

[transit54]

I've picked-up tickets in San Jose many times with only the reservation number.
As posts may show, I expect that different agents at different stations may lead to different results.

Good to know. I don't have a lot of experience with the new QT machines, I've only used them a handful of times, since most of my tickets here come by mail.

Despite having the option to just have the conductor write me a ticket on the train, I really much prefer to have paper tickets. I'm not sure why, but I do enjoy collecting the ticket stubs to have a record of everywhere I've been. And I'm sure AGR with a handwritten ticket would be a pain.

However, I frequently find myself in other cities with agents and/or QTs, so I try and buy my tickets (and those for everyone I'm traveling with) there. For instance, during the inauguration, I bought a Montpelier to Burlington ticket at WAS for the next day. The agent was really confused ('How are you going to get from here to Montpelier?' - I explained I'd fly back that night, go to work the next day, then after work take an express commuter bus to Montpelier to attend a hearing at the state house (about rail service, incidently), then take Amtrak back). It's sort of a pain because I can't book the tickets online (since I can't specify I'll be picking them up at WAS, or wherever) and MPR and ESX aren't options on the QT machines.

Conductors are a little surprised to see the tickets, also, since very, very few people ever think of using the train for local transit, especially at night. But it works out great for an evening in Montpelier. Even people on the bus down ask me about how I'm getting back, and are shocked to hear there is a train. Some later admit they know of the Vermonter, but never factor it into the equation to get between MPR and ESX. And of course, I get 100 AGR points for every $9 ticket.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone's feedback!

 

[p&sr]

I bought a Montpelier to Burlington ticket at WAS for the next day. The agent was really confused ('How are you going to get from here to Montpelier?')

I've had that too. Just as people at large don't think of Amtrak when getting from point to point, it seems the Amtrak staff never consider that there are OTHER ways to get around BESIDES Amtrak!

It's sort of a pain because I can't book the tickets online (since I can't specify I'll be picking them up at WAS, or wherever) and MPR and ESX aren't options on the QT machines.

Why can't you book the tickets online? Just now the Amtrak Website was getting ready to book me that same ticket (for $10). If the question concerns DELIVERY of the Tickets, just accept whatever option the Website offers. Then after you log off, call Julie and ask for an Agent, to Modify an Existing Reservation. Then say you want to pick up the Tickets at a staffed Amtrak Station of your choosing.

 

[rogers55]

I am fortunate in living near a manned station, VNC, so I always pick up my tickets from the agent after paying online.

They always check my ID and have me sign for the tickets.

My wife is always asked to sign her tickets at some point, usually when boarding if she has not already done so.

That seems to be the only thing that is standard when dealing with agents at the station. If you ask about something you will get different answers from different agents.

 

[wayman]

Why can't you book the tickets online? Just now the Amtrak Website was getting ready to book me that same ticket (for $10). If the question concerns DELIVERY of the Tickets, just accept whatever option the Website offers. Then after you log off, call Julie and ask for an Agent, to Modify an Existing Reservation. Then say you want to pick up the Tickets at a staffed Amtrak Station of your choosing.

If the origin station does not have a ticket agent or a QuikTrak, the only option the website presents is to have the tickets mailed to you. So, it's not possible to reserve "Montpelier to Burlington" online and select "pick up at station" or "print out at station" (which would enable you to pick them up or print them out at, say, WAS or anywhere else with an agent or a QuikTrak) because you can't do either of those at Montpelier. Dumb, I know! But true.

Of course, there's a valid reason for Amtrak having set it up this way: it makes it impossible for someone to click "pick up at station" by mistake, and having an additional "pick up at some other station" option would make things even more confusing. This probably saves new riders from all kinds of accidental trouble. But it's really annoying for "power users" like us

It would be nice if QuikTraks were not limited to tickets starting at the station the QuikTrak is located in!

 

[p&sr]

If the origin station does not have a ticket agent or a QuikTrak, the only option the website presents is to have the tickets mailed to you.

So tell the Website to mail them to you. Then immediately call the Amtrak number, speak to an Agent, and "modify your existing reservation" so you can pick up the tickets as you choose.

I do this all the time, because my town is served only by an Amtrak Bus line... no station, no agent, no ticket machine. But I always like having my tickets in hand before I travel. So I just arrange to pick them up at a station of my choice, then DRIVE to the station of my choice (in advance of travel) and get the tickets. Voila! Problem solved.

It would be nice if QuikTraks were not limited to tickets starting at the station the QuikTrak is located in!

Can this be true? Why could not ANY QuikTrak machine print out ANY valid reservation? Does anybody have experience with this?

 

[AlanB]

It would be nice if QuikTraks were not limited to tickets starting at the station the QuikTrak is located in!

Can this be true? Why could not ANY QuikTrak machine print out ANY valid reservation? Does anybody have experience with this?

A Quik-Trak machine will print out any valid reservation regardless of origin and/or destination. The only exception to that rule is an Auto Train reservation, QT machines won't print out those.

 

[soitgoes]

Can this be true? Why could not ANY QuikTrak machine print out ANY valid reservation? Does anybody have experience with this?

It'll print any ticket except AutoTrain, but what it won't let you do is purchase a new ticket departing from a different place.

 

[RRrich]

I used a QT macine in KWD to print tickets from STL to CHI to WAS to ORL to SAS.

KWD was not involved at all

 

[jackal]

Can this be true? Why could not ANY QuikTrak machine print out ANY valid reservation? Does anybody have experience with this?

It'll print any ticket except AutoTrain, but what it won't let you do is purchase a new ticket departing from a different place.

That's silly, because you can go to Amtrak's mobile website on your phone and book the trip and then immediately print it out at the QT machine. And if you're one of those old-fashioned Luddites without a smart phone (though Amtrak's mobile site should even work on WAP-only browsers), you can call Amtrak on your cell while standing in front of the machine and do the same thing. And if you're a Neandertal with no cell phone, you can walk over to the payphone and call Amtrak and do the same thing.

Why not just let you buy the tickets from the machine itself? Strange.

 

[the_traveler]

And if you're a Neandertal with no cell phone, you can walk over to the payphone

If there is one!

I had a 30 minute layover a couple of days ago at MDN (Meriden, CT). At the station (in fact INSIDE the station), there was a bank of 2 payphones. BOTH were removed! And by the stickers and signs on the "booths", it appears they were gone for a long time. So at MDN, it was cell phone or nothing!

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Of course, there's a valid reason for Amtrak having set it up this way: it makes it impossible for someone to click "pick up at station" by mistake, and having an additional "pick up at some other station" option would make things even more confusing. This probably saves new riders from all kinds of accidental trouble. But it's really annoying for "power users" like us

Is there any good reason they couldn't have a flag bit associated with each person's account indicating whether that person is allowed to book trips where the tickets are expected to be picked up at some station other than the start of the trip? Then those who actually want to use the advanced functionality could call Amtrak once and convince the agent that they know what they're doing, and have that functionality enabled for their account.

 

[wayman]

I used a QT macine in KWD to print tickets from STL to CHI to WAS to ORL to SAS.
KWD was not involved at all

Sure; printing tickets for reservations you've already made from A to B on a QuikTrak at C isn't the problem.

It's if you're at C, where there happens to be a QuikTrak, and you happen to need a ticket from A to B sometime next week. You can't buy it there. You can only buy tickets from C to A, or C to B, or C to anywhere else.

If you have an iPhone, you can go to amtrak.com, make a reservation from A to B, and less than a minute later you can print the ticket for the reservation on the QuikTrak at C. But you can't do it on the QuikTrak itself.

 

[p&sr]

And if you're a Neandertal with no cell phone, you can walk over to the payphone

If there is one!

I had a 30 minute layover a couple of days ago at MDN (Meriden, CT). At the station (in fact INSIDE the station), there was a bank of 2 payphones. BOTH were removed!

Yes, indeed. I knew it was time to go cellular when twice in a row I needed a Payphone (both at Amtrak stations) and either found none or found they refused to allow outgoing calls paid for with coins.

While reading up on stations in California for the Trivia Question on another thread, I found Amtrak's description of their station at Colfax:

Station Services

No Station Hours

No Ticket Office Hours

No Quik-Trak Hours

No Checked Baggage Hours

No Help With Baggage

Payphones during station hours

So basically, nothing much there (except Trains, I guess). The Payphones would be their only feature, unfortunately limited to hours when the STATION IS OPEN... which never actually occurs. Too bad!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

And if you're a Neandertal with no cell phone, you can walk over to the payphone

If there is one!

I had a 30 minute layover a couple of days ago at MDN (Meriden, CT). At the station (in fact INSIDE the station), there was a bank of 2 payphones. BOTH were removed!

Yes, indeed. I knew it was time to go cellular when twice in a row I needed a Payphone (both at Amtrak stations) and either found none or found they refused to allow outgoing calls paid for with coins.

While reading up on stations in California for the Trivia Question on another thread, I found Amtrak's description of their station at Colfax:

Station Services

No Station Hours

No Ticket Office Hours

No Quik-Trak Hours

No Checked Baggage Hours

No Help With Baggage

Payphones during station hours

So basically, nothing much there (except Trains, I guess). The Payphones would be their only feature, unfortunately limited to hours when the STATION IS OPEN... which never actually occurs. Too bad!

the phones might be in another building that has nothing to do with amtrak. the ROY station is a amshack as you say nothing more then those bus shelters but theres a building called the royal oak transit center that has a quick track machine rest rooms( i think pay) and phones. everything is limited to that buildings hours. its mainly a hub now for city buses where you can get bus passes and stuff sense greyhound moved out when they changed all there stations.

 

[p&sr]

the ROY station is a amshack as you say nothing more then those bus shelters but theres a building called the royal oak transit center that has a quick track machine rest rooms( i think pay) and phones.

ROY sounds pretty advanced then... both a QuikTrak and a shelter.

Colfax is described as "platform only, no shelter", and the nearest QuikTrak machine is at Auburn... 18 miles down the mountain!

According to The Payphone Project -- "stories, pictures, phone numbers and news from payphones and public telephony" (www.payphone-project.com), there are three payphones in Colfax. Two of them are inside the Market on Central Street, and the other is in the ARCO MINI MART. Both are at the other end of town from the Amtrak stop, ie about three blocks away. It is not known whether any of the three is still operational.

Colfax has a population under 1500, and this is if you count everybody on all the surrounding ranches and farms for miles around.

The main scenic and historical highlight of Colfax is the old Caboose parked on the town square. Be on the lookout when you pass through on the California Zephyr, as the whole town is a survival from the days of the Old West.