Two parties on one reservation (coach and sleeper)?

[norfolkwesternhenry]

Hello there ladies and gentlemen, I haven't been on in a while, high school has taken a toll on my personal life, and my "AU'ing", but that's not the important thing right now. So I'm looking at planning a trip with my girlfriend and parents from MSP-SEA, and while my girlfriend and I are plenty fine in coach, my mother and stepfather want to have a room. Is there any way to book two coach seats and one room in the same ticket, or would it have to be two separate parties. Another question, if we do have to book as separate parties, would Amtrak be unhappy with two 15 year olds, both (in my opinion) capable travelers, traveling in coach while the "responsible adults" were up front in one of the sleepers?

Best regards,

Henry

(Pic from my previous EB trip)

 

[PVD]

Read the unaccompanied minor policy on the Amtrak website. There might be a potential issue if the 2 15 years were booked separately from the adults. I don't see any reason (maybe someone else does) why the coach and sleeper passengers can't be tied on the same reservation.....

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

The unaccompanied minors rule is very restrictive and wouldn't allow two 15 year olds to be completely separate from the adults, but the problem I have, is finding a way to make Amtrak classify both the coach reservation and sleeper reservation as one party. The website doesn't seem to allow that, but it doesn't usually accomodate any special circumstances. I might call Amtrak to see what their rule is.

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[PVD]

Deal with an agent on the phone, they are the ones who do the things that the website makes difficult. Unlike many airlines, Amtrak does not charge extra for dealing with humans. When they are done, they will still send you an e-mail with your attached e tickets.

 

[AmtrakLKL]

Minor point of clarification: A ticket is issued to a single person for transportation between two points. One ticket per person, per segment. It's just like the paper ticket days, except it's all electronic in the computer now. What you're asking is to book multiple people and multiple classes within the same reservation. Obviously we can book multiple people in the same reservation. I've even seen different origin/destinations for different people in the same classe of service in one reservation. What I haven't seen is mixed classes of service for the same train in the same reservation. Might work, might not. Definitely cannot be done on Amtrak.com, though.

There is no financial incentive to booking in one reservation. It's probably easiest to book separate reservations and have them cross-referenced. There is nothing in Service Standards about children being accompanied in the same class of service and I, personally, would not have an issue with this situation. As long as the adults are on the same train the children shouldn't be considered unaccompanied. Double check with reservations.

 

[PVD]

While it is still technically (internally or if picked up from agent or machine) one ticket per person per segment, the QR code on a single page e ticket carries all the information on that persons reservation and is scanned (again) on each segment. I just went on NYP-CHI-DAL 3 trains one e-ticket form repeatedly scanned.

 

[me_little_me]

Hello there ladies and gentlemen, I haven't been on in a while, high school has taken a toll on my personal life, and ...

Best regards,

Henry

Good news! Life gets tougher when you grow up! That is, unless of course, your parents are moneybags.

BTW, please let us know what Amtrak says.

Call in late evening if possible. Agents have fewer calls and thus, more time. That means they might have time to work out the nearly impossible. A friend got the agent to search alternate days until she found the lowest price.

 

[niemi24s]

A friend got the agent to search alternate days until she found the lowest price.

Wonder if the Amtrak agent let AmSnag do the searching?

 

[the_traveler]

One potential problem I see is that if they were all on 1 e-ticket and the adults have the phone (ticket), the Conductor in coach lifting the tickets will find the other 2 do not have tickets available. It may or may not be the same Conductor lifting tickets from the sleepers.

And then, there is the issuance of the seat checks without the tickets.

 

[PVD]

You can print more than one copy of an e ticket, but I don't know how the system works. If a conductor scans the code, does he have the option to check in part of a party or is everyone checked in. If a different conductor rescanned the code, would it show that the "lift" had already taken place? Are we beating something to death by speculating rather than waiting for an AMTK employee to give us a real answer?

 

[SarahZ]

Are we beating something to death by speculating rather than waiting for an AMTK employee to give us a real answer?

Probably.

Since the question can be answered with a call to Amtrak, it seems silly to wait and speculate.

 

[BCL]

I don’t have any proof either way, but it wouldn’t make sense to allow what the OP is requesting. I thought the purpose was to have an adult to supervise the minors, and that won’t happen if the adults are in sleepers.

 

[fixj]

Book it with one adult in coach and one in sleeper and one minor in coach and one in sleeper if there is the "adult supervision" isssue. Once on the train , sit where you like.

 

[KmH]

Unfortunately, those with Coach tickets aren't allowed in sleeper cars.

 

[BCL]

Book it with one adult in coach and one in sleeper and one minor in coach and one in sleeper if there is the "adult supervision" isssue. Once on the train , sit where you like.

Sounds like a total violation of the terms of transportation. If Amtrak figures it out, they could very well enforce that those with coach tickets stay in coach. The OP also has a history of wanting to do everything according the rules, and what you suggest is clearly skirting the rules.

 

[snvboy]

Have you considered booking it as two roomettes and having a boys room / girls room?

 

[BCL]

Have you considered booking it as two roomettes and having a boys room / girls room?

Not sure if her parents might object on the grounds that they might mix up the rooms. I think he also wants to ride in coach.

 

[ehbowen]

I'd book the second roomette in a heartbeat. Old fogies on the lower berths, young whippersnappers in the upper berths. You can still hang out in coach during the day if you like; the chances that the train crew will say anything (assuming there are still seats available for the ticketed coach passengers) are miniscule and, if they do, just mosey back up to the Sightseer Lounge or your sleeper car. Plus, you get prepaid meals and privacy and a shower bath available. You can say you're okay with coach now, but after the second night of travel...well, let's just say that if you try the sleeper now you may never want to go back to coach!

 

[PVD]

There should not be a supervision issue. They allow 15 year olds to travel unaccompanied in many situations. In this case there will be someone on the train, not waiting at a destination.

 

[Ryan]

There should not be a supervision issue. They allow 15 year olds to travel unaccompanied in many situations. In this case there will be someone on the train, not waiting at a destination.

This isn't one of them - 15 year olds aren't allowed to travel unaccompanied overnight, MSP-SEA is definitely overnight and then some.

One should probably be able to call and book this - definitely an unusual one.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Book it with one adult in coach and one in sleeper and one minor in coach and one in sleeper if there is the "adult supervision" isssue. Once on the train , sit where you like.

Sounds like a total violation of the terms of transportation. If Amtrak figures it out, they could very well enforce that those with coach tickets stay in coach.

Yeah, that's some pretty lousy advice. Although it's possible to play games and trick staff it's not the sort of thing I'd suggest as a practical solution.

The OP also has a history of wanting to do everything according the rules, and what you suggest is clearly skirting the rules.

In my experience the OP has a history of trying to find ways to circumvent the rules.

 

[BCL]

The OP also has a history of wanting to do everything according the rules, and what you suggest is clearly skirting the rules.

In my experience the OP has a history of trying to find ways to circumvent the rules.

Well - maybe not exactly by the rules, but where he wouldn't be in violation by an official exception. What I remember was that the OP wanted official permission to bypass the unaccompanied minor rule. In the case where he was trying to travel unaccompanied at 14, he could have just lied about his age. And there was that infamous case where a minor was tossed off a train for being underage, so there's precedent for bringing down the hammer.

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

I'd book the second roomette in a heartbeat. Old fogies on the lower berths, young whippersnappers in the upper berths. You can still hang out in coach during the day if you like; the chances that the train crew will say anything (assuming there are still seats available for the ticketed coach passengers) are miniscule and, if they do, just mosey back up to the Sightseer Lounge or your sleeper car. Plus, you get prepaid meals and privacy and a shower bath available. You can say you're okay with coach now, but after the second night of travel...well, let's just say that if you try the sleeper now you may never want to go back to coach!

-The problem with booking two rommettes is a matter of $600, which isn't in the budget.-I've done multiple nights in both coach and sleeper and I'm fine with either, atleast for now with my young back.

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[norfolkwesternhenry]

Yeah life has gotten tougher, I never considered how much homework an honors geometry class might hand out.

I will certainly share what I get

I will, thanks

*edit-replying to me_little_me post, didn't quote properly I suspect

 

[neroden]

Amtrak's idiot unaccompanied minor policy strikes again. Hopefully you can call up and explain what you want and get it. Cross fingers.