Two Travelers on One E-Ticket; Miles Not Posted for One Traveler

[DivMiler]

My wife and my 6-year-old daughter traveled from Harrisburg (HAR) to Philadelphia (PHL) to New Haven (NHV) to Hartford (HFD) on Thursday, September 20, 2012 on one E-Ticket reservation with both their names and AGR numbers.

Upon checking their AGR accounts on September 25, all three of my wife's train trips (HAR-PHL, PHL-NHV, and NHV-HFD) had posted, with the Double Days promotion as well.

On the other hand, only two of my daughter's train trips (PHL-NHV and NHV-HFD) had posted, also with the Double Days promotion bonus.

Is there any possible reason that my daughter's HAR-PHL trip did not post at the same time as my wife's trip? They would have been scanned at the same instant, since it was on the same E-ticket.

Should I assume that due to some glitch, it is not going to post and that three weeks after the trip I'll have to put in the missing points request?

While I could see this happening with the old paper tickets (a ticket being dropped, etc.) -- and it has happened to my daughter in the past -- I have no idea how it could possibly happen with E-tickets if my wife's points went through.

 

[AlanB]

Div,

First, did your wife's corresponding trip just post today? If yes, it could be that your daughters will show up in a bit. I've seen things post in spurts, if you will, where one posts a few hours before the second. Not sure why.

Second, if the answer is no to the first question, then maybe there was something wrong within the reservation. Her AGR number might have been typed in wrong, or maybe her name was misspelled slightly. Either would stop the points from posting automatically.

Or it could be a glitch. Regardless if it's the later two you'll have to try the online request first, it seems to be working better than in the past. Failing that, you will have to call.

 

[DivMiler]

... And on the return on September 24, 2012:

my wife's trip was credited, including the Double Days promotion, as HFD-NHV, NHV-PHL, PHL-HAR;

my daughter's trip, including the Double Days promotion credit, as HFD-NHV, NHV-PHL.

And that's it.

Thanks for your thoughts about why my daughter's HAR-PHL trip wasn't credited, but the HAR-PHL trip never showed up, and now the PHL-HAR trip hasn't showed up. The AGR number is correct; the name is correct, but for some reason the unreserved Keystone travel isn't being credited. The only possible problem is one that is of Amtrak's making -- our daughter has a hyphenated last name, which doesn't show up on the tickets: "Smith-Jones" shows up as "Smithjones". Of course, we put her correct name (with the hyphen) when we buy the tickets online (though the tickets drop the hyphen), and her AGR profile reflects the hyphen.

The same thing happened before E-ticketing last March on a HAR-PHL roundtrip with me and my daughter (I got credit, my daughter did not). What could be the cause of this? The name can't be the problem; my daughter got credit for four of the six segments.

It is annoying to think that I'll have to wait almost three weeks before I can complain/ask for credit, because it is now obvious (to me, at least), that the September HAR-PHL trip is certainly not going to show up, and I have strong doubts about the September PHL-HAR trip.

 

[AlanB]

Div,

Despite your "luck" of having some of her points post automatically, I'm certain that the issue is the missing hyphen. There has been more than one person posting around the net with the very same problem, where a hyphen or lack thereof often screws up auto posting.

 

[Anthony]

http://www.flyertalk...3618-post4.html

Try taking the hyphen out of both your daughter's AGR account (may require calling AGR) as well as when booking travel.

 

[DivMiler]

Huh. Any suggestions I can do to make posting automatic? (On Amtrak's side -- we're not changing her name )

Didn't see Anthony's reply before I posted. I'll call and see what happens.

 

[Railroad Bill]

My wife hyphenates her last name as well and after several conversations with AGR people, she just decided to combine the two names into one long single name so the computer will post her AGR points without a hassle.

She has spent her life dealing with people and computers living in the dark ages but sometimes it just isn't worth the fight. She smiles each time we get a free AGR trip

 

[AlanB]

She smiles each time we get a free AGR trip

:lol: :lol:

 

[winterskigirl]

There is now a higher probability to have a delay posting points on different AGR accounts. I was talking with an Amtrak Guest Rewards rep. yesterday (different matter) and the e-ticketing question on posting of points came up in the conversation. The cause is that while e-ticketing is faster than the old paper or quick track system the AGR point system (interfacing software) is not up to speed. Yet. :blush:

 

[DivMiler]

I finally got around to calling AGR, and the agent could not have been more helpful adding the points for the HAR-PHL and PHL-HAR segments. It helped, I suppose, that my wife had traveled on the same itinerary and ticket.

When I asked if the hyphen in the name caused the problem, the agent said he didn't think so, it may have been the travel on unreserved trains. In any case, I asked if I could take the hyphen out of my daughter's name and he did so (and it was reflected online almost immediately). We'll see next time what happens.

 

[DivMiler]

We'll see next time what happens.

... and for a trip this month (March 2013) the points (and Double Days points as appropriate) posted without incident, on HAR-PHL, PHL-NHV, and NHV-HFD, as well as HFD-NYP and NYP-HAR. I'm guessing the hyphen was the problem, so thanks for the suggestion to remove the hyphen.