What happens when they cancel?

[Fenneran]

We are booked on the Coast Starlight, then the Empire Builder, then the Cardinal (all with a day in-between for scheduling delays) travelling from LA to Virginia in a couple of weeks.
I've seen a number of cancelations over the past few weeks, especially with the Empire Builder (Cold, freight derailments, etc) and was wondering what we should expect if one of these trains gets cancelled. Will they work with us to get re-booked on that train and the following? Or are we just stuck?
What has your experience been?
-Frank

 

[zephyr17]

When they cancel the entire Builder run it is a "cancellation without alternative transportation".

They do not automatically rebook you in that scenario.

You call AGR or 800-USA-RAIL and rebook. In this situation it is probably best to ask for Customer Relations once you get an agent (Cutomer Relations is staffed 8 am-8 pm ET M-F). Many agents will try to rebook you at your original rates if sleeper space is available, but sleeper space on another train isn't always available.

It is up to you to reach out to Amtrak to rebook in a cancellation without alternative transportation scenario.

It is also likely that Amtrak will automatically cancel all subsequent remaining segments on the same reservation if a segment is cancelled without alternative transportation.

Also, note that the connection between the eastbound Builder and Cardinal is not a "legal" guaranteed connection, so even if rebooked onto the next day's Builder, an agent would not book that as a same-day connection. If the Cardinal reservation is on a separate reservation and doesn't get cancelled in the cascade of automatic cancellations from a Builder cancellation, and the rebooked Builder misses, you would be treated as a no-show. So it would be best to redo that reservation at the same time.

 

[Fenneran]

Thank you. That's what I thought.

 

[Literalman]

My experience (briefly, because I may have described it in another thread) was that when my wife and I were in Vermont a year and a half ago, the Ethan Allen we were scheduled to ride to New York was canceled because of washouts. I got a message to call Amtrak regarding substitute transportation. After maybe a half hour on the phone I was told that there was no substitute transportation. We were told we could wait in Vermont till service was restored, or get a refund and find our own way home.

 

[Fenneran]

We've taken the Chief and the Zephyr without issue (except for the normal delays, of course), but this will be the first time we combine so many of them in a row.

 

[zephyr17]

We were told we could wait in Vermont till service was restored, or get a refund and find our own way home.

That's a good example of "cancelled without alternative transportation." Amtrak isn't going to provide transportation as ticketed and their out is to offer a full refund.

A washout would cause a service suspension that would be initially indefinite while the host railroad and Amtrak figure out what it would take to restore service. That makes it difficult for an Amtrak agent to work with you to develop alternatives. In many cases, though, the suspension is finite, a few runs. In those cases, agents will work with you to figure out an alternative, usually holding the initial price even though the buckets may have moved on. However, if an alternative itinerary cannot be worked out, they'll issue a refund and you are on your own.

 

[BCL]

I haven't really dealt with any kind of rebooking myself, but I do remember helping a friend with a round trip from Orange County, California to Emeryville around a Thanksgiving weekend when the Pacific Surfliner was reserved. The weather was really bad and they had a train-bus-train itenerary where the train was late, the bus was late, and the train didn't wait for them. They told us that for those delays the Amtrak employees were extremely proactive and made sure that they weren't cancelled and were properly rebooked.