for May.
Is it all eticketing now or can I still get paper ticket?
- Thread starter MIrailfan
- Start date
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I asked Amtrak workers at the ticket counter and lounge for printed tickets during my October and March trips.
caravanman
Engineer
I assume that one can still obtain paper tickets from a quicktrack machine?
tricia
Conductor
You can also print out your eTicket. Highly recommended--a paper copy works even when your phone doesn't. ☺
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
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Gathering Team Member
Doesn't the open sleeper ticket still have to be a paper ticket? Or have they managed to finally make it an e-ticket too?
Merely printing an e-ticket does not make it a paper ticket. It makes for a printed e-ticket. A paper ticket in and of itself has value. A printed e-ticket does not.
Merely printing an e-ticket does not make it a paper ticket. It makes for a printed e-ticket. A paper ticket in and of itself has value. A printed e-ticket does not.
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
A paper ticket has actual dollar value, i.e. if you lose the paper ticket you are out of luck. You have to jump through complex hoops to recover its dollar value and get it reissued. An e-Ticket that is printed has no value in and of itself. If you lose it you just print another copy. The actual ticket is never in your hand. It is in the computer. The e-Ticket just provides a pointer to the PNR in the computer for the itinerary which contains the actual value of the ticket.
Just for fun see this thread from back in 2014, when there were a lot of cases where a paper ticket was the only thing available.
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/paper-tickets-still-in-use.62506/#post-572905
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Maple Leaf now has eticketing. They've done whatever it is they needed to do to interface ReserVIA and Arrow etickets. It still shows as two segments, TWO-CBN as a VIA operated codeshare, and CBN-NYP (for me) Amtrak service.
Last two trips, in 2018 and 2019 were etickets. 2017 was the last time I needed paper value tickets for it, IIRC.
Open sleeper may be the last hold out of paper value tickets. I understand when they reintroduce the USA Rail Pass, it will be eticketed.
I do not understand why anyone would prefer the paper value tickets. They are a PITA. I much prefer the eticket/boarding pass model. No worries if you misplace your printed boarding pass. Just print another. Or use your phone. Worst case if you don't have it is the conductor looks it up on his device.
PS-what is printed by an agent or QuikTrak is boarding pass printed on ticket stock, not a value ticket. Main difference from the one on your PDF is it has a bar code for scanning instead of a QR code. Paper value tickets don't have a scanning code on them.
Last two trips, in 2018 and 2019 were etickets. 2017 was the last time I needed paper value tickets for it, IIRC.
Open sleeper may be the last hold out of paper value tickets. I understand when they reintroduce the USA Rail Pass, it will be eticketed.
I do not understand why anyone would prefer the paper value tickets. They are a PITA. I much prefer the eticket/boarding pass model. No worries if you misplace your printed boarding pass. Just print another. Or use your phone. Worst case if you don't have it is the conductor looks it up on his device.
PS-what is printed by an agent or QuikTrak is boarding pass printed on ticket stock, not a value ticket. Main difference from the one on your PDF is it has a bar code for scanning instead of a QR code. Paper value tickets don't have a scanning code on them.
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I like them as a souvenir!
Save your boarding pass, then. If you like your boarding pass on ticket stock, print one on a QuikTrak machine.
Or is it the stubs you like? Because with a value ticket, the conductor lifts and pouches the ticket. You don't keep it. All you retain for a souvenir is the stub.
Or is it the stubs you like? Because with a value ticket, the conductor lifts and pouches the ticket. You don't keep it. All you retain for a souvenir is the stub.
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Ticket by mail may still be a ticket with value, not sure...
Will Amtrak even mail out tickets if the itinerary is eTicket capable? I just did a mock booking from SPL - RDW (both stations without ticket agents or QuikTrak machines) and I wasn't prompted for what way to deliver my ticket, so it defaults to an eTicket by email without the option to change it. If you call in and say you don't have an email for them to send the ticket to if they'll just have you write down your reservation number and the conductor will check them in manually, or if they'll actually mail out the ticket.
I am not sure how this works, I have not used it, but it is on the website:
Tickets by Mail
Amtrak will mail tickets to US and Canadian addresses for no additional fee only if you have booked a reservation for which you have not received an eTicket.
For tickets sent by mail to most addresses within the continental US, you must purchase your tickets at least 9 days before your date of departure. For tickets sent by mail to addresses in Alaska, Hawaii and most addresses within Canada, you must purchase your tickets at least 15 days before travel.
The Ticket by Mail service is not available to locations outside of the US and Canada, including Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or any other US territory or possession, as well as APO/AFO addresses.
Tickets by Mail
Amtrak will mail tickets to US and Canadian addresses for no additional fee only if you have booked a reservation for which you have not received an eTicket.
For tickets sent by mail to most addresses within the continental US, you must purchase your tickets at least 9 days before your date of departure. For tickets sent by mail to addresses in Alaska, Hawaii and most addresses within Canada, you must purchase your tickets at least 15 days before travel.
The Ticket by Mail service is not available to locations outside of the US and Canada, including Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or any other US territory or possession, as well as APO/AFO addresses.
I always do
I don't get an option for ticket by mail on an eticket-able itinerary.
The last time I got a ticket by mail option was the last time I rode the Maple Leaf while that still required value tickets. I chose station pickup, though.
The last time I got a ticket by mail option was the last time I rode the Maple Leaf while that still required value tickets. I chose station pickup, though.
The issue occasionally comes up because people with no internet or smart phone living in areas served only by unmanned stations can't use the e-ticket option or station pickup. And quick-Traks are slowly disappearing as well.
The conductors can always look up an eticket by name in their device.
So, speaking historically, I liked paper tickets vs e-tickets because as far as Amtrak's system was concerned the ticket wasn't "issued" until you printed the ticket off. This made last-minute cancellations rather easy (e.g. I had a trip implode the night before departure, but as the timing was in the dead of night this meant that I cancelled all but the first leg and just took the train up to NYC and then came home since I'd have to drive to RVR anyway to handle the cancellation before 97's departure).
Often what this meant is that instead of booking a through ticket, I'd book individual segments (or pairs of segments) and only print them off at the station right before departure. This mostly restricted the risk of losing the ticket to, say, an hour or two prior to departure.
Often what this meant is that instead of booking a through ticket, I'd book individual segments (or pairs of segments) and only print them off at the station right before departure. This mostly restricted the risk of losing the ticket to, say, an hour or two prior to departure.
That means putting your trust in everything being correct. And not having information readily available if something is wrong. Why chance it, I use e-tickets all the time, but print a paper copy and stick it in my pocket just in case.
toddinde
OBS Chief
I’ve noticed they sometimes don’t even collect or scan. They find your name when you board and that’s it.
As long as they mark that you appeared. If you are a no show, it has consequences for the rest of the segments on a reservation. Very common in sleepers where you are checked in by the car attendant against his manifest, but it always pays to make sure that info was handled by the conductor.
I actually do the same thing. I primarily use the mobile app, but usually have a paper backup available.
I was really responding to the scenario of no staffed station/no QuikTrak/no internet/no printer/no smart phone scenario posed. A call to the reservation center on a landline and depending on the eticket being present on the device is the last resort, but would work.
I have had that happen to me, but it was the conductor that flubbed it. I was the only passenger boarding southbound in Business Class at Everett heading to Portland. The conductor didn't scan my ticket, just said "I've got you", put up a seat check, and went on. Well, she did not update her device with my presence.
After I arrived, in Portland, I got a call from Amtrak. I explained I took the train and was in Portland. They were able to reinstate my return, but could not put me back into Business Class, so I was unable to sit with my friends (who were traveling from/to Tacoma).
