Can Amtrak do this?

This is not a complaint as I hold Amtrak in very high regard, also think their customer service at least when I have dealt with them has been second to none, but...

We have received over the last 2 days 4 email messages from Amtrak stating they have changed our accommodation reservations on the Zephyr.

The original was EMY to CHI departing 10.12.2021 for a Bedroom in Car 630 Room D

The replacement is a Roomette in Car 632 Room 12 on the same route same day, a balance difference refund has been issued but not as yet received. We have never travelled in a bedroom and as the prices were so low in early April we thought it an excellent opportunity to experience Bedroom travel.

There was no consultation about this or whether this was acceptable to us, or even would we prefer a full refund? Is this acceptable corporate practice without even an "Is this ok?"

We mainly want to think that Amtrak have a perfectly good reason for these actions, that we are missing something, here's hoping someone here understands what is going on and there is an acceptable reason.

Thanks

They can try. If I had a great price on a bedroom and got downgraded to a roomette, I'd call and ask for Customer RELATIONS (not customer service) and find out what was going on. There are a number of questions I would ask:

• Why are you being downgraded?
• Are there any alternatives such as a different day (at no extra cost for that bedroom)?
• Are they giving you the real difference in cost (i.e low bucket bedroom to low bucket roomette or low bucket bedroom to current price of roomette?
• We can't do both of us in a single roomette so we would demand they accommodate us at a future date at that same price in the original type of accommodations or two low-bucket roomettes or refund (not voucher) the whole trip. Would you rather do that?

Decide in advance what alternatives you are willing to accept so you can suggest the best one or know if their new offer is acceptable.

We cancelled for a full refund when they delayed traditional dining. I wasn't about to pay grossly high prices and get garbage food too. Then I rebooked a trip for October.

Looks like the 530/630 booking issue on the CZ continues. Amtrak may have fixed the glitch in the computer, but are still handling the reaccomodations for those who booked for the fall.
Apparently the computer continued to book people on 530 and 630 even though those cars were removed when they went back to full service after the tri weekly schedule. At least they have given you a long heads up. When they first went back to 7 days a week, people didn't find out till they went to board the train. Many were reaccommodated in coach.

me_little_me said:

Why are you being downgraded?

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See my post below. It may have been talked about already on AU earlier.

I wouldn’t be thrilled about that roomette location. Downstairs.

This isn't sounding encouraging, have no interest in a roomette downstairs. Getting from France to the US has enough challenges to conquer and riding in a bedroom was one of our main treats, also having our own facilities in room was a consideration for these times too.

Betty, are you saying that bedrooms have been removed from the consist or some of the cars with them have been and we were unlucky to be booked on a car which was removed but other cars would still have them.?

We are currently in the UK, will phone Amtrak early next week once back in France to check on what is happening and what the options are, but we aren't enthralled by an inferior option without being asked. It feels very un-Amtrak like.

Thank you all, very helpful.

They booked you on a car that is not scheduled to be part of the train set. They're only running with 2 sleepers, I believe, and you were mistakenly booked on a third sleeper. As I said, this has happened to many many many passengers over the summer and will continue as they reaccommodate all the passengers who were booked on the third sleeper. I suppose if they had staff available they could have just added the 3rd car, but they are short staffed due to COVID.

OK, that is very clear, thank you very much.

me_little_me said:

We cancelled for a full refund when they delayed traditional dining. I wasn't about to pay grossly high prices and get garbage food too. Then I rebooked a trip for October.

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I did the same. Just praying they don't reinstitute the restrictions and service reductions; due to the current resurgence of Covid (Delta, Lambda, whatever). Praying harder that these variants diminish and die. I haven't seen my granddaughter in 4 years and don't want to expose her but I miss her very much.

Did you find a way to actually get into America, Jamie?

caravanman said:

Did you find a way to actually get into America, Jamie?

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Not as such.

Booking tickets with a guarantee of no fee charges for changing dates was the key back in April, and working out how to cross the channel 3 times this year has taught us we have to have full arrangements in place so we can react rapidly for when/if the window of opportunity opens.

It does help that we also have a plan for a longer US visit starting about this time year next year where we will be able to use any pending Amtrak credit within that trip but are not likely to be able to make next year's Gathering within those plans.

One way or another being able to change this year's Amtrak bookings to different ones for next year swung it for us to make the purchases while at very low bucket prices.

Basically we have taken chances backed up by a ticket change guarantee, and there is always hope...

Cheers for the reply, I was hoping you might have found a secret back door way of entry into America!
Fingers crossed anyway for next year...

caravanman said:

Cheers for the reply, I was hoping you might have found a secret back door way of entry into America!
Fingers crossed anyway for next year...

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There is, but we're not prepared to use it.

This happened to me in late June. Booked on 7/2 departure of 6. Notified 2 days before that we were reaccommodated 2 days later in roomettes. No offer to pay do extra hotel days or anything.

caravanman said:

Did you find a way to actually get into America, Jamie?

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IINM Eddie they are letting folks with EU Passports into the US as long as they meet whatever the ever changing COVID Protocols are.

A friend of mine that has dual Citizenship ( Danish/US) flew to Germany from Copenhagen and used her EU Passport to fly Direct Frankfurt to Austin.She had to show proof of Vaccination, and a Negative Test less than 72 Hours old to board, and the same thing flying home from Austin to London to Copenhagen.

I'm not speaking for Jamie, but I would think it would probably be the same for he and Rosie IF the Border is Open by the time they travel.

Bob Dylan said:

IINM Eddie they are letting folks with EU Passports into the US as long as they meet whatever the ever changing COVID Protocols are.

A friend of mine that has dual Citizenship ( Danish/US) flew to Germany from Copenhagen and used her EU Passport to fly Direct Frankfurt to Austin.She had to show proof of Vaccination, and a Negative Test less than 72 Hours old to board, and the same thing flying home from Austin to London to Copenhagen.

I'm not speaking for Jamie, but I would think it would probably be the same for he and Rosie IF the Border is Open by the time they travel.

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I think it's different for us Jim as we have British Citizenship and French Residency. My guess is your friend used each passport to enter the appropriate country. Currently EU and UK passport holders are effectively banned from entering the US apart from exceptional circumstances or line of work.

We have the approved completed vaccinations along with an EU vax passport, but that's it for now.

The UK is a pretty open Covid society at the moment, at least in SE England. Last night we were on a train for an hour and were the only two people wearing masks although to be fair the train wasn't busy.

Each time we return to the UK it's a shock at how casual most people are, but always in the back of your mind is the fact that such a high percentage is fully vaccinated, it creates a far more relaxed atmosphere.

v v said:

This isn't sounding encouraging, have no interest in a roomette downstairs.

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If it's of any consolation, the difference between upstairs and downstairs is highly overblown. Yes, there are differences and they have been enumerated at length (and I'm sure will be shortly by hordes of people telling me I'm wrong), but at the end of the day both are completely acceptable.

That said, the downgrade from a bedroom is pitchforks and torches worthy.

Ryan said:

If it's of any consolation, the difference between upstairs and downstairs is highly overblown. Yes, there are differences and they have been enumerated at length (and I'm sure will be shortly by hordes of people telling me I'm wrong), but at the end of the day both are completely acceptable.

That said, the downgrade from a bedroom is pitchforks and torches worthy.

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I’ll have to agree, downstairs is not a complete game changer. And, on that route a lot of the good scenery is only on one side in some areas, so you have to move around to catch it all. Also, good restroom and shower facilities are close by. Besides, the price is right. I’m looking forward to your travel report.from up or downstairs.

Ryan said:

If it's of any consolation, the difference between upstairs and downstairs is highly overblown. Yes, there are differences and they have been enumerated at length (and I'm sure will be shortly by hordes of people telling me I'm wrong), but at the end of the day both are completely acceptable.

That said, the downgrade from a bedroom is pitchforks and torches worthy.

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I agree. Although I definitely prefer an upstairs roomette.

You guys are a really crappy horde telling me that I'm wrong. Be better.

Amtrak did not remove a sleeping car. They simply removed the car number x30 and the two sleepers are cars X31 and X32 which are the same two numbers they have had for years. They never had a car X30 until during the COVID era when the computer set up car number x30 and they booked and used car X30 for several months. This is easy to do since the actual cars do not have those sleeper numbers and can be interchangeably use those numbers on any sleeper car. Apparently sometime in April when they set up the daily schedules into the system they went back to using numbers X31 and X32 in the computer reservation system and somehow those that had been booked in car X30 where still carried in the system assigned to car X30 although there was no car X30. In the meantime the 10 bedrooms and most of the roomettes in cars X31 and X32 were sold to other customers. Amtrak systems people of customer relations should have been proactive and caught this error long before they sold the accommodations in X32 but they did not. Quite frankly I suspect that Amtrak did not know how to resolve this in the computer thus the lack of actually notifying customers of the closing of the car X30 reservations and PROMPTLY contacting each customer and resolving the situation.

Apparently no bedrooms are available but if you are unhappy with roomette 12, contact Amtrak and ask to be relocated to a roomette 1-10 which are the upstairs roomette numbers in the two sleepers. If that is not possible ask if roomettes are available in the transition crew car. Those roomettes have higher numbers but are all upstairs since there are no accommodations on the lower level of of the transition crew car. When you call ask for "CUSTOMER RELATIONS" since most of the phone agents are call center employees and can only do what their computer allows them to do.

Tennessee Traveler said:

They never had a car X30 until during the COVID era when the computer set up car number x30 and they booked and used car X30 for several months.

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x30 is the seasonal sleeper according to this thread. Of course it might be outdated, but it still proves that the Zephyr had a X30 car prior to COVID

Cal said:

x30 is the seasonal sleeper according to this thread. Of course it might be outdated, but it still proves that the Zephyr had a X30 car prior to COVID

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I sincerely must disagree. I have ridden the Zephyr regularly over the years and my last trip was February 2020 right before we shut down for COVID. x31 has always been the lowest number sleeping car on the Zephyr with NO X30 car. The only time the Zephyr has ever had the x30 was for a few months in 2020 during the COVID Pandemic. It is not a seasonal sleeper.

What confuses people is that the x30 is the main sleeper next to the dining car on most other Western Superliner trains including the Empire Builder in which I am riding in September next month, Coast Starlight, Southwest Chief, and Sunset Limited. For whatever reason x31 has always been the main sleeper next to the dining car on the Zephyr and it never had an x30 car except for a few months in 2020 after I rode in x31 in February 2020.

Tennessee Traveler said:

I sincerely must disagree. I have ridden the Zephyr regularly over the years and my last trip was February 2020 right before we shut down for COVID. x31 has always been the lowest number sleeping car on the Zephyr with NO X30 car. The only time the Zephyr has ever had the x30 was for a few months in 2020 during the COVID Pandemic. It is not a seasonal sleeper.

What confuses people is that the x30 is the main sleeper next to the dining car on most other Western Superliner trains including the Empire Builder in which I am riding in September next month, Coast Starlight, Southwest Chief, and Sunset Limited. For whatever reason x31 has always been the main sleeper next to the dining car on the Zephyr and it never had an x30 car except for a few months in 2020 after I rode in x31 in February 2020.

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Although according to that thread it's the seasonal car which would, I believe, only run in the summer month between Chicago and Denver. This is when sleepers are/were at the back.

Cal said:

Although according to that thread it's the seasonal car which would, I believe, only run in the summer month between Chicago and Denver. This is when sleepers are/were at the back.

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Maybe --BUT the sleepers have not run at the back for several YEARS and there has not been a Chicago-Denver sleeper for several years even in the Summer. I acknowledge that the sleepers have been at the end and possibly a Chicago-Denver sleeper but that apparently ended about 4-5 years ago.