Questions about CZ trip in roomettes

My sister and myself will be taking an upcoming Zephyr from chicago to sacramento. According to the website our train is "sold out" which I guess is a good thing and shows folks are traveling. I have printed out the email that amtrak sent us when I purchased our tickets (2 roomettes). I was wondering can we use that to board or do I need to once I am at Union Station go to the ticket window and exchange it for our actual tickets. My sister and myself will have roommets on opposite sides so wasn't sure what to do. Also are the trains like planes and overbook and then "bump" people day of departure?

As for boarding we plan on storing our luggage (1 suitcase each) on the car we are staying on. Are those storage areas just for those staying in those cars or can anyone store a suitcase there?

Trains do not overbook so unless there has been an extraordinary error you should be fine.

Generally speaking, the luggage storage area in your car is supposed to be for the passengers in that car. However during a meltdown in the boarding process in Chicago on the Southwest Chief once we boarded the wrong car and placed our luggage in the storage area in that car. We didn't move it to our correct car until a stop the next day.

How do you tell which car to board?

The email should have had a PDF attachment which you should print out. They call it an e-ticket. If you have the Amtrak app on your phone they can scan that as well. The ticket desk can print out tickets on cardstock, but if you have the e-ticket or app it should show room and car numbers.

dn4192 said:

How do you tell which car to board?

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Your ticket should be a pdf attachment on the email sent to you which you can print out- the car number (eg. 532) will be on your ticket together with your roomette number.

Car numbers are shown at the entrance doors to the coaches where your car attendant should be waiting to assist boarding.

Edit: Shanson beat me to it

They do not overbook sleepers, you cannot get bumped. Your car and accommodation is on your PDF eticket boarding pass which should have been an attachment to your email.

Your email itself is not valid for transportation and cannot be used as a ticket. At Chicago, the conductors generally scan/lift tickets once onboard and not beforehand these days anyway. The email has the PNR 6 character reservation locator on it, though, which can be used to retrieve the reservation and reprint the boarding pass.

If you cannot print your pdf, you can have a boarding pass printed in Chicago. On my most recent trip, I misplaced my PDF printout for the CHI-NYP leg. While I had it electronically on my Amtrak app, I do like to carry a hardcopy, so I went to the QuikTrak machine in CUS and printed out another boarding pass on cardstock.

zephyr17 said:

They do not overbook sleepers, you cannot get bumped. Your car and accommodation is on your PDF eticket boarding pass which should have been an attachment to your email.

Your email itself is not valid for transportation and cannot be used as a ticket. At Chicago, the conductors generally scan/lift tickets once onboard and not beforehand these days anyway. The email has the PNR on it, though, which can be used to retrieve the reservation and reprint the boarding pass.

If you cannot print your pdf, you can have a boarding pass printed in Chicago. On my most recent trip, I misplaced my PDF printout for the CHI-NYP leg. While I had it electronically on my Amtrak app, I do like to carry a hardcopy, so I went to the QuikTrak machine in CUS and printed out another boarding pass on cardstock.

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What's a PNR? I don't see anything with that label on my emails.

6 character reservation locator. I will de-jargon the post.

Stands for "Passenger Name Record" btw.

zephyr17 said:

6 character reservation locator. I will de-jargon the post.

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It would be simpler to just call it reservation number (despite it being alphanumeric.) That's how it's labeled on the emails and website, and it's what the phone agents always ask for.

The email that was sent to you should have three specifics (either in the email body, or in a pdf attachment):

1. Traveler names
2. An itinerary with departure and arrival stations, date/time, and car/room numbers.
3. A "QR Code" that the conductor can scan with his phone (looks something like this.

If you did not get an email that contains ALL those items, it would be a good idea to call and request that it be sent again. I always travel with a printout of that email (or the pdf e-ticket, which has the same info). I keep it with me if I leave the train at a fresh-air break. That way, there is never any question that I am re-boarding, and not a new passenger. I also save the pdf to my tablet, so I can access a digital copy without being online.

On my last trip, I received the email that claimed to be my e-ticket, and it was just a receipt for my points redemption (with itinerary, but no QR code). When I called back, the agent was kind of skeptical, but said she would have the system send it again. We were both quite relieved when the proper e-ticket was attached in the "re-send." Amtrak's computer systems leave a lot to be desired.

I should also mention the person boarding your car (Conductor or SCA) will probably not even ask you for a ticket. They have a manifest listing all travelers by name, and that is usually the way you are boarded ("Oh, you're Joe Groe? You two are in roomettes #x and #y upstairs, let me know if you need any help finding those"). The Conductor will just mark you on their device as boarded, and you are good to go.

Amtrak has appeared to have stopped the unofficial practice of the SCA just letting the conductor know you're there and the conductor just checking you off without scanning your ticket in person, which I am grateful for. The practice has always made me nervous, especially since I had been listed as a no show on one trip due to that.

On my big trip last November, which was EVR-CHI-NYP-CHI-LAX-SEA on the Builder, the Lake Shore (twice), the SW Chief and the Starlight, the conductors walked through and scanned on every single train. That had not always been the case in the past, the conductor didn't scan more often than not. After having had a problem, I made it a practice to chase down the conductor to make sure I was checked in if they hadn't scanned my ticket personally. I was happy I did not have to do that at all on that last trip.