2018 Discount Fares and Refund/Cancellation Fee Changes

[jis]

So when does this go into effect? I have not seen any notification about it yet, and it is the 5th. Kind of late already if it is to take effect on the 7th, no?

Incidentally the "fares and refund policy" section(s) are clear as mud in the way the policy is written up even for the policy in force today. That whole page needs to be rewritten by someone who can do a better job than a free flow of consciousness style of writing.

 

[Chey]

It really sucks that no one at Amtrak is trying to clear this up or make it public. I'm trying to decide whether to get an eVoucher by tomorrow for one segment of a trip next September. I made the reservation two months ago and this one segment is the only part of the trip that is a little iffy on the date of travel.

 

[Ryan]

They will make it public when they are ready to. It will also almost certainly not apply to already existing reservations.

 

[Chey]

I hope you're right

 

[City of Miami]

Chey, according to the original post (in the Note- existing rezzies will be exempted from the new rules but you'll have to get an agent to override the computer.

 

[Chey]

Chey, according to the original post (in the Note- existing rezzies will be exempted from the new rules but you'll have to get an agent to override the computer.

Thanks - I guess I can always ask for a supervisor if the agent doesn't know that little detail. Or better yet, just go through an AGR agent. They seem to be more knowledgeable, at least in my experience.

 

[neroden]

I certainly hope that it will still be possible to get full value in an e-Voucher. At the very least a fully *exchangable* ticket option is necessary in order to attract the high-end customer.

 

[Paull65]

I asked a ticket agent at NHV last week about the senior fare discount and age changes (10% and age 65) and he said that it is going to happen on 1-7-18. I did not discuss any of the other changes since someone showed up behind me so I did not want to delay them by any more questions.

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[jis]

So today is 1/6/18 and the Amtrak web site still says:

Passenger Discount for Seniors

Seniors Save 15%

Amtrak travelers 62 years of age and over are eligible to receive a 15% discount on the lowest available rail fare on most Amtrak trains. On cross-border services operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada, a 10% Senior discount is applicable to travelers aged 60 and over.

Discount Limitations

• The senior discount is not valid with Saver Fares.
• The senior discount is not valid on the Auto Train or Acela Express.
• The senior discount does not apply to Business class, First class or sleeping accommodation. These upgrades are permitted upon payment of the full accommodation charges.
• The senior discount is not valid for travel on certain Amtrak Thruway connecting services.
• The senior discount may not be combinable with other discount offers; refer to the terms and conditions for each offer.
• Additional restrictions may apply.

Valid proof of age is required when purchasing your ticket and onboard the train.

Let's see what it says in another 24 hours.

There isn't any mention of any upcoming change that I can find anywhere on the website as of around 11am today.

 

[tomfuller]

"Additional restrictions may apply" . Does this mean they can change on a whim every week? I have 3 paid reservations for me and my wife that I got at a 15% discount. One is for next month and the others are

for May and early June. Do I get the extra AGR points if we pay the extra fee for Business Class?

 

[jis]

You do get the additional TQP if you spring for BC. And of course you get the additional actual points for the higher fare paid too.

 

[TiBike]

Amtrak might be revving up for another Sunday morning website goat rodeo update. I just checked the PDF schedules, and several new ones, effective on Monday 8 January 2018, have been posted in the last few days. Can't exactly remember the last time I checked, but I think it was a week or so ago.

There's a new Coast Starlight schedule, which seems to reflect the changes in Seattle to Portland service. Zero mention of bicycles, contrary to other updated PDF schedules, but I'll remain calm for the moment

.

 

[daybeers]

Amtrak might be revving up for another Sunday morning website goat rodeo update. I just checked the PDF schedules, and several new ones, effective on Monday 8 January 2018, have been posted in the last few days. Can't exactly remember the last time I checked, but I think it was a week or so ago.

There's a new Coast Starlight schedule, which seems to reflect the changes in Seattle to Portland service. Zero mention of bicycles, contrary to other updated PDF schedules, but I'll remain calm for the moment

.

I'm not sure if any other trains are going to have their schedules changed (way too many to look at on the NEC

), but the new ones for the NEC probably reflect the changes that take effect on 1/8/18 on the Alerts page: https://www.amtrak.com/service-alerts-and-notices

 

[willem]

"Additional restrictions may apply" .

This is one of my complaints about Amtrak and any other business who plays this silly game. It's a web site, for crying out loud! The business cannot run out of paper! If the business has restrictions, it should list them, and not enable employees who want to make up rules on the fly.

And if a business adds a restriction, it should include the effective date of the change. And the announcement date of the change.

 

[Ryan]

Appears to be no change yet (0720 EDT)....

 

[StanJazz]

6:35 CT Senior age is now 65+

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Disability discount is now 10% (down from 15%). I had priced a train yesterday and the price rose ~5% this morning. But I'm ok, because there a still saver fares (25%) available.

BUT, they have not updated their website to show these changes.

 

[jis]

This is where Amtrak appears to be worse than certain third world systems that I know [emoji6]

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[DoB]

As of now:

Attempting to cancel an existing reservation (Saver fare) on the website still offers full value applied to an eVoucher. (I didn't follow through on the cancellation, since I'll be riding this train in a few hours!)

The "Fare Options" page (https://www.amtrak.com/content/amtrak/en-us/ibcontent/seeTCdetails.html) still shows "Full value, no fees" for the eVoucher option with all fare classes.

So if this change is happening today, it clearly hasn't kicked in yet.

 

[neroden]

Glad to hear that ThirdRail seems to be correct so far... full value to an eVoucher is all I need...

 

[the_traveler]

If I read it right, it now says e-vouchers are now subject to the penalty also!

I hope that I read that wrong!

 

[Thirdrail7]

If I read it right, it now says e-vouchers are now subject to the penalty also!

I hope that I read that wrong!

What are you reading because the actually Refund and Exchange section still hasn't been updated. They still list the penalty at 20% whereas the Fare Options lists a 25% penalty.

This is where Amtrak appears to be worse than certain third world systems that I know [emoji6]

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Why not? I remember the Siemen's representative indicating Amtrak operated on a third world infrastructure and they had to design the engines accordingly.

 

[DoB]

I see the Fare Options page has been updated now. The penalty is now shown as 25%, but eVouchers have no fee. Saver fares now are explicitly cancelable for a full refund within 24 hours of purchase, and the penalty applies to Value fares less than 8 days from departure.

So for those of us who were wishing for no penalty on eVouchers, this looks pretty good.

 

[jis]

If I read it right, it now says e-vouchers are now subject to the penalty also!

I hope that I read that wrong!

What are you reading because the actually Refund and Exchange section still hasn't been updated. They still list the penalty at 20% whereas the Fare Options lists a 25% penalty.

This is where Amtrak appears to be worse than certain third world systems that I know [emoji6]

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

Why not? I remember the Siemen's representative indicating Amtrak operated on a third world infrastructure and they had to design the engines accordingly.

Well, if they were like the said third world system, they’d be better than what they are. That’s why not

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[Anderson]

I'm glad to see that they backed off on both the one-hour change policy (something which was potentially infeasible to use...I've had a few times over the years where it took that long to get through to an agent, usually during a badly-timed weather meltdown) and the fee for an e-voucher (which just seemed to be horribly misguided). On some level I'm wondering if this wasn't an intentional maneuver, however...and note that they proclaimed that this applies to previously-booked tickets as well as those booked after the date of the change, which seems to be just begging for a chargeback fight.

The one-hour policy, in particular, feels like it was chum: It would be absurdly restrictive compared to the rest of the industry (as a rule, at least) and might be bad enough to risk some sort of backlash at the legislative level (e.g. I could see some of the states objecting). Thinking about it, I could actually see that specific element having been dropped due to partner objections.