AGR policy if sleepers turn into coach?

[Dovecote]

Dovecote, in your situation did you receive a customer relations voucher for the inconvenience?
When I had a very long delay on an AGR award, AGR said "too bad, so sad" but suggested I contact customer relations. I contacted customer relations and received a very generous voucher.

Sadly I did not contact Amtrak Customer Relations after discussing my issues with AGR. The AGR agent basically gave me the too bad, so sad line also. I actually brought this subject up on this Forum shortly after the said trip. Here it is http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/35225-compensation-for-substandard-service/

As you can see it was a mixed bag on whether I should ask for compensation or not according to the posters. I should have been more assertive in hindsight. Next time I will know better.

 

[AlanB]

Dovecoat,

Yes, sadly you asked the wrong half of Amtrak for compensation. AGR generally can't do much, unless the entire train is cancelled and even then CS is usually the better choice. CS in your case would have issued you a voucher to compensate for that loss of the sleeper during the bus ride. They can prorate things to come up with an amount. The AGR agents to my knowledge aren't allowed to do that, it's either refund all or nothing.

 

[Dovecote]

Dovecoat,
Yes, sadly you asked the wrong half of Amtrak for compensation. AGR generally can't do much, unless the entire train is cancelled and even then CS is usually the better choice. CS in your case would have issued you a voucher to compensate for that loss of the sleeper during the bus ride. They can prorate things to come up with an amount. The AGR agents to my knowledge aren't allowed to do that, it's either refund all or nothing.

Thanks for the response. If there is a next time I will be prepared!

 

[crescent2]

Once again, this is why I love the participants on this forum!

Dovecote, I would have also expected (logically, imo) that AGR would be the one to offer the compensation, not Amtrak CR. I will certainly remember these posts if it happens to me. Thanks, amamba and Alan, for clarifying this very important point.

I don't know that this is too much to handle for one trip (though I wouldn't personally attempt it). The best thing to do is break up your trip.
For example, travel from ATL to WAS and then on to CHI and then on to EMY. There's plenty of time to connect between the Crescent and the Capitol Limited, and the Cap is generally pretty good about getting into Chicago on time.

Then, instead of trying to connect to the northbound Coast Starlight on the same morning, spend a night in San Francisco. San Francisco is a beautiful city, and there's lots to do. Make sure to book a refundable hotel room, so that if the Zephyr is late, you can cancel that and catch the Starlight. Having one night in the Bay Area gives you a buffer in case something happens.

Then take the Starlight up to Portland or Seattle and spend another night before catching the Builder. I think the Starlight to Builder connection is a little tight, but probably doable.

And then take the Builder to Chicago and spend another night. The Builder to Capitol or Cardinal is probably one of the worst connections to try and make.

Staying overnight in San Francisco and Chicago would extend your trip by 2 days. It would, however, require you to shell out a few additional points:

>35,000 points ATL - WAS - CHI - EMY

>20,000 points EMY - PDX - CHI

>20,000 points CHI - WAS - ATL

Total - 75,000 points

Compared to:

>35,000 points ATL - WAS - CHI - EMY

>35,000 points EMY - PDX - CHI - WAS - ATL

Total - 70,000 points

Note than EMY/San Francisco is a natural break point. AGR is going to make you split your itinerary somewhere on the West Coast because "circle" trips are verboten. And it's a crapshoot whether they'll route you on the Zephyr when the Builder would be a direct trip for CHI-PDX.

Since you have to break your trip on the West Coast anyway, why not break it at Emeryville and spend a day or two in fabulous Frisco?

If you don't want to break your eastbound trip in Chicago, you could always break it in Milwaukee or even Minneapolis. From Minneapolis, they'll bus you to connect to the trains in Chicago if the Builder is running late. From Milwaukee, there is frequent service on the Hiawatha into Chicago.

A couple of the PM's I've received agree with your first sentence about the scope of the trip length! I think a less ambitious trip might be prudent, but I'm having trouble coming up with an itinerary that shortens it very much. My priorities are the CZ and the EB, so the middle of the trip can't change much. Changes to the beginning and end don't seem to save much time off the total trip length. Any "insurance" changes tend to get lengthy and more expensive. I realize this is still a bargain trip, $$ wise, though, even with a couple of hotels.

Yes, almost everyone seems to agree that the CHI EB to Cardinal or CL connection is very hit or miss. That's why I was considering the CONO, although that adds an overnight, too--but not an additional AGR award for the overnight, and it cuts out one zone.

There are two reasons I haven't considered breaking the trip in SF:

a) The CZ to nb CS is apparently one of the safer connections of the whole trip, esp if EMY was changed to SAC if need be. Although anything can happen, the connection from the CS to the EB in PDX is much, much tighter. It remains to be seen what AGR will let me do within a zone, however.* Results are varying greatly according to recent posts.

b) I've seen a little of SF, it is a beautiful city, but honestly, I'm still very much missing my late husband, and exploring cities by myself just doesn't sound like much fun to me right now. Someday, maybe. That's just a personal thing. I would enjoy being on the trains, however.

*If I decide to fly into DEN, I'm hoping I could do a 1-zone (western) award DEN-Wolf Point (but not an overnight in WPT), and then another award from there. There is no other route within the western zone to get from DEN to WPT, so I think they would allow it in a separate 1-zone award.

Please elaborate on the advantages of Milwaukee or Minneapolis, especially as to how they would make the CHI connection safer. I had not considered those.

Thanks, everyone! All of this is so very helpful.

 

[tonys96]

Crescent2, if you're not a risk taker, then maybe you should just use your points for shorter separate trips. You are over thinking all of this especially considering how most of yor points probably didn't COST you anything (only those that you paid cash for cost you $$).

I disagree that the points do not cost anything. They are EARNED, either through your use of AGR Card, or your travel.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Crescent2, if you're not a risk taker, then maybe you should just use your points for shorter separate trips. You are over thinking all of this especially considering how most of yor points probably didn't COST you anything (only those that you paid cash for cost you $$).

I disagree that the points do not cost anything. They are EARNED, either through your use of AGR Card, or your travel.

Earned? Or bonus? Would you not travel or buy stuff if you didn't get the points?

 

[rrdude]

Points are Earned. Period. Full stop. OK, at least for me, I work hard to get them. It would be very ez in many cases to:

1) Stay in the SAME Hilton property for four days, instead of "hotel hopping" to four diff properties

2) Buy things on the Net, withOUT going thru AGR site.

3) Not participate in promos, surveys, etc., that earn afew meager points

4) Taking points-runs, when appropriate, beneficial.

5) etc., etc., etc.

The points I get ARE earned, as I do not carry, (for obvious reasons) an AGR CC. (Read: "poor credit")

 

[amamba]

I guess it depends on your perspective re: AGR points. The bulk of mine come through the AGR MC as my H and I charge almost all our monthly expenses on them. I can easily generate 3K points a month this way. I think of them as free because I was going to buy the stuff anyway - or pay my cable bill, or my water bill, etc.

 

[crescent2]

Crescent2, if you're not a risk taker, then maybe you should just use your points for shorter separate trips. You are over thinking all of this especially considering how most of yor points probably didn't COST you anything (only those that you paid cash for cost you $$).

I disagree that the points do not cost anything. They are EARNED, either through your use of AGR Card, or your travel.

Or, in my case (in addition to buying with $$ the max points two or three times), from exchanging mega Hilton Honors points for AGR points at a very unfavorable rate. Doesn't matter how I earned the HH points; they still had value.

Whether the points are free or not has no relevance, imo, to the merits of carefully planning an itinerary.

 

[crescent2]

I have another question for you kind folks:

Usually, how much less crowded are the sleepers in late April or May as compared to the summer months? Thanks-

My dates are very flexible, so I'm trying to avoid the foreseeable bustitution, rerouting, and major delay times of the year. I thought May might be good for that, and possibly more likely to have unsold sleepers. However, I don't know when the peak seasons start.

 

[Rail Freak]

I have another question for you kind folks:
Usually, how much less crowded are the sleepers in late April or May as compared to the summer months? Thanks-

My dates are very flexible, so I'm trying to avoid the foreseeable bustitution, rerouting, and major delay times of the year. I thought May might be good for that, and possibly more likely to have unsold sleepers. However, I don't know when the peak seasons start.

My suggestion would be September. Less crowded & wouldnt have the poblems of spring time snow melt flooding! Acouple of years ago I got brave & flew to Denver in February & did DEN - EMY - PDX - CHI - WAS - STP. Great trip for a Florida boy to see snow. AND I SAW SNOW!!!!!!!! :hi:

 

[tonys96]

Crescent2, if you're not a risk taker, then maybe you should just use your points for shorter separate trips. You are over thinking all of this especially considering how most of yor points probably didn't COST you anything (only those that you paid cash for cost you $$).

I disagree that the points do not cost anything. They are EARNED, either through your use of AGR Card, or your travel.

Earned? Or bonus? Would you not travel or buy stuff if you didn't get the points?

I would not take points runs. I would use a different credit card, So, yes, they are earned, IMHO.

 

[crescent2]

I have another question for you kind folks:
Usually, how much less crowded are the sleepers in late April or May as compared to the summer months? Thanks-

My dates are very flexible, so I'm trying to avoid the foreseeable bustitution, rerouting, and major delay times of the year. I thought May might be good for that, and possibly more likely to have unsold sleepers. However, I don't know when the peak seasons start.

My suggestion would be September. Less crowded & wouldnt have the poblems of spring time snow melt flooding! Acouple of years ago I got brave & flew to Denver in February & did DEN - EMY - PDX - CHI - WAS - STP. Great trip for a Florida boy to see snow. AND I SAW SNOW!!!!!!!! :hi:

Thanks, that is the kind of info I need to know and love to get!

A couple of questions re September:

I recall a past thread about rerouting the westbound CZ through Wyoming at certain times of the year. That would not be in September, would it?

Would the shorter daylight hours in Sept. cause me to miss any major scenery on the western trains?

Again, thanks RF!

 

[AlanB]

Yes the shorter days could mean missing some scenery, although usually not the best. One thing to consider about September however is that early Sept gets a bump from Labor Day and late Sept gets a bump from from the leaf peepers.

That said, it's probably still one of the safer times to travel. But of course nothing is 100%.

 

[crescent2]

More good info. Thanks, Alan!

It's not the usual re-routing/Wyoming time, I guess?

 

[AlanB]

It's not the usual re-routing/Wyoming time, I guess?

No, that generally happens late spring or during the summer.

 

[crescent2]

Another strike against summer. I guess I should scratch April/May, too. Thanks much for the info!

 

[amamba]

I would probably shoot for late September with the kind of trip that you are planning.

 

[SarahZ]

I would probably shoot for late September with the kind of trip that you are planning.

I agree, and the scenery would be really pretty. Some leaves will be changing around that time, mostly in the northern portions. Although, with the cool summer we've had, we might see autumn even earlier this year.

 

[crescent2]

Thanks, ladies. September is sounding good. But it will be Sept. 2014 if it happens. I have a different trip planned for this Sept. (not an Amtrak trip).

If I keep pushing it back, I may have to remember to request the wheelchair ramp by the time I go!