On Sunday I made an online reservation for a quick Amtrak getaway on Memorial Weekend out East. In the interim I decided to make changes to that trip, and called Amtrak last night to modify as I couldn't see an easy way for me to do what I wanted to do online and didn't want to mess it up. The agent made those changes to that reservation but when it came to paying for the upcharge, my AGR card was denied, twice. No idea why. I am well below my limit and I pay it off every month so there should be no issues. I called B of A and was told there were no blocks or flags on my account and said it had to be a merchant issue. Called Amtrak back, and they blamed B of A, of course but had no plausible explanation. The agent said don't worry, the reservation is held until my departure date and sent me a new reservation confirmation and barcode to be used at a QuickTrak, but the system would will not produce a new e-ticket until it is paid in full. I've never, ever had a purchase denied. It is flummoxing. Anyone ever have an issue like that?
Amtrak Payment Snafu
- Thread starter PaTrainFan
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Not with Amtrak but when you get two reps from two companies blaming each other for the problem when you're stuck in the middle, it's a real hassle and the issue of denied charges like you are having is one I've had with other companies.
I'd try once more to pay and if denied, I'd call back to both and request that the issue be escalated.
I'd try once more to pay and if denied, I'd call back to both and request that the issue be escalated.
Try this: call the number on the back of the card, and ask for an agent. Tell them that you have an upcoming 'large purchase' that you want to clear in advance. This happened to me when booking a future trip recently--also with a Bank of America branded card 
--after I booked two hotels. It wouldn't approve the rental car card--and I was thousands under my limit. I think there is an algorithm that looks at your recent spend patterns and flunks large purchases that are unusual. Since I haven't been traveling at all during Pandemica, I think the flurry of largish travel expenses set it off. But once I got ahold of a live human, they unflagged it and it went through fine.
--after I booked two hotels. It wouldn't approve the rental car card--and I was thousands under my limit. I think there is an algorithm that looks at your recent spend patterns and flunks large purchases that are unusual. Since I haven't been traveling at all during Pandemica, I think the flurry of largish travel expenses set it off. But once I got ahold of a live human, they unflagged it and it went through fine.It's resolved. Turns out the agent had misentered the expiration date of my card, which I had clearly given her. So, crisis averted! Thanks. Interestingly, B of A no longer offers travel alerts for whatever reason, which makes me a tad on edge...when I try to use the card in another area, it may deny at that point, too.
I noticed that last year and wondered if it was just because of COVID.
Probably due to some sort of AI API.
Which I don't trust much.
