Amtrak's Marketing Blunder

[jccollins]

Amtrak is currently running a "Big Chalk Talk Sweepstakes" http://www.amtrak.com/savings/sweepstakes/index.html and anyone purchasing a ticket with Guest Rewards will be automatically entered to win a round trip ticket to Houston on UNITED AIRLINES, NOT AMTRAK!!! This is completely ridiculous, and a HUGE marketing mistake on Amtrak's part.

You can help by visiting http://www.amtrak.com/contactus.html and typing in a short message protesting their use of United Airlines for the winners of this promotion. An Amtrak trip with deluxe accommodations would be much nicer to reach Houston. They should AT LEAST offer the winner a choice of Amtrak or UnitedAir travel!

I sent my message/comments to Amtrak. There are plenty of us here and if Amtrak starts hearing from quite a few of us maybe they will question the person who set up this sweepstakes.

 

[tp49]

At the very least they should have given the option of either airfare or train fare. Since this is for the Super Bowl, and considering that the Sunset Ltd is the only train that serves Houston it is entirely posible that one could miss the game due to the lateness of the train

 

[Viewliner]

Thats pretty stupid, then again we're talking about Amtrak logic here. I agree, I really think they should just have the rail travel, not even the airline. The whole idea of a contest like this is to boost your image, and having a ride on the train is a key part of that image.

 

[Amfleet]

Who comes up with this stuff? This surely is not the work of David Gunn, but more likely one of the useless workers hired by Warrington.

 

[Viewliner]

Who comes up with this stuff? This surely is not the work of David Gunn, but more likely one of the useless workers hired by Warrington.

Probably, Warrington was never one to use his own trains.

 

[tp49]

However, Amtrak and United are marketing partners through that program that allows one to either fly somewhere then return by train or vice-versa, which has been used by members of this forum in the past. If I was the marketing genius however, I would have chosen Continental (joint marketing partner in the NEC) as the airline because they have a large hub at Houston.