Blackout dates

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ronkstevens

ronkstevens

Service Attendant
Joined
Jul 25, 2013
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191
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Philadelphia Suburbs
Are blackout dates based on origin, or the entire itinerary?

For example (not a real itinerary) If you board a train on July 3, but your destination arrival is for 1:00am on July 4, would the trip not be permitted due to the July 4 blackout?
 
The workaround, if you're not Select + or SE, is to buy a Coach ticket to the closest station that comes up after midnight of the holiday ( for example WAS-PHL on #66), then you can book an AGR Award since its no longer a Blackout Date!
 
Further explanation: you can not board a train or bus on a blackout date, either the trip's origin or at a connection point.

Example is "3" is a blackout date. You want to board the SWC in CHI on "3" - you can't do so. You want to board in CHI on "2" (a non-blackout day), but even though you'll be in ABQ (just passing thru), it's OK. You want to board in CHI on "1" (a non-blackout date), however you want to connect to the CS or Surfliner on "3" (a blackout date). You can't do this - your award would end in LA unless you leave CHI on another date.
 
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It's the boarding points that are affected by Black Out dates. Example: Boarding on July 3 in New York would not affect July 4th departure in Chicago. However; if you were to transfer (RE-Board) at Chicago on July 4th to another train, you would then be affected again due to it being another boarding point. You would have to wait until the Black Out date was over to Re-Board.

If you were to board in New York and not get off for two days the Black Out date would not affect you those two days, as long as you don't need to RE-Board.
 
This must surely be one of the quirkier elements to a program that's full of quirks.

But generally speaking I prefer a handful of blackout dates but unlimited award inventory

as opposed to airlines which have no blackout dates but a very limited award inventory.
 
Just a quick clarification on your hypothetical example...the 4th actually isn't a black-out date, though the 3rd and the 5th of July are. I just booked a trip departing SAN and transferring at LAX on the 4th of July, arriving in CHI on the 6th. Since my departure and transfer are both on July 4th, the trip was eligible for points, even though I will be traveling on a blackout date.
 
I hope the blackout date boarding rule is based on the scheduled departure and considered only when redeeming the points.

If you already have a trip booked through AGR and due to delays if you have to board during blackout it shouldnt affect the journey.
 
stevester said:
I hope the blackout date boarding rule is based on the scheduled departure and considered only when redeeming the points.

If you already have a trip booked through AGR and due to delays if you have to board during blackout it shouldnt affect the journey.
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It is the scheduled departure date, and is only for AGR award travel using points.
 
Refreshing this thread a bit with another question. When you call to book the award, does the agent tell you, "Oops, you can't do that because you will be changing trains in Washington on a blackout date" or does the "Oops!" come on that day when you try to board the train? And I guess if the "validation" happens when you make the reservation alone, then the issue of late trains or missed connections shouldn't be a problem, right?
 
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SteveSTX said:
Refreshing this thread a bit with another question. When you call to book the award, does the agent tell you, "Oops, you can't do that because you will be changing trains in Washington on a blackout date" or does the "Oops!" come on that day when you try to board the train? And I guess if the "validation" happens when you make the reservation alone, then the issue of late trains or missed connections shouldn't be a problem, right?
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The agent will let you know if it's a blackout date. We always arrived into Chicago on a blackout date when traveling from Albuquerque during Thanksgiving or Christmas, and the agent always warned me that we'd have to pay for our tickets from Chicago to Kalamazoo.

As others mentioned, if you're scheduled to leave on a regular day and a late train arrives after midnight and forces you to (technically) board on a blackout date, you're fine. It's the SCHEDULED departure date, not the actual departure date.
 
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But July 4th IS a blackout date for using points. I have a trip arriving a midwest destination on July 4 using points and the AGR agent explained I would have to purchase a ticket for my connecting train departing July 4 from that midwestern city.
 
chakk said:
But July 4th IS a blackout date for using points. I have a trip arriving a midwest destination on July 4 using points and the AGR agent explained I would have to purchase a ticket for my connecting train departing July 4 from that midwestern city.
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The person who posted that (Guest_Mike) may have been talking about 2015, not 2016, as his post is from May. :)
 

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