Booking with credit card companion coupon

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McLeansvilleAppFan

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
485
Location
Greensboro, NC
All right someone talk me down from feeling like an idiot (or confirming the Amtrak website is not so clear.) because I feel like a 100% idiot. I have the Amtrak CC that I pay for each year and get a free companion ticket. It expires in September and my wife and I are both teachers and I work a second job on the weekends so we need to use the coupons soon or we lose them for the year. And I want to make the trip worth at least close to the $80 I pay for the credit card. We have a daughter that lives close enough to Richmond-Staples Mill to walk there and from Greensboro the ticket is right at $40 one way and $80 round-trip so there is the credit card renewal. We did the same last year but I am pretty sure I called over the phone and avoided all this mess I am about to explain.

Anyways I tried more than a few times to book round trip and that did not work and I tried 3 or 4 times. Then I realized I had to book one way to make the coupons pop up in the advance search window. That was easy but I still am NOT getting free companion fare. I tried that 3 or 4 times. I even went into incognito mode on my web browser just to see if something was amiss with my account. I finally realized they had my RPA number there and I can't take any discount and claim a companion coupon. Fair enough.

At this point I have everything figured out and the price seems correct for business class for two with one free companion and I get to the screen to pay and it pops up that my log-in has timed out. I can't go forward but I can go back to the screen with the travel insurance but if I go forward I get the timeout message. I give up on the website. I did that 2 or 3 times all the way from the start of the Amtrak site.

I was getting ready to call the phone number but I decide to try the phone app. I book one way to use the coupons and then no discount so I remember to take off the RPA member discount and then that can't be done unless I click on military and then click off military. Just clicking the radio button for RPA did not deactivate the RPA discount on the fare screen even when the radio button was clicked off on the fare type window with a variety of discounts. So I had to go back and click another discount to remove RPA and then remove the other discount. Finally I had two adults one way and purchased two tickets from GRO to RVR and back and was able to use both coupons as I wanted.

I think it took me an hour.

Be honest on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being not very bright and 10 being pretty smart where do I rank and where does Amtrak rank? Do they deserve some of the blame for it taking this much trouble or is this all on me? I was getting ready to drive to the Greensboro station since it is open 24/7 and talk to an agent, but being on vacation I skipped grooming today so I was not sure I was fit to be in public.

Anyway, rate me and be honest. :)
 
I just tried to do a price check for planning, and I'm still not sure I got it right.
It's always showing me twice the cost of a regular ticket, even after getting the coupon in, and changing the Travelers from a senior to an adult.
 
I would reccomend calling and speaking to an agent as well. They should be able to help. I am not sure if is a factor in your situation but I think amtrak saver fares don't allow coupons or discounts so if you put any of those in, all you see is the value and higher fare classes. For this reason a few times when a saver fare was available I just paid for that and saved my coupon/points for another trip.
 
I would reccomend calling and speaking to an agent as well. They should be able to help. I am not sure if is a factor in your situation but I think amtrak saver fares don't allow coupons or discounts so if you put any of those in, all you see is the value and higher fare classes. For this reason a few times when a saver fare was available I just paid for that and saved my coupon/points for another trip.
Yes part of my hour long ticket booking was trying to RPA discounts and then not getting that turned off when I thought I had done so on the phone app. To use a coupon have adult only fare set with no discounts.
 
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