Calculating Amtrak Customer Relations voucher value (blog post)

[calwatch]

http://www.pointswithacrew.com/amtrak-complaints-how-to-get-compensation-for-amtrak-delays/

Basically, it looks like the blogger got out of the CSR that the value is 100% of the rail fare value for the travel portion and $10 per meal missed. He also discovered, as many of us know, that Amtrak only gives out vouchers, not refunds of points or other credit when a trip is completed.

 

[amamba]

I have received higher value vouchers than this formula. I did not read the article yet as it won't load on my phone though.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Interesting! As we've discussed many times here on AU, there is No Formula when it comes to CR Goodwill Vouchers.

It seems to be luck of the draw depending on which Agent and Supervisor you get when you Call in to discuss your concerns. ( much faster and better than using e-mail or snail mail )

My Vouchers over the years have ranged from $25 to $600 and a couple of times I even received a rebate in points when I was downgraded from a Sleeper to Coach.( no longer done!)

As we say here on AU, when it comes to Amtrak, YMMV!!!

 

[seat38a]

Our train, 711 San Joaquin was 3 hours late into Emeryville. I generally don't complain about being tardy, but this was 2 within a month and I was pissed. I got full value of our outbound train portion. So it was Total - Bus Portion into a certificate. Other than having 2 brake issues in a month, the crew handled it (The Cafe Attendant) it very well. He handed out snack packs and waters, and even went around to the lower level to hand them out to the disabled who could not make it to the cafe car.

To get the certificate, it took about an 1 hour wait. Grrrrrrrr

DSC01973 by Brian H, on Flickr

 

[pointswithacrew]

Thanks for the link to my site. I had fun on my trip, though the 13 hour delay into Denver was annoying....

I wish there was a better way to figure out the "right amount" of compensation to get. Even when I hung up and called back on the first one, the 2nd agent had the notes from the 1st one, so I couldn't try and "negotiate" a better offer

 

[Anderson]

Thanks for the link to my site. I had fun on my trip, though the 13 hour delay into Denver was annoying....

I wish there was a better way to figure out the "right amount" of compensation to get. Even when I hung up and called back on the first one, the 2nd agent had the notes from the 1st one, so I couldn't try and "negotiate" a better offer

First of all, I know the formula comes across as a bit of voodoo. One thing that is a bit headache-inducing is the rail fare/accommodation charge difference (something the airlines abandoned long ago but Amtrak still has); that difference does matter. For example, if you get bustituted, the rule is that (usually) you get your accommodation charge back but not your railfare.

One other thing to consider is that you technically got your trip for free (and frankly, you made out like a bandit IMHO...you got $0.065/point out of the deal) and Amtrak did technically fulfill their end of the bargain (e.g. they got you from A to B in the promised accommodation). Also, had you misconnected in Chicago they would have either put you in a hotel (I was put up at the Hyatt McCormick Place when it happened to me years ago) or put you on the Lake Shore Limited to Toledo in rooms. To be fair, had you paid cash I think you'd be getting a much larger voucher out of them (I've had Amtrak volunteer vouchers for delays to me before).

 

[pointswithacrew]

It didn't seem to matter to them that I paid on points vs. cash, though maybe they were accounting for that behind the scenes. And while yes, I did pay for it with points, those 100,000 Chase points DO have a value that I could have used elsewhere.

A 13 hour delay is pretty ridiculous. I thought I was being prudent in not planning anything till 1pm for a 7am expected arrival time. The killer came that our hotel was in Colorado Springs (1hr away) and Avis closed at 630pm, so our 8pm arrival really put a crimp in our vacation plans.

As for the possible misconnection in Chicago, what I was being told was that they would in fact put us on the Lakeshore Limited, but in 8 coach seats. That, coupled with a 3:30 am arrival in Toledo, was not something I was looking forward to

 

[Acela150]

Our train, 711 San Joaquin was 3 hours late into Emeryville. I generally don't complain about being tardy, but this was 2 within a month and I was pissed. I got full value of our outbound train portion. So it was Total - Bus Portion into a certificate. Other than having 2 brake issues in a month, the crew handled it (The Cafe Attendant) it very well. He handed out snack packs and waters, and even went around to the lower level to hand them out to the disabled who could not make it to the cafe car.

To get the certificate, it took about an 1 hour wait. Grrrrrrrr

DSC01973 by Brian H, on Flickr

I can tell you that those water bottles are for the crew.. Amtrak, NS, CSAO use them for sure. Although I'm not sure about any other class I RR's. But at NS we go through them by the pallet.

 

[amamba]

It didn't seem to matter to them that I paid on points vs. cash, though maybe they were accounting for that behind the scenes. And while yes, I did pay for it with points, those 100,000 Chase points DO have a value that I could have used elsewhere.

A 13 hour delay is pretty ridiculous. I thought I was being prudent in not planning anything till 1pm for a 7am expected arrival time. The killer came that our hotel was in Colorado Springs (1hr away) and Avis closed at 630pm, so our 8pm arrival really put a crimp in our vacation plans.

As for the possible misconnection in Chicago, what I was being told was that they would in fact put us on the Lakeshore Limited, but in 8 coach seats. That, coupled with a 3:30 am arrival in Toledo, was not something I was looking forward to

So glad you joined us at AU. Sadly a 13 hour delay is not the worst we have heard about and I consider that to be pretty good. Luckily you made the connection to the cap.
It's standard that you might miss a meal if the train arrives late and you board mid route but on the other side of it you get extra meals when the train is late. For example if you had detained in Denver that day you would have gotten a bonus dinner bc the train was late.

That trip on the EB would be a nice use of your voucher but be prepared for delays on that route. See the threads in this forum on it.

Ps your site wouldn't work on my iPhone 5 running the latest iOS.

 

[neroden]

I have gotten larger vouchers, but only as compensation for egregious communications failures by Amtrak, not for mere delays.

 

[Anderson]

It didn't seem to matter to them that I paid on points vs. cash, though maybe they were accounting for that behind the scenes. And while yes, I did pay for it with points, those 100,000 Chase points DO have a value that I could have used elsewhere.

A 13 hour delay is pretty ridiculous. I thought I was being prudent in not planning anything till 1pm for a 7am expected arrival time. The killer came that our hotel was in Colorado Springs (1hr away) and Avis closed at 630pm, so our 8pm arrival really put a crimp in our vacation plans.

As for the possible misconnection in Chicago, what I was being told was that they would in fact put us on the Lakeshore Limited, but in 8 coach seats. That, coupled with a 3:30 am arrival in Toledo, was not something I was looking forward to

I will say that Amtrak has had issues with the western LD trains over the last few years. The problems seem to move around depending on which of the freights is having one issue or another (BNSF has had issues with oil train loads while UP has often been rather...ambivalent towards Amtrak; in most cases, though, things aren't as bad as they were with SP some time ago).