Cancellation questions

[rile42]

My wife and I are booked on a round trip from Cleveland to Los Angeles in March. Almost all of it, Toledo to LA and back were booked as old two-zone AGR redemptions. The other parts, Cleveland to Toledo and Toledo to Cleveland were booked normally. We will travel in a roomette the entire trip.

There is a chance she will change her mind and not go since it will be such a long trip. If that happens, I know it makes no difference on the AGR parts of the trip since no money nor points would be affected.

On the other hand, the paid for parts do get involved. I know that if I need to cancel her part of the paid tickets, it would have to be at least one week ahead of the scheduled bookings. My question is, does that mean Amtrak will cancel all of the paid for tickets and rebook them, probably at a higher price level and maybe with no roomettes left?

Also, if another person takes her place, do I need to do anything at all concerning the bookings. There is a chance if she changes her mind, one of my sons might take her place.

 

[willem]

There is a chance she will change her mind and not go since it will be such a long trip. If that happens, I know it makes no difference on the AGR parts of the trip since no money nor points would be affected.

The collective wisdom, or at least speculation, is that the new AGR rules will apply after January 24. This would mean that any change would involve a 10% penalty on the points.

On the other hand, the paid for parts do get involved. I know that if I need to cancel her part of the paid tickets, it would have to be at least one week ahead of the scheduled bookings. My question is, does that mean Amtrak will cancel all of the paid for tickets and rebook them, probably at a higher price level and maybe with no roomettes left?

I don't know how Amtrak would react, so I would assume the worst. However, I believe you could simply show up and take the trip. If asked about your wife, say that she will join you later. Don't bother to say that it will be when you get home.

I have joined a companion at a later stop when we were both ticketed from an earlier stop. Of course, it would look more peculiar on the second leg of a journey.

Also, if another person takes her place, do I need to do anything at all concerning the bookings. There is a chance if she changes her mind, one of my sons might take her place.

When this question came up a while ago, the thought was that a change of name, even for the second traveler, would be a cancellation and a new reservation. If I recall correctly, no one claimed to have experienced this, so if you do change your companion, please report the results.

 

[the_traveler]

If I understand you correctly, the only paid portions are CLE-TOL and TOL-CLE. If that's the case, I would just board as normal and not say anything. Officially, the tickets are non-transferable but I doubt you would have any problems if you had 2 tickets and 2 passengers.

If you had to revise before 1/24, there would be no penalty for doing so. After 1/24 is when the new rules take effect.

 

[oregon pioneer]

I can answer the first part, because I have done that twice (including very recently). I book for Hubby, just in case he decides to go, and then he decides he does not want to be away from home for so long. I just show up for my points redemption without Hubby, and when they ask about the second passenger, I simply reply "he didn't come." It does not affect my ticketed trip, and all they seem to care about is how many passengers actually boarded the train.

Occasionally, I am asked for my ID. I am not sure what happens if a passenger is switched without changing the name on the ticket. Has anyone done a "modify" to change a passenger name? I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens after the 24th when someone attempts to modify a reservation and no extra points are needed, or no points refund.

Of course, when the coach fare for both passengers has to be paid, I will stop the "just in case" bookings.

 

[me_little_me]

There is a chance she will change her mind and not go since it will be such a long trip. If that happens, I know it makes no difference on the AGR parts of the trip since no money nor points would be affected.

Not true. Based upon what I was told by AGR rep who had just attended a group meeting to explain the AGR rules, if you cancel the AGR part before Jan 24, old rules apply (no penalty). If you cancel or change it after Jan 24, new rules apply (10% loss of points) plus your new booking is under new rules.

 

[Ryan]

Yes true, since he isn't talking about cancelling. He'll take the trip still, and since it is the same price in points for one or two people under the old rules, no change is needed.