Cardinal Connection East but not West?

[Orie]

I have a trip planned out to go from NYP to NOL in January. Originally I was going to take the Crescent down and the CONO/Cardinal back up, but due to the weekday (insert reason for no service from ATL-NOL that has yet to be disclosed by Amtrak in January), I can't take the Crescent down anymore. I've been exploring options, and I thought about taking the Cardinal/CONO down and the Crescent back up instead as I can return on the Sunday Crescent. However, when I tried to see if I could book this, I found that I cannot.

It seems that taking the CONO/Cardinal from NOL-CHI-NYP is an option, but Amtrak has decided that the reverse trip (NYP-CHI-NOL) isn't acceptable. It doesn't come up as an option, only the LSL/CONO does. Does anyone know why this is? Would I be able to get around it by calling Amtrak directly? I do want to take the Cardinal one way no matter what. Right now my itinerary is LSL/CONO down and CONO/Cardinal back. I would like to avoid the LSL and taking the CONO twice if I can, but it's not a make or break deal either.

 

[neroden]

Check the dates. Cardinal doesn't run daily.

 

[the_traveler]

The Cardinal only runs 3 times a week. If you depart on any of the other 4 days a week, it does not (can not) offer it for a same day connection to NOL!

 

[Orie]

The eastbound Cardinal is scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 10:00 AM on the days it runs. The CONO is scheduled to depart at 8:05 PM. Why wouldn't that qualify as a valid same day connection?

I made sure to check days the Cardinal departs NYP, I even checked the whole week to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. The option for Cardinal/CONO never comes up on Amtrak.com for west/south, only for north/east

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Orie is right I just looked it up on days I know the Cardinal is running eastbound it doesn't pop in January as an option.

 

[the_traveler]

The eastbound Cardinal is scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 10:00 AM on the days it runs.

The eastbound Cardinal does not arrive into Chicago - it starts there! The westbound Cardinal does arrive into CHI.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Westbound to NOL also does not show Cardinal on a Sunday in December.

Wonder if this is just one of the many "missed connection" glitches in Arrow.

Maybe someone wants to go over to FlyerTalk and post it and see if AGRInsider can get it "fixed".

 

[Orie]

The eastbound Cardinal is scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 10:00 AM on the days it runs.

The eastbound Cardinal does not arrive into Chicago - it starts there! The westbound Cardinal does arrive into CHI.

Sorry! I meant westbound arrival not east. It's been a long day

 

[SteveSFL]

It looks like you can get the Cardinal/CONO if you book NYP-HMD, the stop before NOL. If you can't get AGR Insider to fix NYP-NOL, you could just buy a ticket for the last stop.

 

[Orie]

It looks like you can get the Cardinal/CONO if you book NYP-HMD, the stop before NOL. If you can't get AGR Insider to fix NYP-NOL, you could just buy a ticket for the last stop.

Hmm, that's odd! Thanks for the info, I may end up doing that. Maybe the SCA will be nice and let me stay in my room the extra stop to NOLA anyway! I wonder if its just a glitch in the system.