Changing names/passenger on an AGR sleeper reservation.

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Railroad Bill

Railroad Bill

Buckeye Train Watcher
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Messages
3,917
Location
Northern Ohio
I am sure there has been some discussion of this previously, but I was only able to find threads pre-AGR2.

So here is my situation:

My model RR club has planned a trip from CLE-DEN in late April. We have 14 of us going in a combination of roomettes and a couple of bedrooms. We made our reservations back in November under AGR 1 and have 1 zone redemptions from TOL-DEN and return. We have paid coach tickets from CLE-TOL (old Toledo shuffle)

As expected one of our members is unable to go and that spot is now open in one of the roomettes. Another friend would like to join us on the trip and thus, we would like to add his name in that open space.

I believe under the old rules I just called up an agent and they switched the names on the reservation since there is no change of dates, rooms, etc. point totals and it would not be a problem.

But after reading some of the new rules? I am not sure if that is now true.

What are you all recommending based on your interpretation of the new AGR 2.
 
A name change shouldn't involve a change in the fare.

As far a I can tell (IMHO), as long as it doesn't involve a change in the fare, you should be able to do it without penalty.

Call AGR and request a name change for the roomette. Do not let them make any other change to the reservation.
 
Railroad Bill said:
What are you all recommending based on your interpretation of the new AGR 2.
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Based on my interpretation of the new AGR rules you should probably call Amtrak. My guess is that they offer to cancel the old AGR1 reservation and replace it with a new AGR2 reservation. But that probably depends on who you get and what kind of mood they're in today.
 
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AFAIK, a reservation booked under 1.0 that is changed will be based on 2.0 policy (points vs $). If the new trip (for the new person) costs less in points under 2.0, I would change it. If it cost more, and the name could apply to the new person (res for Jim and new person is Bill or Rick or Steve or the like), I would not change it - unless the new passenger wants AGR points. The chances (at least for me) of getting ID'ed are very slim. (I've only been asked for ID twice - both times when boarding in NOL.)
 
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Unfortunately, the person not going is the wife of one of our members (female name) so exchanging another male would not be feasible. At this point we probably will just report the person as a no show when we get on the train and life will go on. I will call Amtrak to discuss the scenario and see what they say, but if it meant cancelling & rebooking, the increased number of points for the trip would not be worth it. Since I have a roomette by myself, we could conceivably add a person to my roomette reservation, again as long as we did not have to cancel and rebook. I will report on what Amtrak has to say as soon as I call.
 
I think it will work to add a name to the roomette with just one person, and have the other room with a no-show. I have im the past booked a roommette with my wife who had to cancel (during AGR 1.0 days) and it was not an issue for the room to have just one occupant.
 
Just an update on my quest to change passenger names on AGR and regular reservations.

After talking to an agent at AGR today and a consult with a supervisor, the following was relayed to me:

If I need to remove a name from a reservation, that can be accomplished without changing the reservation and invoking AGR 2 rules

If I want to add a new name to an existing reservation and replace a person previously listed, the new person could be added under the open sleeper rule but that person would have to pay an additional fare involving the cost of one accommodation fare or the equivalent number of points under AGR2.

That of course would add a significant amount of cost for that new person (considering that the original zone points of 15,000 points had already been paid by the original passenger. On a Toledo to Denver fare it would add $400 or 13,800 points to make it work.

He said our other option would be to cancel the reservation and start over but that would be under AGR2

The current cost of the trip TOL to DEN is 27,635 points for two passengers. So if the original purchaser cancelled. took the 10% penalty and had 13, 500 left I suppose the two people could rebook their reservation and ride for little less than the scenario discussed above

15,000 + 13,800 vs 27,635 but it certainly would eat up a lot of points compared to the old rules.

Thus we will probably not have anyone joining us to fill in for the friend who can not go on the trip. And Amtrak will gain a little by us using 15,000 points for a one zone sleeper but having only one person eating in the diner.

Such is the new life on AGR2. :(
 
Railroad Bill said:
Just an update on my quest to change passenger names on AGR and regular reservations.

After talking to an agent at AGR today and a consult with a supervisor, the following was relayed to me:

If I need to remove a name from a reservation, that can be accomplished without changing the reservation and invoking AGR 2 rules

If I want to add a new name to an existing reservation and replace a person previously listed, the new person could be added under the open sleeper rule but that person would have to pay an additional fare involving the cost of one accommodation fare or the equivalent number of points under AGR2.

That of course would add a significant amount of cost for that new person (considering that the original zone points of 15,000 points had already been paid by the original passenger. On a Toledo to Denver fare it would add $400 or 13,800 points to make it work.

He said our other option would be to cancel the reservation and start over but that would be under AGR2

The current cost of the trip TOL to DEN is 27,635 points for two passengers. So if the original purchaser cancelled. took the 10% penalty and had 13, 500 left I suppose the two people could rebook their reservation and ride for little less than the scenario discussed above

15,000 + 13,800 vs 27,635 but it certainly would eat up a lot of points compared to the old rules.

Thus we will probably not have anyone joining us to fill in for the friend who can not go on the trip. And Amtrak will gain a little by us using 15,000 points for a one zone sleeper but having only one person eating in the diner.

Such is the new life on AGR2. :(
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That is a stupid ruling. Changing the name on a Rez requires nothing but a few keystrokes. Just another way to screw the customer. Amazingly shortsighted......
 
Railroad Bill said:
If I want to add a new name to an existing reservation and replace a person previously listed, the new person could be added under the open sleeper rule but that person would have to pay an additional fare involving the cost of one accommodation fare or the equivalent number of points under AGR2. He said our other option would be to cancel the reservation and start over but that would be under AGR2. The current cost of the trip TOL to DEN is 27,635 points for two passengers. So if the original purchaser cancelled. took the 10% penalty and had 13, 500 left I suppose the two people could rebook their reservation and ride for little less than the scenario discussed above. 15,000 + 13,800 vs 27,635 but it certainly would eat up a lot of points compared to the old rules. Thus we will probably not have anyone joining us to fill in for the friend who can not go on the trip. And Amtrak will gain a little by us using 15,000 points for a one zone sleeper but having only one person eating in the diner.
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Your follow-up post is surprisingly difficult to follow. How does the 13,500 point fee differ from the 13,800 point fee? If the AGR2 points cost is 27,635 then what is the point of offering you a 15,000 + 13,800 = 28,800 option? In any case it sounds like you'd be paying AGR2 level prices either way, which is more or less what I expected to happen. Lots of crickets from the AGR cheering section lately. Wonder if they'll be back at it by the time AGR3 comes around.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
Railroad Bill said:
If I want to add a new name to an existing reservation and replace a person previously listed, the new person could be added under the open sleeper rule but that person would have to pay an additional fare involving the cost of one accommodation fare or the equivalent number of points under AGR2. He said our other option would be to cancel the reservation and start over but that would be under AGR2. The current cost of the trip TOL to DEN is 27,635 points for two passengers. So if the original purchaser cancelled. took the 10% penalty and had 13, 500 left I suppose the two people could rebook their reservation and ride for little less than the scenario discussed above. 15,000 + 13,800 vs 27,635 but it certainly would eat up a lot of points compared to the old rules. Thus we will probably not have anyone joining us to fill in for the friend who can not go on the trip. And Amtrak will gain a little by us using 15,000 points for a one zone sleeper but having only one person eating in the diner.
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Your follow-up post is surprisingly difficult to follow. How does the 13,500 point fee differ from the 13,800 point fee? If the AGR2 points cost is 27,635 then what is the point of offering you a 15,000 + 13,800 = 28,800 option? In any case it sounds like you'd be paying AGR2 level prices either way, which is more or less what I expected to happen. Lots of crickets from the AGR cheering section lately. Wonder if they'll be back at it by the time AGR3 comes around.
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Yes, I made a mistake in the calculations. Should have been 13,500 points added to the 15,000 which of course would have been more than the 27,635 by redoing the reservation under AGR2. But I think our friend will still just go with his 15, 000 point roomette. :)
 
If there is a passenger change on one passenger in a roomette PAID reservation, does the entire reservation have to be cancelled and rebooked (at a likely higher bucket) or does the name on the reservation simply get changed?
 
In over 20+ AGR sleeper reservations the second name on the reservation has never been asked for id. I've had different name travel on reservations as the second person in a roomette many times. YMMV.

Worst case scenario, go early. If they give you any problem buy a coach ticket for the entire trip and link to your reservation. But you won't have to do that.
 
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I was asking to see if this having to cancel and rebook deal was just for AGR reward trips or for paid trips too.

Either way it is ridiculous. All it takes to change a name on a reservation is a few keystrokes...........again, just another way to screw the customer. IMHO this is amazingly shortsighted.
 
Meat Puppet said:
In over 20+ AGR sleeper reservations the second name on the reservation has never been asked for id. I've had different name travel on reservations as the second person in a roomette many times. YMMV.

Worst case scenario, go early. If they give you any problem buy a coach ticket for the entire trip and link to your reservation. But you won't have to do that.
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Amtrak is required to have an accurate manifest. If there is an incident then they would not know that different person was onboard.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
And as I mentioned, a female name was cancelling and thus, adding a male name would be obvious. It was interesting that the open sleeper idea they proposed for the additional person was actually more expensive in points than just cancelling and rebooking under AGR2. Perhaps it would have been different if the trip were farther out, time wise, but with this short notice, the cost of the trip and the increased number of points under the AGR2 valuation of points created this particular situation.

But I agree, it is too bad that for the few situations left under the old zone system where this name change would have not cost Amtrak any more money, they still wished to adhere to the new rules. :(
 
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tonys96 said:
If there is a passenger change on one passenger in a roomette PAID reservation, does the entire reservation have to be cancelled and rebooked (at a likely higher bucket) or does the name on the reservation simply get changed?
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Irrelevant! You know the rule as well as I do and RRBill did when making the reservation. Why cast aspersions on Amtrak when you want to change the rule you agreed to? Jeez!
 
It's not irrelevant. You're now paying points based on the CASH price, so why would it matter if it's based on the bills or card in your wallet (otherwise known as cash) or AGR points (based on the cash cost of the trip)? :huh:
 
Amtrak doesn't value points the same as cash. If they did, there would be a real "no blackouts" policy instead of the pile of horse manure we were given.
 
Wouldn't be an issue for change in gender if parties had the name "Pat". Alwats seemed to work on Saturday Night Live.
 
I still say that you're not likely.to be ID'ed, and the second person is less likely. I've traveled on awards many times where the 2nd person couldn't make it or not until later in the trip. Most iMessage I'm not asked, but if I am I just say they will join me later. No problem.
 
Another possibility is to have the new passenger hide out in the Sightseer Lounge car until after tickets have been lifted.

But I would worry about meals. If John Smith signs the meal ticket and records the room where Jane Jones is the listed passenger, might that cause a problem?
 
I would just sign the meal ticket in "Doctor's Writing" (scribble) so you can not really tell what the name is. The LSA compares the names later, and does not know if the "J" is John or Jane and the server only cares if there's a signature on the check. (S)he does not know the passenger's gender.
 
City of Miami said:
tonys96 said:
If there is a passenger change on one passenger in a roomette PAID reservation, does the entire reservation have to be cancelled and rebooked (at a likely higher bucket) or does the name on the reservation simply get changed?
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Irrelevant! You know the rule as well as I do and RRBill did when making the reservation. Why cast aspersions on Amtrak when you want to change the rule you agreed to? Jeez!
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I am sorry, but you are mistaken and bordering on rude. If I knew the answer to the question, I would not have posted it as a question, I would have made a statement of fact.

Can you direct me to where there is something requiring pax to agree to having to cancel and rebook if one passenger on a reservation cannot go and is being replaced by a different person? Or do you know this to be the case from personal experience?

Either way, this far out in the future, all it takes is a few keystrokes to change the name of a passenger on a reservation.......
 
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I've read thru all this, and guess I am brain dead, so "help"?

My wife wants to boot me off the AGR1-made bedroom reservation that I have with my daughter this June from KFS --> SAC --> CHI --> WAS --> BWI with my daughter.

A basic "Swap", Me for Her.

If I call, will I likely be able to do so, or with AGR2, will they try and make me pay more points? (Which I don't have)
 

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