COVID Pre Check

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Joined
Apr 5, 2011
Messages
6,090
Location
Baltimore. MD
I've been having a sort of inconsistent experience with the Covid Pre-check business. When it works the way I guess it's supposed to, you get a text message 24 hours before your trip. You click on a link, and a web page shows up asking a couple of questions about whether you have Covid symptoms, been tested positive, or are under quarantine. You click that you haven't, and that's that.

Over the past month, I've has the following experience:

Pittsburgh Circle trip: No notification or request for this information on any of my trains (Northeast Regional, Pennsylvania, Capitol Limited, Northeast Regional)
Boston-Albany "Lollipop Loop": No notification for Acela from Baltimore to Boston. Notified and request for information for all other segments of the trip. (Lake Shore Limited, Empire Service, Crescent."

Yesterday, I had some business in Washington and ride down on the Acela. No request for Covid Pre-check. No questions from the conductor, either. (I think if you don't fill it out on line, the conductor is supposed to ask you the questions when he scans your ticket.) On the ride back, I got a text notification, but when I tried to click on it, the app crashed. Again, the conductor paid no attention to the fact that I didn't answer the questions, and scanned my ticket without comment. On the other hand, when I saw my doctor in Washington, he asked if I had been vaccinated, and when I told him I had, he said I could take off my mask.
 
I had the same experience yesterday. Finally got through on the computer around 8pm, then was easy. I was afraid a long planned vacay would get arbitrarily cancelled if I didn't hit the right box. Glad to hear they don't seem to care. I even tried calling the COE, but no one answered the phone, no surprise there. The waits are bad enough when they aren't having computer problems.

I'm old enough to remember when the phone was the only way to reach Amtrak, other than visiting a station. It was a lot more common in those days to book, pay, and print tickets at a station or at a travel agency.

Meanwhile, the CT coast is as pretty as ever!
 
What happens if you don't complete your COVID precheck?
Probably nothing.

I filled it out online prior to the trip for my most recent Surfliner trip. Nothing on board was said about it.

On the other hand, when I saw my doctor in Washington, he asked if I had been vaccinated, and when I told him I had, he said I could take off my mask.
Again, nice to know employees are still enforcing the "mask must be on at all times" policy . . . not. :(
 
I filled out the COVID precheck form before my EB trip last month. But there didn't seem to be any way to fill it out for my husband traveling the same itinerary. Nothing was said when our ticket was scanned in Seattle, or later when it was scanned in Chicago on boarding the CL.
 
So far I have not received any COVID pre-check message regarding my trip today, which I board in another four hours and a bit.

However, I just Acknowledged the stuff under the Pre-Trip COVID Check tab on the main page of the amtrak.com web site.
 
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I haven't travelled, and this is the first I've heard of the precheck, but I wonder. If a traveler indicates that he or she is symptomatic or has had a positive test, what happens next? Could this be used as a method of cancelling a trip and getting a refund that would otherwise not be allowed?
 
So far I have not received any COVID pre-check message regarding my trip today, which I board in another four hours and a bit.

However, I just Acknowledged the stuff under the Pre-Trip COVID Check tab on the main page of the amtrak.com web site.
I received an email last night for my COVID pre-check.
 
I haven't travelled, and this is the first I've heard of the precheck, but I wonder. If a traveler indicates that he or she is symptomatic or has had a positive test, what happens next? Could this be used as a method of cancelling a trip and getting a refund that would otherwise not be allowed?
They might ask you to provide test results to get a refund.
 
no
Did anyone ask about it when you boarded or on the Train?

Wonder if the Computer clears you so when the Conductor Scans you in, it Shows you've done it?
nobody asked when I boarded the train. I just received another email for the second leg of my trip and, although wifi was very slow, I managed to acknowledge everything I needed to acknowledge.
 
They might ask you to provide test results to get a refund.
If Amtrak denies boarding to someone who reports symptoms, it seems like Amtrak would provide a refund. If Amtrak does not deny boarding to someone who reports symptoms, why ask? If Amtrak can deny boarding and a refund to someone who reports symptoms, then Amtrak is effectively suggesting that people lie about having symptoms. Is there some other way to look at it?
 
If Amtrak does not deny boarding to someone who reports symptoms, why ask? If Amtrak can deny boarding and a refund to someone who reports symptoms, then Amtrak is effectively suggesting that people lie about having symptoms. Is there some other way to look at it?
This is the nub of the bigger problem of confirming that people are vaccinated. Ideally, it would be best to limit certain things only to the vaccinated and to require the nonvaccinated to continue to take precautions like social distancing and masking So, at the moment, our stores have signs saying that if you're fully vaccinated you don't need to wear a mask, but those not vaccinated must mask-up. But, being on the honor system, and given the vehemence that some have against wearing masks, there is every possibility that non-vaccinated folks will simply take advantage of the situation and act as though they were vaccinated. One of our neighbors works retail and just assumes that most of the no-mask customers are unvaccinated, and she worries a lot about bringing the virus home to her not-yet-able-to-be vaccinated kids. Personally, I wish that our state government would issue official vaccination cards to verify who is vaccinated and who is not. But then it would be harder for the non-vaccinated to prevaricate about their status. :(
 
This is the nub of the bigger problem of confirming that people are vaccinated. Ideally, it would be best to limit certain things only to the vaccinated and to require the nonvaccinated to continue to take precautions like social distancing and masking So, at the moment, our stores have signs saying that if you're fully vaccinated you don't need to wear a mask, but those not vaccinated must mask-up. But, being on the honor system, and given the vehemence that some have against wearing masks, there is every possibility that non-vaccinated folks will simply take advantage of the situation and act as though they were vaccinated. One of our neighbors works retail and just assumes that most of the no-mask customers are unvaccinated, and she worries a lot about bringing the virus home to her not-yet-able-to-be vaccinated kids. Personally, I wish that our state government would issue official vaccination cards to verify who is vaccinated and who is not. But then it would be harder for the non-vaccinated to prevaricate about their status. :(
Not happening in the Red States! ( " Live Free or Die!")🥺🤬

Most Governors are totally opposed to "Vaccine Passports", and lots of Businesses are wavering on requiring Masks or proof of Vaccination to enter.🤬

Don't look for much help.out of Washington either, the CDC is busy doing away with most common sense COVID Protocols while Congress is busy doing Nothing!😈🤬
 
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