Delivery of Tickets Changed?

[wisEBfan]

It appears that the lack of roomette/bedroom numbers/letters on online Amtrak ticket reservations may not be the only thing that has changed. On July 30th I made a reservation for a one-way ticket next June (2011), and under the heading of "Ticketing Information" was the usual "You can pick up your tickets at any Amtrak ticket window." This is preferable, so that one can later easily adjust things online later if need be.

However, just minutes ago, on August 4th I made a reservation for another one-way ticket this time for early July (2011), and on the Amtrak reservation screen there was no option for a station pickup of the tickets. Instead, there were exactly two radio buttons, one for home delivery by US Mail (free), and the other for faster delivery (for an extra $15 or so). There was no option for picking up the tickets in person later at a station. On the confirmation email, under the heading of "Ticketing Information" was "We will send your tickets by US Mail. Deliveries are made according to your local delivery schedule." If I in effect have taken delivery of the ticket, this may make later adjustments (in the date or accommodations) more difficult, if I understand the rules correctly. :angry2: Now, perhaps that's the whole idea . . .?

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas about why this change in ticket delivery method has been made?

 

[MrEd]

Are you traveling from different station this time ?

 

[wisEBfan]

Are you traveling from different station this time ?

Good point. That must be it. It is a different station, and there is no agent nor machine at that station. The system must be set to automatically mail tickets which depart from such places. Thanks for the insight.

 

[dlagrua]

Are you traveling from different station this time ?

Good point. That must be it. It is a different station, and there is no agent nor machine at that station. The system must be set to automatically mail tickets which depart from such places. Thanks for the insight.

I can confirm that this is the case. When buying a ticket for boarding at an unmanned station, tickets are mailed to you. It makes it more difficult to get a refund if needed, but since there are no services at that station Amtrak assumes that this is the best procedure. We just received our tickets for our 2011 trip and since we are boarding at Culpeper VA they arrived in the mail.

 

[Guest]

When making reservations so far in advance I always phone amtrak and deal with a real person so I can ensure that all details are correct before the rez is confirmed. This gives you the option of picking themup @ ANY station (so far in advance a trip to a manned station to pick up your tickets is possible) and since it is so far in advance if things change you can redo the tickets without having to mail them in or take them to a station for exchange etc. (remember the 7 day rule on sleepers and the new AGR policy on point refunds). As the_traveler always says, getting your tickets closer to departure gives you lots more flexibility and also makes sure that nothing happens to the tickets! (same as cash!)

 

[the_traveler]

I agree, it must be that you are departing from an unstaffed station at train time, so they don't give you an option online to "pick up at station"!

I had that experience when trying to buy a point run KIN-NHV-Meriden, CT. The station at Meriden is staffed, but only M-F and I was traveling on Saturday! So I only got the "mail tickets" options. However, if you call and speak to an agent, they can set it up that you can pick it up at a staffed station!

 

[dlagrua]

I agree, it must be that you are departing from an unstaffed station at train time, so they don't give you an option online to "pick up at station"!

I had that experience when trying to buy a point run KIN-NHV-Meriden, CT. The station at Meriden is staffed, but only M-F and I was traveling on Saturday! So I only got the "mail tickets" options. However, if you call and speak to an agent, they can set it up that you can pick it up at a staffed station!

I would like to see the third option alays offered when purchasing any tickets. It should say pick up tickets at any staffed station 1 week prior to departure.

 

[PaulM]

This is one of those topics that come up frequently. It has been several years since Amtrak trusted that their customers can read and thus allowed them to make the choice.

Since there are several common scenarios where the best choice is "pick up at station with agent or quicktrak machine", I consider this a design flaw. Others believe Amtrak is justified in catering to those who can't or won't read, thereby penalizing those who want the choice.

If you want to pick the tickets up at a station in this situation, you have to call Amtrak. But then since the reservation has been "changed", you can't modify it online. Another design flaw.

 

[AlanB]

I agree, it must be that you are departing from an unstaffed station at train time, so they don't give you an option online to "pick up at station"!

I had that experience when trying to buy a point run KIN-NHV-Meriden, CT. The station at Meriden is staffed, but only M-F and I was traveling on Saturday! So I only got the "mail tickets" options. However, if you call and speak to an agent, they can set it up that you can pick it up at a staffed station!

I would like to see the third option alays offered when purchasing any tickets. It should say pick up tickets at any staffed station 1 week prior to departure.

The problem with that is that I'm sure that there will still be those that don't read things carefully who will select that option thinking that they can just pick up their tickets at the unstaffed station.

This is the same reason why one can no longer book 3 people into a bedroom online, because people don't read. Then after boarding they blame Amtrak for not telling them that 3 in the bedroom wasn't a great idea.