Does Amtrak reimburse missed hotel stay for train delays?

[CaliforniaMom]

I've read lots of TRs where Amtrak (usually) does well by its riders if there is a delay and they miss a connection by putting up passengers in a local hotel, paying for meals, etc.

My question is what does Amtrak do if you've missed a connection and thus do not check into a hotel at your final destination until a day later? Would they pay for the missed night?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[yarrow]

i have never heard of amtrak doing that.

 

[FriskyFL]

Amtrak's Terms of Transportation are crystal clear on this matter...no! As is the case with every other common carrier. Refund of fare paid is the limit of liability.

 

[the_traveler]

I don't really know, but I think not.

Most hotels have a cancellation policy that if you call by 6 pm that day or 6 pm on the day before, you can cancel and not be charged. It is very unlikely that you would not know before 6 pm on the day before that (say) the EB will arrive in CHI to late to make your connection to (say) WAS. So it would be possible to call from the EB to cancel your hotel in WAS!

Don't have a cell phone? :huh: There's a very good chance that more than 1 person on the train does! If you explain why you need it, there's a 99% chance they'll let you use it! (I know I have let others use mine many times.)

If it is a non-refundable room, then you're SOL. That is one of the reasons I never book one! Even flying, the airport could be shut down for days. Or driving, you may run into bad weather, a traffic jam or construction, and only make it to Louisville instead of your prepaid hotel in Nashville! (Once because of bad weather, I only drove from Fort Wayne, IN to St Louis in a long day - instead of the normal "few" hours!) I doubt the state DOT would reimburse you!

 

[brentrain17]

uh, no

 

[CaliforniaMom]

Got it, thanks!

 

[June the Coach Rider]

To me there is not enough saving to pay in advance for hotels if there is a chance that the train will not get me there on time. I would rather pay more per night than be charged for a full night saving near $100. The difference is usually less for the advance pay, so it is not worth it to me.

 

[MiRider]

Travel insurance is pretty cheap - usually $17pp per trip - and covers things like that.
Silly to travel without insurance, imo - ymmv

Easy to purchase online too.

http://www.etravelprotection.com/amtrak/

http://www.amtrak.com/hotels-cars-travel-insurance-and-more

 

[the_traveler]

Not to say don't by travel insurance, but insurance companies are there to make money.

Should I buy car insurance - yes! Should I buy home insurance - yes! Should I buy flood insurance - possible! Should I buy travel insurance - I wouldn't!

If you're worried about a lost hotel room cost, think about this. Is it better to buy trip insurance for $17, $20 or $25 and get a non-refundable hotel or get a refundable rate for $15 more that you can call up while aboard the train?

I have had car insurance for years. I can't remember the last time I filed a claim. If it was not required, I probably wouldn't even have it. I'm sure the insurance company got at least $10,000 from me without giving anything back. Now multiply that by millions of policies!

 

[Ispolkom]

With regard to travel insurance, you often have it from the credit card you used to buy the tickets. What that travel insurance covers, I couldn't say, but it's difficult for me to see what advantage actually buying travel insurance would have over using the credit card's version.

Of course, if you're traveling on points, it's a different issue. For the first time ever, I bought travel insurance for a European trip because the tickets were bought with frequent flyer miles. I decided that the cost of the premium was worth it just to reassure Mrs. Ispolkom that we'd get reimbursed if we were stuck in Brussels by a volcano or something. (A boy can hope -- I can't think of a city I rather be stuck in than Brussels.)

 

[pianocat]

I'm going to give an argument FOR the travel insurance,and mind you....it's only because of a personal experience that I say I never go anywhere without it now...... First of all, it IS cheap. If you're booking way in advance - it covers a whole lot of unforseen circumstances due to health, family health, etc. - unpredictable things. If I hadn't bought the travel insurance for my trip to Yellowstone/Glacier parks 2 years ago, I'd still be fuming about the out of pocket costs. Several pax on my tour [Amtrak CZ to SLC, then motorcoach to Glacier, then scheduled for the EB back to CHI] didn't have the insurance on this trip. This was the summer that Minot, ND was literally underwater, and the EB cancelled all through trains for several months. Our tour had just left Chicago when the EB cx for our return was announced. Everyone was on their own for getting back to Chicago, or home after the Glacier portion. I called Allianze [the insurance co.], and my airfare and up to $100/day was paid plus hotel in Seattle [we could go west, just couldn't go east!] Otherwise, would have been out big bucks. I think for that trip the insurance was about $25. Well worth it. Like the_traveler above, I never book a hotel room that doesn't include a cancellation option. You just never know, especially booking way in advance. My 2 cents.......

 

[the_traveler]

Yeah, I could see a case fine that where your tickets for an international flight costs $10,000 (in either real money or FFM's) and hotels may cost $300-500 a night! But Amtrak is offering my insurance for a trip from BOS to KIN for "only" $8! The trip is 1 hour and costs $17!

 

[SarahZ]

Even if someone reserves a hotel room without pre-paying, a lot of hotels will charge you for the first night if you don't cancel within 24 hours before check-in. Therefore, if someone is on the EB and the delays don't start until the day they are supposed to check in, they have no way of canceling their hotel room because it's past the deadline. That's how you can get nailed with a charge even if you don't pre-pay your hotel room.

 

[the_traveler]

Not arguing, but the same could happen in a car. In my example above, it took me 2 days just to drive from Columbus, OH to St Louis! That can very easily be done well under 1 day.

 

[SarahZ]

Not arguing, but the same could happen in a car. In my example above, it took me 2 days just to drive from Columbus, OH to St Louis! That can very easily be done well under 1 day.

Agreed. I just hate to NOT reserve a room because, depending on where I'm going, they might sell out fairly quickly. I just saw some people up there talking about pre-paid rooms, so I wanted to clarify that some people don't pre-pay but can still get charged.

 

[MiRider]

Travel insurance also covers meals, accommodations, and lost, stolen, or damaged luggage.

Well worth a measly $17 for the peace of mind, imo.

Personally, I wouldn't buy the quick trip insurance for a short day trip but I'm sure some business travelers do.

 

[oregon pioneer]

Not arguing, but the same could happen in a car. In my example above, it took me 2 days just to drive from Columbus, OH to St Louis! That can very easily be done well under 1 day.

Agreed. I just hate to NOT reserve a room because, depending on where I'm going, they might sell out fairly quickly. I just saw some people up there talking about pre-paid rooms, so I wanted to clarify that some people don't pre-pay but can still get charged.

I agree here, I almost always pre-book my hotel room, even though I know most will charge me for one night if I don't cancel at least 24 hours in advance. The really generous ones allow you to cancel up to noon or 4 or 6pm on the day of the reservation without being charged.

But I have never regretted doing so because once, when my train was really quite late arriving in San Antonio, I called ahead to say: "At midnight, you will be charging my credit card for the room we have booked. You'll think I'm a no-show, and might want to release the room. I just want to let you know that before morning, we WILL be occupying that room, and we will be really, really grateful for it!" They laughed, and were expecting us when we walked through the snowy, silent city from the train station (arriving at 4am). It was wonderful to know we could stay in the room again the next night when we could not leave because all the buses to Corpus Christi were canceled due to the unusual snow storm.

It's worth the chance of not arriving on time some day, to have a warm and welcoming room when you need it most!

(Of course, disclaimer here, you can probably accomplish the same thing by calling ahead from the train to book your room when you are sure you ARE going to be on time, or at least the right day).

 

[Ispolkom]

Even if someone reserves a hotel room without pre-paying, a lot of hotels will charge you for the first night if you don't cancel within 24 hours before check-in. Therefore, if someone is on the EB and the delays don't start until the day they are supposed to check in, they have no way of canceling their hotel room because it's past the deadline. That's how you can get nailed with a charge even if you don't pre-pay your hotel room.

Though it never hurts to try canceling after the deadline. I had to do that because of the same Minot flood that ruined pianocat's trip, though in my case I was driving my mother back to Minot hoping to beat the flood (it crested two blocks from her house). I asked nicely and the front desk clerk at the hotel we had reserved for the next night in Wisconsin canceled our reservation with no penalty.

Edited to fix syntax problem.

 

[SarahZ]

Even if someone reserves a hotel room without pre-paying, a lot of hotels will charge you for the first night if you don't cancel within 24 hours before check-in. Therefore, if someone is on the EB and the delays don't start until the day they are supposed to check in, they have no way of canceling their hotel room because it's past the deadline. That's how you can get nailed with a charge even if you don't pre-pay your hotel room.

Though it never hurts to try canceling after the deadline. I had to do that because of the same Minot flood that ruined pianocat, though in my case I was driving my mother back to Minot hoping to beat the flood (it crested two blocks from her house). I asked nicely and the front desk clerk at the hotel we had reserved for the next night in Wisconsin canceled our reservation with no penalty.

Agreed. Sometimes they are perfectly willing to assist you as long as you are polite and explain the situation. It's that whole "catch more flies with honey..." thing. I had to cancel a room due to a snowstorm, and they didn't even hesitate. Truthfully, I'm sure they were glad, as it probably opened up a room for someone trapped on the other end of the storm.