zoltan
Service Attendant
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2008
- Messages
- 230
From the Amtrak Website, there are a few things I'm left wondering about the way in which their USA rail passes.
- How does one go about making a reservation with the pass, charged at zero, or the appropriate price, once one has bought it? Is it possible on the internet, or only by phone?
- Is the upgrade to a sleeper the same price as a paying coach passenger would have to pay as an upgrade on top of their coach fare?
- Ditto with the Business Class upgrade.
- Is collection generally hassle-free? And what documentation is required to collect your pass?
- It is stated that:
Reservations for train travel should be made as far in advance as possible; seats available for USA Rail Pass passengers are limited on each train. We do not recommend waiting until the day of departure to make your reservations since there is a greater chance that seats allocated for the USA Rail Pass may not be available on your desired train. If your plans are not flexible, non-USA Rail Pass seats may be available at an additional cost."
Therefore,
- How does this work? Does it mean that one will have to pay the full fare at whatever the current bucket is if there are none of a certain quota of rail pass seats available, or does it mean that there is no quota of rail pass seats, but one will have to pay the difference between the low bucket and the current price if the low bucket seats are sold out? Or does it work differently from either of these ways?
- Is there likely to be any problem with obtaining free rail pass seats when booking two or three months in advance?
- Is it very likely that booking weeks or days in advance, one will be unable to obtain a free rail pass seat? And what about when booking on the day?
I'm quite excited; a pass looks like it may prove quite useful for me in the hopefully not too distant future!
Your help is, as always, appreciated.
- How does one go about making a reservation with the pass, charged at zero, or the appropriate price, once one has bought it? Is it possible on the internet, or only by phone?
- Is the upgrade to a sleeper the same price as a paying coach passenger would have to pay as an upgrade on top of their coach fare?
- Ditto with the Business Class upgrade.
- Is collection generally hassle-free? And what documentation is required to collect your pass?
- It is stated that:
Reservations for train travel should be made as far in advance as possible; seats available for USA Rail Pass passengers are limited on each train. We do not recommend waiting until the day of departure to make your reservations since there is a greater chance that seats allocated for the USA Rail Pass may not be available on your desired train. If your plans are not flexible, non-USA Rail Pass seats may be available at an additional cost."
Therefore,
- How does this work? Does it mean that one will have to pay the full fare at whatever the current bucket is if there are none of a certain quota of rail pass seats available, or does it mean that there is no quota of rail pass seats, but one will have to pay the difference between the low bucket and the current price if the low bucket seats are sold out? Or does it work differently from either of these ways?
- Is there likely to be any problem with obtaining free rail pass seats when booking two or three months in advance?
- Is it very likely that booking weeks or days in advance, one will be unable to obtain a free rail pass seat? And what about when booking on the day?
I'm quite excited; a pass looks like it may prove quite useful for me in the hopefully not too distant future!
Your help is, as always, appreciated.
