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R

RKA

Train Attendant
Joined
Aug 26, 2002
Messages
36
Hey Gang,

I am having trouble booking a trip online. I called Amtrack and they were no help. Here is what

I am trying to do:

ATL to NYP

NYP to TWO

TWO to VAC

VAC to TWO

TWO to NYP

NYP to ATL

I had no problem booking TWO to VAC and back on VIA. I can call Amtrak and book on the phone

but it cost about twice as much. I even tried to book ATL to NFL but I still got the error message.

I know that I am doing somthing wrong but I don't know what. I would like to leave 11-1 or

11-8 and have a bedroom all the way except NYP to TWO and back.

Thanks in advance.

RB
 
I was able to pick a multi-city trip, ask for ATL-NYP departing November 1 and NYP-TWO departing November 3, and it appeared to work just fine (granted, I didn't complete the reservation, so I don't know if it would really work all the way through).

Also, why would it cost twice as much to book over the phone? The fares you receive over the phone should be the same as those quoted online, unless you're trying to use some sort of discount code. So, is there a discount code involved? Keep in mind, also, that the Canadian Border-Toronto portion of the Maple Leaf is operated by VIA Rail (same equipment, different crew). Many discount codes that are valid on Amtrak won't be valid on the VIA Rail segment.

There is also a glitch in the system where if your trip requires more than ten ticket coupons (each train segment, including the *two* parts of the Maple Leaf route, have their own ticket coupon), the online system can't handle it. I don't know if that glitch has been fixed, but it existed in the past and made some itineraries difficult to book.

Anyway, since there is no same-day connection between the Crescent and the Maple Leaf, you will have to do a multi-city trip in order to make your reservations.
 
rmadisonwi said:
Also, why would it cost twice as much to book over the phone? The fares you receive over the phone should be the same as those quoted online, unless you're trying to use some sort of discount code.
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When I booked my ticket last January, they quoted me a higher price when calling than I could get online. The agent told me that it does cost more if you call in.
 
It even says it when you call the 800 number before you get menu options. "Visit us on the web at Amtrak.com, lower fares may be available."
 
This doesn't really make sense. Lower fares may be available on the Internet-only Rail Sale/Weekly Specials, because that's special inventory with a special designator, but everything else is loaded into Arrow just the same - the Internet, the call centers (through RailRes, an Arrow front end), and the station agents (through STARS, another Arrow front end) all read the same stuff. If there are two YD seats left, they're available through all channels just the same. In fact, there are some discount codes which don't work on the Internet and must be used in person or by having a rep do manual verification.
 
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Well I'm not 100% on this, but Amtrak may leave some lower fare seats open via the web. Just as the airlines have their web fares, Amtrak does the same by leaving more low fare seats open to the web. The reasoning for this is simple of course, the web system requires no one on the other end to execute the transaction. So if Amtrak can entice customers to use the web, that means they can reduce personnel needs at the call centers, and we all know the most expensive asset a company has is its people.

​
 
Let me know if you find any actual evidence of that, i.e., especially low Internet fares (NOT weekly special, but through the traditional booking interface) as compared to what Julie or an agent will provide.
 
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Don't look at me. I have my rail pass and that's about it. Amtrak's lucky if they get one "real" reservation out of me a year.
 
Anthony said:
This doesn't really make sense.

Anthony;

Let's be realistic here. This site would be fairly empty if we did not have discreptencies in the entire Amtrak sytem and that includes Arrow. I've walked up to the counter many times and turned in a ticket, bought the same space on the same date and ate the 10% surcharge and still saved money. Granted, someone backed out of their reservation but I, also, have been told that the fares are higher by the agents in Riverside. I wonder if this is just a "copy-cat" scenario picked up from the airlines that do charge extra when you talk to an agent? Or is it just the agents trying to get you to use Julie ???
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While that would be nice the train ran so notoriously late it'd be hard to use. Also with only having tri-weekly service that doesn't help anything. I wasn't here long enough to get used to having it (since its last run wasn't even a week into my tenure here) so I really don't miss it. I have been enjoying leaving my radio on and listening to the trains as they rumble just a few hundred feet from my apartment.
 
I'm just glad Wendy and I took advantage of the pass when we did, taking it to Pensacola and then ticketed through to NOL (rail sale, too!!). Made a really nice three-day WPK-NOL-WPK trip, and that was one of the VERY few trips when it was basically on time (within 10 minutes) at both ends. And as a side benefit, Billy was AC on the leg north to JAX and then on the return from JAX-WPK. They really ought to be selling that Pass at a reduced price now since so many miles in Florida are no longer included.
 
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Well the pass itself is already heavily discounted as it is. While I do see your logic, you can't deny the deep deep discount that the pass already offers.
 
I'm sure they priced it based on usage, since it ran at that price for several years. Now the package contains a lot less product, but it still sells for the same price. Do that to anything else in retail sales and there'd be an uproar about it. Very little that they do, especially including Sunset, makes any sense. I sent an email to customer service about it, got the two follow-up auto-emails guaranteeing a timely response, and then ....... nothing. Almost as if either nobody gives a rat's behind, or it's being hot-potatoed around while they decide what to respond.
 
Anthony said:
Let me know if you find any actual evidence of that, i.e., especially low Internet fares (NOT weekly special, but through the traditional booking interface) as compared to what Julie or an agent will provide.
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Well, all my evidence is that when I called, they tried to charge me more than I have looked up on the website. I imediatly went after the call and booked online for the lower fare.
 
I still can't make web reservations. This is what I get.

"Problem Pricing the Itinerary: Sorry, our booking system cannot price the selected itinerary. For additional assistance, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

[Error ID:131A]"

I don't have a clue as to what I am doing wrong.

RB

PS-I have more than a few miles in the last 3 years and I can tell you for sure that web tickets are cheaper.
 
I can only guess at this, but are you trying to book ATL direct to TWO?

If so, that is your problem, as there is no same day connection in NY. You'll have to click the "Multi-Cities" option on the reservation page. Then enter for the first leg ATL to NYP leaving on the 1st. Then for the second leg enter NYP - TWO leaving on the 3rd. And of course you'll need to book a hotel in NY for the night of the 2nd, in order to make that connection, unless you just want to camp out in the waiting room for the night.

You'll need to basically repeat the above for your return trip, as once again a same day connection between the Maple Leaf and the Crescent is not possible.
 
AmtrakWPK said:
I'm sure they priced it based on usage, since it ran at that price for several years. Now the package contains a lot less product, but it still sells for the same price. Do that to anything else in retail sales and there'd be an uproar about it.
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Actually, they do that all the time.

Coke and Pepsi used to sell eight-packs of 20 ounce bottles. Coke switched to 0.5 liters, and Pepsi switched to six-packs of 24 ounce bottles. In each case, the customer wound up with less product. Do you think the prices went down when they did that?
 
I was able to price Atlanta - New York - Toronto on-line. I entered it as a multi-city itinerary.

In my case, on the multi-city page:

"ATL-NYP 04NOV" as segment one, and

"NYP-TWO 06NOV" as segment two.

The trip on the Crescent (#20) and the Maple Leaf (#63 & 7098) priced at $171 one way Adult, no discount.

Remember, the train from Atlanta arrives NYP on day two and the train to Toronto leaves on day three. Because this is an overnight connection, you cannot book this on-line as a simple one-way or round trip. It must be booked as multi-city with the correct departure dates from ATL and NYP. Also, since the portion in Canada is actually a VIA train, you cannot use Amtrak discounts on any bookings that include that segment. It must be booked as an adult fare.
 
I didn't think Amtrak really priced things differently on the web vs. calling in, so I asked someone I know who works for Amtrak in DC doing, among other things, setting the railroad's reservations/fares policy. So, this would be as close to the "horse's mouth" as one could get:

Fares are based on availability of the various inventory classes. All three systems [That is, the website, station agents, and the reservation call center. -rm] extract from the same Arrow inventory but if it's done at different times, a different mix of inventory classes may exist.
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Jax-Mia is 412 route-mlles. Jax-Pensacola is 373. So we have gone from 785 route-miles to 412. That's 52% of what it was advertised as, since they still show it as part of the Railpass, but basically footnote it as "well,not right now".

Your 20 ounce bottles would have to have dropped to dropped to 10.5 ounces to be an equivalent to the Florida Railpass. Go ahead and tell me there wouldn't have been an uproar over that. A liter is slightly more than a quart, so a half liter is just over 16.9 ounces, or .85% of the original 20 ounce measure. As to the six vs. 8 packs, 8*20 = 160 oz, 6*24=144 oz, or 90% of the original.

Sunset is (was) also the only Superliner train on the Florida Railpass.

,
 
Well, the Sunset ran three days per week, the other two Florida trains ran daily. So, another way to look at it (depending on where one would be traveling from/to) is that the service went from 34 weekly trips (17 per direction) to 28 (14 per direction).

But that's neither here nor there. The real question is, are people still buying the Florida Railpass? Would Amtrak's revenue increase or decrease by lowering its price? The answer to that really is the answer to what Amtrak should do.

My take on the situation is, as long as the Sunset Limited isn't running, then the people who would ride that train aren't going to buy the pass, no matter how much it sells for. The folks that travel between Miami and Jacksonville have only lost three weekly trips between Orlando and Jacksonville, southbound part of which was so unreliable that they probably didn't ride it that much anyway. So, for the people who still can use the pass, they're seeing only a slight decrease in the service available to them.
 
Question about AGR points. For Florida Railpass people. Do you get points with your pass and how does that work? Do you have a ticket to lift? :huh:
 
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