Itinerary Changes and Funds

[ns4eva]

I just recently had my itinerary changed for my summer vacation after talking to some people about my trip. I decided to make my trip into a 3 day, 4 night stay at the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, MT this July. In order to do this I had to change my departure point from Prince, WV to Lynchburg, VA due to the Cardinal only running 3 times a week.

I spoke to an agent and was told that I was unable to "edit" my itinerary and would have to cancel and rebook. I thought about it and thought that I would try to call back in 30 minutes to catch another agent. He canceled my trip on the Cardinal (westbound) and the Empire Builder and Cardinal (eastbound). He kept my room on the westbound Empire Builder to keep me from loosing a top floor roomette. I then booked the Crescent to DC and the Capital Limited and so on and so forth, to complete the return trip. All in all it cost me an extra $217. (Sorry if this isn't making much sense, hopefully everyone can follow)

My main question is, since he said the original reservation (still have the same reservation # as before) would be refunded and the new one charged (no arguments), I was wondering how long it might take for the refund to show up in my account (Debit card) since the charge showed up the next day (no surprise)? I have searched and think the answer might be 7 days? I just wanted to double check since I couldn't find anything similar to my situation since this isn't a total cancellation or late cancellation.

Also, off topic, does Amtrak keep track of persons calling to confirm that their route has all "Guaranteed Connections" or other questions? I called once to ask an agent and again 30 minutes later to get someone else to confirm. The second agent seemed to know I had called earlier and seemed irritated by my asking about the connections (First agent was female and second one male, so no chance it was the same agent). My girlfriend was on "3 way" and heard him as well and thought he said that "we had already confirmed your connections as guaranteed" before I even said anything to her about it when we hung up from the conversation with the agent.

 

[the_traveler]

I don't know why he wanted to "refund" the money. All he had to do is apply the value paid to the new ticket. (Example: If the value of your current ticket is $400 and the new ticket costs $600, all he had to do is apply the $400 value and charge you $200 more. As it is, $1,000 is taken from your account - until the $400 is refunded!)

And since you have the same reservation number, your reservation was indeed edited! If a new reservation was made, you would have a new reservation number!

 

[PetalumaLoco]

I don't know why he wanted to "refund" the money. All he had to do is apply the value paid to the new ticket. (Example: If the value of your current ticket is $400 and the new ticket costs $600, all he had to do is apply the $400 value and charge you $200 more. As it is, $1,000 is taken from your account - until the $400 is refunded!)
And since you have the same reservation number, your reservation was indeed edited! If a new reservation was made, you would have a new reservation number!

Last year I had an agent change my booking by adding an Amtrak bus at the beginning of the trip. Didn't change the res# or any other booking details, but the same thing happened; refund of original transaction and new cc billing. I think they told me up to 7 days for the refund to show up, and it actually took 3.

 

[ns4eva]

I don't know why he wanted to "refund" the money. All he had to do is apply the value paid to the new ticket. (Example: If the value of your current ticket is $400 and the new ticket costs $600, all he had to do is apply the $400 value and charge you $200 more. As it is, $1,000 is taken from your account - until the $400 is refunded!)
And since you have the same reservation number, your reservation was indeed edited! If a new reservation was made, you would have a new reservation number!

Would had made sense to do as you said, but I already seemed to have been confusing him enough by telling him not to book the Cardinal route and trying to explain the situation to him. Had to reiterate several times that the route I need showed up online as Crescent - Capital Limited - Empire Builder and back since the Cardinal only ran 3 times a week (I still don't think he understands the Cardinal isn't a daily train). Being greatful that he edited my itinerary I didn't argue the refund and recharge.

I am thankful though that I had the funds to afford to loose the second charge from my account before receiving the refunded money.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[ns4eva]

I don't know why he wanted to "refund" the money. All he had to do is apply the value paid to the new ticket. (Example: If the value of your current ticket is $400 and the new ticket costs $600, all he had to do is apply the $400 value and charge you $200 more. As it is, $1,000 is taken from your account - until the $400 is refunded!)
And since you have the same reservation number, your reservation was indeed edited! If a new reservation was made, you would have a new reservation number!

Last year I had an agent change my booking by adding an Amtrak bus at the beginning of the trip. Didn't change the res# or any other booking details, but the same thing happened; refund of original transaction and new cc billing. I think they told me up to 7 days for the refund to show up, and it actually took 3.

Glad to hear that it wasn't the ridiculous 30-60 days. Hopefully I will have it before the weeks end or early next week since the transaction happened Sunday evening.

Thanks for the info!

 

[printman2000]

I am thankful though that I had the funds to afford to loose the second charge from my account before receiving the refunded money.
Thanks for the reply!

You should consider getting the Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card. That way, you can earn points towards future travel. Also, it is not hitting your bank account so hopefully the the credit and charge will hit on the same statement.

 

[ns4eva]

I am thankful though that I had the funds to afford to loose the second charge from my account before receiving the refunded money.
Thanks for the reply!

You should consider getting the Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card. That way, you can earn points towards future travel. Also, it is not hitting your bank account so hopefully the the credit and charge will hit on the same statement.

I had looked into the rewards program, however I will be lucky to take one train trip a year and wouldn't use the credit card to make any purchases since I prefer cash over plastic (besides big purchases). Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[printman2000]

I had looked into the rewards program, however I will be lucky to take one train trip a year and wouldn't use the credit card to make any purchases since I prefer cash over plastic (besides big purchases). Thanks for the suggestion though.

I am in the same boat, about one trip a year. After three trips, I earned enough for a two zone roomette. A majority of my earnings came straight from tickets purchased. I do not use the credit card except for Amtrak purchases.

If you use Amtrak EVER, you should sign up for AGR (http://www.amtrakguestrewards.com). It costs nothing and you might as well start your earning now. It does not require the credit card, the CC is just bonus points should you decide to use it.

 

[the_traveler]

You should consider getting the Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card. That way, you can earn points towards future travel. Also, it is not hitting your bank account so hopefully the the credit and charge will hit on the same statement.

I had looked into the rewards program, however I will be lucky to take one train trip a year and wouldn't use the credit card to make any purchases since I prefer cash over plastic (besides big purchases). Thanks for the suggestion though.

You say that you wouldn't use the card enough for a trip, and that prefer cash over plastic? :huh: It's a personal choice, but consider this.

I use my card mostly for "luxuries" like gas for the car and food for the table. (Those are things I would buy using cash anyway.) We are a family of 4 and I average $1,000-$2,000 a month. If you multiply that by 12 months - Guess what? :huh: A free trip every year - just for paying for something I would use cash for to pay anyway! (Even if your bills were less, it may take 2 years to earn a free trip.

You don't have to use it for train travel!

And because there is no annual fee, you can't even say "It costs too much!"

 

[RRrich]

I'm not sure if this applies to you, but many of us do not do round trips on ONE reservation.

One reservation out and another one back - that way you can alter one without any questions about the other. Cost is usually the same but the convenience can be very different

 

[p&sr]

I was wondering how long it might take for the refund to show up in my account...
The second agent seemed to know I had called earlier and seemed irritated by my asking about the connections...

I did a re-booking last week when I discovered that one leg of my upcoming USA Rail Tour had become available at a lower rate. They said the refund might take five business days, but next day it was already done. Now the whole trip is at "Low Bucket"!

If you needed to call and clarify something, they have NO BUSINESS being irritated that you asked. Their job is to Serve the Public. If it were me (AND if I felt like being extra courteous, which is by no means a given), I would have said, Sorry I just got confused about something and wanted to make sure. Not much they can say to that!

 

[ns4eva]

Just an update for anyone interested and for any future reference.

The refund in my account (checked online) has shown as being done on the same day as the charge. So pretty much the delay was due to BB&T's slow (to me) processing and updating (as usual).

 

[printman2000]

Just an update for anyone interested and for any future reference.
The refund in my account (checked online) has shown as being done on the same day as the charge. So pretty much the delay was due to BB&T's slow (to me) processing and updating (as usual).

Have you signed up for AGR? Seriously, you need to do it. It costs nothing and the points keep a long time.

I am talking about AGR, NOT the AGR credit card.

 

[ns4eva]

Just an update for anyone interested and for any future reference.
The refund in my account (checked online) has shown as being done on the same day as the charge. So pretty much the delay was due to BB&T's slow (to me) processing and updating (as usual).

Have you signed up for AGR? Seriously, you need to do it. It costs nothing and the points keep a long time.

I am talking about AGR, NOT the AGR credit card.

Would be to late for this time around. I'll look into it before my next years trip (If I still have a job and can afford one next year)

 

[printman2000]

Would be to late for this time around. I'll look into it before my next years trip (If I still have a job and can afford one next year)

No, it is not too late. You can simply sign up now, then call Amtrak and they can add your AGR number to your reservation. I recommend signing up everyone with their own account who has a ticket. You can only earn points on tickets in your name, so I have an account for my wife and two boys.

Seriously, it would be a waste to not collect points. It may not seem worth the trouble now, but in a couple of years, it will pay off.

 

[sky12065]

Seriously, it would be a waste to not collect points. It may not seem worth the trouble now, but in a couple of years, it will pay off.

You're not just whistling Dixie here Printman! I was a hard sell and AlanB finally got through to me to join. I joined at the end of this March not really knowing how I would do and I already have over 7000 points posted. I am also finding it hard to believe that there is a very good chance that I will break 55,000 points by the end of the year... and that doesn't even include the rail points I'll earn from my cross country trip in a few months.

I do want to say though that earning this many points this quickly is not the norm, or as sometime disclosed "Not typical results." I was lucky or unlucky enough, depending on one's perspective, to have some opportunities for earning points open to me that most people don't normally get a shot at. To keep this short I'll just say the the major portion of the points will come from my moving from one house to another!

The thought just came to me that by the time they build a trestle to Hawaii and add a 4th zone... I'LL BE READY TO GO! LOOK OUT ERIC, HERE I COME!!! :lol:

 

[GG-1]

The thought just came to me that by the time they build a trestle to Hawaii and add a 4th zone... I'LL BE READY TO GO! LOOK OUT ERIC, HERE I COME!!! :lol:

Aloha

Your welcome to visit here, But I Hope we meet in person before we get the bridge. It might be easier for us if Amtrak would sell tickets to cities that they don't service by train and let us acquire miles that way, restricted to be redeemed on a train.

We miss meeting in LA this year twice by about 2 months this year. :huh:

 

[PetalumaLoco]

Seriously, it would be a waste to not collect points. It may not seem worth the trouble now, but in a couple of years, it will pay off.

You're not just whistling Dixie here Printman! I was a hard sell and AlanB finally got through to me to join. I joined at the end of this March not really knowing how I would do and I already have over 7000 points posted. I am also finding it hard to believe that there is a very good chance that I will break 55,000 points by the end of the year... and that doesn't even include the rail points I'll earn from my cross country trip in a few months.

I do want to say though that earning this many points this quickly is not the norm, or as sometime disclosed "Not typical results." I was lucky or unlucky enough, depending on one's perspective, to have some opportunities for earning points open to me that most people don't normally get a shot at. To keep this short I'll just say the the major portion of the points will come from my moving from one house to another!

The thought just came to me that by the time they build a trestle to Hawaii and add a 4th zone... I'LL BE READY TO GO! LOOK OUT ERIC, HERE I COME!!! :lol:

You guys with AGR credit cards, what's the going %rate they're using?

 

[sky12065]

Seriously, it would be a waste to not collect points. It may not seem worth the trouble now, but in a couple of years, it will pay off.

You're not just whistling Dixie here Printman! I was a hard sell and AlanB finally got through to me to join. I joined at the end of this March not really knowing how I would do and I already have over 7000 points posted. I am also finding it hard to believe that there is a very good chance that I will break 55,000 points by the end of the year... and that doesn't even include the rail points I'll earn from my cross country trip in a few months.

I do want to say though that earning this many points this quickly is not the norm, or as sometime disclosed "Not typical results." I was lucky or unlucky enough, depending on one's perspective, to have some opportunities for earning points open to me that most people don't normally get a shot at. To keep this short I'll just say the the major portion of the points will come from my moving from one house to another!

The thought just came to me that by the time they build a trestle to Hawaii and add a 4th zone... I'LL BE READY TO GO! LOOK OUT ERIC, HERE I COME!!! :lol:

You guys with AGR credit cards, what's the going %rate they're using?

The first 6 billing cycles it's 0%. Afterward it's variable so CLICK HERE then scroll down and select "Pricing and Terms" just before the fine print.

 

[AlanB]

And if you don't charge more than you can pay off at the end of the month, then who cares what the rate is, you won't have to pay any interest. And since most people have been advocating using the card for things that people are already buying with cash, just make darn sure that you save that cash for the bill.

 

[PetalumaLoco]

And if you don't charge more than you can pay off at the end of the month, then who cares what the rate is, you won't have to pay any interest. And since most people have been advocating using the card for things that people are already buying with cash, just make darn sure that you save that cash for the bill.

Thanks Alan.

 

[the_traveler]

The thought just came to me that by the time they build a trestle to Hawaii and add a 4th zone... I'LL BE READY TO GO! LOOK OUT ERIC, HERE I COME!!! :lol:

I already have the HNL loophole trip planned! Finish the trestle quick! :lol:

 

[JayPea]

And if you don't charge more than you can pay off at the end of the month, then who cares what the rate is, you won't have to pay any interest. And since most people have been advocating using the card for things that people are already buying with cash, just make darn sure that you save that cash for the bill.

It took me a couple of months to figure all that out myself. (Nothin' slow about me!!! :lol: ) But now it's so much easier just paying one big bill a month rather than a bunch of little ones throughout the month. Not to mention the AGR points I rack up each month. Now if I could only get my landlord to accept the AGR credit card...........