lost tickets policy

[MontanaJim]

I see if a passenger loses his or her tickets, or has them stolen, they have to buy new tickets. Sounds like a stiff policy to me. Doesnt seem fair.

Maybe Amtrak should issue tickets like the airlines?

 

[NativeSon5859]

It depends on the situation I think.

On my trip from Emeryville to New Orleans via Chicago last year, I actually managed to lose my CHI-NOL ticket somewhere on the Zephyr. I searched my room high and low...looked in the lounge and the diner...never showed up. In any case, I went to the ticket counter in Chicago and explained the situation to them. Maybe it helped that the Zephyr was 19 hours late and that I had a sleeper booked, but they just reissued it for me.

Like the airlines, I guess a lot of it has to do with your attitude and if the company rep really wants to help you out.

 

[Trogdor]

The problem with issuing tickets like the airlines is that it would increase the cost, as Amtrak would have to add ticket agents or machines to every station in the country. This would also take a lot longer for high-ridership corridor trains to board, as people would have to line up to get their tickets at train time.

 

[sechs]

I see if a passenger loses his or her tickets, or has them stolen, they have to buy new tickets. Sounds like a stiff policy to me. Doesnt seem fair.

You lose something and someone else has to fix it? That doesn't sound fair to me....

 

[AmtrakLoverAndHater]

You lose something and someone else has to fix it? That doesn't sound fair to me....

Apparently you've never heard of the insurance industry.

 

[MontanaJim]

sometimes people have their tickets stolen or for some reason beyond their control, lose their tickets. if you lose your airline ticket you can get a replacement. it would only take an agent 5 minutes to issue a new ticket. im sure amtrak has lost some customers who have had their tickets stolen or whatever and simply choose to fly in the future because they were forced to pay for their replacement tickets. I mean, even a 15 percent penalty would be fine with me. I just think its plain stupid and dumb business to force customers to buy a completely new ticket.

 

[MontanaJim]

of course, we all know amtrak has lots to learn in the customer satisfaction business.....southwest airlines it is not......

 

[denmarks]

I've never understood why tickets can't be replaced if lost with no problem. If you lose your tickets and show up for the train then there is no way another person can use them. If someone tries to cash them in then possitive ID should be required and a check should be made to see if they were used.

 

[sechs]

You lose something and someone else has to fix it?  That doesn't sound fair to me....

Apparently you've never heard of the insurance industry.

Apparently you're unaware that Amtrak isn't an insurance company....

 

[sechs]

If you lose your tickets and show up for the train then there is no way another person can use them.

If someone shows up at the train with a ticket, how will you know it's not stolen?

For sleepers it isn't that hard, because space is reserved; but how would it work in coach? Attendants would have to check each ticket against all others taken on the train.

 

[AlanB]

but how would it work in coach? Attendants would have to check each ticket against all others taken on the train.

That would be hard enough on a long distance train with limited stops and often great distances between stops.

Imagine trying to do that on a 10 car regional train with stops every half hour or less. And back in the days of unreserved tickets on the NEC, it would have been impossible, since the original ticket holder might have wanted to travel on train #95 on Tuesday, while the finder of the ticket choose to travel on train #171 two weeks later on Thursday.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

Think a solution is to include a digital image on the ticket of theowner. Done at time of purchase so not to interfere with on board crew..

Thiw would also work on planes.

 

[AmtrakLoverAndHater]

You lose something and someone else has to fix it?  That doesn't sound fair to me....

Apparently you've never heard of the insurance industry.

Apparently you're unaware that Amtrak isn't an insurance company....

Sorry, I was referring to your broad generalization that having other people fix things wasn't 'fair'. Perhaps narrow observations would be more appropriate than uninformed blanket statements B)

 

[Trogdor]

Think a solution is to include a digital image on the ticket of theowner. Done at time of purchase so not to interfere with on board crew..

Would be extremely expensive to do that. And for what benefit, exactly?

 

[GG-1]

Think a solution is to include a digital image on the ticket of the owner. Done at time of purchase so not to interfere with on board crew..

Would be extremely expensive to do that. And for what benefit, exactly?

Aloha

A small setetup combined with the existing ticket printers would allow those accepting the tickets to know that the person presenting the ticket was the the purchaser. Also at the time of sale there is more time to check Identification.

 

[PRR 60]

One solution for those traveling from attended stations or stations with QuikTrak kiosks is to wait until right before departure to get your ticket. In this way your reservation is held electronically like an airline e-ticket until your day of departure, and your paper ticket, issued right before train time, is nothing more than a boarding pass. For round trip itineraries, which typically are priced as two one-way trips, each segment could be booked separately allowing last minute ticketing of each. An additional advantage of not ticketing your reservation is the relative ease of having changes made as compared to the hassle once you obtain paper tickets.

 

[Trogdor]

A small setetup combined with the existing ticket printers would allow those accepting the tickets to know that the person presenting the ticket was the the purchaser. Also at the time of sale there is more time to check Identification.

I doubt the current ticket printers are capable of doing any kind of photo imaging. The resolution would be way too poor to be useful. Besides, what about tickets obtained from a QuikTrak machine, tickets delivered through the mail, etc?

 

[sechs]

Apparently you've never heard of the insurance industry.

Apparently you're unaware that Amtrak isn't an insurance company....

Sorry, I was referring to your broad generalization that having other people fix things wasn't 'fair'. Perhaps narrow observations would be more appropriate than uninformed blanket statements

Sorry, I was referring to your broad generalization that I've never heard of the insurance industry.

 

[AmtrakLoverAndHater]

Actually it was a direct observation :huh: