Northeast Regional reserved coach

[jersey42]

I am leaving this weekend on cross country trip from New York to San Francisco. The first leg will be on the NER from New York to Washington DC in reserved coach. The NER trains pretty much run every hour. If I arrive at NYP early, will they honor my ticket on the NER train that leaves an hour earlier than the one I have reserved? Or, do I need to change the reservation at what I expect will be an increased cost?

By the way, if I try to book either NER train today from NYP to WAS, the fares are identical.

 

[AlanB]

You would have to change the reservation and that could quite possibly require paying more.

 

[bmorechris]

My In-laws were in NY a couple weeks ago, and on the way back wanted to get on an earlier train back to Baltimore. When my FIL called reservations, they said there was a change in fare for the earlier train so he didn't change the tickets. When they got to NYP early, they went to the ticket counter and the agent changed the tickets to the earlier train with no re-fare. I'm not sure if the bucket had dropped or they just had a kind agent who made the switch, but FIL said it was not an issue.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

My In-laws were in NY a couple weeks ago, and on the way back wanted to get on an earlier train back to Baltimore. When my FIL called reservations, they said there was a change in fare for the earlier train so he didn't change the tickets. When they got to NYP early, they went to the ticket counter and the agent changed the tickets to the earlier train with no re-fare. I'm not sure if the bucket had dropped or they just had a kind agent who made the switch, but FIL said it was not an issue.

Sad to say I didn't have that luck in WAS back in April on a Sunday afternoon. Had to wait a couple of hours for my train because I didn't want to pay the fare increase. But, it doesn't hurt to ask.