On the Starlight very soon

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
SP&S

SP&S

OBS Chief
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
507
Location
PDX
Shortly the wife and I will be taking a vacation, and boy do we both need one. Sunday the 13th we're flying PDX-RNO, staying there three nights then taking an early flight on the 16rh to LAX and catching the Starlight back to Portland. I booked the flights early and got then cheap, the rooms are comped, and the bedroom on the Starlight is courtesy of AGR. If the dice are friendly, this could be a cheap trip!

I know the normal routing would be to take the Zephyr from RNO-SAC and connect with the CS there. Sorry, too long a layover and the northbound comes thru at something like 2 in the morning.

I was amazed that I got the wife - 30 years and she's still a keeper :wub: - to go along with the flight to LAX, but she's grown to like the train too and this gives us extra time on our favorite train. If we're lucky, thanks to the temporary later departure of the CS we can catch breakfast at Phillipe's. French dip for breakfast? Why not??

I do have one question, and please realize that I'm not trying to get over on anybody. Some time after I made the reservations, it was decided that it would be a nice thing if my daughter (who loves the train too!) came to visit us for a couple of days. She's in EUG, so I bought her a coach ticket on the CS on the 17th. What would be our chances of having her come back an visit with us in the sleeper? I plan to be up front and clear it with the SCA. She won't be sleeping, we probably won't be hanging out in the parlour (except to show off how the other half lives :D ), and if the train is delayed and if the three of us eat together in the diner, I will pay for her meal. Interestingly, Amtrak is getting paid more for her coach seat than for our bedroom. If worse comes to worse and they won't let us do this, it will be OK. She has a nice coach seat, and we can meet for a while in the lounge car . Of course, we all arrive in PDX together. My wife thinks it's a sure thing, I'm not so sure. Any ideas?
 
Amtrak isn't too keen on Coach passenger being in the Sleepers or the PPC. I'm sure your SCA won't have an issue with it, no promises, but it depends on how "customer friendly" their attitude is. Keep in mind if your in the lounge you will get a coach reservation for the diner.
 
I literally just hung up from talking with an Amtrak agent to arrange having a coach passenger join a friend and myself in our sleeper (bedroom). We're traveling from New Orleans to Washington, and our friend will join us from Birmingham to Atlanta.

The agent had no trouble tying his coach reservation to our sleeper reservation. I realize you have an AGR reservation, where ours is not, but I think it's worth a call to see. Good luck!

Enjoy your trip .

Mike
 
J-1 3235 said:
I literally just hung up from talking with an Amtrak agent to arrange having a coach passenger join a friend and myself in our sleeper (bedroom). We're traveling from New Orleans to Washington, and our friend will join us from Birmingham to Atlanta.

The agent had no trouble tying his coach reservation to our sleeper reservation. I realize you have an AGR reservation, where ours is not, but I think it's worth a call to see. Good luck!

Enjoy your trip .

Mike
Click to expand...
I travel on business and I've twice added a colleague (who has different endpoints) to my sleeper reservation. Amtrak has no problem doing it, you just need to have both your reservation number and your daughter's.
 
Technically, can't you book three adults into a bedroom if you call amtrak? If your daughter isn't planning on sleeping in the sleeper, I would see if you could add her to a portion of your AGR reservation so that she is ticketed in the actual bedroom from EUG - PDX.
 
AMTRAK is supposed to be in the Customer Service business so I expect thaty they will be anxious to make their customers happy. Make a reasonable request and they should be equally if not more reasonable.

This is NOT to say that if you buy one sleeper ticket you can have your whole fraternity visit youo and party all night :giggle:
 
Acela150 said:
Keep in mind if your in the lounge you will get a coach reservation for the diner.
Click to expand...
Unless you chose to eat in the PPC, all 3 of you can chose to eat at the same time in the Dining Car. Just tell the LSA that there will be 3. (I've done it many times - tell the LSA I need a reservation for 3 or 4, while in a roomette!
biggrin.gif
)

And as said, check with the SCA. I really don't think there will be a problem. After all, they let coach passengers in the PPC for the wine tasting!
smile.gif
 
Keep in mind that the CS arrives into PDX at 5:40 p.m. under the temp schedule. So if your train's on time you would

need to get the earliest possible dinner reservation and even that's pushing it. Of course the train could easily

be an hour late in which case that's less of an issue.

Does anyone else think that a passenger who enters the sleeping car area in the middle of the afternoon for a

relatively short segment is likely not to even be noticed? I mean, haven't we all gone hours at a time without seeing

a SCA? I know, communicating with the SCA might be a good idea, but in all likelihood it won't even matter.
 
In fact, IIRC the wine tasting is usually around EUG. And that's when coach passengers can come in (for the wine tasting). So my guess (and only a guess) is that she could enter the PPC with you, and if you get asked to "go to your room during the wine tasting" , she can go to "her" room with you!
tongue.gif
(Sometimes they ask everyone not participating in the wine tasting to leave the PPC, sometimes not. I've had both. But to me the OR and WA wines are the better of the 2. Buy her a $5 sleeping car ticket for the wine tasting with your's, and she can be in the PPC legally!
biggrin.gif
)
 
the_traveler said:
Acela150 said:
Keep in mind if your in the lounge you will get a coach reservation for the diner.
Click to expand...
Unless you chose to eat in the PPC, all 3 of you can chose to eat at the same time in the Dining Car. Just tell the LSA that there will be 3. (I've done it many times - tell the LSA I need a reservation for 3 or 4, while in a roomette!
biggrin.gif
)

And as said, check with the SCA. I really don't think there will be a problem. After all, they let coach passengers in the PPC for the wine tasting!
smile.gif
Click to expand...
Didn't know you could eat meals in the PPC. :eek: Good to know! :) But why would you eat in the PPC when you could eat in the diner and spread the word about AGR and give them your information for the 500 points! :lol: Or do you spread the word in there too? :blink: :lol:
 
Acela150 said:
Didn't know you could eat meals in the PPC. :eek: Good to know! :) But why would you eat in the PPC when you could eat in the diner
Click to expand...
Because the Dining Car has the same EXACT menu as any other train on Amtrak. The PPC has different offerings! And after spending 4-5 days eating the same food (don't forget that I am the_traveler
laugh.gif
), it's nice to have a change of food!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
the_traveler said:
Acela150 said:
Didn't know you could eat meals in the PPC. :eek: Good to know! :) But why would you eat in the PPC when you could eat in the diner
Click to expand...
Because the Dining Car has the same EXACT menu as any other train on Amtrak. The PPC has different offerings! And after spending 4-5 days eating the same food (don't forget that I am the_traveler
laugh.gif
), it's nice to have a change of food!
Click to expand...
You amaze me!! :cool: Last time I was on a LD train before last year was in 07! :eek: I very rarely get to travel outside the NEC... :( That was a 31 day trip! Included the Cardinal, SWC, Surfliners, CS (twice! SBA-SJC then EMY to SEA) Cascades to VAC, The Rocky Mountaineer, The Canadian, Bus to SEA from VAC, EB (twice SEA to ESM them to CHI) CL connected to 2172 back to PHL. Sad part was we used a travel agent who were great BUT! Forgot to include our AGR number!!!! :eek: We lost out on a good between 5000 and 10000 points! We woulda hit select or select plus on one trip!! :D
 
Acela150 said:
Sad part was we used a travel agent who were great BUT! Forgot to include our AGR number!!!! :eek: We lost out on a good between 5000 and 10000 points! We woulda hit select or select plus on one trip!! :D
Click to expand...
You should have contacted AGR when you returned (or contacted Amtrak before you left, and had them add your AGR number to your reservation)!
unsure.gif
You can receive credit for travel within the past IIRC 21 days!
rolleyes.gif
If attached to your reservation before you departed, you would have received automatic credit. (Your AGR number need not be printed on your ticket!)
 
More information here than I could ever have hoped for.

fairviewroad said:
Keep in mind that the CS arrives into PDX at 5:40 p.m. under the temp schedule. So if your train's on time you would

need to get the earliest possible dinner reservation and even that's pushing it. Of course the train could easily

be an hour late in which case that's less of an issue.
Click to expand...
I wasn't planning on dinner before Portland unless we're running pretty late. And one thing I do know; if you're counting on the train being late, that's when it will be running on time.

Peter KG6LSE said:
the_traveler said:
. After all, they let coach passengers in the PPC for the wine tasting!
Click to expand...
I asked Steve the assistant conductor about that. He said they stopped doing it .

I had my cash in hand too ..
Click to expand...
Interesting, I thought they sold the tasting to coach pax iff they didn't get enough participation from the sleepers.

Whatever happens, one thing is for certain; on vacation, on the starlight, with a free bedroom, I'd be hard pressed not to have a good time. Now if I could only find the stairway to the penthouse....
 
the_traveler said:
Acela150 said:
Sad part was we used a travel agent who were great BUT! Forgot to include our AGR number!!!! :eek: We lost out on a good between 5000 and 10000 points! We woulda hit select or select plus on one trip!! :D
Click to expand...
You should have contacted AGR when you returned (or contacted Amtrak before you left, and had them add your AGR number to your reservation)!
unsure.gif
You can receive credit for travel within the past IIRC 21 days!
rolleyes.gif
If attached to your reservation before you departed, you would have received automatic credit. (Your AGR number need not be printed on your ticket!)
Click to expand...
AWWW MAN!! :lol: Now I know.. Learned something again courtesy of the_traveler! :cool:
 
the_traveler said:
SP&S said:
Now if I could only find the stairway to the penthouse....
Click to expand...
There is no stairway to the penthouse! (Otherwise everyone would come up!
ohmy.gif
) It's only reached by the secret elevator located behind the luggage rack!
ph34r.gif
And you have to have the special key - AND code - to gain entry!
mosking.gif
Click to expand...
The code is KINPDX! :lol: His two favorite places! To the Penthouse! :cool:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top