Pick up of tickets for non USA residents

[dords]

Hi there. We are endeavouring to pay for our Multi-city tickets online via the Amtrak site. (SFC to Chicago)

All is well until I get to the delivery of the tickets fields. The only options are US Mail or Express delivery. (Supposedly for US residents only). We are international customers.

We wanted to pick up in SFC the day before boarding the Zephyr, but I am unable to go through to "payments" because it keeps asking for our delivery address and won't let me go any further.

Any help gratefully received before I pull all my hair out!

Cheers

 

[Konrad]

Hi there. We are endeavouring to pay for our Multi-city tickets online via the Amtrak site. (SFC to Chicago)
All is well until I get to the delivery of the tickets fields. The only options are US Mail or Express delivery. (Supposedly for US residents only). We are international customers.

We wanted to pick up in SFC the day before boarding the Zephyr, but I am unable to go through to "payments" because it keeps asking for our delivery address and won't let me go any further.

Any help gratefully received before I pull all my hair out!

Cheers

I believe the Ferry Building (SFC) has a Fast Track machine for printing your tickets so the reservation site should allow you to complete your reservation and print out a bar-coded ticket voucher. It's worked for me in the past but there may be a glitch in the new web site that doesn't recognise that SFC has a Fast Track machine.

I'd use the 'çontact' facility at the top of the Amtrak web page and state your problem - they usually get back very quickly.

Even on my first Amtrak trip the Fast Track machine wouldn't recognise my reservation and the ticket agent spent quite some time retrieving my tickets but I had the voucher for her to work from.

Good luck.

 

[zephyr17]

Hi there. We are endeavouring to pay for our Multi-city tickets online via the Amtrak site. (SFC to Chicago)
All is well until I get to the delivery of the tickets fields. The only options are US Mail or Express delivery. (Supposedly for US residents only). We are international customers.

We wanted to pick up in SFC the day before boarding the Zephyr, but I am unable to go through to "payments" because it keeps asking for our delivery address and won't let me go any further.

Any help gratefully received before I pull all my hair out!

Cheers

I believe the Ferry Building (SFC) has a Fast Track machine for printing your tickets so the reservation site should allow you to complete your reservation and print out a bar-coded ticket voucher. It's worked for me in the past but there may be a glitch in the new web site that doesn't recognise that SFC has a Fast Track machine.

I'd use the 'çontact' facility at the top of the Amtrak web page and state your problem - they usually get back very quickly.

Even on my first Amtrak trip the Fast Track machine wouldn't recognise my reservation and the ticket agent spent quite some time retrieving my tickets but I had the voucher for her to work from.

Good luck.

San Francisco Ferry Building (SFC) is manned basically from 6am to almost 11pm, so you should be able to pick up your tickets there, as long as that is your ORIGINATING station. The website is normally set up so your ticketing options are based on your originating station, if it is manned/has QuikTrak, you have the option of picking up the tickets, while the station is unmanned, mailing or express mail are the only options offered. If the Amtrak portion of your trip starts someplace other than SFC, that is going to control your options, although that does not sound like the case here.

BTW-I just did a dummy reservation from SFC-CHI and it presented pick-up or Express Mail as delivery options, so SFC was good for ticket pick-up, at least for me.

 

[dords]

Thank you so much for the help. What we were doing wrong was putting Emeryville as our departure point instead of SFC

and that is obviously an unmanned station.

I've done a test booking with departure from SFC and it now gives me the option of pick up, so all good. Getting late here - brain is getting raddled - time for bed! I'll sort it tomorrow and thanks once again.

 

[AlanB]

Dord,

I'm not sure what was going wrong, but Emeryville is most definately a fully staffed station. So I'm not sure why you were getting the results you were.

 

[dords]

Mmmm..that's strange Alan. Tried it several times and I couldn't proceed to pay for the tickets.

Still it's sorted now, but I have one more question...

Is it too soon to book and pay for the leg SFC to CHI? (travelling mid-August). We want a sleeper so thought maybe you have to get in early.

Do bookings expire if not uplifted within a certain time frame?

Also - any recommendations for great food (at reasonable prices) in SFC? We will be there for 3 nights.

 

[zephyr17]

Mmmm..that's strange Alan. Tried it several times and I couldn't proceed to pay for the tickets.
Still it's sorted now, but I have one more question...

Is it too soon to book and pay for the leg SFC to CHI? (travelling mid-August). We want a sleeper so thought maybe you have to get in early.

Do bookings expire if not uplifted within a certain time frame?

Also - any recommendations for great food (at reasonable prices) in SFC? We will be there for 3 nights.

If I were certain of my plans, I would book now. The price really cannot go anywhere but up. August is prime vacation season and the lower bucket prices for the accomdations will sell out, and the price could go up dramatically. If you wait too long, the sleepers may well sell out entirely. Also, the earlier you book, the better the chances are you'll get better "real estate" (the 31 car next to the diner).

As long as the tickets are paid for, the reservation won't expire, as long as you pick them up before the train leaves. Since the website does not allow for courtesy holds (unlike ones arranged through an agent), you'll have to pay for it to hold it, so you should be good.

As for food in San Francisco, there is a lot of good food to be had there, but can't help you with details.

 

[AlanB]

Dords,

Bookings that have been done online and paid for with a credit card do not expire. The tickets will print out when you get to America and visit either a Quik-Trak machine or a ticket agent.

And for August, if you don't book soon, you may not get a sleeper. They may all be sold by late May, if not sooner.

 

[Konrad]

Mmmm..that's strange Alan. Tried it several times and I couldn't proceed to pay for the tickets.
Still it's sorted now, but I have one more question...

Is it too soon to book and pay for the leg SFC to CHI? (travelling mid-August). We want a sleeper so thought maybe you have to get in early.

Do bookings expire if not uplifted within a certain time frame?

Also - any recommendations for great food (at reasonable prices) in SFC? We will be there for 3 nights.

Book and pay by credit card ASAP. The fare is fully refundable if you cancel or change your plans until you actually print or obtain your tickets. And as previously noted, the fares can only go up as the train fills.

We always dine at the Slanted Door (back of the Ferry Building) but it's very pricey by US standards. The market inside the Ferry Building is a great source of food supplies if you want to cut the budget by preparing some of your own meals (Cowgirl Cheese is a favourite).

A ferry ride to Sausolito is a nice excursion - takes you right past Alcatraz - and there are some good eateries over there.

You can get a three day MUNI Passport which covers the cable cars ($5 per ride), Municipal busses and F line trams for about $19 and gives unlimited rides. If you only ride the three cable car lines it'll cost you $30 return . They're available from the MUNI kiosk on the corner of Powell and Market.