Reservation dilemma

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Ferroequinologist

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jan 18, 2016
Messages
374
I am trying to plan a one way trip from New York to San Diego (Chicago-LA on the Southwest Limited) in early December but concerned about connections in Chicago. If my train from NY misses the connection there won't be another train for two days. I'll lose my prepaid hotel reservation deposit in San Diego. I'd like to arrive Chicago one day early and stay in a hotel but that's not possible. Two nights is too much. I'll be flying back. By the way, I called Amtrak and they told me that handling missed connections is up to station services. I asked what the options would be and they couldn't answer that. The employee couldn't say if they would put me up in a hotel in Chicago for two nights, fly me to SD or put me on a bus. Any suggestions?
 
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And this is exactly why reducing the LD trains to three times a week is inevitably going to cost Amtrak a lot of business.

I would try to call again and ask for a supervisor to see what they would do. Obviously they must have planned for this common contingency. And if they haven't, well, more evidence that the real reason behind the cutbacks is an intent to kill most, if not all, the LD network.
 
And this is exactly why reducing the LD trains to three times a week is inevitably going to cost Amtrak a lot of business.

I would try to call again and ask for a supervisor to see what they would do. Obviously they must have planned for this common contingency. And if they haven't, well, more evidence that the real reason behind the cutbacks is an intent to kill most, if not all, the LD network.

It just seems so fraught with potential problems that I am thinking of flying to Chicago the day before the SW Chief leaves. Can't think what else to do.
 
And this is exactly why reducing the LD trains to three times a week is inevitably going to cost Amtrak a lot of business.

I would try to call again and ask for a supervisor to see what they would do. Obviously they must have planned for this common contingency. And if they haven't, well, more evidence that the real reason behind the cutbacks is an intent to kill most, if not all, the LD network.
Unfortunately, because the OP was given an honest answer, that Station Services would make the decision on how to handle, I doubt asking to speak to a supervisor in the res office will accomplish anything.
 
Unfortunately, because the OP was given an honest answer, that Station Services would make the decision on how to handle, I doubt asking to speak to a supervisor in the res office will accomplish anything.
You're probably right, but having an answer of some sort from a supervisor gives you a stronger bargaining position when dealing with Station Services, perhaps...
 
And this is exactly why reducing the LD trains to three times a week is inevitably going to cost Amtrak a lot of business.

I would try to call again and ask for a supervisor to see what they would do. Obviously they must have planned for this common contingency. And if they haven't, well, more evidence that the real reason behind the cutbacks is an intent to kill most, if not all, the LD network.

I'm not sure they've planned for much of anything. Amtrak didn't even stop selling tickets for the cancelled trains until weeks after people on the message boards knew they would be cancelled. And even though I get an email from Amtrak every two or three days, none of them have even mentioned the service reductions at all.
 
And this is exactly why reducing the LD trains to three times a week is inevitably going to cost Amtrak a lot of business.

I would try to call again and ask for a supervisor to see what they would do. Obviously they must have planned for this common contingency. And if they haven't, well, more evidence that the real reason behind the cutbacks is an intent to kill most, if not all, the LD network.
It seems that all of us are listening to us about the inevitability of problems with less than daily service... why isn't Amtrak?
 
I am trying to plan a one way trip from New York to San Diego (Chicago-LA on the Southwest Limited) in early December but concerned about connections in Chicago. If my train from NY misses the connection there won't be another train for two days. I'll lose my prepaid hotel reservation deposit in San Diego. I'd like to arrive Chicago one day early and stay in a hotel but that's not possible. Two nights is too much. I'll be flying back. By the way, I called Amtrak and they told me that handling missed connections is up to station services. I asked what the options would be and they couldn't answer that. The employee couldn't say if they would put me up in a hotel in Chicago for two nights, fly me to SD or put me on a bus. Any suggestions?
Probably the bus (but hopefully not). Chicago to San Diego by bus, what joy!
 
BTW... misconnects in CHI will not only effect you... and can you imagine large numbers of people being stranded ... on a regular basis, especially during the winter weather unpredictability... inevitably there will be a large accountability issue; with possible news coverage... if lengthly delays are not properly managed by Amtrak. And of course, this will eventually effect ridership on the LD trains to where they will be empty... and entirely discontinued. Sadly, then, we all lose.

So let's see how this develops... and let's see how Amtrak management handles disconnects in this new era of reduced service. Let's see how Amtrak takes responsibility for the welfare of its passengers.
 
To answer the question, it depends on the situation. Station services has put passengers in a hotel for the night for a missed connection due to Amtrak related delays, assuming there was availability on the next day's train.

For three nights? I don't think we have an answer to that.
 
It is baffling why the three NY/DC-Chicago trains run the same three days. From Chi to LA or the Bay area there is a way to get there every day.

Not even an extra train or two for the holidays. Considering the amount of unused cars and furloughed staff they will have, why not at least depart #48 and #49 on December 22 and 23 when they would certainly sell out?
 
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Not even an extra train or two for the holidays. Considering the amount of unused cars and furloughed staff they will have, why not at least depart #48 and #49 on December 22 and 23 when they would certainly sell out?
How do you justify cutbacks if you make money or reduce losses by adding trains back?

They have no interest in doing any more than they have to.
 
How do you justify cutbacks if you make money or reduce losses by adding trains back?

They have no interest in doing any more than they have to.
Here's a very sad idea they've implemented in the past. If you misconnect and need to wait out three nights they may let passengers stay in sleepers that are parked in the station. They provide a bottle of water and a sandwich. MEH. 😰
 
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