RideReserve Starts 9/14/20

[hmy1]

Amtrak's RideReserve program starts next week. I would think it would be annoying to have to make reservations for each and every trip you want to take, and it would be an extra step if you got stuck at work and had to take a later train, if space was available. I guess it's necessary nowadays with social distancing and limited capacities. At least they updated the app with this feature.

Fortunately, RideReserve is only for reserved trains and my primary route, the Surfliner, is unreserved. As I understand it, they are only selling 50% of the seats on the Surfliner and have only hit that limit a handful of times recently.

 

[daybeers]

From the website:
"Amtrak is leading the way by setting a new standard of travel with enhanced safety measures. In an effort to simplify and safeguard the travel experience, several measures have been integrated into every part of the customer journey — from time of booking to the moment of arrival. We continue to evaluate current practices and launch new initiatives to support personal safety.
With our newest program — Amtrak RideReserve — all passengers traveling with monthly, ten-ride or six-ride tickets will be required to confirm each of their intended trips on reserved services through Amtrak.com, the Amtrak app or an Amtrak agent prior to boarding, effective September 14. This allows us to enforce physical distancing, to ensure a seat onboard for each passenger and to account for every passenger traveling with a multi-ride ticket prior to boarding; thus ensuring you have the safest and most comfortable journey possible.
We’ll also be able to improve our communications with multi-ride ticket holders to help you plan your travel in advance, with email, text and push travel notifications like gate and track notifications, delay notifications, schedule changes and disruption notices.

• Effective for travel beginning September 14, 2020.
• Amtrak RideReserve confirmations can be made through Amtrak.com, the Amtrak app or an Amtrak Agent.
• You can have up to two confirmations per travel day; once in each direction.
• You can make confirmations as early as 14 days prior to your departure date or as late as your scheduled departure time through Amtrak.com or the Amtrak app; or until your actual departure time via an Amtrak agent.
• Only required on reserved services.
• Seats may not be available on all trains at all times.
• Your Multi-Ride ticket does not entitle you to travel without a RideReserve confirmation.
• If you don’t use RideReserve to make your confirmation prior to boarding a train, you will be considered an unticketed passenger and current Amtrak Carriage of Passengers terms apply.
• Rides will continue to be deducted from your multi-ride ticket when the ticket is scanned onboard. Amtrak RideReserve confirmations do not deduct rides from your multi-ride ticket.
• Passengers with a disability, customers who want to upgrade and customers who want to carry on additional items will continue to book a reservation through an agent

Ten-Ride tickets are no longer transferable on the Heartland Flyer and Amtrak Cascades to support physical distancing."

Seems multi-ride tickets are now worth nothing on the Heartland Flyer and Cascades, presumably because they think they won't have enough space? Silly. The Northeast Regionals which originate/terminate in SPG won't accept CTrail Hartford Line tickets for the forseeable future, which is a ridiculous downgrade. I'll be emailing CTDOT about that.

 

[John Bredin]

"You can have up to two confirmations per travel day; once in each direction."

There must be viable* trips in California, Midwest, or the Northeast that involve a transfer (that is, two trains in each direction) with a round-trip in a day. Maybe I'm missing something, but if each reserved train requires a confirmation, then how would that work? And if "trip" covers for transfers (that is, each train doesn't require a confirmation), how are missed connections handled?


*A trip not intentionally convoluted for railfanning purposes. Philly <>Albany (via NYC), Portland <> Providence (via Boston), New Buffalo <> Bloomington/Normal (via Chicago), or the like.

 

[Trogdor]

"You can have up to two confirmations per travel day; once in each direction."

There must be viable* trips in California, Midwest, or the Northeast that involve a transfer (that is, two trains in each direction) with a round-trip in a day. Maybe I'm missing something, but if each reserved train requires a confirmation, then how would that work? And if "trip" covers for transfers (that is, each train doesn't require a confirmation), how are missed connections handled?


*A trip not intentionally convoluted for railfanning purposes. Philly <>Albany (via NYC), Portland <> Providence (via Boston), New Buffalo <> Bloomington/Normal (via Chicago), or the like.

Does Amtrak offer multi-ride tickets on city pairs that require a transfer?

I just checked PHL-ALB, and the website says multi-ride tickets aren’t available. Therefore, the concern wouldn’t apply because such a ticket wouldn’t exist anyway.

 

[daybeers]

I purchased a Shore Line East 10-trip ticket from NHV to NLC, thinking I could use it on the couple NERs that are cross-honored. There's lots of info on the SLE site about using RideReserve to reserve a seat, but the ticket number isn't found in Amtrak's system. I was hesitant to activate the ticket in the CTrail eTix app, fearing it would start a timer for one of the trips. Or am I wrong and that's just activation for the ticket as a whole?