Segment canceled; what do to

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
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.
N

N.T.

Train Attendant
Joined
May 31, 2011
Messages
27
Booked SAN-LAX connecting to Southwest Chief for CHI for January 14, 2017 using points. Looked at reservation and the SAN-LAX portion has been canceled. First of all, I wonder when they were going to tell me about this. No alternative showing. Going to call reservations and see what they say. All they are showing on site now for that date to get from SAN to CHI is an all night bus-train-bus to connect to the CZ in SAC the next day. I am not going to do that. I can see is that they are doing a bus to Oceanside and then Pacific Surfliners for all SAN-LAX trains on that day so I wonder if I can get them to switch me to that. Getting off a cruise on that date so we were originally scheduled on the 1:36pm Surfliner to LAX to catch the 6:10pm Southwest Chief. Advise on what to ask for when I do call reservations? Any rebate on points due to bus transfer (an no checked luggage)?
 
I have been in the same situation multiple times when I have seen a cancellation or a bus substitution shows up on the Amtrak web page. A couple of times, it was days later before I got an actual notification from Amtrak. I always make reservations through AGR and calling them has been helpful. If you don't belong to AGR, I am not sure how much information an agent can give you. Some agents are more helpful than others and if you can't get the info you want, hang up and call again. Hopefully, the next agent will be able to provide more info.
 
They should be given you a bus ride between those two points.

Don't try to rebook yourself. Let Amtrak do it.

New tickets purchase may have bad connection, but Amtrak just blocks the easy way. It's to avoid last minute scrabbling to find another bus to cover a ticket bought after a known service problem.

Sit back and chill. If you booked it as one trip your good.
 
Except for business class, isn't the Surfliner an unreserved train? If so, you can take any train that makes the connection. If it were me, I would wait a couple days and if no communication I would call AGR. If you are not a member of AGR, I suggest you sign up. It's free and you earn points for free Amtrak travel.
 
AGR points are a good marketing ploy.

We pay for the AGR points we accumulate. When you use points to book an Amtrak train trip you're not getting free travel.
 
AGR 1.x was an amazingly useful program back in the day. These days I don't bother buying, crediting, or tracking AGR points as I honestly don't see the value in it.
 
I still see a lot of value in the points. In fact I was just pricing out a cross country trip and it came out to less points than the old system, with more flexibility. There's a lot of variables.
 
nferr said:
I still see a lot of value in the points. In fact I was just pricing out a cross country trip and it came out to less points than the old system, with more flexibility. There's a lot of variables.
Click to expand...
I find the AGR 2 more flexible and for the first time I have earned Select + status living in a non Amtrak service location Nashville, TN.
 
nferr said:
I still see a lot of value in the points. In fact I was just pricing out a cross country trip and it came out to less points than the old system, with more flexibility. There's a lot of variables.
Click to expand...
I've found that single overnights in a room often require fewer points than the old system, much fewer if you cross a boundary. But I doubt this would be true for a cross country trip, e.g., NYP-LAX, MIA-DEN.
 
PaulM said:
nferr said:
I still see a lot of value in the points. In fact I was just pricing out a cross country trip and it came out to less points than the old system, with more flexibility. There's a lot of variables.
Click to expand...
I've found that single overnights in a room often require fewer points than the old system, much fewer if you cross a boundary. But I doubt this would be true for a cross country trip, e.g., NYP-LAX, MIA-DEN.
Click to expand...
True this but it is Much harder to Earn Points if you don't live on a Corridor or don't have the BOA AGR World MC!
 
I'm taking a trip in April on AGR points that includes Cresent NO to DC, Capitol Limited, DC to CHI, and California Zephyr CHI to EMY. I will be in roomettes on all three trains for 26.000 points. I consider this a great value. But I do agree it is hard to earn points if you don't live on a Corridor. That's why I have the fee BoA AGR MC. Also since I luckily made Select Plus for the first time in December 2016, I now have that extra bonus earning power through February 2018. Right now I am dreaming of Amtraking New Orleans to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Portland or Seattle and then the Empire Builder to Chicago and then CA Zephyr CHI to EMY. Possibly July or August. We will see.
 
Check the schedule for the Coaster commuter train from San Diego to Oceanside and once there, transfer to a Metrolink train the LA Union Station.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top