Ticket Pick-up

[Ilovetrains]

I have tickets purchased for the California Zephyr from CHI to EMY in late August.

I have tickets from Toledo to CHI to make the connection to the Zephyr.

I really wanted my tickets mailed to me in advance but Amtrak agent informed me that they no longer mail tickets if they can be picked up at the station. I was told I could pick-up all tickets at Toledo. Even those for the return trip.

Question:

Has anyone ever had any problems with ticket pick-up on the same day? I am somewhat leery and would prefer to have the tickets in advance. Is there any way to get them mailed to me?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Guest]

How close are you to the Toledo station? You can pick up the tickets anytime in advance.

 

[Everydaymatters]

I picked up the same day in Chicago and had no problem. Had to show a picture ID, but that's all. It's been awhile, but I think I also had a reservation number with me.

 

[yarrow]

have never had any problem. we always arrive a few minutes before when we usually would if we have to pick up tickets.

 

[nr272]

Also, you don't need to pick up the tickets at Toledo; you can pick them up in advance at any Amtrak station that sells tickets.

 

[Sam Damon]

IMO, this is one of Amtrak's policies that requires a bit of rethinking. Amtrak currently only will mail tickets if you depart from an unstaffed station, or if the station you will depart from is closed at train time.

This results in the following ludicrous situation.

Let's say I live in Wheeling, WV, and I want to travel on Amtrak. If I take #42 EB from Pittsburgh, I have to make the trip to the Pittsburgh station, spend my time and gasoline, in order to get the tickets. (The local travel agent charges $25. per ticket.)

OTOH, if I live in Wheeling, WV, and I want to take #42 EB from Greensburg, PA -- an unstaffed station -- Amtrak will mail me my tickets. (Parking in Greensburg is cheaper anyway.)

Stupid.

Amtrak should give people the option to have tickets mailed, based on the zip code where the tickets are being mailed. In this manner, people living close to the station would have to pick tickets up, and people living farther away from a staffed Amtrak station could have them mailed.

Yet another item to put into a letter to 60 Mass.

 

[Eris]

If I take #42 EB from Pittsburgh, I have to make the trip to the Pittsburgh station, spend my time and gasoline, in order to get the tickets.

Wouldn't you need to make the trip to the Pittsburgh station to get on the train, anyway?

I guess I've been using electronic ticketing to fly for so long (I was an early adopter!) that I have completely lost the need to hold tickets in my hand before getting to the station (in fact, I'd be very stressed about having to remember them... this "print your boarding pass at home" stuff the airlines have now harkens back to that stress for me, even, though I know that if i lose/forget them it's easy enough (I think?) to replace it when I get to the airport).

 

[AlanB]

Amtrak won't just mail you the tickets, but if you're willing to pay the $12 express shipping charge, then you can have the tickets mailed to you in advance.

That said, I almost always pick up my tickets on the day of travel. It's very rare that I get them in advance. I just make sure to print out my reservation confirmation, or if I made the reservation by phone then I ask the agent to email me the confirmation, and I bring that to the station. Never had any problems.

 

[Sam Damon]

If I take #42 EB from Pittsburgh, I have to make the trip to the Pittsburgh station, spend my time and gasoline, in order to get the tickets.

Wouldn't you need to make the trip to the Pittsburgh station to get on the train, anyway?

You could do it that way, yes. What you're saying is to pick up the tickets at the station just before departure. I suppose I'm the opposite of many people these days in that I like to have the tickets in my hands before I leave home on a trip. Amtrak apparently agrees with you; management apparently figures you'll pick up tickets at the station just before departure.

My issue with your approach is that sometimes -- but you can't know when -- some issue will come up that will prevent you from obtaining the tickets in a timely fashion. In Pittsburgh, #42 departs at a time which, if you're coming in from the western suburbs, you can be held up in traffic to the point where missing the train is entirely possible. Having the tickets in hand when you arrive at the station beforehand saves a couple minutes.

Or maybe it's me. I just like having my tickets in hand, ready to ride.

I guess I've been using electronic ticketing to fly for so long (I was an early adopter!) that I have completely lost the need to hold tickets in my hand before getting to the station (in fact, I'd be very stressed about having to remember them... this "print your boarding pass at home" stuff the airlines have now harkens back to that stress for me, even, though I know that if i lose/forget them it's easy enough (I think?) to replace it when I get to the airport).

Having an e-ticket (through a major airline, no less) hosed me on a recent airline trip to Baltimore. This was on a weekend where flights were delayed owing to weather, and I could not rebook because the codesharing airline still had me as checked in on the original flight -- which was cancelled. Until the codesharing airline's agents were available, the major airline that issued me the e-ticket could do nothing to help me. So I still have that ticket, but to attempt to get a refund or a voucher would take more hassle than it's worth. If I had had a real ticket, I at least might be able to get something back, but with the e-ticket, as I said, I'm hosed.

 

[daveyb99]

Question:Has anyone ever had any problems with ticket pick-up on the same day? I am somewhat leery and would prefer to have the tickets in advance. Is there any way to get them mailed to me?

Thanks for the help.

If the station is staffed, you should have no problem. Just arrive early.

 

[lepearso]

Believe me, it's a better idea to get your tickets at the station the day of your departure. Whenever Amtrak mails tickets there is always a risk that they will get lost in the mail system. Then, even when tickets are delivered properly there's always a risk that the traveler will inadvertantly lose them or forget to pack them.

By picking them up the day of departure there is no risk of mail being lost and all the traveler has to remember is to carry i.d. Also, if the traveler needs to make itinerary changes, it is much easier for Amtrak to modify the reservation prior to the tickets being printed. Tickets-by-mail are more likely to require changes after being printed because they have to be mailed so far in advance.

 

[Lloyd]

If you can, find a friendly agent. I live two blocks from my station, but the station is only open from around midnight until 8 a.m. I call my agent before leaving for work, give him my res number, and he issues the ticket and mails it to my home. No additional cost. Obviously not every agent is this customer service-focused, but those that are will often go out of their way to make things convenient for the customers.

 

[JayPea]

I had a rather ugly incident last year that makes me GLAD Amtrak no longer mails out tickets. I purchased a round-trip ticket from Spokane to Portland and was told over the phone that the tickets would be mailed out within a week. The charge was added to my credit card bill right away, but one week, two, three, and a month later, STILL no tickets, after being promised they'd be "mailed right out". I'd purchased them well in advance of my trip, but was beginning to get worried. Finally, I said to heck with it and took the 2 hour round trip, in a driving rainstorm, and at the ungodly hours the Spokane station's ticket office is open, only to be told that in order to pick the tickets up there after I'd indicated I wanted them to be mailed to me, I'd have to pay for them again. The ticket agent, whom I've dealt with before and who is a very nice man, was very much sympathetic, but could offer no help. So I got on the horn with Amtrak AGAIN the next morning, only to be told this time that they couldn't be mailed out because of a slight change in the reservations ( a 10 minute difference one way or the other getting into Portland, or some such thing). :angry: :angry: :angry: So I asked the poor unfortunate on the phone how in the....(expletive deleted) I was supposed to get my (expletive deleted ) tickets if they couldn't mail them nor could I pick them up without paying double. :angry: :angry: :angry: Finally, the poor soul decided that he'd "bend the rules just this once" for me and mail them. Which they did. In fact coming the next day. NEVER AGAIN!!!! For the trip I'm taking in October, I'm going to pick the ticket up the night I go. No more mail hassles!!!!

 

[had8ley]

I have tickets purchased for the California Zephyr from CHI to EMY in late August.I have tickets from Toledo to CHI to make the connection to the Zephyr.

I really wanted my tickets mailed to me in advance but Amtrak agent informed me that they no longer mail tickets if they can be picked up at the station. I was told I could pick-up all tickets at Toledo. Even those for the return trip.

Question:

Has anyone ever had any problems with ticket pick-up on the same day? I am somewhat leery and would prefer to have the tickets in advance. Is there any way to get them mailed to me?

Thanks for the help.

Amtrak will still Fedex your tickets upon request and at your expense. I would not suggest depending on getting tickets for such a long journey at the last moment especially at one man staffed stations. Amtrak has a bad habit of annulling jobs and not filling them off of the extra board. Hence; no agent~ no tickets. Don't most of the stations have the Quik-Trac machines now? You might want to look into that possibility if you wait until the last minute as a back up to a real agent.

 

[AlanB]

I have tickets purchased for the California Zephyr from CHI to EMY in late August.

I have tickets from Toledo to CHI to make the connection to the Zephyr.

I really wanted my tickets mailed to me in advance but Amtrak agent informed me that they no longer mail tickets if they can be picked up at the station. I was told I could pick-up all tickets at Toledo. Even those for the return trip.

Question:

Has anyone ever had any problems with ticket pick-up on the same day? I am somewhat leery and would prefer to have the tickets in advance. Is there any way to get them mailed to me?

Thanks for the help.

Amtrak will still Fedex your tickets upon request and at your expense. I would not suggest depending on getting tickets for such a long journey at the last moment especially at one man staffed stations. Amtrak has a bad habit of annulling jobs and not filling them off of the extra board. Hence; no agent~ no tickets. Don't most of the stations have the Quik-Trac machines now? You might want to look into that possibility if you wait until the last minute as a back up to a real agent.

No, at last count only some 200 stations actually had Quik-Trak machines. With the roll out of the new machines however, IIRC, they expect to double that number.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Let's take a hypothetical here. Let's say the ticket printer at station X dies. There are ten people in line to buy tickets for that day's train. Amtrak is surely not going to telll those folks they can't ride. For someone getting on the train at an unstaffed station, doesn't the conductor issue tickets? So if I show up at station X, to pick up an already purchased but not-picked-up ticket, and the ticket printing machne dies, surely Amtrak isn't going to tell me, the passenger "you have a paid reservation, and a reserved seat on this train but since the ticket printer at the station is broken, you can't ride". The logical extension of that would be that the Conductor would do the ticket paperwork for a passenger that has not received a ticket but has written proof of the paid reservation. Doesn't the train manifest include all passenger reservations that have been paid, regardless of whether a paper ticket had actually been printed at the time the manifest was printed?

In point of fact, there WAS one time when I made the reservation, and paid for the ticket, online, and took the confirmation printout with me to the station on the day of the trip. The ticket machine wouldn't print the ticket, for some reason, so the station agent just wrote a note on a piece of paper for me to give to the Conductor, the Conductor accepted it without question, and on the train we went.

 

[had8ley]

Let's take a hypothetical here. Let's say the ticket printer at station X dies. There are ten people in line to buy tickets for that day's train. Amtrak is surely not going to telll those folks they can't ride. For someone getting on the train at an unstaffed station, doesn't the conductor issue tickets? So if I show up at station X, to pick up an already purchased but not-picked-up ticket, and the ticket printing machne dies, surely Amtrak isn't going to tell me, the passenger "you have a paid reservation, and a reserved seat on this train but since the ticket printer at the station is broken, you can't ride". The logical extension of that would be that the Conductor would do the ticket paperwork for a passenger that has not received a ticket but has written proof of the paid reservation. Doesn't the train manifest include all passenger reservations that have been paid, regardless of whether a paper ticket had actually been printed at the time the manifest was printed? In point of fact, there WAS one time when I made the reservation, and paid for the ticket, online, and took the confirmation printout with me to the station on the day of the trip. The ticket machine wouldn't print the ticket, for some reason, so the station agent just wrote a note on a piece of paper for me to give to the Conductor, the Conductor accepted it without question, and on the train we went.

It has been quite some time but I have had station agents hand write a paper ticket. I don't know if that capability still exists or not.

 

[had8ley]

I have tickets purchased for the California Zephyr from CHI to EMY in late August.

I have tickets from Toledo to CHI to make the connection to the Zephyr.

I really wanted my tickets mailed to me in advance but Amtrak agent informed me that they no longer mail tickets if they can be picked up at the station. I was told I could pick-up all tickets at Toledo. Even those for the return trip.

Question:

Has anyone ever had any problems with ticket pick-up on the same day? I am somewhat leery and would prefer to have the tickets in advance. Is there any way to get them mailed to me?

Amtrak will still Fedex your tickets upon request and at your expense. I would not suggest depending on getting tickets for such a long journey at the last moment especially at one man staffed stations. Amtrak has a bad habit of annulling jobs and not filling them off of the extra board. Hence; no agent~ no tickets. Don't most of the stations have the Quik-Trac machines now? You might want to look into that possibility if you wait until the last minute as a back up to a real agent.

No, at last count only some 200 stations actually had Quik-Trak machines. With the roll out of the new machines however, IIRC, they expect to double that number.

Just got off the phone with Amtrak reservations. There is a Quik-Trak machine in the Toledo station.

 

[WhitmanHdwe]

Toledo, OH is also a staffed station. We have left from Toledo on every trip we have taken and picked up tickets at the station. There are only 2 agents most of the time so leave a little extra time in your plans to pick up the tickets. The agents are usually very well informed and have excellent customer service. Sometimes freight, mail, other extra items add time to a station stop in Toledo and the train is actually there a little longer than at some other stations along its route. Don't worry, pick up the tickets in Toledo the night of departure.

I have tickets purchased for the California Zephyr from CHI to EMY in late August.

I have tickets from Toledo to CHI to make the connection to the Zephyr.

I really wanted my tickets mailed to me in advance but Amtrak agent informed me that they no longer mail tickets if they can be picked up at the station. I was told I could pick-up all tickets at Toledo. Even those for the return trip.

Question:

Has anyone ever had any problems with ticket pick-up on the same day? I am somewhat leery and would prefer to have the tickets in advance. Is there any way to get them mailed to me?

Amtrak will still Fedex your tickets upon request and at your expense. I would not suggest depending on getting tickets for such a long journey at the last moment especially at one man staffed stations. Amtrak has a bad habit of annulling jobs and not filling them off of the extra board. Hence; no agent~ no tickets. Don't most of the stations have the Quik-Trac machines now? You might want to look into that possibility if you wait until the last minute as a back up to a real agent.

No, at last count only some 200 stations actually had Quik-Trak machines. With the roll out of the new machines however, IIRC, they expect to double that number.

Just got off the phone with Amtrak reservations. There is a Quik-Trak machine in the Toledo station.

 

[AlanB]

Toledo, OH is also a staffed station. We have left from Toledo on every trip we have taken and picked up tickets at the station. There are only 2 agents most of the time so leave a little extra time in your plans to pick up the tickets. The agents are usually very well informed and have excellent customer service. Sometimes freight, mail, other extra items add time to a station stop in Toledo and the train is actually there a little longer than at some other stations along its route. Don't worry, pick up the tickets in Toledo the night of departure.

I would agree that Toledo has some very good agents. I haven't stopped there now in a few years, but I was there once transfering from the Pennsylvanian to the Capitol Limited, and watched Greyhound who was operating the Thruway bus to Detroit at that time create a huge mess. The Amtrak agent on duty remained calm, professional, and kept some 20 odd people well informed about the problem and the steps that he was taking to fix the problem by arranging alternate transportation.

This agent provided some of the best customer service that I've ever seen from an agent.

 

[Guest]

Toledo, OH is also a staffed station. We have left from Toledo on every trip we have taken and picked up tickets at the station. There are only 2 agents most of the time so leave a little extra time in your plans to pick up the tickets. The agents are usually very well informed and have excellent customer service. Sometimes freight, mail, other extra items add time to a station stop in Toledo and the train is actually there a little longer than at some other stations along its route. Don't worry, pick up the tickets in Toledo the night of departure.

I would agree that Toledo has some very good agents. I haven't stopped there now in a few years, but I was there once transfering from the Pennsylvanian to the Capitol Limited, and watched Greyhound who was operating the Thruway bus to Detroit at that time create a huge mess. The Amtrak agent on duty remained calm, professional, and kept some 20 odd people well informed about the problem and the steps that he was taking to fix the problem by arranging alternate transportation.

This agent provided some of the best customer service that I've ever seen from an agent.

I have taken 6 trains from Toledo and I have never had a problem there. If you get there about an hour before the train departs you will miss the Detroit thruway bus traffic and will have the agent all to yourself. Eventhough they are there at an ungodly hour, they have been friendly and helpful each time I have been there.