Ticket Question

[highballing]

The station that I'm departing from does not have a Quik Trak kiosk nor a staff agent from Amtrak. Other then having the tickets mailed to me. There is a Quik Trak Kiosk in another town about 30 miles from me. My question being is can I go ahead and go to that Kiosk in that other town and print out my tickets there even though its a different departing station??? Also my second related question is how many days in advance from departing can you print out your tickets at the Kiosk.

Of course one might say why don't you depart from the other town then. Well the day of my departure that won't be possible.

 

[the_traveler]

Yes, you can do that, but you have to call and speak to an agent, and say to him/her:

Please do not mail the tickets out. I will pick them up from a staffed station.

You can print the tickets from a QT at any time from just after you make the reservation until just prior to when the train departs from the station!

 

[Guest]

The station that I'm departing from does not have a Quik Trak kiosk nor a staff agent from Amtrak.

I believe under those specific circumstances, you can board at that unmanned station with only your paid reservation number. While having a ticket is helpful, it is not required. Basically, Amtrak understands that at an unmanned station, you have no options to actually get a ticket.

 

[me_little_me]

Yes, you can do that, but you have to call and speak to an agent, and say to him/her:

Please do not mail the tickets out. I will pick them up from a staffed station.

You can print the tickets from a QT at any time from just after you make the reservation until just prior to when the train departs from the station!

No need to call. We ordered our tickets online. We simply picked them up at a convenient station - sometimes nowhere near where we were boarding or where we live. We've done both picking up at kiosk and picking up at a station.You just don't select to have the tickets mailed.

 

[highballing]

Are your return tickets printed as well on a round trip????

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Yes, you can do that, but you have to call and speak to an agent, and say to him/her:

Please do not mail the tickets out. I will pick them up from a staffed station.

You can print the tickets from a QT at any time from just after you make the reservation until just prior to when the train departs from the station!

No need to call. We ordered our tickets online. We simply picked them up at a convenient station - sometimes nowhere near where we were boarding or where we live. We've done both picking up at kiosk and picking up at a station.You just don't select to have the tickets mailed.

Unless they changed it If the station your departing from is not staffed and does not have QT at the time of departure then they will mail your tickets if your booking online. You have to call and arrange to pick them up at another location it can't be done online And pickup onboard is only done with arrangements over the phone. You just can't walk onto the train with just the revvy as the conductor will make you get off at the next station and get your ticket.

 

[Guest]

You just can't walk onto the train with just the revvy as the conductor will make you get off at the next station and get your ticket.

Again, I believe if you are boarding from an unmanned station, all you need is the reservation number, which you can get from the phone agent. At least that's the way it works from White River Junction, VT.

 

[the_traveler]

You just can't walk onto the train with just the revvy as the conductor will make you get off at the next station and get your ticket.

Again, I believe if you are boarding from an unmanned station, all you need is the reservation number, which you can get from the phone agent. At least that's the way it works from White River Junction, VT.

You just answered your own question/statement! You need to talk to an agent in the phone!

And the Vermonter is different, because there are no staffed stations in Vermont. I don't know if that would work at any other unstaffed station!

 

[transit54]

Again, I believe if you are boarding from an unmanned station, all you need is the reservation number, which you can get from the phone agent. At least that's the way it works from White River Junction, VT.

That is true, but there are number of advantages to getting an actual ticket if you can:

1) Better pricing: If you only have a reservation number, you can't use any discounts (like NARP, AAA, etc) or promotional codes. You will only be issued a reservation number within three days of departure. So if you're within the window of having tickets mailed, but more than three days before departure, you may save money by getting physical tickets.

2) AGR points. AGR points do not automatically post from hand-written tickets, and it is a bit of a pain to get your AGR points. You have to mail in or fax a copy of the ticket. However, the ticket needs to be legible, and sometimes the paper tickets I have are very light and its difficult to read the reservation number, etc.

For the above two reasons, I almost always try and get printed tickets before departure, if possible. As much as I love having physical tickets and collecting the ticket stubs, I'm really looking forward to the day that Amtrak fully implements e-ticketing for these and other reasons!

 

[rvm]

My experience at an unstaffed station with a kiosk is that reservations can be made in advance and paid for on the train. The conductor gives you a hand-written ticket. I've paid in cash every time I've done this, so I can't comment on credit cards. Obviously, I would have used the QuikTrak machine if I'd had a credit card at the time.

 

[PaulM]

Unless they changed it If the station your departing from is not staffed and does not have QT at the time of departure then they will mail your tickets if your booking online. You have to call and arrange to pick them up at another location it can't be done online

Apparently it has NOT changed. I just experimented with buying a ticket from MAC to QCY. The departure station has no agent nor QT machine. Despite the fact that I live only 10 minutes away, by bicycle no less, from the the QCY station WITH a QT, my only options were mail or express.

If I rephrase the Wolverines's statement to "if the station you are departing from is not staffed at the time of departure, then ....", it is still true. Not long ago, I purchased tickets via the internet departing from MTP, a staffed station. I wasn't paying enough attention, and the tickets showed up in the mail. Apparently, the only agent was scheduled for vacation the day of departure; and the system was smart enough to know it (but not respectful enough to give me the option of picking the tickets up where I wanted to).

And pickup onboard is only done with arrangements over the phone.

I my first attempt with MAC - QCY ticket was for tommorow's departure. I got the following message in big red letters

Limited Ticket Delivery Options: Because of the close proximity of this trip, our online booking system cannot provide a ticket delivery option that will ensure you receive your ticket(s) on time. Please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) for assistance with making your reservation.[Error ID: 613S]

As someone said, if you call before Amtrak has a chance to mail the tickets, you can have it changed over the phone. IIRC if you do this, it qualifies as a reservation change; and it is no longer visible in your account on the website. IMHO two system design flaws for the price of one.