Travel Companions De-Training at Different Stations

[ATXEagle]

My friend has decided to join me on a trip north on the Coast Starlight and we'll be in a Bedroom booked with my AGR points. I called today to add him to the reservation (no problem) and to switch from Bedroom A to B (thanks to the information I learned from AU).

The issue is that my friend wants to disembark at Albany, Oregon instead of continuing on to Seattle with me. He has some friends there and will spend a few days with them. The AGR agent said that she could not allow him to leave the train at an earlier station without charging me additional points for a separate reservation. I told her to just keep us on the same reservation all the way to Seattle.

Do those of you with more experience think it will be a problem for him to get off the train at Albany, OR?

 

[Ispolkom]

Do those of you with more experience think it will be a problem for him to get off the train at Albany, OR?

There should be no problem at all. I've done it 5-6 times. Just let the sleeping car attendant know, in case the station platform is short and they have to either move your companion to another car or double stop the train.

 

[ATXEagle]

Do you think we need to tell the conductor too? Or will the SCA be able to handle it? I wish Amtrak's computer system could handle having two final final stations on the train's manifest, it's actually going to cost Amtrak less money to have my friend leave early since he won't be eating dinner on board.

Do those of you with more experience think it will be a problem for him to get off the train at Albany, OR?

There should be no problem at all. I've done it 5-6 times. Just let the sleeping car attendant know, in case the station platform is short and they have to either move your companion to another car or double stop the train.

 

[MrFSS]

My friend has decided to join me on a trip north on the Coast Starlight and we'll be in a Bedroom booked with my AGR points. I called today to add him to the reservation (no problem) and to switch from Bedroom A to B (thanks to the information I learned from AU).

The issue is that my friend wants to disembark at Albany, Oregon instead of continuing on to Seattle with me. He has some friends there and will spend a few days with them. The AGR agent said that she could not allow him to leave the train at an earlier station without charging me additional points for a separate reservation. I told her to just keep us on the same reservation all the way to Seattle.

Do those of you with more experience think it will be a problem for him to get off the train at Albany, OR?

I wonder if the agent had the idea that your friend wanted off early, spend a few days, then re board and travel on to Seattle? That's the only way I can think of they would give you the answer you got.

 

[ATXEagle]

No, I explained that he was going to be staying in Albany, OR and that was the end of his train trip. (I thought she might get confused too.) He's actually going to drive up to Seattle a few days later with another friend of ours who lives in Corvallis. But the agent told me that since we were booked in the same room, on the same reservation, the origination and termination points had to be the same for both passengers. I mentioned that it was fine and I would let the conductor know he'd be leaving early and she said that they won't let him do that since he is on the manifest to Seattle. (I knew that they would never forcibly hold him on board the train, but I still wish that the tickets could be correct so that we didn't have to make a special request on board.)

My friend has decided to join me on a trip north on the Coast Starlight and we'll be in a Bedroom booked with my AGR points. I called today to add him to the reservation (no problem) and to switch from Bedroom A to B (thanks to the information I learned from AU).

The issue is that my friend wants to disembark at Albany, Oregon instead of continuing on to Seattle with me. He has some friends there and will spend a few days with them. The AGR agent said that she could not allow him to leave the train at an earlier station without charging me additional points for a separate reservation. I told her to just keep us on the same reservation all the way to Seattle.

Do those of you with more experience think it will be a problem for him to get off the train at Albany, OR?

I wonder if the agent had the idea that your friend wanted off early, spend a few days, then re board and travel on to Seattle? That's the only way I can think of they would give you the answer you got.

 

[the_traveler]

As said, book BOTH of you to SEA, and you friend can just get off in Albany. Let the SCA know, but you don't have to mention anything to the agent.

I once had my BIL join me from WAS to PDX, I continued on to LAX. He just got off in PDX and "forgot" to re-board!

Nothing was said.

Be aware that your friend can not check bags to Albany, since the reservation is to SEA! It would all have to be carried on, and stored in the lower level luggage rack.

 

[ATXEagle]

Thanks to both of you for the tips! Thanks also for the reminder about checking bags. We hadn't planned to, but that is the kind of thing someone could easily forget about until it's too late!

 

[Ispolkom]

I wonder if the agent had the idea that your friend wanted off early, spend a few days, then re board and travel on to Seattle? That's the only way I can think of they would give you the answer you got.

I got almost exactly the same answer today, when I called AGR to change a reservation, so maybe there's some rule. Mrs. Ispolkom and I are booked to travel from Seattle-Chicago-New Orleans in a bedroom. She now has to debark at St. Paul, while my sister wants to travel Minot-Chicago-New Orleans with me. The agent had no problem booking three to a bedroom (my concern) but said that my sister had to be booked Seattle-Chicago-New Orleans or he'd have to charge extra points. It didn't really matter to me, so I didn't object.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I wonder if the agent had the idea that your friend wanted off early, spend a few days, then re board and travel on to Seattle? That's the only way I can think of they would give you the answer you got.

I got almost exactly the same answer today, when I called AGR to change a reservation, so maybe there's some rule. Mrs. Ispolkom and I are booked to travel from Seattle-Chicago-New Orleans in a bedroom. She now has to debark at St. Paul, while my sister wants to travel Minot-Chicago-New Orleans with me. The agent had no problem booking three to a bedroom (my concern) but said that my sister had to be booked Seattle-Chicago-New Orleans or he'd have to charge extra points. It didn't really matter to me, so I didn't object.

One of those crazy bureaucracy "Rules" that makes no sense! :wacko: (Im sure the Software is the Limitation but Im no Techie?)Since it doesnt cost any more "Points",guess all of us can just put the second/third person name on the rez from start to finish/ tell the SCA/Conductor, maybe the LSA, that theyll be getting off "Earlier" than the other pax in that room, No Big deal it seems!

 

[dart330]

I ran into this on my last trip, 4 people from MIA to OKC with 2 getting off in STL. AGR agent said to just tell the SCA the 2 were getting off there even though they were ticketed all the way. Ours was not happy about it and initially said they couldn't get off, so it is possible to encounter some push back from the staff.

 

[PaulM]

I ran into this on my last trip, 4 people from MIA to OKC with 2 getting off in STL. AGR agent said to just tell the SCA the 2 were getting off there even though they were ticketed all the way. Ours was not happy about it and initially said they couldn't get off, so it is possible to encounter some push back from the staff.

Do you realize that unless it is a flag stop, telling the SCA or conductor is merely a courtesy (it also causes less confusion to the media if there is a serious wreck)?

STL certainly wouldn't be a problem, but if it were a small town stop I would go through the coaches looking for stubs with my destination code so I would be sure where to be ready to get off.

Be aware that your friend can not check bags to Albany, since the reservation is to SEA! It would all have to be carried on, and stored in the lower level luggage rack.

Are you sure a reasonable agent wouldn't put an Albany sticker on the bag? I can't picture Amtrak's system being so sophisticated that it prints out a bar code based on the reservation destination, but not sophisticated enough to override the destination. Even more amazing would be a bar code scanner at the baggage car door that causes a siren to sound if a bag is being removed at a station other than the one on the reservation. :help:

 

[ATXEagle]

I ran into this on my last trip, 4 people from MIA to OKC with 2 getting off in STL. AGR agent said to just tell the SCA the 2 were getting off there even though they were ticketed all the way. Ours was not happy about it and initially said they couldn't get off, so it is possible to encounter some push back from the staff.

Let's hope our SCA is more reasonable than yours! I can't imagine them trying to keep someone imprisoned on board. I've noticed on Amtrak that although the vast majority of the train employees do a good job, the others fall into two extremes. There those that follow all rules to the letter of the law, and do so with an unpleasant demeanor. Then there are those that seem to make up their own rules, with no relation to anything spelled out in Amtrak's policies.

Since Albany, OR isn't a flag stop, I think we'll be ok. But I will tell the SCA and the conductor just to be safe. This must be an issue that agents and train personnel deal with fairly often, it seems that they would have worked something out.

 

[the_traveler]

Do you realize that unless it is a flag stop, telling the SCA or conductor is merely a courtesy (it also causes less confusion to the media if there is a serious wreck)?

STL certainly wouldn't be a problem, but if it were a small town stop I would go through the coaches looking for stubs with my destination code so I would be sure where to be ready to get off.

Yes, STL should be OK, since they probably open all the doors. But at smaller stops (and I call MTZ a smaller stop), they don't open all the sleeper doors unless someone from that sleeper is getting off.

I was booked thru to EMY, but because the CS was late, I jumped off in MTZ. I did not notify the SCA, but I was in Room #2 and she was in Room #1. She was very surprised I was getting off, and had to hurry downstairs to open the door. If she was not in her roomette and did not see me packing up, I may not have been able to get off in MTZ!

Are you sure a reasonable agent wouldn't put an Albany sticker on the bag? I can't picture Amtrak's system being so sophisticated that it prints out a bar code based on the reservation destination, but not sophisticated enough to override the destination. Even more amazing would be a bar code scanner at the baggage car door that causes a siren to sound if a bag is being removed at a station other than the one on the reservation. :help:

I can't say if they would or would not. They may not, because if the put an Albany tag on it, what's to say that you go to SEA and then say, "Somebody tagged my bag wrong"?

And BTW: there are no bar codes (I don't believe) on Amtrak bag checks.

It's similar to Airlines who may put a tag on for Albany, OR, Albany, GA or Albany, NY. Or Portland OR or Portland, ME!

 

[Ispolkom]

But at smaller stops (and I call MTZ a smaller stop), they don't open all the sleeper doors unless someone from that sleeper is getting off.

Also, at stations with short platforms, I don't know that the engineer would make a double stop if there aren't any sleeper passengers listed boarding or leaving at that station.

 

[AlanB]

But at smaller stops (and I call MTZ a smaller stop), they don't open all the sleeper doors unless someone from that sleeper is getting off.

Also, at stations with short platforms, I don't know that the engineer would make a double stop if there aren't any sleeper passengers listed boarding or leaving at that station.

The engineer won't make a double spot unless the conductor tells him to do so; even if it is on the manifest. I've had it happen to me, where the sleeper rolled right down the platform with me chasing it only to run out of platform and have to walk back to the coaches to board because the conductor screwed up. The engineer can't properly judge where the platform is in relation to the sleeper cars. So the engineer slows things way down and then waits for the conductor to tell him when the correct cars are on the platform to stop the train. Technically it's more like the conductor tells him he's got 2 cars to go, then 1-1/2, then 1, then half, then stop.

But again, if the conductor doesn't say something, the engineer will roll right on past the station without ever stopping for any passengers, not just sleepers.