Uncertainty re USA Rail Pass

[p&sr]

Today I tried to book a trip for next May by phone using the USA Rail Pass.

The website says Peak Season begins May 21, 2009... so I scheduled my travels to conclude before that time.

On the first call, they said that Peak Season actually begins May 1st. The scheduling got hung up over a glitch in Amtrak's Multi-City Reservation program, which they could not work through. Then they stated that no Passes could possibly be scheduled for May until September 1st, because it is too far in the future.

On the second call, they said that Peak Season actually begins in late May, and they prepared to book me for an off-season pass. The scheduling got hung up over a different glitch in the Reservation program, and they stated that they could not book anything for me today.

On the third call, they explained that the USA Pass has been "nothing but trouble" since it was introduced, and the whole thing is going to be re-arranged. For this reason, no bookings for May can possibly be made until October 1st.

On each call, I suggested that I did not want to lose the currently-available low-bucket rates. If I just made my own reservations on-line, could that be transferred later to the Pass? Each agent had a different opinion, but none would commit to it. (The opinions pretty well covered the range between Yes, No, and Maybe.)

So I got everything booked my own way. Later on, I can try again for the Pass (if it still exists after being re-defined). If things have gotten filled up in the meantime, maybe they can transfer the Reservations I'm currently holding. And if not, perhaps with an agent who is quick on his feet, I could cancel one of my trip segments to free up a seat, then quickly claim it on my pass... working through segment-by-segment to be sure that nothing is lost.

The Pass can actually be purchased on-line. Perhaps some day when I'm feeling brave, I'll see whether the system will co-operate that way... or not. Nothing to lose by trying!

 

[user 2160]

Today I tried to book a trip for next May by phone using the USA Rail Pass.
The website says Peak Season begins May 21, 2009... so I scheduled my travels to conclude before that time.

On the first call, they said that Peak Season actually begins May 1st. The scheduling got hung up over a glitch in Amtrak's Multi-City Reservation program, which they could not work through. Then they stated that no Passes could possibly be scheduled for May until September 1st, because it is too far in the future.

On the second call, they said that Peak Season actually begins in late May, and they prepared to book me for an off-season pass. The scheduling got hung up over a different glitch in the Reservation program, and they stated that they could not book anything for me today.

On the third call, they explained that the USA Pass has been "nothing but trouble" since it was introduced, and the whole thing is going to be re-arranged. For this reason, no bookings for May can possibly be made until October 1st.

On each call, I suggested that I did not want to lose the currently-available low-bucket rates. If I just made my own reservations on-line, could that be transferred later to the Pass? Each agent had a different opinion, but none would commit to it. (The opinions pretty well covered the range between Yes, No, and Maybe.)

So I got everything booked my own way. Later on, I can try again for the Pass (if it still exists after being re-defined). If things have gotten filled up in the meantime, maybe they can transfer the Reservations I'm currently holding. And if not, perhaps with an agent who is quick on his feet, I could cancel one of my trip segments to free up a seat, then quickly claim it on my pass... working through segment-by-segment to be sure that nothing is lost.

The Pass can actually be purchased on-line. Perhaps some day when I'm feeling brave, I'll see whether the system will co-operate that way... or not. Nothing to lose by trying!

Speaking as a recent pass user....

I'm suprised they had issues with booking your trips that were less than 11 months in advance, I haven't heard of such things before. It sounds more like the agents didn't know what they doing.. and as per standard on this forum, I recommend that you call back until you find somebody who does

Pass trips are currently not bookable online sadly.. I hope they change that some day

I booked my pass during peak times, so i didn't run into any of that kind of trouble, but i did have some other odd snafu. It turns out i never actually got my pass until i already had traveled NYP->WAS->CHI->AUS->CHI

It turns out that the station agent had booked all my original reservations against the "Advanced Payment for USA Rail Pass" ticket and not the pass itself. The agent in CHI had no idea how the original agent even made that work. Some sort of black magic i assume.

Other than that, no troubles at all, so i'm quite sad that you had difficulties

As far as whether you can rebook the trips, I think it would be semi feasible, but others would be more knowledgable

==================================================

Amtrak trains travelled: California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Cascades, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Northeast Regionals, Texas Eagle

 

[sky12065]

Today I tried to book a trip for next May by phone using the USA Rail Pass.
The website says Peak Season begins May 21, 2009... so I scheduled my travels to conclude before that time.

On the first call, they said that Peak Season actually begins May 1st. The scheduling got hung up over a glitch in Amtrak's Multi-City Reservation program, which they could not work through. Then they stated that no Passes could possibly be scheduled for May until September 1st, because it is too far in the future.

On the second call, they said that Peak Season actually begins in late May, and they prepared to book me for an off-season pass. The scheduling got hung up over a different glitch in the Reservation program, and they stated that they could not book anything for me today.

On the third call, they explained that the USA Pass has been "nothing but trouble" since it was introduced, and the whole thing is going to be re-arranged. For this reason, no bookings for May can possibly be made until October 1st.

On each call, I suggested that I did not want to lose the currently-available low-bucket rates. If I just made my own reservations on-line, could that be transferred later to the Pass? Each agent had a different opinion, but none would commit to it. (The opinions pretty well covered the range between Yes, No, and Maybe.)

So I got everything booked my own way. Later on, I can try again for the Pass (if it still exists after being re-defined). If things have gotten filled up in the meantime, maybe they can transfer the Reservations I'm currently holding. And if not, perhaps with an agent who is quick on his feet, I could cancel one of my trip segments to free up a seat, then quickly claim it on my pass... working through segment-by-segment to be sure that nothing is lost.

The Pass can actually be purchased on-line. Perhaps some day when I'm feeling brave, I'll see whether the system will co-operate that way... or not. Nothing to lose by trying!

I too seem to get conflicting information.

• Yesterday I was told by Amtrak I can get a USA Rail Pass and make my reservations for next July (over 300 days in advance mind you)
  
• Today I was told I had to go to the train station and purchase the pass before I can make any reservations... without any indication that I could also make the purchase online then pickup the the pass later.
  
• Later in the day I discovered the online purchase pages on Amtrak's website, and when trying it out just to see how it worked I found that in season the price was $599 without and indication if that was per person or what! I also found out in the fine print (when you click the ?) that you had to start your travel within 180 days of purchasing the pass. (180 days vs. 300 days?)
  

If I had made the online purchase and not noticed the 180 day restriction, I would have been really peeved to have gone through the purchase, make the trip all the way to the train station just to later find out that I had to go through a refund process because I couldn't use the pass. Boy, wouldn't have been adding insult to injury!

Another flaw was that in the pass online process I had to enter to dates, the pick by date and station location and the date I intended to start traveling. The difference between the two date was way beyond that 180 day limit and I never got an error letting me know that the entries were invalid and an explaination noting the 180 limitation.

Now if the $599 price I was quoted was for one person, then I would guess from some pricing checks that the cost of the trip (Albany>Chicago>Portland>Emeryville>Reno>Denver>Chicago> then back to Albany) would have been significantly more with the pass than without. I'm not sure of that though! Any thoughts on this?

EDIT: And to boot, what effect would the 180 day limitation have on bucket prices? Not good I'd assume!!!

 

[p&sr]

Thanks for the replies. On Amtrak's Website telling about the USA Rail Pass, they clearly state that travel must begin within 180 days of purchase. But on their Website where you actually purchase the Pass, they clearly state that travel must begin within ONE YEAR of purchase. I called to ask which one was real, and they said actually it is "eleven months".

So I went online to purchase my 15-day pass, for travel to end just before the Peak Season begins. The system disagreed about how many days are in Fifteen, so I set an earlier starting date and that worked better. Evidently they sell the empty Pass first, and then you add Reservations later. After the final "purchase" button, the system complained that "the promotional rate is no longer available". Whatever that is supposed to mean. But time after time the result was the same, and the purchase could not be completed.

So I figured, maybe yesterday's troubles were because of my complex itinerary. Maybe I could just purchase an empty Pass by phone, like they sell on-line. No, they said "at least one leg of your Travel must be reserved at the time you purchase the Pass". OK, no problem, just a short run on a local train that would be part of my real Itinerary anyway.

Then a long wait, while the Agent's computer refused to cooperate, and she checked with her Supervisor on the matter.

The real answer seems to be that they cannot make any reservations (or sell any passes) for dates after March 31. This is because ON OCTOBER 1st, a NEW and DIFFERENT Rail-Pass Program will come into effect, to replace and supercede the present USA Rail Pass. The agent states that "She is sure the new program will be much better". This, of course, would be fine with me. So... we wait and see.

 

[puck71]

The real answer seems to be that they cannot make any reservations (or sell any passes) for dates after March 31. This is because ON OCTOBER 1st, a NEW and DIFFERENT Rail-Pass Program will come into effect, to replace and supercede the present USA Rail Pass. The agent states that "She is sure the new program will be much better". This, of course, would be fine with me. So... we wait and see.

That's good, because it couldn't get much worse (other than costing more for the same exact thing!) Hopefully they will make it so it can be used for any fare, not just low bucket.

 

[Rail Freak]

Just thinking, & that's dangerous for me!

How much affect do you think Travel Agents, grabbing & reselling low bucket tx, have on the prices you & I pay?

 

[the_traveler]

Just thinking, & that's dangerous for me!How much affect do you think Travel Agents, grabbing & reselling low bucket tx, have on the prices you & I pay?

If you mean large tour groups - I think alot!

That's why you may find (and I'm just picking any train) the EB almost sold out for next summer, and what is available now is in the high(er) bucket. But if a few months down the road, they find their tours are not selling, so they cancel their block of rooms. Then they re-enter the system at the original (bucket)!

So, it's possible that you could buy a room today at the high bucket, but in January the rooms could be available at the low bucket!

 

[p&sr]

So, it's possible that you could buy a room today at the high bucket, but in January the rooms could be available at the low bucket!

No problem if you just play the same game. No need to print up your tickets until close to Trip Time. In the meantime, if you paid high bucket, check online for low bucket availability from time to time. If you find it, then book it. Then cancel your high bucket ticket after that.