posted
We're planning a trip in late September from SF to Boston with a 3 1/2 hr. stop and train change in Chicago. What happens if you miss your connection? Does Amtrak put you up in a hotel until the next day or are you on your own? I'm a little nervous since I know how late the trains can be. We also have sleepers reserved so I would imagine that would get all messed up. Has this happened to anyone?
Posts: 4 | From: Benicia, California, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
If you miss your connection, Amtrak will offer you one of three options:
a) a ticket on any train leaving later that evening (for example, if you miss connecting with the Lake Shore Limited, there might be space available on the Three Rivers to New York, which leaves later, although once you reach Manhattan the next day, you'd switch to a Northeast Corridor train to get to Boston)
b) a hotel room for the night, plus a seat on the next day's train.
c) an airline ticket.
Amtrak will sometimes give you a choice. Sometimes not. If you're not happy with what's offered, demand to speak to the supervisor. If necessary, go ballistic. It works wonders.
If you opt to take another train (either later that day or the next), you'll have to travel in coach if the sleeping cars are sold out. However, Amtrak will owe you a refund for the sleeper part of your ticket.
If you haven't booked your trip yet, consider inserting a one or two night stopover in Chicago.
It's a great city with lots to see. I've scored excellent hotel rooms just off North Michigan Avenue for as little as $45 by bidding on Priceline. And best of all, breaking up your train journey will completely eliminate the risk of missing your connection.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 04-21-2003).]
posted
A fourth option is that they'll offer you Greyhound transportation, even if it's overnight. I've never seen anybody offered the airline option although I'm aware it exists, it's just more rare.
If you're not in a rush and miss the connecting train, I personally would take the next day's train.
For the hotel option, you'll be put up in Amtrak's choice of hotel (which is ok) with breakfast provided, plus you'll get something like $35 for meals and taxis. Don't hold out for more compensation because that is all you're likely to get at the station. Don't hassle the crew - they can't do anything about it. Write a letter after the event to Amtrak as they'll be much better suited to handle it.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:Originally posted by The Chief: Often in Chicago Amtrak will hold a train for connecting passengers.
yup, saw that happen last summer when the Lake Shore was held at CHI for a 45 minute late CZ. OTOH, a month later, was on a late Eagle and watched #48 depart the station as we entered, MUCH to the consternation of connecting passengers. Go figure.
posted
Geoffm mentioned he has "never seen the airline option". While it is true that AMTRAK does not particularly like to offer that option, yes it does exist, and if you are persistent with the AMTRAK people after a missed connection, they sometimes will do it for you, although reluctantly. In 1996 I was on a 7- or 8-hour late Desert Wind into Lincoln, NE, and the Chief of On-Board services (a position which AMTRAK unfortunately doesn't use any more)arranged to fly about 100 passengers from Lincoln to Chicago to catch connecting trains later that evening.
[This message has been edited by RRRICH (edited 04-21-2003).]
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Re: "A fourth option is that they'll offer you Greyhound transportation, even if it's overnight."
Amtrak's only "official" obligation is to get you to your destination, one way or another. But I truly doubt any station agent would dare attempt to placate you (a first class passenger) with a bus ticket from Chicago all the way to Boston, a thousand miles away.
If he or she did, you'd have every right to demand -- and receive -- a more satisfactory alternative.
After all, you'll be standing in the middle of Chicago Union Station, not at a flag stop in the wilds of Montana.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 04-21-2003).]
posted
Sorry Dilly, only speaking from real life experience. I wouldn't be happy either, which is why I elected to go a day later. Probably ok for short distances but my trip was to go by rail and that was what I did, albeit later than planned. What actually happened was that people from Chicago boarded our train at Burlington, IA and gave people the choice of an overnight stay in Chicago or a Greyhound trip. Judging by the queue in the dining car for re-routing/re-ticketing compared with the queue at the hotel check in, a suprisingly large number of people opted for Greyhound.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
I understand what you're saying, Geoff. My point was that (thanks to cost concerns, incompetence, or plain laziness) some Amtrak agents -- like their airline counterparts -- don't always offer every "alternate travel option" at their disposal unless you really press them. A bus ticket, after all, costs less than a hotel room or plane ticket.
Yes, some passengers grudgingly agree to take Greyhound. If your train breaks down in the middle of nowhere, a bus is often the only solution. And Amtrak will sometimes pull passengers off a late train ahead of time, and then transport them by road to the connection station, to ensure they won't miss their next train.
But when you've already arrived in Chicago (or any other large city), and you still have hundreds or even thousands of miles to travel? Never settle for a bus ticket unless you genuinely have no problem with spending ten, or fifteen, or twenty hours in a bus seat.
If the Amtrak rep doesn't offer a more reasonable alternative, push them until they come up with one.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 04-21-2003).]
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