I tried to make a one way booking from BUR (Bob Hope Burbank Airport Station) to SBA (Santa Barbara) online. Everything went fine until the system insisted that I needed to pay $12.00 for delivery of the ticket since this is an "unmanned" station. There was no way around it booking online.
I called and made a reservation with Julie (That girl's pretty good but I found out she doesn't understand "Correct" for "Yes".). She handed me off to an agent to complete the transaction. The agent said that I could, of course, pick up the ticket here in Santa Barbara.
I'll be taking the Surfliner to LAX next Thursday and then #4 to ABQ to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law for the Balloon Festival. I'll fly to BUR on SWA on Sunday and catch the Surfliner home. It should be a good trip.
Best,
Frank in dark and smoky SBA
Note to Chris G. This is what retired teacher's do in October. Your time will come!
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
I would LOVE to see any pictures you take at the Balloon Festival. I am sure it would be absolutely AMAZING to see all of them!!! How cool of an experience it is going to be for you. Have you done this before?
Posted by Grandma Judy (Member # 3278) on :
I ran into this problem, too. The site assumes you are staying/living at the departure station and does not give you the option of picking up the ticket at another station if the departure station is unmanned. Like Frank in smokey SBA, I had to complete the reservation on the phone.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
I've never seen the Festival but my brother and sister-in-law have been there several times and have raved about it. I'll stay with them in their RV so won't have hotel expense. That's how I rationalized a Bedroom instead of a Roomette on #4!
I'll post a report when I return.
Frank in Sunny SBA where we had a record temp of 101 for the date yesterday!
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
I have the same problem when taking #3(SWC) and #5(CZ) when I drive down from St. Paul to catch them. They won't let me pick up a ticket locally when I want to tavel from La Plata or Osceola (unmanned). So I just order tickets online originating at the previous manned stops (Ft. Madison or Ottumwa) for only a couple of bucks more. Then I can pick them up locally in MSP, but I still hop on at the unmanned stations.
Posted by chrisg (Member # 2488) on :
To Frank,
All the things I do is while I'm still working. Can't wait till the day I won't have to get up for work!
Chris
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Chris--
I can't wait to see what your mileage will skyrocket to once you retire! You seem very good at squeezing in as much quality train time as possible and still doing the important job you do.
Everyone says it, but it so true: Once you retire you will wonder how you EVER found the time to work!