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Recently, I ordered tickets by phone for an up-coming round-trip between Pittsburgh and Fullerton. Since I was unable to pay for the tickets at that immediate time, the Amtrak rep informed me that they could be "held" (for one week) until I went down to the station at Pittsburgh to pay the total and pick them up.
Well, I went to the station about four days later intending to pay the total , but was unable to because of a "glitch" with my debit card. It turned out that I was only able to pay for the first two legs of the journey---the trip OUT.
I informed the station agent that I would have to return the next day to complete the payment and get all the tickets. She informed me this would not be necessary. She gave me the the tickets for the first two legs (the trip out) and told me that I could pick-up and pay for the last two legs (the return segment) of the trip the day of my trip DEPARTURE---September 3rd.
I was totally surprised. I was not aware that Amtrak would "hold" the remaining two sleeper spaces for my return trip without my paying for them in advance , since my trip was not immediate.
Is this new policy or what ?
So my question is this:
In paying for a multi-leg trip (all with sleeper), is it possible to pay for just a PORTION of the trip in advance and wait until the trip date itself to pay the balance ?
I have always thought that Amtrak would "hold" no sleeper space for me unless it was ALL paid for within one week.
Thoughts ?
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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This sounds like an unusual situation, and perhaps the ticket agent took pity on you and took a little initiative to make sure your reservation was held until payment could be made. Perhaps she assumed that once you have made a financial commitment to travel away from home she expected that you would want to return home. She probably figured it was a safe bet. Thus she was willing to hold your return reservation up to the day of your departure from home.
TALKrr Member # 683
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I think this must be the case. There was , however, another agent present who talked with the first agent about the matter. They both agreed it would be perfectly all right for me to pay for the remaining tickets when I departed Pittsburgh.
Leaving nothing to chance, however , I am going back to the station today to pay for the return leg. I would feel too uncomfortable waiting until September 3rd----especially with sleeper space involved.
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