I needed a "train trip fix" and made a turnaround train trip between Maricopa, AZ and LA, CA on May 24.
The train was early in Maricopa as well as La. I haven't travelled Amtrak as much as some of you, however, when I boarded in Maricopa I was told they were "overbooked". My roomette was occupied so they put me in the Family Room. In the past I have switched roomettes with other passengers to accommodate mobility challenged folks on the upper level, but this is the first time the roomettes were overbooked.
We arrived nearly an hour early into LAUPT. Thanks to previous posts on this site, I found the Harvey Restaurant and explored other parts of LAUPT.
I spent the morning having breakfast at Philippe's and touring the Olvera street area.
The Angels and Dodgers were playing this afternoon at Dodger Stadium and the area was bustling with baseball fans.
In regards to other posts/threads regarding Traxx, I have pictures of the Traxx Restaurant and Traxx bar.
When I arrived in the morning, the Coast Starlight folks were in the Traxx Bar/reception area.
Traxx Restaurant is closed on Sundays.
Overall the trip was a success. The car attendants and overall Amtrak staff I dealt with were exceptional.
Andy
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Thanks for the report, Andy. I never heard of any intentional overbooking on Amtrak sleepers, but I have once or twice heard of errors where the same room was handed out twice--I think one could have been through Amtrak Guest Rewards and some miscommunication caused the problem.
Posted by cubzo (Member # 4700) on :
Thanks for the report Andy.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
Hmmmmmm.....overbooked, huh? I honestly do not think they were "overbooked" in the sense that most people would think when they hear that. My guess, based on lots of AmExperience, is one of two things happened. These are the probable scenarios:
1) Coach passengers upgraded while on-board the train (which is fine). But the error occurs when the Conductor is too lazy to follow proper procedures when doing the upgrades (ie, calling Amtrak HQ to verify that the manifest has not changed since it was last printed out). This is how crew laziness effects passengers, and it's just chalked up to "we are overbooked".
2) There might have been a roomette or two available, but the attendant did not want to clean it up and make the beds yet. So he just gave you the one room that had not been used yet and didn't need the sheets changed.
I'm willing to bet it was one of the above two scenarios, because there really aren't many other reasons where they could be overbooked. The ARROW software does not allow for that. But I'm glad you had a good trip and ran on-time, and had decent crews. Is Phillipe's still cash only?
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Andy--
Thanks for the trip report. It sounds like a great little getaway!
Smitty--
I don't think I've ever thought about using anything except cash at Phillipe's. Their website ( http://www.philippes.com/ ) says you can use a credit card for orders phoned or faxed in (Over $40.00) and I think they may take credit cards at the candy counter for tee shirts, mustard, etc. I'll have to check next time.
All--
I'm taking the 6:46AM Surfliner to LAUPT on Thursday to connect to the Flyaway. I'm hoping we'll be just early enough that I can make the 9:30AM bus. My Southwest flight to Nashville is at 11:30AM so I should be fine.
Frank in, finally, sunny SBA. (The sun didn't show up until 3:00PM when I walked down the hill to the Old Mission for an Italian Sausage Sandwich at I Madonnari, the Italian Festival.)
Posted by a meyer (Member # 4954) on :
Smitty... the whole interchange was a little odd... when I entered the car, I was instructed by the attendant on which direction to go for my room, but heard her tell the conductor (outside) that the room was taken?? Once I heard that and verified that room #11 was occupied (right inside the door) I turned back to the attendant. She assured the Conductor she would find a room..... which he said fine, just let me know where the passenger ended up.
She instantly took me to the Family Room. If there was a delay or problem, I would have been upset, but it was as if she expected the conflict in room even though she initially directed me towards my ticketed room??
Anyway, I was fine... it was just odd.
In Phlippe's there are plenty of signs "Cash Only".. I didn't pay close attention if this was the case at the souvenir cashier.
Andy
Posted by Geoff M (Member # 153) on :
I'll add a third option to Smitty's suggestions: 3. One or more rooms had faults that rendered them unavailable for use.
Another scenario is that the train had less sleeper cars in its consist than scheduled, though being the SL I think that highly unlikely - it only has 1 plus the TE through sleeper, right?
I was on an Empire Builder that was overbooked in coach. I suspect this was slightly different in that it was the extra coach car that gets carried from Chicago to MSP (or is it Milwaukee? My memory is poor today). The extras were handled by requesting that the lounge car seats only be used for passengers without regular seats.
Geoff M.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
I have certainly been on the Empire Service and Regional where coach seats are overbooked. It used to happened all the time on holidays when seats were unreserved, and even since they made them reserved for individual purchase (since 9-11), some people who commute fairly often still travel unreserved with monthly passes or 10-trip passes or whatnot, and if enough of them get on a train it can still be overbooked. Perhaps that is the same for Chicago to Milwaukee, Geoff?
Sleepers are another matter, though.
Posted by railrev (Member # 2640) on :
What days of the week is a one day round trip possible with the Sunset's tri-weekly schedule.
And is it possible/practical to do it from LA to, say, Tucson?
Posted by a meyer (Member # 4954) on :
Railrev, Because of the tri-weekly schedule, the one day round trip worked for me starting in Arizona. The westbound leaves Maricopa, AZ at 1 AM, arrives in LA around 9:30AM. The eastbound then leaves LA at 2:30PM and arrives in Maricopa around 10 PM. Starting in LA would require at least one night in a hotel in Arizona, most likely Tucson would be the choice.
Andy
Posted by ehbowen (Member # 4317) on :
One time an associate pastor at my church had the bright idea of putting together a seniors day trip on the Sunset Limited, leaving Houston at (approx.) 10 a.m. Friday for Beaumont, doing some sightseeing, then returning on that afternoon's train which was scheduled to arrive at 10 p.m.
However, the eastbound Sunset that Friday was approximately ten hours late....