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#1 pennyk

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Posted 01 March 2013 - 08:50 PM

I am not sure if I am posting in the correct place... but wanted to give a "heads up" because I had a confusing experience this afternoon/evening. I went on line to make my reservations from Norfolk to WAS (via 6066 and 66). The first thing I discovered was that the price was discounted to $38 (which I later found out was 20% off), however, the discounted rail fare does not apply if you upgrade to business class. I made a reservation in coach at the $38 fare (which is a bit more than half the price of BC). I guess if everyone else opts for BC, I will change my reservation so I do not have to ride alone on coach. When making the reservation, the website gave me a choice of having the ticket mailed to me for free or delivered otherwise for $15.00. I chose mail - however, I wanted an e-ticket. (I even clicked to "talk" to Julie to try to figure out what to do to get an e-ticket - I just wasted time and was almost late to yoga class). I was emailed a purchase summary with my reservation number - but no e-ticket. After yoga class, I phoned Amtrak to determine what I had done wrong. A got a very nice agent on the phone who explained that I had not done anything wrong. Because the trip starts with a thruway bus, and the bus drivers do not have scanners yet, paper tickets work better. The agent told me that if I wanted him to, he could over-ride the mail option and email me an e-ticket. However, since the bus driver will not have a scanner, I would be ticket-less on the bus. The agent told me that in those cases, the bus driver collects id's from the passengers without paper tickets and holds them until Newport News, where tickets would be printed out, including the bus portion. (I may not remember his explanation exactly, but this is close). Since I have plenty of time until July, I remained with the "mail ticket" option and I really do not like the idea of relinquishing my driver's license to a bus driver.

#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 01 March 2013 - 09:50 PM

I am not sure if I am posting in the correct place... but wanted to give a "heads up" because I had a confusing experience this afternoon/evening.

No you're not, as it has nothing to do with my own preview trip from 6 months ago. But don't fret, I'll be splitting and re-creating new topics as we go along and new threads develop. I've split this into a new ACRF/Amtrak trips topic which I'm sure we will use a lot. :)

I went on line to make my reservations from Norfolk to WAS (via 6066 and 66). The first thing I discovered was that the price was discounted to $38 (which I later found out was 20% off), however, the discounted rail fare does not apply if you upgrade to business class. I made a reservation in coach at the $38 fare (which is a bit more than half the price of BC). I guess if everyone else opts for BC, I will change my reservation so I do not have to ride alone on coach.

When making the reservation, the website gave me a choice of having the ticket mailed to me for free or delivered otherwise for $15.00. I chose mail - however, I wanted an e-ticket. (I even clicked to "talk" to Julie to try to figure out what to do to get an e-ticket - I just wasted time and was almost late to yoga class).

I was emailed a purchase summary with my reservation number - but no e-ticket. After yoga class, I phoned Amtrak to determine what I had done wrong. A got a very nice agent on the phone who explained that I had not done anything wrong.

Because the trip starts with a thruway bus, and the bus drivers do not have scanners yet, paper tickets work better. The agent told me that if I wanted him to, he could over-ride the mail option and email me an e-ticket. However, since the bus driver will not have a scanner, I would be ticket-less on the bus. The agent told me that in those cases, the bus driver collects id's from the passengers without paper tickets and holds them until Newport News, where tickets would be printed out, including the bus portion. (I may not remember his explanation exactly, but this is close). Since I have plenty of time until July, I remained with the "mail ticket" option and I really do not like the idea of relinquishing my driver's license to a bus driver.

The reservation system can't determine that you are taking this trip as part of a longer journey, so it assumes you live in Norfolk. Since the bus driver isn't equipped to handle e-tickets, the whole combined ticket has to be sold as a paper ticket. The same would hold true if anyone decides to take #95 from Richmond to Newport News -- because of the 6095 bus, you would need a paper ticket for the entire journey by train and bus.

As for coach vs. business, I'll pose the question in this thread in the next posting so that we can talk about it further so that people can make their plans without having to change them. Often we do end up with some in one class and others in another. It happens -- it's impossible to expect 100% of the group to stay together the entire time, especially as how most seek out their own window seat and thus end up sitting next to a stranger anyhow.


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#3 BillMagee

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Posted 01 March 2013 - 09:55 PM

One thing you could do is have them hold the ticket for station pick-up. Since Norfolk station does not have an agent or QuikTrak, that option is not offered automatically. However, since you have multiple opportunities to get your tickets from an agent or a QuikTrak before you get to Norfolk, if you call they should be able to give you that option. Plus, if the Thruway Bus gets scanners between now and July, your reservation will be converted to an e-ticket.

#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 01 March 2013 - 10:00 PM

OK so the question has been raised ---- which class will you be travelling in on each train? I'll list the Fest-related Amtrak trips again below, and we can each list our intentions for each train. 97 Silver Meteor Origin City to JAX or somewhere else in Florida (Coach vs. Sleeper) 92 Silver Star JAX or somewhere else in Florida to CYN (Coach vs. Sleeper) 80 Carolinian CLT-RVR or somewhere else in Virginia (Coach vs. Business) 95/125 Northeast Regional RVR or somewhere else in Virginia to NFK (Coach vs. Business) 66 Northeast Regional NPN-WAS (Coach vs. Business) 80 Carolinian FBG- Destination city (Coach vs. Business) Our trip on 75 Piedmont CYN-CLT is not an issue, there's only one class!


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#5 AlanB

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Posted 01 March 2013 - 11:19 PM

Already booked into sleepers on the Silvers, coach on all other trains.
Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#6 pennyk

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Posted 02 March 2013 - 01:54 PM

Since I live in Orlando, I will start my trip there on 92 in a sleeper, for which I have already booked. I have also booked 6066/66 from Norfolk to WAS - in coach. I have booked 80 from Fredericksburg to WAS (7/19) in coach (then 97 in sleeper from WAS to ORL). I have not booked anything for 7/17 yet, but am considering BC on 80 from Charlotte to Richmond, but the jury is still out.

#7 shanghai

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Posted 03 March 2013 - 10:14 PM

I have booked sleeper accommodations on 97 & 92. I will book coach on all other links except on July 19 from FRG to NYP I will book Business Class on 80.

#8 pennyk

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Posted 07 March 2013 - 12:10 PM

For the trip from Florida to Charlotte, I already have my tickets and I am routed through Cary, however, I would not be opposed to pay for a round trip from Cary to Raleigh if everyone else wanted to wait in Raleigh AND 92 was running on time. For the trip from Charlotte to Norfolk, I have reserved 80/125 (with the long layover in Richmond) in coach. I had a layover in RVR a while ago, I do not recall wi-fi in the station, but it is possible I did not try.

#9 KevinKorell

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Posted 07 March 2013 - 12:25 PM

For the trip from Charlotte to Norfolk, I have reserved 80/125 (with the long layover in Richmond) in coach. I had a layover in RVR a while ago, I do not recall wi-fi in the station, but it is possible I did not try.

As I mentioned in another thread, Wifi is offered in the RVR station.... but for a price. You can purchase it from the snack/newspaper vendor in the station. If there's time for a meal there is a McDonald's just north of the station entrance on Staples Mill Road, and they should have free Wifi available.


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#10 saxman

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Posted 15 March 2013 - 04:51 PM

I haven't booked anything yet, but trying to decide if its worth booking a sleeper for the JAX to NC leg. It's a overnight hop and I'd only get one meal for breakfast. Right now it's at $146 for the roomette. I'll probably end up changing trains in RGH. Doesn't RGH have a new station? Still undecided on my route to JAX as well. I'm thinking of either flying to Boston and burning an upgrade coupon on Acela, then getting the Meteor out of NYP. Or if I should use AGR points and come from some place like Denver or El Paso again. Getting to Florida from the west is a great use of AGR points, and it'll probably be a long time before I take the train to Florida again. Of course that risks missing a connection again like happened to me last time. Anyone else thinking going further south into Florida? I was thinking about taking the Meteor all the way to Winter Park, and turning back on the NB Meteor back to JAX. This would give us almost 5 hours in JAX still vs. 10 or 12. Just seeing what everyone else was thinking about.

Edited by saxman, 15 March 2013 - 04:57 PM.





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