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Amtrak Capital Corridor San Francisco to Sacramento


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#1 BillMagee

BillMagee

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Posted 22 August 2003 - 11:53 PM

"Amtrak Capital Corridor San Francisco to Sacramento" Well, that title is what is called a “teaser.” It could have been true, but sometimes stuff happens. My wife and I had tentatively decided to take one day of our quick west coast fling and ride Amtrak up to Sacramento to visit Old Sacramento and the California State Railroad Museum. The day after the baseball game at Pac Bell Park was slotted for this activity. After the Phils 10-inning thriller, we walked back along the Embarcadero toward the hotel reveling in the thrill of victory. Feeling simply great, I decided to firm-up the train ride plans and pre-purchase the Amtrak tickets at the Thruway bus station located at Pier 2 (just south of the Ferry Building). With the shuttle bus to Emeryville departing at 8:25am the next day, I felt it would be a time saver to have the tickets in-hand. Nice thought, but this is when things unraveled. After waiting 10 minutes in line behind one person who needed to know all the intricate details of the validity of the California Rail Pass, we finally had our turn with the solo ticket agent for this seemingly simple transaction. “Two AAA round trips to Sacramento, please.” Tap, tap, tap, on the computer. “That will be $68.40. (side note: the same trip on the NEC would be about $180). Cash or credit card?” “Visa”, I hand her the card. “Do you have your AAA card?” I do, and hand it to her. So far, so good. “Do you have ID?” I do, and hand her my NJ driver’s license. Brace yourself: disaster is imminent. “I need your wife’s ID as well.” WHAT? You have got to be kidding. No, she was serious. Now, here’s the deal. We were at a ball game. My wife felt a taking a handbag to the game was dumb, so she left it in the hotel room. Her driver’s license was in her bag. She was not planning to drive anywhere, so why not? Thus, she has no ID on her. The agent, very nice and competent by the way, was simply following Amtrak's inane rules. She cancels the sale, and the entire transaction and our trip to Sacramento goes down the shoot. We left with no tickets, and later decided to scrap the Amtrak plans and take a local bus tour and ferry ride instead (no ID's required). I know Amtrak says this is for security, but come on. Let’s be serious. Had I been willing to give up the AAA discount, I could have walked 5 feet to the QuikTrak machine and purchased the tickets showing no ID at all. Or, I could have reserved on the internet, printed the tickets at the QuikTrak, again with no ID. But since we walked up to an agent, then we BOTH need ID or no sale? Why? What security purpose does that serve that isn’t entirely evaded by the internet and QuikTrak sales. What if had gone to the station alone and tried to buy the two tickets? Still no sale? Oh well.




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