Will we be taken care of in CHI?

The LSL is the only remaining guaranteed connection for the EB in CHI. I'm aware of amtrak sending us up into a hotel, but what else do they provide if the connection is missed? Food money? Taxi fare to hotel? What kind of hotel? Ect. If I miss the connection, I would like to have a nice day in Chicago. So I'm curious. thanks!

I got it once on a CS-> EB connection in Seattle. If I recall the details, and I did have some help from an inside friend, Portland (which I was originally scheduled to connect at) had run out of hotel rooms available to Amtrak because the Builder had been canned two days in a row (bad winter). So they rebooked me to Seattle and put me up there. Dinner had been included on the train, they paid for a taxi to a Holiday Inn Express ( which was also the crew hotel), the hotel provided breakfast, and they paid for my taxi fare back.

If the guaranteed connection is missed, Amtrak will provide a paid hotel, cab fare to and from the hotel and meal money! The hotel is one that has available rooms that night, so it is not a specific hotel. It may be the "no name" hotel or it could be the Ritz! Either way, it will be an OK place. Also, it's "take it or leave it" - you can turn down the offer but then you must find and reserve the hotel and also pay all expenses.

If Al Capone has his way, you will certainly be taken care of. Fortunately he is dead.

Happened to me & they provided meal $, cab$ & a room at Homewood Suites which had a very nice free Breakfast Buffet!!!!! For me, the only worry is having a sleeper on which ever train I'm connected to!

Be aware that if they provide a "voucher" for food money, you have to present it at the ticket counter in the station to get the *cash*. I heard of someone that tried to present it at a restaurant, and then came back to the station saying "the restarant wouldn't accept it."

We turned down the hotel (had already switched the reservations to the first morning Lincoln Service instead of the afternoon one they had us on, presuming we'd need more sleep), and they gave us $10 each for breakfast. The instructions were to take it across the lobby to the ticket counter to get cash, but I guess if you're really zonked from a really late EB, some people might not hear instructions accurately. And once everyone visible is taken care of, the ticket counter will close till the regular morning opening time.

What does Amtrak provide if the EB is so late into Chicago that it's 6 or 7 a.m.? Would love provisions to clean up and eat.

When I got there at 3-4am last December, everyone's needs for accommodations, food vouchers, and connections were taken care of first. Then all pax were allowed into the Metropolitan Lounge to wait for connecting trains, even coach pax. There are nice rest rooms there, and I think they made coffee and brought out snacks when the lounge opened (but I had my own granola so didn't need food). But if the EB is so late that the station is open for the day, I don't know if they will allow coach pax into the lounge.

And of course, they change what they are doing regularly.

Thanks, Oregon Pioneer.

I should have put more information in my question. If the connection from EB to LSL is missed, and I have to take the next night's LSL (leaving no earlier than 9:30 p.m.), the likelihood of getting my roomette is slim.

I'm looking at this forum and finding good suggestions for spending time in Chicago, but it would be nice to have a place to relax and shower before boarding for coach, both for me and any potential seatmates. The Lounge is just not a place I can really relax or nap.

So, question is will Amtrak provide any accommodations for missed "guaranteed" connections when the wait will be 8-16 hours or more?

PRae_Train said:

So, question is will Amtrak provide any accommodations for missed "guaranteed" connections when the wait will be 8-16 hours or more?

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I believe the answer to that is still "yes"!

There have been plenty of threads about what to do in Chicago, and I intend to find them again and follow some of the excellent suggestions next time I'm there (Miracle Mile here I come...)!

oregon pioneer said:

When I got there at 3-4am last December, everyone's needs for accommodations, food vouchers, and connections were taken care of first. Then all pax were allowed into the Metropolitan Lounge to wait for connecting trains, even coach pax. There are nice rest rooms there, and I think they made coffee and brought out snacks when the lounge opened (but I had my own granola so didn't need food). But if the EB is so late that the station is open for the day, I don't know if they will allow coach pax into the lounge.

And of course, they change what they are doing regularly.

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Oregon, I'm asking just out of curiosity, but did you get accommodations (hotel), or did you have to wait in the lounge for your train? Do they ever provide a hotel for an all-day wait, especially if it begins in the wee hours of the morning? I'm not sure if that's what the OP meant, but I'm wondering. Thanks

I think he said they were offered but he declined.

crescent2 said:

oregon pioneer said:

When I got there at 3-4am last December, everyone's needs for accommodations, food vouchers, and connections were taken care of first. Then all pax were allowed into the Metropolitan Lounge to wait for connecting trains, even coach pax. There are nice rest rooms there, and I think they made coffee and brought out snacks when the lounge opened (but I had my own granola so didn't need food). But if the EB is so late that the station is open for the day, I don't know if they will allow coach pax into the lounge.

And of course, they change what they are doing regularly.

Click to expand...

Oregon, I'm asking just out of curiosity, but did you get accommodations (hotel), or did you have to wait in the lounge for your train? Do they ever provide a hotel for an all-day wait, especially if it begins in the wee hours of the morning? I'm not sure if that's what the OP meant, but I'm wondering. Thanks

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Green Maned Lion said:

I think he said they were offered but he declined.

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GML, you're right. I think it was on another thread recently -- as I said there, we had a conference to attend in Springfield, and when the EB was going to be very late, Amtrak automatically re-booked everyone's connections and emailed us with the new info (and I don't have a smartphone, so had to borrow one to check my email, but that's another story...). They had booked us on an afternoon Lincoln, and our conference started at noon, so I managed to call AGR (it was an award trip) before they closed for the evening, and get it changed to the first Lincoln in the morning.

When we arrived at CHI, I found why they had booked us for the afternoon Lincoln train: they assumed we needed to sleep, and offered us a hotel room, transportation to the hotel and back, and voucher for food money. We turned it down, and accepted a breakfast voucher ($10 each). We went to the Metropolitan Lounge, which as I said was opened for all passengers (but I think no services till their regular opening time, which I can't recall). I spent the voucher money on our lunch in Lincoln.

what will Amtrak do if there are not coach seats or sleeping rooms available on the next day's connecting train? (assuming it's the only train between those two cities)

will they put you up at the hotel for an extra night?

the reason I'm asking is that the connecting train that I'm interested in are completely booked(coach and sleeper) for 6 days......

also... whey you guys mentioned meal money, did you mean that Amtrak just gave you meal money in cash?

thanks!

Newbie_Emily said:

also... whey you guys mentioned meal money, did you mean that Amtrak just gave you meal money in cash?

thanks!

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Emily, they gave me a "voucher" and then I was instructed to take the paper voucher across the lobby to the ticket counter and exchange it for cash. They did not give out cash at the Customer Service area.

Newbie_Emily said:

also... whey you guys mentioned meal money, did you mean that Amtrak just gave you meal money in cash?

Click to expand...

When I missed the EB to Michigan Services connection 5 1/2 years ago, I had to report to passenger services where they presented me with a voucher for lodging (They had me stay at the Inn of Chicago) and vouchers for cab fare and meal money, then instructed me to go to the ticket counter to redeem the vouchers for meal money and cab fare.

Newbie_Emily said:

what will Amtrak do if there are not coach seats or sleeping rooms available on the next day's connecting train? (assuming it's the only train between those two cities)

will they put you up at the hotel for an extra night?

the reason I'm asking is that the connecting train that I'm interested in are completely booked(coach and sleeper) for 6 days......

also... whey you guys mentioned meal money, did you mean that Amtrak just gave you meal money in cash?

thanks!

Click to expand...

At that point you may be looking at Bus City! A couple years ago when a connection from the CZ blew up in Chicago, they were taking folks who had connections with the Cardinal and giving them Vouchers to get money for a ride on the Pooch at 0300-ish. Many were not happy.

OlympianHiawatha said:

Newbie_Emily said:

what will Amtrak do if there are not coach seats or sleeping rooms available on the next day's connecting train? (assuming it's the only train between those two cities)

will they put you up at the hotel for an extra night?

the reason I'm asking is that the connecting train that I'm interested in are completely booked(coach and sleeper) for 6 days......

also... whey you guys mentioned meal money, did you mean that Amtrak just gave you meal money in cash?

thanks!

Click to expand...

At that point you may be looking at Bus City! A couple years ago when a connection from the CZ blew up in Chicago, they were taking folks who had connections with the Cardinal and giving them Vouchers to get money for a ride on the Pooch at 0300-ish. Many were not happy.

Click to expand...

How far did these folks have to go on the Greyhound?