Group sale members bails, now at 19 ppl

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Jenny McCarthy

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I have had reservation for a 20 person group for many many months, tonight one has told me he is bailing, leaving me at 19 people. Will Amtrak honor my tickets? Make me pay more? What do I do?
 
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As long as all 20 tickets are paid for, there shouldn't be a problem. Is 20 tickets a minimum to get a special rate? If it is, then spreading the cost of the ticket over the remaining 19 people would be the solution. If it's just a 20-person group traveling on a regular fare, then become a 19-person group. Of course, I really don't know what I'm talking about, so perhaps this whole message should be forgotten.
 
MikefromCrete said:
As long as all 20 tickets are paid for, there shouldn't be a problem. Is 20 tickets a minimum to get a special rate? If it is, then spreading the cost of the ticket over the remaining 19 people would be the solution. If it's just a 20-person group traveling on a regular fare, then become a 19-person group. Of course, I really don't know what I'm talking about, so perhaps this whole message should be forgotten.
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20 seems to be the threshold for a group discount. Even with less than 20, it sounds as if they give special consideration, such as blocking out seats for the group and preboarding. However, it also sounds as if they're gearing these for student field trips or the like.

http://www.amtrak.com/group-travel-requests
Groups may be eligible to receive discounts for each 20 paying passengers. The half-fare children's discounts may be applied to eligible members of the group. Discounts are not valid on all trains. Further restrictions may apply.

  • Group leaders and designated chaperones are responsible for the conduct and supervision of their group at all times during the field trip.
  • Please remind your students to be considerate of the other passengers. Amtrak personnel cannot assist in the supervision of your group.
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Yes the tickets are paid for. My question relates to if Amtrak will honor the price we paid or increase it because now we are only a 19 person group. Yes, we got special pricing for having 20 people.
 
As said above, the best is to divide the total cost between the 19 going, and not even notify Amtrak that there are less than 20 going. Otherwise, they may want to charge 19 full fare tickets instead of 20 discounted tickets!
 
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I guess the best option would be to contact Amtrak as you did when booking the 20 person trip... Just make an anonymous enquiry such as: "What would happen if I book a party of 20, and one falls ill on the day and can't go..."?

I would just keep quiet and feign surprise on the day... "We can't wait any longer for Mr X, lets go!"

Ed. :cool:
 
As long as the 20 tickets are paid for, why would Amtrak care if only 19 people showed up? Just get on the train and go.
 
Because 20 tickets qualify for a group discount rate and a free ticket for the group leader. 19 tickets do not, and if they're full fare, high bucket tickets, they may cost more than the discounted tickets - meaning Amtrak leaves income on the tracks!
 
So what happens if only 19 people show up? I doubt if the conductor would throw everybody off the train or demand the difference between the group fare and the standard fare. Nineteen people get on, say the 20th person didn't show up, and ride merrily to their destination.
 
Here's the real question. The tickets are paid for. Does the person who dropped out expect a refund? I would be hacked off if I had to pay more because someone dropped out (unless it was a life-altering situation like a death in the family). If the 20th person isn't expecting a refund, no harm no foul. Keep the ticket. Let someone's spouse tag along. If s/he wants a refund, apologize and explain that it can't happen.

If there is money that needs to move around, ie refund, cost sharing, etc., only contacting Amtrak and getting a firm answer is a legitimate response. If there is no money being moved around, then hop on and go.
 
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VentureForth said:
Here's the real question. The tickets are paid for. Does the person who dropped out expect a refund? I would be hacked off if I had to pay more because someone dropped out (unless it was a life-altering situation like a death in the family). If the 20th person isn't expecting a refund, no harm no foul. Keep the ticket. Let someone's spouse tag along. If s/he wants a refund, apologize and explain that it can't happen.

If there is money that needs to move around, ie refund, cost sharing, etc., only contacting Amtrak and getting a firm answer is a legitimate response. If there is no money being moved around, then hop on and go.
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Sounds to me as if the money has already been collected, but the OP is concerned that without an actual 20 butts in seats that Amtrak may retroactively kill the volume discount. I've read some places that the discount may be as much as 20%.

I don't know if this is still the case, but I read somewhere else that Amtrak (at least previously) assigns the ticket to a group leader. What I read is generally that they don't care about no shows, but cancellation of group passengers may result in additional fees.
 
Oh - I understand that Amtrak has already collected the money. This only becomes an issue if the no-show wants a refund. Then that makes the actual count under 20 and the snowball begins.
 
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