Replying to Hurricanes and Storms

However, I think my proposed 2010 trip will be in segments. Part of the trip will be from AGR points and I probably will be booking at different times (exactly 11 months prior to departure for each segment).

Well the AGR portions are easy to cancel, no penalty there as long as you cancel before departure of the train you'll get all your points back. No 7 day rule there at all.

As for the paid portions, best advice is don't pick up the tickets. That helps tremendously in terms of avoiding penalties. And while I don't know just how you're plotting out what parts are paid and what parts are AGR, if you can make at least the second and possibly third leg AGR reservations, that would almost guarantee that your 4th and additional legs would be outside the 7 day window for cancellation.

Consider the following to understand what I'm saying:

1st leg: Silver Meteor to DC - paid - departing Aug 15
2nd leg: Capitol to Chicaago - AGR - departing Aug 16
3rd leg: Empire Builder to Portland - AGR - departing Aug 17
4th leg: Coast Starlight to LA - paid - departing Aug 19

Hurricane is scheduled to hit on the 14th of August and Amtrak cancels service on the 11th. Since the first train is cancelled by Amtrak no problem getting a refund. Next two legs are AGR so again no problem getting your points back. The 4th leg is still just outside the 7 day window if you call right away, so again if you haven't picked up the tickets, no problem getting a refund. Of course if the hurricane isn't scheduled to hit until the 16th, then this doesn't help. But still I think that you can see where I'm going with this. If at all possible use the points for the first legs of the trip, paying for the later legs as that increases the odds that you stay out of the 7 day window.

Even if you do fall within the 7 day window either because the cancellation of service happens too late or you just can't use your points that way, I still suspect that Amtrak would be understanding and waive the normal penalty since obviously you couldn't make the first connection with the Silver service out of service. But if even after speaking with a customer service supervisor you still can't get it waived, remember that you can still ask for a voucher instead of a refund. By asking for a voucher good towards a future trip, you get 100% of your money back and you can then use that voucher to replan your trip at a future date.

The voucher is good for one year and if for some reason you can't use it within a year, you can send it in prior to its expiration date and Amtrak will reissue you another voucher good for yet another year.

Thanks for the great advice.

However, I think my proposed 2010 trip will be in segments. Part of the trip will be from AGR points and I probably will be booking at different times (exactly 11 months prior to departure for each segment).

Well the AGR portions are easy to cancel, no penalty there as long as you cancel before departure of the train you'll get all your points back. No 7 day rule there at all.

As for the paid portions, best advice is don't pick up the tickets. That helps tremendously in terms of avoiding penalties. And while I don't know just how you're plotting out what parts are paid and what parts are AGR, if you can make at least the second and possibly third leg AGR reservations, that would almost guarantee that your 4th and additional legs would be outside the 7 day window for cancellation.

Consider the following to understand what I'm saying:

1st leg: Silver Meteor to DC - paid - departing Aug 15
2nd leg: Capitol to Chicaago - AGR - departing Aug 16
3rd leg: Empire Builder to Portland - AGR - departing Aug 17
4th leg: Coast Starlight to LA - paid - departing Aug 19

Hurricane is scheduled to hit on the 14th of August and Amtrak cancels service on the 11th. Since the first train is cancelled by Amtrak no problem getting a refund. Next two legs are AGR so again no problem getting your points back. The 4th leg is still just outside the 7 day window if you call right away, so again if you haven't picked up the tickets, no problem getting a refund. Of course if the hurricane isn't scheduled to hit until the 16th, then this doesn't help. But still I think that you can see where I'm going with this. If at all possible use the points for the first legs of the trip, paying for the later legs as that increases the odds that you stay out of the 7 day window.

Even if you do fall within the 7 day window either because the cancellation of service happens too late or you just can't use your points that way, I still suspect that Amtrak would be understanding and waive the normal penalty since obviously you couldn't make the first connection with the Silver service out of service. But if even after speaking with a customer service supervisor you still can't get it waived, remember that you can still ask for a voucher instead of a refund. By asking for a voucher good towards a future trip, you get 100% of your money back and you can then use that voucher to replan your trip at a future date.

The voucher is good for one year and if for some reason you can't use it within a year, you can send it in prior to its expiration date and Amtrak will reissue you another voucher good for yet another year.

One of the variables is of course that predicting the path a hurricane is actually going to take is not a very well developed art. Charley in 2004 was not expected to go where it went, and as a result the Orlando area, and all the places from there down to the Ft. Myers area, where it hit land, were not prepared. Normally CSX would have removed all those crossing gates, but they didn't have time to, and there was a LOT of damage to those crossing devices. We had wind here at the house at almost 100 mph that night. That rail path through Orlando was out of service for quite some time. Power was out for many of us for up to two weeks. And without power, crossing gates don't work, so even after they were repaired, they, and the signaling systems, were still out of service for awhile. It was eerie to see all those signals dark for so long. And then of course there were thousands of trees blown down onto the right-of-way that had to be cleared before service could be resumed, and sections of washed out track or degraded roadbed.

First, most often Amtrak doesn't cancel service by their own choice. Most times Amtrak has no choice but to cancel service because the host RR tells Amtrak that they are going to shut down because of the hurricane threat. They do this because during a major storm, they must remove all the crossing gates as they become deadly missiles in a heavy wind. Without gates at the crossings, you can't run trains practically, so they terminate service.

Additionally, both Amtrak and the host RR's also often try to move parked cars and engines out of harms way, which also usually means that they won't run trains down into Florida if a hurricane is forecasted to hit the area. It's not uncommon however for them to run an abbreviated run, stopping short of Florida in either Georgia or South Carolina. However, if the hurricane is coming at the Carolinas, then it's a pretty safe bet that the entire run will be cancelled.

Second, there is simply no way to predict how many cancellations will have in a given year, since we still can't even predict with great accuracy how many hurricanes there will be in a given year, much less how many of them will actually hit land as well as where they'll hit. Last year I don't remember any cancellations, although there may have been one on the Silver Service. But two or three years ago, there were probably 5 or 6 cancellations. It's all luck of the draw.

As for refunds, if you haven't printed your tickets you would have no problems at all. If you have your tickets printed, I would still expect Amtrak to be lenient with the normal policy in this case. Did you book a round trip or two separate reservations? That could also impact things.

I know that the_traveler always recommends that people book two one ways, but in this case you'd be better off with a round trip. If Amtrak has to cancel service, then they have to cancel the entire reservation. If you have two one ways, again they should accept that one doesn't need the return ticket if one can't make the initial trip, but you never know.

Thank you. My upcoming September trip is booked as a round trip and I have not printed the tickets yet. I guess I am pretty safe there.
However, I think my proposed 2010 trip will be in segments. Part of the trip will be from AGR points and I probably will be booking at different times (exactly 11 months prior to departure for each segment).
I guess I can't get too stressed about this - it is nothing that anyone can control.

With the first tropical storm of the season being named today, it got me to thinking about my upcoming trip(s).

Aloha

If the first tropical Storm was named today then what was Felicia that visited Hawaii last week? But as an Organization Amtrak is pretty good at being safe, not so good at communications

They name Atlantic storms starting with A and Pacific storms starting with A so they are two separate animals! Evidently they have already had five in the Pacific before Felicia this year.

First, most often Amtrak doesn't cancel service by their own choice. Most times Amtrak has no choice but to cancel service because the host RR tells Amtrak that they are going to shut down because of the hurricane threat. They do this because during a major storm, they must remove all the crossing gates as they become deadly missiles in a heavy wind. Without gates at the crossings, you can't run trains practically, so they terminate service.

Additionally, both Amtrak and the host RR's also often try to move parked cars and engines out of harms way, which also usually means that they won't run trains down into Florida if a hurricane is forecasted to hit the area. It's not uncommon however for them to run an abbreviated run, stopping short of Florida in either Georgia or South Carolina. However, if the hurricane is coming at the Carolinas, then it's a pretty safe bet that the entire run will be cancelled.

Second, there is simply no way to predict how many cancellations will have in a given year, since we still can't even predict with great accuracy how many hurricanes there will be in a given year, much less how many of them will actually hit land as well as where they'll hit. Last year I don't remember any cancellations, although there may have been one on the Silver Service. But two or three years ago, there were probably 5 or 6 cancellations. It's all luck of the draw.

As for refunds, if you haven't printed your tickets you would have no problems at all. If you have your tickets printed, I would still expect Amtrak to be lenient with the normal policy in this case. Did you book a round trip or two separate reservations? That could also impact things.

I know that the_traveler always recommends that people book two one ways, but in this case you'd be better off with a round trip. If Amtrak has to cancel service, then they have to cancel the entire reservation. If you have two one ways, again they should accept that one doesn't need the return ticket if one can't make the initial trip, but you never know.

With the first tropical storm of the season being named today, it got me to thinking about my upcoming trip(s).

Aloha

If the first tropical Storm was named today the what was Felicia that visited Hawaii last week? But as an Organization Amtrakl is prety good at being safe, not so good at communications

I know that 5 years ago when Central Florida got hit by 3 hurricanes, Amtrak stopped service for a while. I had no plans to travel at the time, so I did not pay attention to the logistics.

With the first tropical storm of the season being named today, it got me to thinking about my upcoming trip(s).

I currently have reservations to travel from ORL to WAS on 9/11 and return on 9/14, which is certainly hurricane season. The reason for my trip is a family reunion on 9/13. If weather does not permit me to travel on 9/11, then my trip would be useless. Does anyone know if I would be refunded the entire round trip or just the portion of my trip that was canceled due to weather?

Even worse, I am planning my "trip of a lifetime" to start in late August 2010 going across country and back (a total of 2 weeks on the train). I had planned to make the reservations 11 months in advance to get the best price. I am trying to be optimistic that the chances of the hurricane preventing me from traveling on the east coast (ORL-WAS) are slim. I hope I am being realistic. I would hate to make plans, get excited about a great trip only to have a hurricane cancel it.
Does anyone know how often Amtrak actually cancels trains due to weather?

Thanks.

Since flooding accompanies hurricanes I am sure that there have been hurricane related train cancelations. Perhaps a Florida board member can weigh in on how proactive Amtrak is in cancelling trains during hurricane watches and warnings.

I have experienced snow and ice as well as flooding related train cancellations and delays before, so yes, they are affected by weather.

I know that 5 years ago when Central Florida got hit by 3 hurricanes, Amtrak stopped service for a while. I had no plans to travel at the time, so I did not pay attention to the logistics.

With the first tropical storm of the season being named today, it got me to thinking about my upcoming trip(s).

I currently have reservations to travel from ORL to WAS on 9/11 and return on 9/14, which is certainly hurricane season. The reason for my trip is a family reunion on 9/13. If weather does not permit me to travel on 9/11, then my trip would be useless. Does anyone know if I would be refunded the entire round trip or just the portion of my trip that was canceled due to weather?

Even worse, I am planning my "trip of a lifetime" to start in late August 2010 going across country and back (a total of 2 weeks on the train). I had planned to make the reservations 11 months in advance to get the best price. I am trying to be optimistic that the chances of the hurricane preventing me from traveling on the east coast (ORL-WAS) are slim. I hope I am being realistic. I would hate to make plans, get excited about a great trip only to have a hurricane cancel it.
Does anyone know how often Amtrak actually cancels trains due to weather?

Thanks.