Sign tickets..now or later....

[Tideman]

Should we sign our tickets for tomorrow leg to LA before we get on the train, or as we hand them to the conductor?

Tideman

James McKenzie

 

[AlanB]

It's really up to you, as to when you wish to sign the tickets. However they should be signed before you see the conductor. Otherwise you only delay the conductor from helping the next passenger, while you stop to sign the tickets.

I usually sign them when I reach the station, but that's just my personal preference. It doesn't really matter when they get signed, as all you are doing is signing for the credit card charge. It's not a security thing, but simply a way to prove that it was really you who brought the tickets should a question arise with the credit card company.

 

[Tideman]

Thanks, Alan...due to get the Crescent tomorrow afternoon here in Tuscaloosa...it is nice have Amtrak service in a city our size.

I'll have some travelogue info (abridged) when I get to the Holiday Inn Superdome tomorrow night...

Then off to LA on the Sunset Limited!

Tideman

James McKenzie :lol:

 

[tp49]

For me it depends, I've been known to sign them well before I get on the train but also at times I have been known to sign them in the presence of the conductor. Really it depends upon if or when you remember but it can't hurt to do it before hand if you remember. Have fun, I miss watching the Crescent block Greensboro Avenue when it does its station work.

 

[Tideman]

Hey, if you know Greensboro Ave, then you have some true knowledge of Tuscaloosa...

Always good to see a local anywhere on the net!



Tideman

James McKenzie

 

[tp49]

Tideman, I am a proud alumni of "The University" and after escaping Burke Hall after my Sophmore year lived over on Bryant Drive between JD's market and the Alabama Power building... haven't been back in 5 years though need to go back soon and will hopefully for Homecoming 2006 Roll Tide

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

TIdeman, my sister went to the University of Alabama many years ago, late 50's I guess. So,I, too, know something about Tuscaloosa......though not as a resident would know it. T49 and I have already discussed this.

I drove my sister and mother down there 7 or 8 years ago and my sister said the station looked about as always but was much cleaner and smelled better, under Amtrak.

I think she was there before the Bear Bryant era. She lived in what was then known as "New Hall". I remember Denny Chimes, that that has stuck with me always, for whatever reason. I would have been in grammer school when she was in college. We lived in Chattanooga.

She would ride the train from Chattanooga to Tuscaloosa, sometimes straight through and sometimes changing in Birmingham, sometimes riding the Southerner from BHM to Tuscaloosa, the train which, by an evolution of names and routes, evolved into being know as the Crescent today.

Maybe about 15 years ago I rode the train from ATl to Tuscaloosa and a nice cab driver gave me a quick tour of the campus.

 

[Amfleet]

Everytime I pick up my tickets at South Station the agent hands me a pen and asks me to sign them. If I get my tickets through mail I usually sign them as soon as they arrive. It will save a lot of hassle for you and the conductor if the tickets are signed before you get onboard.

 

[battalion51]

I've had similar experiences to Jon, when I get them from an Agent they almost always ask me to sign before I leave the window. Since the Computer knows where the tickets were printed and who printed them it can come back to bite the agent in the butt, not to mention the boarding Conductor.

 

[tp49]

After thinking about it some more I realized the only time I am asked to sign the ticket is if I used a Credit or Debit card to purchase it. When I've used cash I have not been asked to sign it but was asked to present identification.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

Usually tickets indicate a signature is needed when they are purchased with a credit/debit card. If they are purchased at the window, the agent is supposed to require a signature and compare it to that which is on the credit/debit card. If the tickets are not signed, then a passenger could technically dispute the charges, and IMO be legally able to get out of paying them by saying Amtrak charged them without authorization. There are other means of record keeping which could prevent a passenger from doing that, hence the situation of tickets recieved in the mail. But once the passenger has signed them (especially in witness of the agent, and he/she has confirmed the passenger is the cardholder) then it is a done deal. But anymore these days with all the unstaffed stations, etc, pretty much it is up to the conductor to make sure they are signed! He/she should not accept the tickets if they are not, and that is easily remedied by having the passenger sign the tickets. I find possible problems with this whole situation, though IMHO being conductors (to my knowledge) are not usually trained in comparing signatures on tickets with those on the credit/debit cards which were used (or conductors don't have the time to worry about it)! Maybe one day Amtrak will enter into the wireless age and be able to process transactions electronically on board to remedy the unstaffed station and tickets by mail issue!