What happens if you miss a connection to the Cardinal?

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The on-time status over the last few days of both the CZ and the Cardinal have been all over the map. I'm crossing fingers for a very uneventful trip.

I did notice that the cost to upgrade to a roomette on the CZ was only $301 from RNO to CHI compared to the $500+ it was a few days ago, so I jumped on it, being that I like my diner meals very much and like sleeping flat even better. :)

Does anyone know if Sleeper meals still include salad/breakfast sides, soda/water/juice and dessert (with lunch or dinner)? Thanks.
 
Yes sleeper meals include salad and breakfast meats but you have to order them. And non alcoholic drinks.
 
the_traveler said:
Call AGR first and book the award trip. Then ask if they can book the voucher trip (which essentially is a paid trip). If they say you need to call Customer Relations, when you speak with CR tell them "I'm booked on an AGR award from DEN to CHI in Car 631 in room 5 (or whatever) on an AGR award and would like to get the same room if possible". They will do their best. Then ask for the 2 reservations to be associated together.
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Just had a thought... can't you make a reservation and "pay later"? I've never done that, but I think it used to be offered. I know they won't hold it for long, but surely if AGR can't talk to CR, they can make the rez, give me the number, and I can call CR and get them to pull the voucher to pay for it? Do you think that would work?
 
AmtrakBlue said:
Yes, you can put a Rez on hold. Not sure for how long, maybe a week.
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aviva_dawn said:
^ Yep. I think that I got a Rez held for two weeks a couple of times.
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OK, good, when I pull in the AGR award, I will make the reservation with the same AGR agent to continue from CIN to NWK on a paid ticket, and then if necessary I will make a separate call to Customer Relations to "pay" for the ticket with my voucher (I think there will be a few dollars on my AGR card as well). It'll come out quite close, I believe.

That way, if I have to re-book due to a missed connection, it will all be on the same reservation.

Thanks, everyone, for the help!
 
Thanks for all the good advice, friends! I booked this trip today, and it went like a charm. I booked both the points segments and the paid segment with AGR rep "Laura." She associated the reservations with each other, then transferred me to Customer Relations to take care of the payment using my voucher. That process only took an extra couple of minutes, as the CR rep "Melvin" looked up both the reservation number and the voucher number.

Both reps were friendly and competent, and wished me a "Happy New Year!"

Now I just need to hope that my California Zephyr arrives on time in CHI, so I can catch the Card as planned... I'm aware some of their "solutions" to a late CZ are really poor.
 
oregon pioneer said:
As part of the Dream Trip I have planned for next fall, I need to make a connection from the CZ to the Cardinal. It seems like, this fall, the CZ has been missing the Card's 5:45 P.M. departure about half the time. Since it's a three-day-a-week train, what happens in these circumstances? I understand that they may sometimes use a bus to connect from the CZ to the Card, and that inspires two questions:

  • How long is the bus trip?
  • Can I hear from someone who has actually been bustituted on this segment?
A bus all the way to CIN is absolutely NOT acceptable to me, partially because I will be reserving coach to continue from CIN to NWK (becuse I will not have enough points available to go the full three zones), and partially because a nighttime bus and my back will absolutely not get along. Also, since I want to continue on the Card from CIN, being dumped in CIN after the Card has long departed (not to return for almost two more days) will simply not do.
If the CZ is so totally late that you completely miss the connection, will they actually put you up for two nights until the next Cardinal?
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I'm taking a trip this winter, connecting from the CZ to the Cardinal. I decided that my peace of mind was worth biting the bullet and spending a night in Chicago on my own dime. The Club Quarters in the Loop is a short walk from the station, and I got a room for the night at about $150.

I also decided to spend the night on the eastbound trip out, even though it's more likely that I could make the connection. For that I got a room at the Days Inn up on the North side on Diverssey Parkway for $90. It's where I stayed at last year's Gathering. It's a bit of a schlep on the Brown Line, but there are elevators to the station at both Washington/Wells and Diverssey, and it's not too hard to do towing a rollerbag.
 
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oregon pioneer said:
Thanks for all the good advice, friends! I booked this trip today, and it went like a charm. I booked both the points segments and the paid segment with AGR rep "Laura." She associated the reservations with each other, then transferred me to Customer Relations to take care of the payment using my voucher. That process only took an extra couple of minutes, as the CR rep "Melvin" looked up both the reservation number and the voucher number.

Both reps were friendly and competent, and wished me a "Happy New Year!"

Now I just need to hope that my California Zephyr arrives on time in CHI, so I can catch the Card as planned... I'm aware some of their "solutions" to a late CZ are really poor.
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My connection from the CZ to the Cardinal was non-eventful. The CZ arrived into Chicago about 20 minutes early and the Cardinal departed just over an hour late. The Cardinal stayed between an hour and two hours late the entire trip but the crew was excellent and any extra time on the train is worth it IMHO.
 
If you miss your CZ to Cardinal Connection at CHI and get bussed to IND to pick it up, do you still get the sleeper that you had reserved for this train?
 
On #6 and was running late and if we did not get to Galesburg by 2:30 I would be bused to Indy.

Just barely made the time limit and got to Chicago and walked directly to the awaiting Cardinal.Happy ending.
 
I looked since October 1st for missed connections from the CZ to the Cardinal, and November was pretty rough. 5 missed connections and several of them by just a few minutes. (Maybe Amtrak bussed the passengers from Galesburg?)

Appears that there were no missed connections from the CZ to the Card in December.

20150101_6_50_CHI_connections-1.png
 
oregon pioneer said:
Wow, thanks for the info! Had I done the trip this year, I would have arrived on the 11/20 CZ that missed by 15 minutes. But those odds are better than I thought! Thanks again!

:hi:

Did you have to go through the status archives day-by-day to compile that?? Or is there a better place to look.
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Sure, you're welcome....I use the statusmaps.net archives data and put it into a searchable format (database).

The URL isn't the easiest to remember but http://juckins.net/amtrak_status will get you there.

You can search connecting train history, past delayed trains by their number or station code, etc.

I'm happy to answer any questions about it.
 
acelafan said:
oregon pioneer said:
Wow, thanks for the info! Had I done the trip this year, I would have arrived on the 11/20 CZ that missed by 15 minutes. But those odds are better than I thought! Thanks again!

:hi:

Did you have to go through the status archives day-by-day to compile that?? Or is there a better place to look.
Click to expand...
Sure, you're welcome....I use the statusmaps.net archives data and put it into a searchable format (database).

The URL isn't the easiest to remember but http://juckins.net/amtrak_status will get you there.

You can search connecting train history, past delayed trains by their number or station code, etc.

I'm happy to answer any questions about it.
Click to expand...
Wow. Thanks! I think I saw some mention of this site when it first went prime-time but I really appreciate the reminder.
 
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