E-Tickets

[jis]

An issue this big making it into the production roll-out is both surprising and unfortunate.

Very unfortunate, but in all honesty, there would not be many ways to have figured out issues like this in the testing phase that occurred.

I disagree. Long before testing, the minute a suit came up with the idea of cancelling a downstream segments if a prior one was not scanned or it did not correctly update the system, what used to be called a systems analyst should have asked what if ....? You really don't have to test this. You know it will occur.

I agree with your position on this. This is a clear test case that should have been addressed more adequately and was not apparently.

Incidentally, when I used the word system, I was not making a distinction between business and IT. A system is a system.

Yup, as long as one is not trying to figure out which part needs fixing, there is no need to dissect the problem into its parts. It is an overall system problem.

 

[yarrow]

An issue this big making it into the production roll-out is both surprising and unfortunate.

Very unfortunate, but in all honesty, there would not be many ways to have figured out issues like this in the testing phase that occurred.

I disagree. Long before testing, the minute a suit came up with the idea of cancelling a downstream segments if a prior one was not scanned or it did not correctly update the system, what used to be called a systems analyst should have asked what if ....? You really don't have to test this. You know it will occur.

I agree with your position on this. This is a clear test case that should have been addressed more adequately and was not apparently.

Incidentally, when I used the word system, I was not making a distinction between business and IT. A system is a system.

Yup, as long as one is not trying to figure out which part needs fixing, there is no need to dissect the problem into its parts. It is an overall system problem.

so, i wonder who at amtrak is now aware of this issue and what it will take to fix it? probably a bunch more top level administrative powwows. unless a top level person has been personally affected, in which case, it will be fixed today

 

[acelafan]

I recently took the Silver Meteor (97 & 98) to Florida and back. I had an E-Ticket that contained both

legs of the trip. We had separate tickets for my wife and I. When the conductor scanned my wife's ticket,

which was on top of my ticket, I watched and he did not scan my ticket. I advised the conductor that my

ticket was under my wife's ticket and he told me that it was not necessary for him to scan my ticket that

the scan of my wife's ticket would record both tickets. I am monitoring my AGR account to see if my points

show up for the trip. Also, the monetary amount of the ticket that previously was printed on the stub does

not show up on the E-Tickets which makes it unhandy to determine the point value for AGR on paid tickets.

Luckily for me I never need to worry about how many points I get. I've never had points deposited in my account over 100, so my balance is still on a hundreds. After I registered, my grandma had thrown away our stubs from the Colorado trip, and since then all of my trips around SoCal have been less than $50. The trip between Chicago and Boston did not get credited to my account and despite filing multiple missing points requests never came, and it would've turned out to be 100 points as well, so I didn't worry too much. In the past year, I've had three trips that haven't been credited.

Johnny, you should call AGR and ask them to credit your account. Often times they can key up your info

and find your ticket number and post your points. I keep a spreadsheet of my travels and if they are paid

or AGR. I hate to think you did not get proper credit for your paid travels.

Check you PM's.

I do the same thing and keep a spreadsheet of all my travels and points. One thing I noticed with the ETickets is besides not having the monetary value, the full electronic ticket number is not displayed on the QT or the PDF printout. I guess this could potentially be problematic if you have to call AGR and ask for missing points. AGR should be able to find your ticket number through your reservation - but on more than one occasion I've had to provide them the actual 13-digit number so they could cross-check things on their end and give me credit.

 

[Acela150]

I recently took the Silver Meteor (97 & 98) to Florida and back. I had an E-Ticket that contained both

legs of the trip. We had separate tickets for my wife and I. When the conductor scanned my wife's ticket,

which was on top of my ticket, I watched and he did not scan my ticket. I advised the conductor that my

ticket was under my wife's ticket and he told me that it was not necessary for him to scan my ticket that

the scan of my wife's ticket would record both tickets. I am monitoring my AGR account to see if my points

show up for the trip. Also, the monetary amount of the ticket that previously was printed on the stub does

not show up on the E-Tickets which makes it unhandy to determine the point value for AGR on paid tickets.

Luckily for me I never need to worry about how many points I get. I've never had points deposited in my account over 100, so my balance is still on a hundreds. After I registered, my grandma had thrown away our stubs from the Colorado trip, and since then all of my trips around SoCal have been less than $50. The trip between Chicago and Boston did not get credited to my account and despite filing multiple missing points requests never came, and it would've turned out to be 100 points as well, so I didn't worry too much. In the past year, I've had three trips that haven't been credited.

Johnny, you should call AGR and ask them to credit your account. Often times they can key up your info

and find your ticket number and post your points. I keep a spreadsheet of my travels and if they are paid

or AGR. I hate to think you did not get proper credit for your paid travels.

Check you PM's.

I do the same thing and keep a spreadsheet of all my travels and points. One thing I noticed with the ETickets is besides not having the monetary value, the full electronic ticket number is not displayed on the QT or the PDF printout. I guess this could potentially be problematic if you have to call AGR and ask for missing points. AGR should be able to find your ticket number through your reservation - but on more than one occasion I've had to provide them the actual 13-digit number so they could cross-check things on their end and give me credit.

I just put check marks on my tickets. If after 3 weeks no credit I call up and give them my ticket number. They often ask for a Credit Card number that I used which I'm not comfortable giving. But now I have no need to worry. I have seen them post in 3 days minimum and 5 days max.

 

[transit54]

I do the same thing and keep a spreadsheet of all my travels and points. One thing I noticed with the ETickets is besides not having the monetary value, the full electronic ticket number is not displayed on the QT or the PDF printout. I guess this could potentially be problematic if you have to call AGR and ask for missing points. AGR should be able to find your ticket number through your reservation - but on more than one occasion I've had to provide them the actual 13-digit number so they could cross-check things on their end and give me credit.

On the AGR site, there is now a different form to request your points depending on whether you had an eticket or a paper ticket. The eticket form does not request the ticket number, simply the reservation number, dates and endpoints. So I would imaging that AGR will be switching their processes and won't even be asking about the ticket number - though with all transitions, this may take some time for the agents to get used to.

 

[jis]

On the AGR site, there is now a different form to request your points depending on whether you had an eticket or a paper ticket. The eticket form does not request the ticket number, simply the reservation number, dates and endpoints. So I would imaging that AGR will be switching their processes and won't even be asking about the ticket number - though with all transitions, this may take some time for the agents to get used to.

I think just requiring the PNR is a good change. Sometimes the ticket number got printed in such a way on the ticket that all of it was not on the stub returned to you, and then it was a royal pain to go hunting elsewhere for it to provide the number to AGR. The PNR is something that is nice and short and easily available at multiple places.

 

[Blackwolf]

For the foreseeable future, there will be one last bastion for the traditional paper ticket. I just completed a reservation utilizing my $75 travel voucher from earlier this spring, and like always it required a conversation with a Customer Service Agent over the phone in order to apply it. I was surprised to hear that, because I was actually making the reservation through her and not just applying the voucher to an existing reservation, that we would be issued paper tickets (due to "manual entry" as she called it) and that they would have to be mailed to us.

Yes. we got the standard e-mail with the bar code and itinerary printed. But she confirmed that any CS-issued tickets will still be on old-fashioned paper and would be issued only through the mail; no station agent pick-up and no QuikTrak pick-up.

Call me amused!

 

[amamba]

For the foreseeable future, there will be one last bastion for the traditional paper ticket. I just completed a reservation utilizing my $75 travel voucher from earlier this spring, and like always it required a conversation with a Customer Service Agent over the phone in order to apply it. I was surprised to hear that, because I was actually making the reservation through her and not just applying the voucher to an existing reservation, that we would be issued paper tickets (due to "manual entry" as she called it) and that they would have to be mailed to us.

Yes. we got the standard e-mail with the bar code and itinerary printed. But she confirmed that any CS-issued tickets will still be on old-fashioned paper and would be issued only through the mail; no station agent pick-up and no QuikTrak pick-up.

Call me amused!

Was this a voucher for a customer relations issue?

I had a voucher for that, and my tickets have been decidedly e-tickets. I was told I would have to get a paper ticket and pick it up at the ticket window, but low and behold, when I went to the ticket window, the ticket agent printed me out an "eticket travel voucher."

But, with amtrak, YMMV.

 

[CHamilton]

Here's some trivia for you. I got curious as to exactly what is encoded in the barcodes that Amtrak uses. As near as I can tell, there are two answers.

1. If you print the reservation confirmation screen at amtrak.com, or if you receive an email confirmation from a phone or AGR reservation, you'll get a document with the older "1D" barcode (like the ones you see in the supermarket). These are attached to the email as PNG files. The data encoded will be your six-digit reservation number (like ABC123) plus the city code of the origin of your trip (like NYP). So in this example, the code would read ABC123NYP.

2. For the newer eTickets, the PDF file attached to your reservation email will include a square "QR code" which contains your reservation number, a dash, and the date you made the reservation. (This information is actually printed in text directly below the QR code.) An example might look like ABC123-01JAN2012.

By the way, I'm not giving away any secrets, since the data involved is actually printed in human-readable form on the documents involved. If you want to test this out yourself, just print the email, then use a "barcode scanner" app to read the code. It will display the information I describe above. But you won't be able to do anything with the results.

This might explain why some reservations can be completely changed and keep the same reservation number, while others need new ones -- it probably has to do with whether the origin station of the trip has changed.

 

[NW cannonball]

Here's some trivia for you. I got curious as to exactly what is encoded in the barcodes that Amtrak uses. As near as I can tell, there are two answers.

1. If you print the reservation confirmation screen at amtrak.com, or if you receive an email confirmation from a phone or AGR reservation, you'll get a document with the older "1D" barcode (like the ones you see in the supermarket). These are attached to the email as PNG files. The data encoded will be your six-digit reservation number (like ABC123) plus the city code of the origin of your trip (like NYP). So in this example, the code would read ABC123NYP.

2. For the newer eTickets, the PDF file attached to your reservation email will include a square "QR code" which contains your reservation number, a dash, and the date you made the reservation. (This information is actually printed in text directly below the QR code.) An example might look like ABC123-01JAN2012.

By the way, I'm not giving away any secrets, since the data involved is actually printed in human-readable form on the documents involved. If you want to test this out yourself, just print the email, then use a "barcode scanner" app to read the code. It will display the information I describe above. But you won't be able to do anything with the results.

This might explain why some reservations can be completely changed and keep the same reservation number, while others need new ones -- it probably has to do with whether the origin station of the trip has changed.

Thanks - that is useful information

 

[SubwayNut]

Well I just went on my first complicated multi-city eTicking itinerary this past week (the source of most of the Amtrak Stations on my website and all the AGR points to put a Select Card in my wallet) to visit a friend renting a house near St Albans, VT and much to my surprise eTicketing was flawless. I was successfully scanned on all seven trains. I should also add that I found a loophole in Amtrak's reservation and fare system that means you can add a segment for a less than 24 hour layover in New York City from as far south as Philly at least for the same price as the rest of your ticket on the Adirondack.

Reservation 1: MET-EWR-NYP (Monday) NYP-SDY-Port Kent (Tuesday): I discovered that the iPhone app as a bug in it. It will only display the first two tickets of an itinerary so it made it look like beneath the QR code I had spent $57.60 just to go from Metropark to Penn Station via the Airport to NYP. I did stop and print out Quick-Trak copies of my tickets mainly for my stub collection, and also because I realized i would need one to flash to the gate agent when I boarded the Maple Leaf.

On #174 the conductor luckily came by on the 10 minute MET-EWR ride didn't even say next stop or anything. The PANYNJ Red Coat who you need to flash your ticket stub (it was announced as your "travel documents") to board the monorail looked at my iPhone said "I'm still getting used to these" and let me through (had I had a paper ticket I would have gotten a green highlighter park) the fare gates. Had a nice time finally photographing the monorail

I stopped at a QuikTrack machine to make sure the first trip went through (a great way to check) and got a new itinerary with just my final 3 segments. Showed this to the gate agent (who didn't bother to mark it) and he let me back through the fare gates telling me "Track 1." Although all seat checks had been collected on Train #186 the conductor took the time to walk up and find me (otherwise I would have found him)

On Tuesday taking the Maple Leaf NYP-SDY and then SDY to Port Kent on the Adirondack I flashed the QR code both times even through if the conductor had scrolled down my iPhone there was no confirmation I was on this train. Didn't need to dig my paper tickets out for the gate agent in New York because I skipped the line and boarded the Maple Leaf through the Exit Concourse

Coming back was a St Albans to Windsor Locks on the Vermonter for an hour to a Shuttle to the Regional, I was traveling with a friend but we bought separate tickets. We just used our iPhones, they scanned fine all 3 times. Going through Vermont on the Vermonter I was surprised at how many paper tickets were being issued. I even saw the conductors using their old, clunky credit card readers from passengers with reservations already written, writing and punching tickets on their old pads (Like nothing in that department had changed). We were the only two getting off at Windsor Locks and the new conductors that got on in Springfield referred to us by last name I guess making sure they found the right passengers. On the Shuttle the Conductor asked me for my ID saying the iPhone had selected me for the random ID check and how much he hated having to do this. On the Regional we could only find a booth in the cafe car (couldn't find two seats together on the entire train boarding in New Haven) and the conductors (sitting right behind us) scanned our iPhones and handed us seat checks.

I overheard two interesting iPhone adventures, on the Vermonter a passenger boarded trying to go from Springfield to Hartford without a ticket (or was in the process of buying one and didn't finish the transaction). The crew told him to buy one for the next Shuttle and then scanned his iPad when the Ticket finally arrived in his eMail (Amtrak needs to just include the codes on the confirmation screens) to process it for the Vermonter. I believe this was all being done via the onboard wifi There was also a lady with the older version of the Amtrak app on the Shuttle and the conductor said he needed to see the bar code, not just the itinerary. I overheard this and told her she needed to update the app while she fished in her eMail for the confirmation.

 

[acelafan]

I love it when new technology works - glad you had a good trip! I was on the Crescent WAS > ATL Thursday night and the conductor had some trouble scanning the bar code tickets; he had to manually enter the reservation number on several. I asked him how he liked the new technology and he groaned but was good-natured about it and said "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all - so I *love* these new scanners!" And he laughed as he moved on checking more tickets.

 

[vickinish]

Interesting new wrinkle. I had two tickets purchased at the end of July so both showed in my email and my Amtrak iPhone app as "printed ticket required" with the usual bar code. These were AGR tickets.

I had to modify them by phone with AGR to add a wheelchair access. This resulted in an email with a bar code to be printed at a QuikTrak machine and was followed by another email with eTicket PDFs for scanning.

But now, although both trips still show in my iPhone, when I try to view them the app crashes. So I will need to use the PDF for scanning as I can't bring the necessary code up on the iPhone.

Seems that modifying an eTicket is not handled by the iPhone app.

 

[SubwayNut]

Amtrak yesterday released an update to the app saying that now you can modify a return trip directly in the app, after departing on your first outbound leg. My multi-city tickets though can be scanned fully in the app but not modified or canceled because the app doesn't support those tickets even for booking. It also only displays the first two segments of a four segment journey. On the first leg of Tuesday's trip I was listed as Departing from Metropark to Newark Airport, returning Newark Airport to New York Penn Station. Nowhere did it list my final and main two legs of the trip in the view screen. In the first screen every portion of your trip is there except if departure times change they dont appear there, only when you click View (discovered this when the Capital Limited's schedule was changed on me).

 

[transit54]

Going through Vermont on the Vermonter I was surprised at how many paper tickets were being issued. I even saw the conductors using their old, clunky credit card readers from passengers with reservations already written, writing and punching tickets on their old pads (Like nothing in that department had changed).

That's interesting. I wonder if you call 1-800-USA-RAIL and hit zero to make a reservation if they are still issuing reservation numbers for payment on board the train. I figured they'd just issue an eticket instead. Due to the Vermont ticketing situation, most riders are just very familiar with the routine of calling the 1-800 number before boarding and unless they have really been paying attention, they likely don't even realize eticketing is an option.

The other reason is that the state offers a $12 fare when traveling within Vermont. The state does not release the promotional code, and while one can obtain the discount by clicking a like on a particular website, the procedure is not very well known or obvious. As a result, most people are used to calling, not worrying about the fare, and paying the $12 on the train. I have gotten in touch with the appropriate people on the state level and explained the situation and they are working within their channels to get the promotion code released and publicized.

But overall, I'm pretty surprised that Amtrak Reservations even allows the ticket to be written on the train. I wonder what the correct procedure is if someone is leaving from an unstaffed station and claims not to have a computer or a printer or not be comfortable printing their own ticket? Do they instruct you to pay on the train or are they supposed to issue you an eticket and have the conductor look you up on board (which is still likely much faster than writing out a handwritten paper ticket)? If it's the former, I wonder what the long term plan is, and if it' the latter, I wonder if the reason they are still doing it in VT is because of the promotional code.

When I rode with an eticket a few weeks ago, the Vermonter conductor said he loved the system and couldn't wait until everyone was using them. As it was the first week of deployment, I figured he'd only have to wait another week or two until he was getting mostly etickets (and the occasional printed paper ticket), but apparently it's not going to happen right away.

 

[alanh]

I believe the conductor can look up your reservation with just the number. The barcode is just to (in theory) make it easier and quicker.

Although I haven't heard anything specifically about it, I don't think there's anything to stop you from buying a ticket on board if boarding at an unstaffed/no QuikTrak station. The conductor should still be able to sell you a ticket. Although Amtrak has discouraged it (since it's more work for the conductor), you've always been able to buy a ticket by just showing up and boarding where there's no agent. You do run the risk of the train being sold out.

 

[transit54]

Another eTicketing update: I boarded the northbound Vermonter in Bridgeport today, although I was ticketed out of Stamford. The conductor came by about 10 minutes after we left Bridgeport and scanned my ticket with no issues. I would imagine that conductors are not hitting the "all done" button at each stop to allow for people to board a station or two downline. At the same time, I don't know if I'm comfortable enough to do this regularly, and I usually don't know whether I am leaving from Bridgeport or Stamford when I book, so I always book from Stamford.

What Amtrak ultimately needs to do is to allow me to indicate via the web or my phone that I will be boarding at a downline station, so my ticket isn't canceled. This should be done without a change of fare - it's not so much that I'm modifying my reservation as I'm just indicating a downline boarding location). At the moment, the site doesn't seem to allow the change of the start or end station of a reservation without canceling it and I would imagine if I called to change it I would be charged a higher fare, especially because I used a promotion that required a minimum 3 day advance purchase.

 

[amamba]

Another eTicketing update: I boarded the northbound Vermonter in Bridgeport today, although I was ticketed out of Stamford. The conductor came by about 10 minutes after we left Bridgeport and scanned my ticket with no issues. I would imagine that conductors are not hitting the "all done" button at each stop to allow for people to board a station or two downline. At the same time, I don't know if I'm comfortable enough to do this regularly, and I usually don't know whether I am leaving from Bridgeport or Stamford when I book, so I always book from Stamford.

What Amtrak ultimately needs to do is to allow me to indicate via the web or my phone that I will be boarding at a downline station, so my ticket isn't canceled. This should be done without a change of fare - it's not so much that I'm modifying my reservation as I'm just indicating a downline boarding location). At the moment, the site doesn't seem to allow the change of the start or end station of a reservation without canceling it and I would imagine if I called to change it I would be charged a higher fare, especially because I used a promotion that required a minimum 3 day advance purchase.

That is great that it worked out for you to board downline today. I am too nervous to do it myself! It would be great if one could modify to board downline without having to buy a whole new ticket.

 

[rrdude]

Prolly been posted already (didn't re-read all 14 pages in thread) but when I made a rez on Cap from BWI to TOL, thence on to ARB, Via Thruway Bus Conx, the e-ticket was NOT an option.

 

[fillyjonk]

Well, I just bought my first-ever e-tickets. (For Thanksgiving travel....I figured if I wanted a roomette, I better jump on it early). No problems in booking or printing (I don't own a smartphone so I'll have to use the printed paper, I guess.)

Hopefully boarding will go smoothly once November rolls around. I think I'll print an extra copy and keep it in my suitcase just in case something happens to the original copy. Nowhere does it say you are not allowed to print and have multiple copies...

 

[AlanB]

Nowhere does it say you are not allowed to print and have multiple copies...

That's actually one of the best parts of the entire system, the fact that you can have multiple copies just in case. And even if you lose everything, the conductor can still look up your reservation now on his phone and still check you in after you provide suitable ID to prove that it's really you.

 

[Ispolkom]

I just got my first eVoucher, and I'm confused.

I canceled a reservation on train #7, so that I could rebook it at a lower accommodation charge on train #27. I didn't think things through, so I didn't do it the easiest way: call Amtrak and have them change the reservation and issue me an eVoucher. Instead I first canceled my old reservation on #7 and then called Amtrak. The process of canceling a ticket on-line is straight-forward. You choose either a 90% refund to your credit card, or an eVoucher for the whole amount. I did the latter.

I assumed that you have to use the eVoucher for future travel, but instead I find this:

If this eVoucher is refundable (see below) and you wish to receive the refundable amount shown rather than apply the total value of the eVoucher towards future travel, please mail in a refund request to: [Philadelphia address]

Below on the e-mail, I find two lines:

Total Value: $190.70
Refundable Amount: $190.70

So I can cancel a sleeper reservation, request an eVoucher, then request a refund?

Seems odd.

Another odd thing. The eVoucher expiration date is 8/20/13, but the refundable expiration date is 6/10/13, 365 days after I bought the ticket originally.

 

[PerRock]

an E-Ticket isn't the same as an E-Voucher. An E-Ticket is an ticket for the train you can print off at home or have in your iOS ap for traveling on a train. It is just like the old paper tickets just electronic-capable. The E-Voucher is for refunds in rail travel and cannot be used on board as a travel document. Someone else is going to have to answer your questions on it however.

peter

 

[printman2000]

I just got my first eVoucher, and I'm confused.

While I have no information to help, thank you for reporting here. Looks like they really are going to start collecting the 10% penalty.

I assume eVouchers cannot be used online, huh? Can a reservation agent accept it or do you have to go to customer service to use it?

 

[amamba]

I just got my first eVoucher, and I'm confused.

While I have no information to help, thank you for reporting here. Looks like they really are going to start collecting the 10% penalty.

I assume eVouchers cannot be used online, huh? Can a reservation agent accept it or do you have to go to customer service to use it?

eVouchers can ONLY be used at a ticket window. From http://www.amtrak.com/evouchers-your-travel-credits-stored-electronically

Where and How to Redeem an eVoucher

For now, eVouchers may only be redeemed at an Amtrak ticket office, not at Quik-Trak, online at Amtrak.com or by phone. Make sure to bring the eVoucher receipt (or the information necessary for the agent to locate the eVoucher) and proper identification to the ticket office for redemption.

If your eVoucher is issued by a station agent as part of a downgrade exchange or cancellation and part or all of its value is refundable, the refund can be processed at the station by the same agent at the same station on the same day only. Otherwise, send the eVoucher receipt or a printout of your e-mail notification, and your name, address and phone number, to:

Amtrak Customer Refunds

Box 70

30th St. Station

2955 Market Street,

Philadelphia, PA 19104-2898

If you do not have your eVoucher receipt or a printout of your e-mail notification, include information about the transaction in a letter that will enable the refund office to locate your eVoucher.