E-Ticket Question

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ScottC4746

OBS Chief
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
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850
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
Couple of questions I should have asked weeks ago and not wait until 11 hours before my train leaves:

1) Can we still check in with a human at the ticket windows?

2) I have the E-Ticket print out. In the past I've had to hold on to my ticket stub for proof I am in a sleeper for meals. Do I have to go around with an 8 1/2 X 11 ticket stub?

3) What if they just look at the E-Ticket print out and not actually "lift" it or scan it. Does my connecting train and Amtrak Bus Service get canceled as well and if that happens, what do I do?

4) Am I panicing and stressing for nothing?
 
1) Yes yo can, or to to a QT.

2) As long as you know your car and room #, there's no need. I don't and never did.

3) A conductor can scan your ticket without you even realizing it, even from 3-5 feet away! (S)he can also just punch in your name if (s)he sees room #4 is occupied out of "xxx" - and "lift" your ticket that way!

4) Yes, don't worry!
 
1) Yes yo can, or to to a QT.
2) As long as you know your car and room #, there's no need. I don't and never did.

3) A conductor can scan your ticket without you even realizing it, even from 3-5 feet away! (S)he can also just punch in your name if (s)he sees room #4 is occupied out of "xxx" - and "lift" your ticket that way!

4) Yes, don't worry!
Regarding #3, I was curious about that! Recently took my first roomette trip, and the conductor never came by to scan our ticket. Since we were the only ones that had a sleeper getting on (and no one got off), and the train had to be spotted twice (once for us, then for coach), I guess the conductor knew to lift out ticket.
 
1) What do you mean by check-in? You can still have a ticket agent print a ticket or reprint at a Quik-Trak kiosk if you insert the credit card you used to purchase, as well as an AGR card. If you mean check in bags, then anything with the reservation number is adequate.

2) Don't know about that, but just because you have a printout doesn't mean you can't get another eTicket. I've gone on trips with five different options to display my ticket.

3) They can do almost anything. I've seen conductors just write down my reservation number, and even one who knew my kid and I were the only passengers scheduled to board at that station. He just yelled out "are you going to Emeryville?" from one car down and told us to get on. I tracked him down as we got off in Emeryville and he said he already pulled our ticket. Most of my rides are on unreserved trains. Other than that one ride, all my reserved trips I saw the conductor pull the ticket by either scanning or entering my res#. I would worry about auto cancellations.

4) I wouldn't stress too much. Just be firm that you want to make sure your ticket is processed, and note that you've heard of people getting their trips cancelled. Maybe even fib a bit and say that it's happened to you.
 
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I should probably rephrase #2 and combine with #1 If I check in at the ticket window, we are carrying our bags, can I still get the old style ticket stock that they lift the ticket and give me a smallish stub?
 
I should probably rephrase #2 and combine with #1 If I check in at the ticket window, we are carrying our bags, can I still get the old style ticket stock that they lift the ticket and give me a smallish stub?
They still use that ticket stock for Amtrak printed eTickets. However - as an eTicket they aren't considered "live" tickets with a cash value, but rather just a carrier of the information needed for the conductor to look up reservations. You can have them reprinted. When I've done multi-segment trips, I've gone to the QT kiosks and reprinted. The used segments no longer appear on the new eTickets. Also - I noticed that only up to 2 segments are displayed on each page. If I have 3 or four segments on a trip, then 2 pages are printed out. The ones that are printed by an agent contain a 1-dimentional barcode (I think interleaved 3 of 5 format) that represents the ticket number, which is purely a long decimal number. The ones that are printed at a Quik-Trak kiosk contain a PDF417 matrix code that contains the reservation number and date the reservation was made. The conductor will typically scan this code with the code reader on their specialized iPhone cases, but if they can't get it to scan they'll either look up the reservation number or name on their scanner. A lot of smart phones can load apps capable of reading various bar and matrix codes. Sometimes I kill time by scanning my Amtrak tickets. Amtrak codes contain way less information than airline eTicket boarding passes, which contains things as name, date of travel. airline, flight number, route, ticket number, and a security codes.

Since they're not considered "live" tickets, theoretically a conductor is supposed to match the name attached to the reservation to a photo ID. If they scan a ticket's code and/or pull up a reservation number, the name of the passenger will pop up on the iPhone scanner that the conductors use.

The only "live" tickets that remain are 10-rides (and maybe 4 or 6-rides on some routes), as well as monthly tickets that I don't believe get torn. When I complete using these 10-rides, the conductor takes the ticket and returns the stub to me. I've occasionally had a conductor use the punch on both the ticket body and stub before giving me the stub.
 
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1) Yes yo can, or to to a QT.

2) As long as you know your car and room #, there's no need. I don't and never did.

3) A conductor can scan your ticket without you even realizing it, even from 3-5 feet away! (S)he can also just punch in your name if (s)he sees room #4 is occupied out of "xxx" - and "lift" your ticket that way!

4) Yes, don't worry!
Regarding #3, I was curious about that! Recently took my first roomette trip, and the conductor never came by to scan our ticket. Since we were the only ones that had a sleeper getting on (and no one got off), and the train had to be spotted twice (once for us, then for coach), I guess the conductor knew to lift out ticket.
In March, I was transferred from #50 to #30 less than 30 minute before departure in Chicago. When the conductor came to my room, I had the curtain closed and took a little too much time to open the curtain. Finally, the conductor called out "David?" - he knew my name from the manifest!
 
Thankfully, I have not experienced this, but according to several posts on AU, re your question #3:

Yes, if for some reason the conductor does fail to record your presence by any of the various methods, the rest of your trip will be cancelled because you are a no-show (in their records). Not meaning to be a pessimist and not saying it will happen, but some have posted that their ticket was never scanned and they did not receive their AGR points as a result. A call can straighten that out later, but if the rest of your trip is cancelled......??

It's probably very unlikely to happen, but you shouldn't be left with the impression that it's impossible.

The possibility of the rest of a trip being cancelled due to the conductor failing to record a boarding has been discussed in a couple of old threads this year. Hopefully all will go/has gone well for you. Best wishes for a great trip!
 
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1) Yes yo can, or to to a QT.

2) As long as you know your car and room #, there's no need. I don't and never did.

3) A conductor can scan your ticket without you even realizing it, even from 3-5 feet away! (S)he can also just punch in your name if (s)he sees room #4 is occupied out of "xxx" - and "lift" your ticket that way!

4) Yes, don't worry!
Regarding #3, I was curious about that! Recently took my first roomette trip, and the conductor never came by to scan our ticket. Since we were the only ones that had a sleeper getting on (and no one got off), and the train had to be spotted twice (once for us, then for coach), I guess the conductor knew to lift out ticket.
In March, I was transferred from #50 to #30 less than 30 minute before departure in Chicago. When the conductor came to my room, I had the curtain closed and took a little too much time to open the curtain. Finally, the conductor called out "David?" - he knew my name from the manifest!
Of course the_traveler gets called by his name. :p Lucky dude he is! :)
 
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