emailed NARP membership card

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Joel N. Weber II

Engineer
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
2,917
Location
Greater Boston, MA
I'd paid for a NARP membership via the website about two months ago, and the charge shows up on my credit card statement as having posted to my credit card on 6/15/08. I haven't gotten a membership card yet, though.

I just called them, and was told that they'd email me a membership card today. The person I talked to claimed that this emailed card is good for travel on Amtrak with the discount, but I'm wondering whether people here think a conductor is really going to accept that.

I did ask them to also mail me the membership card, and was told I should get that in a week or two.

And I got my member number over the phone.

I've communicated with family members enough in the last 24 hours to finally solidify some plans for travel several months in the future to the extent where I can make Amtrak reservations at this point, and I think I'm going to go ahead and use the NARP membership number to get the discount, and I figure if I don't have the physical card in two weeks I can think about rebooking my trip without the discount (and yes, possibly at a higher bucket).
 
I think as long as your membership is "active", and you have your number, you can certainly buy tickets using the NARP discount either on-line or on the phone.

If a conductor doesn't think you are really a member encourage him to call the NARP and ask them directly. I have yet to come across a conductor who doesn't carry a cell phone.

BTW, his is totally different from the other thread here, were we debated lying about being a member to get their discount.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joel N. Weber II said:
I'm wondering whether people here think a conductor is really going to accept that.
Click to expand...
I don't think a conductor will ever ask (or care) to see your card! As long as you have a paid ticket from a to b, I don't think they care. I use the AAA fare often - and have NEVER been asked for my card by the conductor!

I have been asked for my AAA card when picking up tickets at the ticket window. But if I pick them up at the Quik-Trak, the machine has NEVER asked to see my AAA card yet! :p As long as your reservation has the number, I don't see a problem.
 
the_traveler said:
I have been asked for my AAA card when picking up tickets at the ticket window. But if I pick them up at the Quik-Trak, the machine has NEVER asked to see my AAA card yet! :p As long as your reservation has the number, I don't see a problem.
Click to expand...
Oh, that's an interesting point. I have a voucher that's going to cover a portion of the trip I'm booking, so I'm going to have to get the tickets from a human.
 
I too have been traveling on my NARP discount for many, many years and have NEVER been asked to see the card by a Conductor. One Conductor once commented on the fact that I belonged, but didn't ask to see the Membership Card. I think the previous poster is correct, as long as it's a paid for ticket they'll collect it...I don't think thay have the wont or time to ask to see it.

Have any other NARP Members on this forum ever been asked to show their Member Cards? ;)
 
Forgive my ignorance, but can someone please explain what is meant by NARP membership? I thought NARP was a purchased rail pass good for travel over 30 days anywhere on Amtrak and Via Rail, with a requirement that both companies have to be used on at least one segment. There are other restrictions as well. I understand the NARP (North American Rail Pass) I am talking about will no longer be sold after September 30 2008, and that all travel must be completed by September 30 2009.

Are the above postings about a different NARP?

Thanks!
 
George said:
Forgive my ignorance, but can someone please explain what is meant by NARP membership? I thought NARP was a purchased rail pass good for travel over 30 days anywhere on Amtrak and Via Rail, with a requirement that both companies have to be used on at least one segment. There are other restrictions as well. I understand the NARP (North American Rail Pass) I am talking about will no longer be sold after September 30 2008, and that all travel must be completed by September 30 2009.
Are the above postings about a different NARP?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
NARP, in this case, is the National Association of Railroad Passengers: a rail advocacy organization.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joel N. Weber II said:
I'd paid for a NARP membership via the website about two months ago, and the charge shows up on my credit card statement as having posted to my credit card on 6/15/08. I haven't gotten a membership card yet, though.
I just called them, and was told that they'd email me a membership card today. The person I talked to claimed that this emailed card is good for travel on Amtrak with the discount, but I'm wondering whether people here think a conductor is really going to accept that.
Click to expand...
I had an identical problem with them last fall -- they were very quick to charge my credit card, and very slow to send out a membership card. It took several months and a series of increasingly frantic e-mails from me to dislodge the membership card. By the time I received it, I'd traveled a couple of times using the discount (I seem to remember getting the number when I joined on the NARP Web site), and had received the NARP newsletter. No conductor ever asked to see the card, nor has anyone asked to see it when I pick up tickets, though in this case they do ask for identification.

One advantage over AAA, other then the lower cost, is that membership in NARP is tax-deductible.
 
I've been a member since last December and still don't have a card! I haven't bothered to follow up, though, since I still can take advantage of Student Advantage discounts, at least till the end of December. Then it will be time to renew my NARP membership anyway and then I'll take the issue up with them.
 
I signed up in June and haven't received a card either, but have got two newsletters! I don't even have my member number, the website accepts a bunch of 1's for the number. There's no Quiktrak here so I picked up my tickets at the window. He did ask for my card but I showed him my Paypal receipt for the payment and fortunately that was good enough. So what e-mail address should I send off a quick message to to find out when I'll get a card?
 
puck71 said:
I signed up in June and haven't received a card either, but have got two newsletters! I don't even have my member number, the website accepts a bunch of 1's for the number. There's no Quiktrak here so I picked up my tickets at the window. He did ask for my card but I showed him my Paypal receipt for the payment and fortunately that was good enough. So what e-mail address should I send off a quick message to to find out when I'll get a card?
Click to expand...
I don't think I ever got a response to the email I sent a few weeks ago to the address I found in the paypal receipt (paypal had no trouble sending me email with the receipt, though, which suggests I managed to give Paypal a valid email address), so I recommend calling. I at least got a six digit number over the phone by calling.

However, I don't seem to have gotten the emailed membership card I was promised yesterday. Maybe that's because I emphasized wanting to get a physical one, but then I realized after I called that I would like to have had the emailed card available for picking up tickets very soon, and the physical card as soon as possible, certainly at least before the date of travel.

How is the senior management of NARP selected? Do I have the opportunity to vote for someone who will process membership cards in a more responsible fashion?
 
I was asked once by a conductor if I had my card, but, upon reaching for my wallet, was told that he didn't need to see it.
 
I called again today, and asked again for the emailed membership card, and was told I would get it soon.

And indeed, some attempt was made to send me email, but from the logs on my mail server, it is clear that the part of my address to the left of the at sign was not entered correctly, and therefore the mail bounced back. Again, this is an address that paypal had no trouble sending their receipt to.
 
I called again to correct my email address, and I now have a pdf file with something that actually looks like a membership card.

It's still extremely frustrating to have to make three phone calls (as well as having sent two email messages that were ignored, as far as I can tell) beyond what I would have thought necessary after signing up for membership on the website, and I still would like to have an official card printed by NARP.
 
Strangely enough, I just received my NARP card in the mail - despite having joined about 10 months ago. So I suppose if you are patient enough, it eventually shows up.
 
rnizlek said:
I've been a member since last December and still don't have a card! I haven't bothered to follow up, though, since I still can take advantage of Student Advantage discounts, at least till the end of December. Then it will be time to renew my NARP membership anyway and then I'll take the issue up with them.
Click to expand...
Last time I renewed my Student Advantage card, I went ahead and did it for four years, even though I had (at that time) planned to graduate by May '08 (it's now May '09, but who's [er, whooz] counting?). Figured I could keep getting the discounts at least through 2011...

I have a feeling that my membership expiration notices will come with a membership renewal form, and if I try to renew at that time, I'm pretty sure they won't have any problems extending my membership. Student Advantage uses the term "student" pretty loosely...
 
Joel N. Weber II said:
I just called them, and was told that they'd email me a membership card today. The person I talked to claimed that this emailed card is good for travel on Amtrak with the discount, but I'm wondering whether people here think a conductor is really going to accept that.
I did ask them to also mail me the membership card, and was told I should get that in a week or two.
Click to expand...
I still don't have any membership card from them except the emailed PDF.

I did get another NARP newsletter in the snail mail today.
 
Well it certainly looks like "just" picking up the phone and dialing NARP just ain't going to get it. I never thought that so many people, including myself, have been manhandled or just plain ignored by an organization that is SUPPOSED to promote a cause~ NOT deflate it !!! :angry:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top