A first time for everything (bailing from a late train)

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keelhauled

OBS Chief
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Oct 3, 2014
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Just bailed out of a nine and a half hour late CZ in Lincoln, Nebraska. First time I’ve jumped ship mid trip. Hopefully United will get me to Colorado in time for work tonight. Anyone got similar stories to make me feel better about watching $300+ go up in smoke?
 
As a fellow business traveler, this is what makes me very nervous about long distance trains.  
 
Call or write customer relations. I’d imagine you’ll get at least half the fare back as a voucher. I’d mention how much you had to spend on United out of pocket for them to bail you (Amtrak) out.
 
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definitely call them, especially if you are a frequent rider....it always amazes me that they can run a business being this late.  Of course if it's weather related that's a different story.
 
I recall on one occasion, prior to the start of my trip from Flagstaff to LA, Amtrak notified me that the train was going to be 8+ hours late, I cancelled and they refunded the entire fare. ( I flew to LA)  While you bailed out mid trip, for good reason, definitely call then and I bet they will give you at least partial satisfaction. Good luck. 
 
I recall on one occasion, prior to the start of my trip from Flagstaff to LA, Amtrak notified me that the train was going to be 8+ hours late, I cancelled and they refunded the entire fare. ( I flew to LA)  While you bailed out mid trip, for good reason, definitely call then and I bet they will give you at least partial satisfaction. Good luck. 
If memory serves, Amtrak has an actual policy that anyone ticketed on an LD train that is running 2+ hours late, can cancel their ticket for a full refund. But considering the OP just bailed out halfway through without calling or anything, I'm not so confident that they will be willing to offer much compensation...
 
Just bailed out of a nine and a half hour late CZ in Lincoln, Nebraska. First time I’ve jumped ship mid trip. Hopefully United will get me to Colorado in time for work tonight. Anyone got similar stories to make me feel better about watching $300+ go up in smoke?
Few years back was in a sleeper bedroom on the westbound CZ from Chi-Emy. Somewhere up in the mountains we hit a huge boulder on side of the track according to folks talking on my scanner. Sat forever and finally moved along and left the lead engine somewhere and slowly ended up in Grand Junction at night. As we were leaving I heard "we have no brakes" or something close so we sat. I went to bed. Not much I could do. We were then scheduled to get to EMY at like 3am and since I had to bus to SF for my hotel down by the wharf I decided to jump off late pm in Reno. Had no interest in being downtown in SF in the dark at 3-4am. Spent the night at the Eldorado and took a $12 bus the next day. That was a scary bus trip! Got a nice voucher out of the deal when I got back to Florida.
 
If memory serves, Amtrak has an actual policy that anyone ticketed on an LD train that is running 2+ hours late, can cancel their ticket for a full refund. But considering the OP just bailed out halfway through without calling or anything, I'm not so confident that they will be willing to offer much compensation...
Would anybody from Amtrak really know if OP got off the train? I mean, just describing a nine hour delay should get some sort of voucher at least. I got one a few weeks ago for an equally late CZ.
 
I bailed once. I was 6 hours late on the Cardinal arriving into NYP. That would have put me in midtown Manhattan at 3-4 AM heading to a hotel. Didn't like the feel of that so I made a D.C. hotel reservation from the train and got off in D.C. Spent the night in D.C. and continued to NYP (on my own dime, I think) the next day.

At some point I called Amtrak Customer service and explained the situation, outlined all the additional costs. The agent listened very patiently, did some math and came up with a figure for a voucher. It was more than adequate. 

Btw the 6 hour delay was composed of 2 parts -- 3 hours of general delay (traffic/mechanical) and then 3 hours because the train struck someone, unfortunately.
 
Check the credit card you booked the trip with, many offer some amount of travel insurance, even though they don't always advertise the feature. I know 6 hours of delay is usually where the amount of insurance increases. My preferred card would cover up to $600 in the scenario you're describing.
 
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I sort of bailed once. I was traveling Los Angeles to Oklahoma City but the eastbound Sunset I was riding was being cancelled at El Paso due to a UP freight derailment.

The plan was to turn the trains at El Paso and San Antonio busing through passengers between the two trains. When we arrived in El Paso there were no buses waiting even though they had had 10 hours advance notice. The thought of riding crammed in a bus overnight for 600 miles was awful so I teamed up with two other passengers, caught a cab to the airport, and subjecting myself to the thorough TSA screening by buying a one-way, walkup ticket to Dallas on Southwest Airlines. I rented a cheap car, got a cheap hotel room, and was on the platform in Ft. Worth to catch the Heartland Flyer when the Texas Eagle arrived carrying many of the passengers who had taken the bus bridge. 
 
In the end customer relations offered to give me the value of the roundtrip back as a voucher, or to refund the cost of the segment that I abandoned back to my credit card.  They declined to offer compensation for the flight.  In hindsight I should have complained about the ten hour late outbound leg as well and gotten the entire trip refunded. 

In other news, my planned return to the east coast this spring will almost certainly be via Denver International Airport instead of Denver Union Station.
 
Good point.   No flight has ever been delayed, cancelled, or overbooked.  ;)
I've taken two CZ round trips this winter.  My trains have been, in order, three hours late, four hours late, ten hours late, and nine hours late.  I haven't got the patience to keep throwing money at terrible service.  I would have to go back several years to find a flight delayed as even the least of my Amtrak experiences this winter.
 
Amtrak may give you a full refund, but, first you have to notify them of the situation. Then, let us know how it worked out so we can continue this discussion.
 
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I bailed out of a round trip from Los Angeles to San Diego in January.  I had a day layover between the Coast Starlight and the Texas Eagle, but my Coast Starlight was running over four hours late due to flash-flood-related speed restrictions.  When we got to Moorpark, it was announced that our locomotive needed an inspection that would take over an hour, but  we could be put on a Surfliner train that was stuck behind us and running three hours late.  After switching trains, the Surfliner was able to go full-speed into LA.  Anyway, I saw that Surfliner trains can be delayed by several hours, and decided not to take my round trip to San Diego.  I canceled the reservation when I got to my hotel at 2 am, got a 3 pm checkout, and slept in.  

The Surfliner train I would have been on was delayed two hours by a locomotive problem.  If I had been on that train, I would have been frantic about missing my Texas Eagle connection.   
 
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