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Both Pat and I have AGR numbers. However, when we make our Amtrak reservations, we only provide my number. What advantage if any would we gain if we used both our AGR numbers? (We prefer that all our accumulated AGR travel points be in same account rather than having to be charged points to...

In a comment made to Michigan Mom’s recent trip report, we mentioned in passing that we’d once traveled to Portland, Oregon, a city that we’d never been to before, in October-November 2000. This was before we knew enough to write up trip reports detailing all that we had seen and done. Not...

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know about how many Amtrak Guest Reward (AGR) points it takes to cover the cost of a Southwest Chief passage in coach from Los Angeles to Chicago? How many AGR points would it take to make this same trip in a roomette? Or in a bedroom? (What with the cost of...

Here’s our report for this year’s trip. Enjoy. Eric & Pat Prologue Every year we try to make it back to Ohio to visit family members living in the Findlay area. The Amtrak station closest to Findlay is Toledo, and to get there we must first take a Pacific Surfliner (Business Class) from San...

We have a $300 Amtrak credit voucher which we’d like to apply towards a trip we plan to take in July 2024. The problem is that the voucher is due to expire the middle of June and it is our understanding that Amtrak reservations can only be made 11 months in advance. We were thinking of applying...

According to CNBC: · Diesel prices have increased 33% for November deliveries and are expected to go higher. · Diesel supply in the Northeast, the drought-stricken Mississippi River, and a potential rail strike are contributing to higher fuel demand with calls for federal government...

In a different thread, someone provided the e-mail address for Amtrak Customer Relations ([email protected]). This was the first time that we’d seen this address or even knew that it was possible to e-mail Customer Relations. We made a note of it for future reference. Can anyone provide other...

In our ten previous trips on the Southwest Chief, we’ve never been in a situation where we arrived at Chicago Union Station to learn that our SWC No. 3 sleeping car had just been removed from the consist, that the No. 3 train itself had just been cancelled, or that, despite having a guaranteed...

If I’ve learned anything from visiting this forum over the last few years, it is that many AU members, particularly those who post regularly and frequently, are very knowledgeable about AMTRAK’s current operational capabilities, and can be counted upon to submit comments that will be both...

As if we didn't have enought problems, President Biden recently issued a warning of the possibility of a Russian cyberattack on critical infrastructure in the U.S. I’m assuming that this means that satellite communications, the internet and our computers could get seriously messed with or even...

Back during the “golden age” of rail passenger service, much of the prestige enjoyed by “extra fare” long distance trains such as the 20th Century Limited and the Super Chief was due to the “high profile” people who rode on them: movie stars & entertainers, captains of industry, prominent sports...

Does anyone have an opinion on whether or not rising gas prices will result in an increase in Amtrak ridership during the peak summer vacation months? (Out here in East San Diego County, gas is selling for over $5 a gallon!)

We have a question regarding bedroom reservations on the Southwest Chief that are made well in advance. On December 28th, six months prior to our departure date, we called and, working with an agent, requested Bedroom E’s on both our east and westbound SWC trains. (Bedroom E’s are the ones...

We know that a Sleeping Car Attendant’s working hours on a long-distance train trip are long ones. Can anyone tell us what a SCA’s typical work schedule on the Southwest Chief would be? When does their workday actually start? (This would certainly be prior to the train arriving at the...

At what point to you suppose AMTRAK will announce that an increase in fares in necessary because of the higher cost of fuel?

The recent and tragic derailment of an Amtrak train in Montana, which is being discussed at length in another thread, got us to thinking about how well prepared we are for dealing with an emergency that occurs while we are traveling on an Amtrak train: a derailment, a collision with a vehicle or...

There have been several recent threads regarding personal preferences when traveling in a bedroom. Here’s one that we haven’t yet seen: Do you have your SCA fold up the bed each morning? For our last few trips, we’ve just left the bed set up until it had to be made prior to arriving at our...

In a different discussion thread, the question was asked why LD trains can’t compete with the airlines. What we’d like to know is how do LD trains compare cost wise to driving? We’ve just returned from a trip back to Ohio, during which we traveled from San Diego to Toledo via Amtrak. (We used...

Here’s our report for this year’s trip. Enjoy. Eric & Pat Prologue Because we had to cancel our train trips back to Ohio in 2019 and 2020, we could hardly wait for 2021 to arrive so that we could set our vacation dates and purchase our Amtrak tickets. At the beginning of 2021, the...

When we were in the Chicago Union Terminal last Monday (7-12-21) there were only two (2) Red Caps with carts available to drive passengers & their luggage to their trains. The Metropolitan Lounge was quite crowded with people waiting for their trains to start boarding, and not everybody who...