Alternatives in case of Service Disruption or Missed Connection

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Joined
Jul 16, 2010
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Let's say that I was going from Chicago to Atlanta via Washington and our train into Chicago was so late they couldn't hold or meet our connection. Or I was on a train into NY from the north and would miss my connection to a sleeper on the Crescent and Amtrak wanted to put me on the next day's train with no sleeper available.

Would they allow me to stay an extra night or two at my expense and take a sleeper on a train 2-3 days later at the same cost?

Would they, in the first case, allow me to route through NOL via the CONO and Crescent that same day with me paying for the NOL hotel if rooms were available without the overnight in Chicago and coach the next day? If the original route was via NOL, would they put me on the CL through WAS to the Crescent, again, if rooms were available?

If we had a bedroom and only roomettes were available on that replacement the next day, would they give us 2 roomettes in lieu of the bedroom we paid for?

In other words, how flexible are they to counter-offers without saying "You can do that but we will cancel and refund/credit the remainder of travel and you have to pay the full high-priced last minute prices?"
 
In my experience, in situations like you described, Amtrak either finds alternate transportation (a reroute, if possible, or a bus or plane, if necessary) or puts you up on their dime and on the next day's train. In any case, accommodations are not guaranteed. Flexibility sometimes depends on how many people are affected by the misconnect.

I've never done so, but if you spending your own money makes it easier for the customer service reps, I suspect that you would be more likely to get a result that you want. Then again, that's pretty much always the case.
 
Since we are retired, staying a few extra nights even in NY is as good as making another trip just to spend a few days in NY. Generally, it's not like we have to be back to work the next day.

Retirement (def): Six Saturdays and a Sunday!
 
When the Cardinal #50 was stopped at Cincinnati on 9/15/17 because a CSX derailment I rented a car to get home to WSS. We had sat for more tan 6 hours at the Cincinnati Union station, which right now is a trailer, and Amtrak had NO idea when things might get under way. Getting a rental and paying for it was 100% up to me. I'll fight Amtrak for a refund on my roomette later.

Most of the stories about late and/or missed connection I heard that day were hot positive toward Amtrak so I made my own plans.
 
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