Buying a sleeper room for another coach passenger

[jmbgeg]

I am not the ticket holder. If I wanted to buy a colleague a roomette upgrade (with her knowledge), how do I do this...?

 

[AlecL]

That could be a little complicated. I'm assuming she already paid for the coach ticket and you just want to pay the difference for the roomette upgrade? Would you be able to accompany her to a ticket window prior to her boarding?

 

[amamba]

Have you tried calling 1800USARAIL and attempting to do so? I think as long as you have her reservation number, that it wouldn't be a problem.

I upgrade my father's reservation just last week and it was no problem. I just said that it wasn't my reservation but here was the reservation number. Granted it was from acela BC to FC (I did it as a surprise gift for him), but there were no issues when I called. I just gave them the reservation number and the name on the reservation and proceeded.

 

[jmbgeg]

That could be a little complicated. I'm assuming she already paid for the coach ticket and you just want to pay the difference for the roomette upgrade? Would you be able to accompany her to a ticket window prior to her boarding?

Yes and no. She is in SBY. I am in SPK.

 

[AlecL]

The problem you'd run into is that over the phone there is no way to charge the difference to a different credit card than the one that was originally used. And if the reservation was unpaid, there's no way to split payments by phone. Essentially one person or the other is going to have to cover the entire payment.

The other options you'd have would require that you accompany her to the ticket window prior to her boarding in SBY. I don't know which direction you're traveling, but obviously if you're heading West then this won't work at all. If you're heading East it's still a pretty risky move considering you'd have to pull into SBY and finish the transaction at the ticket window before the train pulled out. If this was something you were willing to try, just call up and upgrade the reservation for her. If the tickets are printed they'll advise that she'll (you) have to pay the difference at the station when exchanging the ticket. If the tickets are not printed, they'll try to charge the difference to the credit card that was already used for payment. In this instance, just tell them that you want to pay with a different card at the station. They'll convert her coach ticket into an exchange voucher and create a new reservation in the roomette. So when you get to the station, they'll apply the voucher and then you can cover the difference. Either way though, requires that you are both at the ticket window at the same time.

Other than that, you could try sending her an Amtrak gift certificate for the difference? Or try your luck upgrading with the conductor on board the train?

Not the easiest situation... come on e-ticketing!!! :help:

 

[me_little_me]

If she hasn't picked up her ticket, get her reservation number, call Amtrak and give them her reservation number and name and say you want to upgrade her reservation with your credit card. You can probably do it online if her reservation was made online.

If she has her ticket, still call. Only she'll have to go to the counter to get her ticket changed.

 

[AlecL]

If she hasn't picked up her ticket, get her reservation number, call Amtrak and give them her reservation number and name and say you want to upgrade her reservation with your credit card. You can probably do it online if her reservation was made online.

If she has her ticket, still call. Only she'll have to go to the counter to get her ticket changed.

Except we can't charge the difference to his credit card, only the one that is already on file. And if she changes it at the window, they'll need his credit card present to charge the difference.

 

[gn2276]

You could try to call the station in SBY and see if you could do the upgrade that way, the station # is 406-434-5031.

Travis

 

[jis]

If she hasn't picked up her ticket, get her reservation number, call Amtrak and give them her reservation number and name and say you want to upgrade her reservation with your credit card. You can probably do it online if her reservation was made online.

If she has her ticket, still call. Only she'll have to go to the counter to get her ticket changed.

Except we can't charge the difference to his credit card, only the one that is already on file. And if she changes it at the window, they'll need his credit card present to charge the difference.

How abut charge the upgrade to the original credit card and send the owner of that card a check for the amount charged?

 

[jdcnosse]

How abut charge the upgrade to the original credit card and send the owner of that card a check for the amount charged?

This is what I was going to suggest. lol or see if you can't change the credit card on file to yours, and have her reimburse you the payment minus the upgrade. Either way you're probably stuck with only using one credit card.