wayman
Engineer
Went to the counter in Los Angeles, tickets in hand for a 14-28-448 trip (guaranteed connections, starting and ending at stations with baggage handling, etc), a good twelve hours before departure, and got an agent who nearly refused to check our bags at all :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:
Now, I understand the timing of the 14-28 connection is very tight, and I can see how that would pose a difficulty for checked bags. And I can imagine it would add complications to any bustitution that may occur. But I was stunned to hear that they "didn't allow checked bags on my itinerary".
The agent even insisted that I should never have been given the reservation I had in the first place, but ultimately we just agreed to disagree about whether or not my connection as a passenger was guaranteed. The issue was the bags, and for them I could understand that different logic applies.
I suggested that, since I was trying to check them through to Springfield anyway, I didn't really care how they got there, so it was fine by me if they went on the Southwest Chief to Chicago, and then on 448. And I was stunned to hear from this agent that "we don't want bags traveling on different trains from their passengers; however, in this instance we'll break that rule for you". This was after a conference between the agent and her supervisor, who apparently also thought this was "breaking a rule". :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:
Moreover, the agent made a point of telling me that, instead of the bags arriving in Springfield a day earlier than I would (4-448 takes 3 days, 14-28-448 takes 4), the bags would be held in Chicago for one day to be on the same 448 as I will be, because of the above "rule".
So, is this some new rule? I've never heard of this before, and I've checked bags that had to travel on a different set of trains as recently as August (traveling on daytime regionals PHL-SPG, bags on 66-449, with no problems whatsoever checking them in PHL).
Ultimately, I saw the bags correctly tagged for 4-448, so I'm confident they'll be in Springfield for me, but wow, this was an annoying customer service experience. I want to be sure I know what the actual rules are before contacting Amtrak about it, though.
Now, I understand the timing of the 14-28 connection is very tight, and I can see how that would pose a difficulty for checked bags. And I can imagine it would add complications to any bustitution that may occur. But I was stunned to hear that they "didn't allow checked bags on my itinerary".
The agent even insisted that I should never have been given the reservation I had in the first place, but ultimately we just agreed to disagree about whether or not my connection as a passenger was guaranteed. The issue was the bags, and for them I could understand that different logic applies.
I suggested that, since I was trying to check them through to Springfield anyway, I didn't really care how they got there, so it was fine by me if they went on the Southwest Chief to Chicago, and then on 448. And I was stunned to hear from this agent that "we don't want bags traveling on different trains from their passengers; however, in this instance we'll break that rule for you". This was after a conference between the agent and her supervisor, who apparently also thought this was "breaking a rule". :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:
Moreover, the agent made a point of telling me that, instead of the bags arriving in Springfield a day earlier than I would (4-448 takes 3 days, 14-28-448 takes 4), the bags would be held in Chicago for one day to be on the same 448 as I will be, because of the above "rule".
So, is this some new rule? I've never heard of this before, and I've checked bags that had to travel on a different set of trains as recently as August (traveling on daytime regionals PHL-SPG, bags on 66-449, with no problems whatsoever checking them in PHL).
Ultimately, I saw the bags correctly tagged for 4-448, so I'm confident they'll be in Springfield for me, but wow, this was an annoying customer service experience. I want to be sure I know what the actual rules are before contacting Amtrak about it, though.
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