conductors still scanning e-tickets?

[Ryan]

Another thing is that you can calmly just buy the tickert online, print it out and have it with you. If you lose it, then you can have your info or get a print out at the Quik Trak. Those are massive conveniences to passengers.

This part is huge. I can have my ticket on my phone, print out as many copies as I want, and if the world comes crashing down and I lose my phone and all my paper, the conductor can still check me in by name.

Beats the pants off paper tickets that once lost are gone forever.

 

[TraneMan]

On my coach trips, mine was scanned.

The sleeper trips, boarding on in RDW I was not scanned. The returned home trip from WFH we were scanned at the station window, and in CHI on my recent trip was scanned at the desk in the Metro Lounge.

 

[crescent2]

Etickets are a huge convenience to those of us who don't live near a station. We've always booked far in advance and had time for our paper tickets to be mailed to us, but on short notice the etickets would save the day. And they can't be lost, which is another great advantage.

However, I too am very concerned about having the rest of a trip cancelled if the conductors don't do their jobs correctly! When your long distance accommodations are gone and there are no more to be had, there's no way for the error to be fixed. Even in the best case scenario, it would be an inconvenience and be temporarily stressful. I consider this a major problem that needs to be very high priority on the list of things to fix.

Many people don't appreciate being reminded to do their job correctly, even when done in the most polite, respectful way. I'm not helpless and don't mind tending to some things which aren't my responsibility (that is life and no big deal), but I don't want the burden of having to basically tell a conductor what to do. Awkward!

Amtrak is very good about many things, but they seem to choose some strange things to let slide by. Seems someone needs to prioritize the to-do list. (OT but--Another thing that would rank high is having agents understand the basic rules and how the system works re what is an allowed accommodation change, AGR redemption, etc.. That couldn't be that hard to learn, and isn't an unreasonable job requirement, when it is your full-time job. Those who frequent this forum quickly learn rules that you apparently have only about a 50/50 chance of getting an agent who knows the same things.)

This is just strange to me!

 

[jis]

I have never had any Conductor get offended when I requested them to scan my ticket because I would like to get the AGR points. I think they understand.

 

[battalion51]

Don't forget one of the issues is that the technology can fail too. If one of the Conductors has their device die on them then it really becomes more practical to leave the working device in the coaches and just look up the sleepers to lift them. Also, the system can crash as well. Somewhere in the thread it was mentioned they asked for name and Res #, and that is how they go back and lift retroactively if the system goes down. No electronic system is ever perfect, but there are many benefits to this method versus the old fashioned way. Personally, if it were me, I would try to make sure every ticket was scanned if possible, it leaves the least amount of room for error. But you roll with the punches...

 

[crescent2]

I understand what you're saying, but I wasn't referring to times the system crashes, or to just getting AGR points. You deal with the crashes the best you can (hopefully that doesn't happen often), and surely the AGR points could be straightened out after the trip with a phone call.

My concern is with the rest of my trip being cancelled!!

 

[battalion51]

No argument. Unfortunately not everyone in the craft thinks through all of the consequences of what could happen if they miss someone, and unfortunately there's a portion that probably doesn't care. Hopefully that portion will retire shortly after the new contract with the UTU is signed and the back pay goes through...

 

[Nathanael]

A few months ago my mother traveled on the LSL to visit us for a weekend, and her ticket was not scanned on the first segment (EKH-ROC). She later received an email saying that her return trip (ROC-EKH) had been canceled because they didn't think she had traveled the first segment, and the entire trip refunded through an eVoucher. I was surprised they did this!

This cancellation nonsense has been Amtrak's new policy. I think they're going to have to change it, due to things like this: people really don't like having their reservations cancelled due to conductor error. And conductor error will never be *completely* eliminated. If the space is resold, Amtrak CANNOT make the passenger whole. So this policy is really not maintainable and will have to stop.

I have yet to see an advantage to the eticket system - except to Apple who sold Amtrak a whole lot of new iPhones - good marketing.

It makes it easier to get tickets for trips which start at unstaffed stations without QuikTrak machines.
Apart from that, if they ever start allowing the "e-vouchers" to be redeemed without showing up at a station ticket desk, that would be an advantage. I cannot understand why they still require people to go to a station to redeem electronic vouchers; makes no sense.

 

[crescent2]

Right, Nathanael, and some of us don't live near a station. The "e" would seem to indicate they could be used on line, but I understand they cannot.

Canceling the remainder of someone's trip is a big deal. Hopefully they get a handle on that very soon.