Last Minute Cancellations and Alternate Routings

[brianpmcdonnell17]

As I have already posted on here, I was planning on taking the Crescent from Atlanta to New Orleans on Saturday followed by the City of New Orleans to Chicago on Sunday into Monday. However, I was just notified that the CONO will be replaced by a middle of the night bus ride north of Carbondale. Not only that, but the Crescent was cancelled south of Atlanta today due to a freight derailment on Thursday. While I have yet to receive a notification, the train is now listed as sold out for tomorrow, so I don't know if I will be affected. At this point, I am undecided how to proceed. I could use the modified routing, but I am concerned about the Crescent potentially being cancelled and don't at all like the idea of being bussed from Carbondale to Chicago. I could also request to push everything a day back, but the Crescent may still be a risk although the threat is lower. In addition, the CONO is sold out that day so I have to hope space opens up. I would even be fine if they just gave me a seat in the SSL, but I doubt they would do that. Since this would also make me slightly late for the start of my college event on Tuesday, I would have to make sure it is okay with them (fortunately, the CONO has good OTP). Lastly, I could take the Crescent to Charlottesville and the Cardinal to Chicago, but I have done both of those routes before and the fare is currently almost $400, so this would only be possible if Amtrak would not charge the difference because of the circumstances. However, further complicating things is the fact that I had to book the two segments on separate tickets, so as of now nothing has changed on the Crescent ticket. All of the options sound pretty bad to me at this point, so I would appreciate any advice as to what I should do.

 

[tricia]

Suggest you get on the phone with Amtrak ASAP, and ask them to re-route you. If your southbound Crescent is indeed cancelled, they shoiuld find you an alternate route (northbound Crescent to either the Cardinal or Capitol Ltd) at no additional charge. However, if you're booked in a sleeper, there might not be one available on alternate routes.

The sooner you call, the better your options are likely to be. Good luck!

 

[City of Miami]

Well, #20 arrived CVS on time this morning which would indicate there was no problem down south yesterday. I was also on time Wed. 7/4.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Well, #20 arrived CVS on time this morning which would indicate there was no problem down south yesterday. I was also on time Wed. 7/4.

#20 made a same day turn at Atlanta from #19. Also, as I suspected because of the train being listed as sold out, #19 appears to have terminated at Atlanta today.

 

[City of Miami]

dixielandsoftware.net shows #20 of 7/5 departing NOL on time and shows details for all points south of ATL. Are they wrong?

I also don't understand your remark that a derailment on Saturday caused cancellation of Crescent service south of ATL. SIX days ago??

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

dixielandsoftware.net shows #20 of 7/5 departing NOL on time and shows details for all points south of ATL. Are they wrong?

I also don't understand your remark that a derailment on Saturday caused cancellation of Crescent service south of ATL. SIX days ago??

The derailment actually occurred yesterday morning, not last Saturday. The orginal post has been reflected to reflect such. Also, there was a separate train from New Orleans to Birmingham and dixielandsoftware.net does not recognize that there were two separate trains from New Orleans to Birmingham and Atlanta to New York.

 

[jis]

dixielandsoftware.net shows #20 of 7/5 departing NOL on time and shows details for all points south of ATL. Are they wrong?

I also don't understand your remark that a derailment on Saturday caused cancellation of Crescent service south of ATL. SIX days ago??

The derailment actually occurred yesterday morning, not last Saturday. The orginal post has been reflected to reflect such. Also, there was a separate train from New Orleans to Birmingham and dixielandsoftware.net does not recognize that there were two separate trains from New Orleans to Birmingham and Atlanta to New York.

Indeed, that is why 20 is on time or ahead of schedule today

And also that is the reason as explained above that one cannot trust ones interpretation of what dixieland is actually showing, without a better understanding of how the data is gathered, collated and presented..

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Suggest you get on the phone with Amtrak ASAP, and ask them to re-route you. If your southbound Crescent is indeed cancelled, they shoiuld find you an alternate route (northbound Crescent to either the Cardinal or Capitol Ltd) at no additional charge. However, if you're booked in a sleeper, there might not be one available on alternate routes.

The sooner you call, the better your options are likely to be. Good luck!

I called and asked about pushing everything a day back, but the agent could not book me on #58 since it was sold out. I also could not risk keeping the current reservation, as if the Crescent is cancelled I would be stranded in Atlanta and I need to be in Chicago. Therefore, I had to change my ticket to go via Charlottesville, but was charged $120 extra to do so and miss the new train routes I had been looking forward to for months. Once this trip is over, I will definitely be asking for at least a partial refund.

 

[cpotisch]

I recommend you try for the #20/#51 combo. If you explain your situation and that you would be late if you took the CONO on a later date, I imagine they'd be able to oblige you. Good luck!

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I recommend you try for the #20/#51 combo. If you explain your situation and that you would be late if you took the CONO on a later date, I imagine they'd be able to oblige you. Good luck!

That is the routing I ended up booking, but I had to pay the $150 difference. From Amtrak's perspective, they had provided an alternative method of transportation from Carbondale to Chicago so I had no justification for changing the routing. However, as much as I would hate to take the bustitution, I would probably have rather done that than pay $150 extra except for the fact that the Crescent may be cancelled as well and I have no guarantee of alternate transportation. They even charged me a cancellation fee for this segment as it has yet to be cancelled, but if I were to wait until it is the Crescent/Cardinal routing would likely already be sold out.

 

[cpotisch]

I recommend you try for the #20/#51 combo. If you explain your situation and that you would be late if you took the CONO on a later date, I imagine they'd be able to oblige you. Good luck!

That is the routing I ended up booking, but I had to pay the $150 difference. From Amtrak's perspective, they had provided an alternative method of transportation from Carbondale to Chicago so I had no justification for changing the routing. However, as much as I would hate to take the bustitution, I would probably have rather done that than pay $150 extra except for the fact that the Crescent may be cancelled as well and I have no guarantee of alternate transportation. They even charged me a cancellation fee for this segment as it has yet to be cancelled, but if I were to wait until it is the Crescent/Cardinal routing would likely already be sold out.

I recommend you call customer relations and explain your situation to them. They usually are very good about fairly compensating passengers, so you might be able to get your $150 back, possibly as a refund or maybe an e-voucher.

 

[railiner]

The least they could do would be to compensate you for the difference between the rail and cheapest available bus service over the segment(s) substituted....

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I recommend you try for the #20/#51 combo. If you explain your situation and that you would be late if you took the CONO on a later date, I imagine they'd be able to oblige you. Good luck!

That is the routing I ended up booking, but I had to pay the $150 difference. From Amtrak's perspective, they had provided an alternative method of transportation from Carbondale to Chicago so I had no justification for changing the routing. However, as much as I would hate to take the bustitution, I would probably have rather done that than pay $150 extra except for the fact that the Crescent may be cancelled as well and I have no guarantee of alternate transportation. They even charged me a cancellation fee for this segment as it has yet to be cancelled, but if I were to wait until it is the Crescent/Cardinal routing would likely already be sold out.

I recommend you call customer relations and explain your situation to them. They usually are very good about fairly compensating passengers, so you might be able to get your $150 back, possibly as a refund or maybe an e-voucher.

Thanks for the advice. I was going to wait until after the trip was complete, but called and the customer relations person was very helpful. Whereas the agent that changed my reservation was very dismissive, the customer service representative went out of his way to ensure I paid a fair price. While I am still disappointed I don't get to travel on any new routes, I understand that unexpected events happen and am thankful I found a good alternative.

 

[Chey]

I recommend you try for the #20/#51 combo. If you explain your situation and that you would be late if you took the CONO on a later date, I imagine they'd be able to oblige you. Good luck!

That is the routing I ended up booking, but I had to pay the $150 difference. From Amtrak's perspective, they had provided an alternative method of transportation from Carbondale to Chicago so I had no justification for changing the routing. However, as much as I would hate to take the bustitution, I would probably have rather done that than pay $150 extra except for the fact that the Crescent may be cancelled as well and I have no guarantee of alternate transportation. They even charged me a cancellation fee for this segment as it has yet to be cancelled, but if I were to wait until it is the Crescent/Cardinal routing would likely already be sold out.

I recommend you call customer relations and explain your situation to them. They usually are very good about fairly compensating passengers, so you might be able to get your $150 back, possibly as a refund or maybe an e-voucher.

Thanks for the advice. I was going to wait until after the trip was complete, but called and the customer relations person was very helpful. Whereas the agent that changed my reservation was very dismissive, the customer service representative went out of his way to ensure I paid a fair price. While I am still disappointed I don't get to travel on any new routes, I understand that unexpected events happen and am thankful I found a good alternative.

I have been very fortunate in all my travels - never missed a connection, never had to deal with anything more than a delay which didn't change anything in my reservations or schedule other than calling the person who was meeting me to show up later.

But I have always wondered who is best to call. I don't think I would want to mess with the regular Amtrak number - but can Amtrak Customer Relations do the re-routing or would one call them after all that was over? Can Amtrak Rewards do the re-routing? They are normally MUCH better than the regular Amtrak reservations people...

 

[cpotisch]

But I have always wondered who is best to call. I don't think I would want to mess with the regular Amtrak number - but can Amtrak Customer Relations do the re-routing or would one call them after all that was over?

Customer Relations compensates passengers. They are not part of the booking and routing process.

 

[Chey]

But I have always wondered who is best to call. I don't think I would want to mess with the regular Amtrak number - but can Amtrak Customer Relations do the re-routing or would one call them after all that was over?

Customer Relations compensates passengers. They are not part of the booking and routing process.

What about Amtrak Rewards? That's who I always call to make the original reservations. I just don't know if they're who I should call in a situation like this.

 

[cpotisch]

I don't know Amtrak Rewards, but I would suggest that you go through a regular agent from customer service to be re-ticketed in the event of a service interruption or something like it, and if you feel they did not handle that appropriately, then move on to Customer Relations for compensation. That's how I usually approach stuff like that.

 

[CAMISSY55]

Yes, the Amtrak Rewards representatives can do rerouting. Then they can transfer you to a Customer Relations representative, if you are calling during the CS business hours.

But I have always wondered who is best to call. I don't think I would want to mess with the regular Amtrak number - but can Amtrak Customer Relations do the re-routing or would one call them after all that was over?

Customer Relations compensates passengers. They are not part of the booking and routing process.

What about Amtrak Rewards? That's who I always call to make the original reservations. I just don't know if they're who I should call in a situation like this.