"pick up tickets at station" is no longer a option?

[amtrakmichigan]

I just purchesed tickets on Amtrak.com for a couple upcoming trips just a moment ago. I was not given the option of picking the tickets up at the station as you could in the past. Infact 2 days ago I purchsed a set of tickets and had the option of picking up at a station or shipped "express" for $15 more just like it has been for a couple years now. Now it appears the only two options are 1) U.S. mail (still free) or 2) Express delevery for $15. This must have just changed in the last 48 hours.

Not having free mail delevery in my opinion was really a joke. I'm sure many passengers had to pay the $15 to receive there tickets since MANY Amtrak stations do not have an Agent or ticket sales. I'm glad to see return of the free mailing of tickets option, but wondering why there is not an option to pick up tickets at a station now?

 

[amamba]

Is it because the station that you are traveling from doesn't have a staffed ticket window or a quik trak machine? I have had this problem in the past when I have tried to buy tickets originating from Wallingford, CT when my in-laws live.

However, I have found that if I just call and speak with an agent, that they will arrange it so I can pick up the tickets from the Quik-Trak in Boston, as I am in the station everyday commuting to/from work.

 

[rogers55]

That is strange, you would think they would be going in the opposite direction.

I purchased some tickets a few weeks ago by calling my order in and they e-mailed me a receipt to

take to the station and get tickets from machine or agent.

I wonder if you could do that anyway even if they did not specify.

 

[amtrakmichigan]

Now I feel like an IDIOT!!! The tickets I just purchesed were from Harpers Ferry to Dearborn. Harpers ferry is a unstaffed station. So that would make sense now. I have never noticed it before since I always travel from one of two staffed stations here at home, so I was never given the option to have them mailed in a long time.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Apparently amtrak.com figures that if thet station you're starting at for a particular reservation doesn't have any way to get tickets to you, the laws of physics must say that you couldn't possibly get yourself to another station. However, if you want to pick the tickets up at some other station that is staffed and / or has a Quik Trak machine, you should be able to just call Amtrak and change the reservation so that you can pick up the tickets; there's usually a bit of a delay before the tickets get printed to be mailed, and as long as you call before the tickets happen to be printed, they shouldn't have trouble changing it.

The thing with express shipment only happens if you purchase the tickets too close to the departure date (14 or 15 days, maybe?). Less than 3 days, you probably also have the option of the conductor handing the tickets to you on the train if you're starting at an unstaffed and Quik Trak less station, but you probably have to call Amtrak to get that.

 

[stlouielady]

The last trip I took (last week), I booked on a Wednesday for the following Tuesday trip.--6 day advance purchase. I was departing from Kirkwood, MO, which is unstaffed. When I went to complete the purchase, the choices for my tickets were Express Delivery, for a $15.00 fee, or, pick them up from the conductor when I board. So, indeed, if you are departing from an unstaffed station, you should have the option to pick the tickets up from the conductor AFTER you board, whether you book online or via the phone. At least that's been my experience.

 

[Tony]

I was at a technically un-staffed station (it had a Amtrak staff person in the office there, but he could not sell tickets). As long as you had a reservation number, you could board the train and get your tickets from the conductor.

If you didn't have tickets or a reservation number, and went to the office window to attempt to buy them, the Amtrak person there would tell you, you had to call Amtrak reservations on your cell phone, and offer to give you the number.

So, it does seem that "pick up from conductor" is an option when you call in.

 

[Tony]

Now it appears the only two options are 1) U.S. mail (still free) or 2) Express delevery for $15.

I haven't seen the regular US Mail (the free delivery option) offered online for a few years now.

 

[transit54]

Now it appears the only two options are 1) U.S. mail (still free) or 2) Express delevery for $15.

I haven't seen the regular US Mail (the free delivery option) offered online for a few years now.

You must mostly do business at a staffed station. We don't have such things where I live, so every time I go to purchase tickets I'm offered the free US Mail option. I've probably gotten 4-5 envelopes from Amtrak in the last two months.

 

[wayman]

Now it appears the only two options are 1) U.S. mail (still free) or 2) Express delevery for $15.

I haven't seen the regular US Mail (the free delivery option) offered online for a few years now.

I got the regular US Mail delivery in January.

 

[transit54]

The last trip I took (last week), I booked on a Wednesday for the following Tuesday trip.--6 day advance purchase. I was departing from Kirkwood, MO, which is unstaffed. When I went to complete the purchase, the choices for my tickets were Express Delivery, for a $15.00 fee, or, pick them up from the conductor when I board. So, indeed, if you are departing from an unstaffed station, you should have the option to pick the tickets up from the conductor AFTER you board, whether you book online or via the phone. At least that's been my experience.

Never seen the option to get the tickets from a conductor online. But I think that's more an LD train thing. It's also probably because all the trains that go by me start at unstaffed stations so they can't possibly pick up the tickets before I get on. What I have to do if I'm booking within the threshold of having this tickets mailed is to call Amtrak, speak to an agent, and get a reservation number and a price (but I don't pay at that time). Then when I get on board, I give the reservation number and the price to the conductor and he writes me the ticket by hand and takes payment from me.

 

[the_traveler]

Now it appears the only two options are 1) U.S. mail (still free) or 2) Express delevery for $15.

I haven't seen the regular US Mail (the free delivery option) offered online for a few years now.

I got the regular US Mail delivery in January.

I see you are from PHL, so if you buy a R/T ticket PHL to (say) MRB to PHL, you could pick up the tickets in PHL, and you would not see the free US Mail option. However, if you buy a O/W ticket MRB-PHL, since MRB is unstaffed, you WOULD see the free US Mail option listed - and they would be mailed to you in PHL!

 

[wayman]

Now it appears the only two options are 1) U.S. mail (still free) or 2) Express delevery for $15.

I haven't seen the regular US Mail (the free delivery option) offered online for a few years now.

I got the regular US Mail delivery in January.

I see you are from PHL, so if you buy a R/T ticket PHL to (say) MRB to PHL, you could pick up the tickets in PHL, and you would not see the free US Mail option. However, if you buy a O/W ticket MRB-PHL, since MRB is unstaffed, you WOULD see the free US Mail option listed - and they would be mailed to you in PHL!

Yup, that's pretty much what happened in my case. I bought two one-way tickets--PHL to ALX (which I picked up at PHL on QuikTrak) and MSS to PHL (which, because MSS is unstaffed, and because it wasn't on the same reservation number as the other ticket, got mailed to me in Philadelphia).

 

[Tony]

I see you are from PHL, so if you buy a R/T ticket PHL to (say) MRB to PHL, you could pick up the tickets in PHL, and you would not see the free US Mail option.

Then that must have been what changed a few years ago. I almost always use PHL, and I use to be offered the free (or nearly free) US Mail option on Amtrak.com. Now, I don't. It is either pick-up or FedEx.

 

[the_traveler]

I see you are from PHL, so if you buy a R/T ticket PHL to (say) MRB to PHL, you could pick up the tickets in PHL, and you would not see the free US Mail option.

Then that must have been what changed a few years ago. I almost always use PHL, and I use to be offered the free (or nearly free) US Mail option on Amtrak.com. Now, I don't. It is either pick-up or FedEx.

Up to a few years ago, the free delivery option was available to everyone. But then in an attempt to save money, they only offered a choice of "pick up at the station" or "express delivery for a fee". The only exception - and the only time you were given the free delivery option - was if your ORIGINATING STATION ON THE RESERVATION was unstaffed! (That is how wayman got free delivery to PHL. The origination station on the one-way reservation was MSS.)

 

[VentureForth]

Still a bit annoying, though. For instance, around New Years, I like to take the train from Kannapolis or Saslisbury, NC to Savannah. I prefer to pick up my tickets in Savannah before I leave, but I don't have that option online. I have to talk to an agent that Julie chooses...

If the trip is real close (less than 24 hours), can't you take your reservation number and hand it to the conductor?

This is a bit annoying as well, as sometimes I like to take the kids on a short, $6 ride from Kannapolis to Salisbury during the break. Since both stations are unstaffed (by Amtrak), I have to pay by CC over the phone since it's usually a last minute decision. It drives the conductor (and me) nuts to find the reservation, verify it was paid for, etc etc. By the time it's all taken care of, we're at our destination.

I think they're putting in quick trax machines in NC now. I hope so! They need to at EVERY unstaffed station.