Quik-Trak Scan vs eTicket

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ChrisRice

Train Attendant
Joined
Sep 7, 2013
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25
Location
Tennessee
We have a MULTI-CITY trip coming up in a few weeks as follows:

NBN-CHI-SEA-LAX-FLG-LAX-OAK-SFF-SFW-EMY-CHI.

There are 3 of us, myself, wife and daughter.

Friday there were three emails sent from Amtrak (I assume they were sent to all three of us as I listed my email for all three contacts) which states "This is not a ticket" and "Scan at Quik-Trak. The email included a summary of our trip.

A forth email was sent which contained a "AMTRAK eTicket" and listed the reservation number and a breakdown of the trip. It also states at the top "PRESENT THIS DOCUMENT FOR BOARDING"

Since Newbern is an unmanned station and does not have a Quik-Trak machine (the nearest one being in Memphis two hours away) I assume I will be using the eTicket.

What is the purpose of the first three emails? They also have language in them stating that if the email is not scanned and a ticket printed before departure time the entire trip will be canceled. So if we get to Newbern, the train is late and our email has not been scanned will our entire trip be canceled?

Odd that the Quik-Trak ticket scan info came in three emails and the eTicket came in one email. All emails were sent on the same date and time.

Do I need to take any action or am I good to go?
 
You have a couple of bus trips in there (OAK-SFF and SFW-EMY) where a paper ticket may be necessary, as they will not necessarily be able to accomplish scanning an e-ticket on board the bus. I suggest you look very carefully at your reservation emails with the Quik-trak barcode. Are they for the whole trip, or just the bus segments? You might want to call customer relations (call Amtrak 1-800-USA-RAIL), and when Julie answers, just say "agent" and "yes" till you get to talk to a real person, then ask for customer relations), and ask them what to do since your boarding station is not staffed.

I had a mixed trip like this recently, and luckily it was in more than one segment with the bus in a later segment. I was going by several stations with Quik-trak machines before I got to the bus segment. I was able to print out my paper for the bus, no problem. But if all your trip is on a single reservation, they may have a solution for you.
 
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I believe some of the Amtrak California buses have gone to e-Ticket capability. If you have an e-Ticket in hand that looks like the one below you're all set to go. Just check and make sure all of your segments appear on the ticket. If it's missing segments you should be able to get what you need in Chicago, or see if the Conductor will let you get what you need in Carbondale.

eTicket.png
 
One difference between the eTicket pdf attached to the email from Amtrak and printing eTickets at a Quik-trak machine is that if there are two passengers, the pdf covers both, whereas two ticket looking things come out of the machine.
 
You have a couple of bus trips in there (OAK-SFF and SFW-EMY) where a paper ticket may be necessary, as they will not necessarily be able to accomplish scanning an e-ticket on board the bus. I suggest you look very carefully at your reservation emails with the Quik-trak barcode. Are they for the whole trip, or just the bus segments? You might want to call customer relations (call Amtrak 1-800-USA-RAIL), and when Julie answers, just say "agent" and "yes" till you get to talk to a real person, then ask for customer relations), and ask them what to do since your boarding station is not staffed.

I had a mixed trip like this recently, and luckily it was in more than one segment with the bus in a later segment. I was going by several stations with Quik-trak machines before I got to the bus segment. I was able to print out my paper for the bus, no problem. But if all your trip is on a single reservation, they may have a solution for you.
Those buses handle e-Tickets just fine now. They have been able to handle it since some time last year.

Not sure what's the issue with the OP. I'm wondering if the fourth email has a complete listing of the itinerary.

As far as I recall, a barcode to be scanned at QT (or a ticket counter) only produces live bearer-instrument style tickets. I've only done that for 10-rides.
 
Thanks for your response.

Both the Quik-Trak email and the eTicket include the entire trip (including the bus connections). They appear identical in terms of itinerary.

I booked this reservation using AGR, should I call AGR or Amtrak?

I feel like I'm ok, but my luck is not always the best, I think I should call and verify with someone.

It would be one thing to be stranded by myself, that would be an adventure, but with the wife and daughter not so much!
 
You can definitely call and talk to a ticket agent or an AGR agent just to verify the e-Ticket is valid. They should be able to see it in Arrow that it was issued and it's valid.
 
The first email is just to give you your reservation number more or less. The second one is your ticket(s)
 
I seem to recall another thread where the poster had an e-ticket and it was not scanned on the bus to SFO (nor did they ask to collect anything). When trainfan (the OP) went to board for the return trip, it had been cancelled. Ah, here's the discussion, it was just last month! So if it were me, I would check and make sure that the buses are currently accepting e-tickets, and then I would take an extra printout of the pdf, and HAND IT TO THE DRIVER if they do not scan the tickets on the bus. If I had any doubts, I'd call Amtrak ASAP upon alighting from the bus, in fact I'd be proactive to avoid the kind of situation you're afraid of.
 
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