reservations and amtrak bankruptcy??

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S

sutton

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I'd love to book a trip for late november online, but Amtrak customer service wrote they were unsure about refunds in the event of a closure. This doesn't entice me or anyone else to book fall trips! Just wondered if any of you had 'legal' info about what would happen if the trip in booked online with a cc. Does the cc company refund?

Scott
 
No, your credit card company will not refund the charge. Unless the Federal government made some special provision, your only recourse would be to file a claim in the bankruptcy hearings. Then hope that you might get even a small amount of money during the settlement. Most likely if you get anything, it will be pennies on the dollar.

This constant threat of Amtrak running out of money often affects sales and reduces ridership.
 
Check with American Express. Some friends, a few years ago paid in full for a cruise and the cruise line then went out of business. AMEX refunded their full payment.
 
sutton said:
I'd love to book a trip for late november online, but Amtrak customer service wrote they were unsure about refunds in the event of a closure. This doesn't entice me or anyone else to book fall trips! Just wondered if any of you had 'legal' info about what would happen if the trip in booked online with a cc. Does the cc company refund? Scott
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I don't think anything is going to happen to Amtrak.There is to many laws and rules involved to where they can't just dump Amtrak in the trash.
 
If you book and pay by credit card you are protected. One legal requirement for credit card purchases is that you actually receive the goods or services you paid for. If you paid for a transportation ticket (air, rail, or whatever), and the company goes under or otherwise ceases to operate, and you do not receive alternate transportation or a refund from the carrier, the credit card company, by law, has to credit back your charge, and they then become the unsecured creditor.

Bottom line: pay ALL advance transportation and travel expenses by credit card and you are protected.
 
One addendum: This protection applies to bank credit cards only. It does not apply to debit cards (even showing a Visa or MasterCard logo) and it does not apply to pure charge cards such as American Express.
 
and it does not apply to pure charge cards such as American Express.
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I think it does. Very close friends received almost $8,000 back from AMEX when the cruise line went under (no pun intended).

I had AMEX refund to me when a company failed to ship a product I paid for.
 
MrFSS said:
and it does not apply to pure charge cards such as American Express.
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I think it does. Very close friends received almost $8,000 back from AMEX when the cruise line went under (no pun intended).

I had AMEX refund to me when a company failed to ship a product I paid for.
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As long as the cruise line did not go under while they were on the ship…

You are right about Amex. Although I believe the federal law does not apply to pure charge cards (and I could be wrong about that), American Express probably provides that protection voluntarily to its cardholders. It makes for good customer relations and (gasp) is simply the right thing to do. Fortunately, such financial collapses are pretty rare events.

The bottom line is always, always, always charge advance payments and deposits for travel to a credit card. Never, never, never pay by check!
 
Never, never, never pay by check!
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I agree with that. Why not get points, miles, etc while you are at it. I pay mine off every month so it is just like spending cash. I marvel at people at the grocery store, Wal-mart, etc. who still write a check when they could be reaping some type of reward, even cash back.
 
Chatter163 said:
sutton said:
I'd love to book a trip for late november online, but Amtrak customer service wrote they were unsure about refunds in the event of a closure.
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What exactly does this mean? ;)
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Newspapers and other medias made a really big news about the proposing big budget cut for Amtrak for 2006 fiscal year, driving Amtrak to probably unexpected bankrupty. It probably the worst news that made Amtrak and consumers very shaky. It's not over yet because only Congress can give the money, not Bush (as long as he doesn't veto it). Keep the fingers cross!
 
gswager said:
It's not over yet because only Congress can give the money, not Bush (as long as he doesn't veto it). Keep the fingers cross!
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Bush can't veto the budget, since he'd kill the entire Fed. Thankfully he doesn't have a line item veto.
 

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