Workaround to book Stockton-San Jose AmBus?

[Texan Eagle]

I am looking to do a joyride one day, taking the Altamont Commuter Express from San Jose to Stockton, but since the ACE train runs only one way in the evening, I will have to rely on Amtrak to bring me back home. I see there is an Amtrak Thruway bus departing Stockton at 8.03pm which would be perfect for me but Amtrak won't let me book it-

3917 Bus

Departs: 8:05 PM
Fri Aug 23 2013
Stockton, CA (SKN)
Arrives: 9:45 PM
Fri Aug 23 2013
San Jose, CA (SJC)
Duration: 1 hr, 40 min



Is there any way I can book just this bus segment? If I call up Amtrak, will they be able to accommodate me?

Of course one option is to buy a Modesto-San Jose ticket which is a legit route, but board at Stockton, but I am worried if the conductor does not see me board in Modesto, will he cancel my reservation right away and I will be "ticketless" when I go to board the bus in Stockton?



717 San Joaquin
Departs: 7:25 PM
Fri Aug 30 2013
Modesto, CA (MOD)
Arrives: 7:59 PM
Fri Aug 30 2013
Stockton, CA (SKN)
Duration: 0 hr, 34 min

Amenities
1 Reserved Coach Seat




3917 Bus

Departs: 8:05 PM
Fri Aug 30 2013
Stockton, CA (SKN)
Arrives: 9:45 PM
Fri Aug 30 2013
San Jose, CA (SJC)
Duration: 1 hr, 40 min

Amenities
1 Reserved Thruway Seat

 

[tp49]

California law doesn't allow for purchase of just a thruway bus ticket on Amtrak California routes. Thus you have to purchase a rail segment as well in order to buy the ticket for the bus. Since the advent of e-tickets I do not know how they handle this. In the past when I had to do something like this with a paper ticket there was no issue in just getting on the bus using the bus portion of the ticket. Someone else can probably comment on the protocol using e-tickets.

 

[BCL]

You could book it as a multi-city trip - SKN-SJC (3817) and then any SJC-SCC on Capitol Corridor the next day. The bus ride is $25 and the train segment is $6 - minus any discounts. The train segment would be valid for an entire year, or you could get an eVoucher and apply it to some other travel. You could also book a longer trip if you wanted to actually take the CC from San Jose in the future.

I did a sample booking for today and got this:

Monday, August 12, 2013
3917 Bus (SKN - SJC)

Depart: 8:05 pm, Mon, Aug 12, 2013Arrive: 9:45 pm, Mon, Aug 12, 2013

Duration: 1 hr, 40 min

Amenities

1 Adult $25.00

1 Reserved Thruway Seat

Subtotal $25.00

Tuesday, August 13, 2013
524 Capitol Corridor (SJC - SCC)

Depart: 6:40 am, Tue, Aug 13, 2013

Arrive: 6:46 am, Tue, Aug 13, 2013

Duration: 0 hr, 6 min

Amenities

1 Adult $6.00

1 Unreserved Coach Seat

Subtotal $6.00

 

[SubwayNut]

The bottom option would be my workaround. I did something similar in June, booked Rocklin to Lodi as a multi-city although I only needed to Rocklin-Sacramento bus trip. Somehow I got points for the San Joaquin portion too!

 

[BCL]

Greyhound can get you from Stockton to San Jose for a $15 web-only fare, but the various routes are rather circuitous. I see Stockton-Sacramento-Oakland-San Jose, with times from 6 hours to almost 11 depending on how long you need to wait for a transfer. There's also Stockton-Modesto-Hayward-San Jose scheduled for a bit under 10 hours.

Oddly enough, I might take it if I were a poor college kid whose alternative would be to pay for a hotel room.

 

[roadman3313]

A few things to remember... When ACE goes to Stockton it arrives at SKT which is Stockton, CA - ACE Station. The bus you are looking at departs SKN which is Stockton, CA - San Joaquin St. Stockton has two Amtrak stations so be careful when you book the return that you are at the correct station.

ALL ACE Trains serve SKT ONLY.

Amtrak San Joaquin trains to/from Sacramento/Lodi (Trains 701-704) serve SKT ONLY.

Amtrak San Joaquin trains to/from the Bay Area (ACA, MTZ, RIC, EMY, and OKJ) serve SKN ONLY.

Thruway bus connections generally leave from SKN, except for those that meet trains 701-704, which leave from SKT.

Some trains (including the later ACE Commuter connection - not listed) have a Thruway shuttle from SKN to SKT and SKT to SKN, however it must be booked with a Amtrak train in conjunction with the trip.

One alternative booking you could do would be this:


Thursday, August 15, 2013
3204 ACE Commuter (SJC - SKT)

Depart:
3:35 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Arrive:
5:47 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Duration:
2 hr, 12 min



704 San Joaquin (SKT - MOD)

Depart:
5:50 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Arrive:
6:24 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Duration:
0 hr, 34 min




Thursday, August 15, 2013
717 San Joaquin (MOD - SKN)

Depart:
7:25 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Arrive:
7:59 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Duration:
0 hr, 34 min
Amenities


3917 Bus (SKN - SJC)

Depart:
8:05 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Arrive:
9:45 pm, Thu, Aug 15, 2013
Duration:
1 hr, 40 min




If you notice, the Amtrak Thruway connection from SJC to SKT is actually the ACE Train. It is a short connection, however the Amtrak train generally is waiting for the ACE train to pull into the station platform itself and clear the track. Also, since the whole booking would be through Amtrak and it is a naturally bookable connection, you can be assured that your whole itinerary would be in the system. You could also get to Modesto to take the train back from that point and be at the correct Stockton Station (SKN) for the return bus.

If you search SJC to MOD you will see the Thruway options that are ACE commuter trains. There is one later one as well that has a bus that connects from SKT to SKN, however you'd have to do a multi-city and book at least one Amtrak Train segment for the reservation to hold on the later option. The option I listed above can be booked using a standard one-way or round-trip booking; multi-city not required!

 

[BCL]

I would note that the ACE SJD-SKT fare is $13 (they apparently don't use the same code as Amtrak for San Jose). The Amtrak SKN-SJC bus fare is $25. Just wanted to put that out there.

 

[roadman3313]

Even more reason to book MOD-SKN if ever using the bus... I believe it came out to $22? Still more than ACE but better than the bus booked to SCC (I assume?).