Passenger Trains > Where to find Car # and Room # on Amtrak App

Frequent Amtrak traveler here - roughly 10-15 overnight segments per year.  Most annoying to me is when I make a reservation and then look it up in the App, the Car and Room #'s NEVER show up, even when hitting DETAILS.  Same for the website, when I hit MY TRIPS. 

The only time I really see the Car and Room # details is on the actual E-Ticket they email to you after purchase or when I hit SHARE and send it from MY TRIPS to myself.  This has been an issue with me for years. I would love to just show the ticket on the app.  But NO, I must print out the e-ticket to know my room number (or save it somewhere else)

Miost annoying little glitch.

Just wondering if anyone else experiencing something or perhaps I am technologically challenged.  Any ideas would be helpful.

You have to call Amtrak agent for that info. They will even change your room if you don't like the one you were given.

nedzarp Wrote:
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> You have to call Amtrak agent for that info. They
> will even change your room if you don't like the
> one you were given.

Be careful with this some agents will charge a higher fare if the price increased with you purchase.

Posted from Android

Yes the fare yield can go upword, right after your reservation, so you do need an expierenced agent if any remain.

Yet on most airlines you can see the seats available, additional costs if any, and make your selection before final purchase. Calling an agent doesn't always work either. I was told a few weeks ago I had roomette No. 1 on the Silver Star and it was "upstairs." Say what? So I assume rooms 13 and 14 are downstairs? LOL. 

Is it really THAT hard for Amtrak to develop some sort of App where you can actually pick your room? Yes the "A" end and "B" end may not always be positioned properly, but at least seeing what room # or letters are available (left) that would certainly help save a LONG and lengthy conversation with an agent that now has a 50/50 chance of happening. I love getting an agent who knows their stuff - so quick in being on and off the phone. Other times. it gets REALLY painful!!!!

I always print 2 or 3 copies of my itinerary...1 goes in my pocket and 1 in my carryon.  If I'm going to be on an overnight train, I have a 2nd carry on that gets a copy of the itinerary as well.

The folded copy in my pocket is what I use when viewed by gate dragons, scanned by a conductor, or, as in the case of the Metropolitan Lounges and Club Acelas, to prove I am supposed to be there if asked.  The copies in my luggage are there in case I get separated from them, or, if ever needed, to replace the one in my pocket.

Call me old fashioned.  50+ years ago in college computer classes as well as for a good 20 years after, 'they' always kept saying that computers will make paper outdated.  Like dealing with IRS tax audits...the one with PAPER wins!!

As I recall, the accommodation info appears on the e-ticket screen of the app.  That is the screen with the QR code that the conductor scans. If you save your e-ticket to the wallet (iPhone), the accommodation info will also show there.  I have no current reservations, so I can't test to see if my recollection is correct, but I know I was able to view the accommodation info in the app since I do not print the emailed e-ticket.

It's ridiculous. For 10 years you've been able to pick your own seat or accommodation on trains in Europe. 

ctillnc Wrote:
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> It's ridiculous. For 10 years you've been able to
> pick your own seat or accommodation on trains in
> Europe. 

And you should be able to do the same on Amtrak. Moreover, Amtrak can use economics to price certain rooms higher than other rooms.

To go a step further - one would think there should be PLENTY of SUPPLY (and demand should align with supply) with tri-weekly Amtrak trains when it comes to sleeping cars. One of the reasons why the Canadian didn't lose even more money than it could have post-1990 when it went to tri-weekly is because VIA decided to have "waiting lists" for passengers wanting sleeping space. At first VIA only had about five sleeper cars to fill (due to trying to renew the Budd fleet and re-distribute cars after retiring the old smooth sided steel CN cars) on the Canadian. They had plenty more people wanting sleeper space than what they could offer. So they went to a waiting list, and if space opened, they were contacted and passengers accommodated (this is the high end revenue VIA wanted). As the Ocean was freed up of Budd equipment and it was transferred West, you now have the Canadian operating with 20+ cars, as opposed to just 10 to 11 cars with five sleepers. So extra sleepers get launched on the Canadian as Renaissance Cars came online.

Will Amtrak follow this same VIA "sleeper car" model:

- waiting list for passengers needing "private rooms"
- demand for private rooms are likely going to increase as it's being advertised and seen as "safe." 
- addition to the consist of sleeper cars with private rooms to meet demand.
- empty rooms get filled with people on the waiting list as sleeper cars are added (as demand requires).

Amtrak has NEVER been like VIA in "adding" cars when demand warrants. If a sleeper or coach does get added, it usually takes some ridiculous long amount of time to do so. It is not because the passenger car type is not available OR there's not a staff member to handle the job either. If needed, Amtrak will assign the adjacent sleeper car attendant temporarily - seen it, been there, done that.

Coach service on LD trains, especially tri-weekly is going to be very weak and take the longest to potentially recover. However, I think sleeper car patrons will bounce back faster first, and hopefully Amtrak can keep up with supply and demand models. It will need both coach and sleeper patronage to increase to achieve the numbers needed for restoration of daily service, if you want to believe that daily service will ever be restored. I am not holding my breath on that one! With the advertisement of private rooms and benefits thereof, there's no reason why the overnight NEC train #65/66/67 can't have its sleeper restored. It was pulled due to needing 25% of Viewliner sleepers in reserve when LD trains were running at former daily levels (Cardinal tri-weekly), but with tri-weekly service, they could certainly restore it now. Can be done now to get higher end revenue for this train and promote "safer travel" as private rooms allow for better social distancing. 

Amtrak is very hypocritical I find. Just be transparent and more honest with what the future may hold. There's definitely unknowns due to COVID-19, but they know how long and hard it is going to be to try to ever re-instate daily service once again. And some tri-weekly trains are running at pretty good loads.....    

Some good input. Thanks. For me, I will use BRatkinson’s advice as a workaround. For those millennials that do business ONLY on phones/apps, I Guess they will find out on the platform!

Posted from iPhone