Passenger Trains > Amtrak Soon?

After the last few years of waiting for hours to get a telephone answer from Amtrak or Amtrak Guest Rewards, I cannont help but wonder if this ariline action will become the norm.  I hope not, but I am a people person and appreciate the person-to-person contact.

Frontier Airlines cuts the cord on customer service by phone (msn.com)

Why does that not surprise me, especially with todays Ammanamgnet who don't know how to run a successful railroad anyway!

What makes you think you can talk to someone now?  Last two trips I set up all on the res sight.  It is a difficult site, but once you figure it out, it works OK.  And sometimes it's a giant guessing game, but like anything electronic, it does eventually...eventually...work.

If you have anything out of the usual A to B itinerary...good luck.

I have never had the problems you speak of.  I booked a trip from Indy to Albany, NY, and talked to a real person.  The trip coming back cost less, so I was able to get it with points.  Try calling early in the morning, you will probably get through quickly.  I used  the number from my credit card to Amtrak rewards.  I think that is a better number to get through on.  Good Luck.

Amtrak could not get rid of "LIVE" agents right now as the website has too many shortcomings. The online sleeper reservation booking is very flawed - well.....hate to say this.......but some of the agents also have shortcomings, especially when they read from a prescribed sript that doesn't always work when you get tran specific.

For example, the online booking system doesn't always show that an accessible bedroom may be available - nearly ALWAYS absent on the Viewliner train bookings, and one or both rooms are available via a LIVE agent. Moreover, you can reserve your seat on Acela Express and Northeast Regionals - by exact seat number and with access to viewing an overall layout to see what seats are available (like a airline seating map), etc. But you can't book by specific rooms (letters and numbers). If spending a fortune on sleeper fare, yes, I want to try to get the car number I want and the bedroom (or roomette) location I want. Or at least try to. There are certain bedrooms and roomettes I prefer to stay clear of; prefer the sleeper next to the diner as that's the one that Amtrak's less likely to cancel these days.To ensure the booking of sleeper space works out the way I want it to, this has always required talking to a LIVE agent. When booking regular NEC or state-supported train travel - typically the online Amtrak booking website (or app) will work, but again, if you want something that's not the ordinary, the booking system can't handle it.   

Frankly, compared to an airline reservation booking app, Amtrak's reservation app sucks - whether on the computer or on the phone app. I also think the current reservation procedures are way too cumbersome, as compared to former versions that Amtrak had. Amtrak continues to add band-aids and "patches" to the ARROW reservation system, rather just completely overhauling it. Yes, Amtrak booking system is custom developed - can't buy something like this "off the shelf." But the reservation system - at its core - is essentially the same system Amtrak's been kicking around for the past two decades!!!   



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/22 15:35 by jp1822.

Remember, Anderson & Co. closed the res. center that was in Riverside, Ca. years ago and contracted an airline res. company in Florida. I'm sure the people who work there are fine people, but they understand airplanes, not trains.

Posted from Android

Pig-Mauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Remember, Anderson & Co. closed the res. center
> that was in Riverside, Ca. years ago and
> contracted an airline res. company in Florida.
> I'm sure the people who work there are fine
> people, but they understand airplanes, not trains.
>
>
> Posted from Android

They don't understand planes either. They just know to answer the phone and to follow whatever the script tells them to do. No thinking is allowed.
Standard call center practice.

Pig-Mauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Remember, Anderson & Co. closed the res. center
> that was in Riverside, Ca. years ago and
> contracted an airline res. company in Florida.
> I'm sure the people who work there are fine
> people, but they understand airplanes, not trains.
>
Remember, the work that went to Riverside cost hundreds
of clerical jobs in Chicago.  It closed the Chicago Res Center.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pig-Mauler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Remember, Anderson & Co. closed the res. center
> > that was in Riverside, Ca. years ago and
> > contracted an airline res. company in Florida.
> > I'm sure the people who work there are fine
> > people, but they understand airplanes, not
> trains.
> >
> Remember, the work that went to Riverside cost
> hundreds
> of clerical jobs in Chicago.  It closed the
> Chicago Res Center.

Yep, chase the cheapest labor.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yep, chase the cheapest labor.

And I have been told by people close to the closing of the Chicago
office, the move had the backing of the clerk's union.

Appeals to keep the office in Chicago fell on deaf ears of local politicians,
some who would later go on to national prominence.

The deaf ears were later explained by knowledge that the clerk's union
was all for the move.  It had to do with the expected increase of union
initiation dues from the high turnover of jobs in Riverside.

I recently had a modest wait for a live agent on Amtrak Guest Rewards. No big deal at all.

Art House