Passenger Trains > Does Amtrak have a wait list?

Am trying to book 4 family members business class Vancouver to Seattle in July, 3 got booked OK, but one got coach.  Is there any was to get on a standby list for business class?

Charles Rice
Saint Louis, MO

In a word No, not for any class of service. 

Therefore there is no way to measure demand for service.
amtrak might be able to fill 15 car trains throughout the midwest but that would just make more work for them.

When on earth are the $ suppliers (Congress) going to understand that Amtrak needs a managment that firmly believes in passenger rail and it's custoners who patronize the NATIONAL Railroad Passenger Corporation?. 

PRSL-recall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When on earth are the $ suppliers (Congress) going
> to understand that Amtrak needs a managment that
> firmly believes in passenger rail and it's
> custoners who patronize the NATIONAL Railroad
> Passenger Corporation?. 

Perhaps the House Oversight Comm could look into that after they get thru with Hunter Biden's laptop...

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:

>
> Perhaps the House Oversight Comm could look into
> that after they get thru with Hunter Biden's
> laptop...
>
> Posted from Android

Maybe Joe can put him back on the board.

The system purges reservations at 3am eastern time for those let their reservatins lapse and not pay for them by the due date.

It is best to call or make reservations very early in the morning hoping to acquire one of these purged seats or rooms.

 

I sold Amtrak travel for over 30 years, beginning in 1983 and continuing to 2017. Periodically they did offer wait-list service, but the res bureau of course had to staff the call backs and every time there was a new Amtrak budget squeeze the wait-list desk would be destaffed. By the new century this was gone for good, along with dedicated individual agents to work with tour operators like my company Rail Travel Center/Rail Travel Adventures. Now a substantial number of Amtrak res positions are not even directly staffed by Amtrak. Like too many things this work is farmed out to underpaid and under trained (pun intended) contractors.

Of course a wait-list would not only enhance revenue, but indeed as noted above it would also give an indication of how much demand exists for more capacity. But as always with Amtrak cost cutting won.