My family and I recently got back from taking an epic summer vacation. We had an Amtrak train trip from Ohio to Denver, then touring through Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore and the Western United States before returning home on Amtrak
(SEE ALSO: Introduction: big heads, trains and bears, oh my!)
(SEE ALSO: My (free) $6500 family train vacation on Amtrak)
Our Amtrak trip was a blast, but we did run into a few problems, mostly with delays, which cause me to wonder if I’ll ever take an Amtrak trip again… and left me with a few Amtrak complaints. Our outbound train (the California Zephyr from Chicago to Denver) ended up with a 13 hour delay, arriving at 8pm rather than a scheduled arrival time of 7am. On the return trip, we were supposed to leave Denver at 7pm, but didn’t leave until after 10pm
The lying board of estimation…
Our trip delay stayed about 3-4 hours late, which wasn’t the end of the world, but the 2 big problems were
- The late departure from Denver meant that we missed the dinner that we paid for (since by the time we boarded in Denver, they had stopped serving dinner)
- We nearly missed our connecting train in Chicago. In the end, we did make it after running through Chicago Union Station and being stressed out about it for most of the train ride. Because we were so late in getting on the Capitol Limited train in Chicago, they had already booked most of the dinner reservations, meaning that after eating a 12pm lunch, we didn’t get dinner until 9pm 🙁
When to call to get Amtrak compensation
In the middle of our 13 hour delay enroute to Denver, I was on the phone to Amtrak customer service a few times trying to figure out options.
Although they were helpful (sort of?) and listened to my Amtrak complaints while I was enroute, when I asked about compensation for the Amtrak delays, they said to call back after the trip to discuss compensation.
So you can’t call until your trip is over, and I assume there is an end date that you need to call by, but I’m not sure what it is exactly. Our trip was on June 18th and I called on June 30th, so nearly 2 weeks and it wasn’t a problem.
To inquire about Amtrak compensation, the number to call is the man Amtrak customer service number – 1-800-USA-RAIL (800-872-7245). You need to speak to the Amtrak customer Relations department.
When I spoke to someone I said, “I was on an Amtrak train last week that was delayed and would like to open up a case”. You’ll want to have the reservation number from your ticket
What kind of compensation to expect for Amtrak complaints about service
If you have an Amtrak delay or other Amtrak complaints, you’ll generally only get an Amtrak travel voucher. When I called, I pushed to see if there were any other options, but it did not appear to be so.
Amtrak seems to have some formula for how much your Amtrak compensation travel voucher you are eligible for, but I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what that is. But I can share some data points.
When I called about the 13 hour delay on my outbound trip, they said that the rail portion of the Chicago – Denver fare for 4 adults was about $500, with kids being half price. They offered $700 in Amtrak travel vouchers, which was nearly 100% of the rail portion of the fare. The agent I spoke to specifically said that the amount of the Amtrak compensation voucher was tied ONLY to the rail fare portion and not the (more expensive) accommodation / bedroom portion of the fare.
Remember, the total cash value of this trip was over $6500, and that, along with the amount of the delay is what they seem to use to figure out Amtrak compensation.
When I hung up and called back later, the second agent I spoke to was able to see the notes from my first call, so I couldn’t get a better offer 🙂
When I called for the delay and missing meal on my return trip, I was told that they estimate about $10 / person for missing a meal, and offered $300 for the delay portion, so $400 total. Those 2 numbers don’t seem to be inline (how is a 3 hour delay worth $300 but a 13 hour delay only worth $700?!?), so it does seem like there is a little bit of wiggle room in figuring out how much Amtrak will give you in travel vouchers if you have Amtrak complaints.
Will Amtrak refund any Amtrak Guest Rewards points?
I didn’t actually pay $6500 for my trip, instead spending 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Honestly, I would rather have had Amtrak refund some proportion of my points rather than travel vouchers, since if you use them wisely, points can get a lot better value than cash, especially on longer trips in sleeper cars.
(SEE ALSO: Maximizing your route on the Amtrak Zone Map)
(SEE ALSO: How I spent 350,401 miles and points)
But all of the Amtrak agents I spoke to said that that the Amtrak refund policy is that having Amtrak refund points was not an option – you can only get travel vouchers.
I’m not sure if I will earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points on a trip that is paid with travel vouchers, though I would assume not. Still, there are similar situations such as the Best Western Best Rate Guarantee where you do earn points.
(SEE ALSO: 5th time’s a charm – Best Western BRG FINALLY approved!!)
If anyone knows for sure, leave us a note in the comments
Amtrak delay voucher fine print
Of course, what’s a fellow to do if he has $1100 in Amtrak delay vouchers when he doesn’t necessarily want to ride Amtrak ever again? 😀
There are 2 different ways that you can get your travel vouchers after successful Amtrak complaints. You can have them mailed out to you, but that requires that you present them physically AT an Amtrak office. That’s fine for those of you who live in the Northeast Corridor or other cities with regular Amtrak service. Not so good when my Amtrak station is open from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. (no, really). The second option is that you can keep the Amtrak vouchers stored in your account. That lets you use them online or over the phone, but makes them non-transferrable. In looking at the Amtrak vouchers fine print, it does look like these travel vouchers CAN be used for someone else’s travel though – if anyone has experience with that let me know.
One thought I had would be to go on a trip without the kids, just the 2 of us – something like this might make sense.
We could go one way from Cincinnati to Seattle, spend some time there, and then fly back using airline miles.
The Amtrak vouchers are good for one year, and then you can use them for travel up to 12 months out. So the vouchers I got in June 2015 are good through June 2016 and can be used for travel through June 2017. To redeem these vouchers, you need to call the main Amtrak customer service number.
All this traveling to get vouchers to travel more reminds me of getting “bumped” on airline flights!
(SEE ALSO: The bump: voluntary denied boarding on Southwest)
(SEE ALSO: Would you take $1000 for a 9 hour delay?)
- Introduction: Big heads, Trains and Bears, oh my!
- My (free) $6500 family train vacation on Amtrak
- Holy Toledo! The lunacy in trying to book this Ohio hotel
- Why you want to transfer Amtrak points to Choice Hotels
- How I spent 350,401 miles and points
- You can book unlimited Choice Hotel award nights?
- Checking historical Amtrak delays
- Amtrak Union Station Toledo parking
- 4 reasons my Amtrak trip was a blast…
- … but I’ll probably never take another Amtrak trip
- 4 laundry hacks when you're doing long term travel
- Amtrak Union Station Chicago Metropolitan Lounge
- Boiling River Yellowstone
- Do you take hotel toiletries, pens and other amenities?
- Finding the REAL geographic center of the United States
- How to get compensation for Amtrak delays
- Amtrak tips: Tipping on Amtrak
- Ranking the 8 hotels we stayed at on our vacation
- Updating my travel map with new visited places
- How I spent 350,401 points
- Why I didn’t spend $9,144.92 on my vacation
Have you gotten vouchers for Amtrak complaints? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I was traveling to Slidell on July 2nd from Birmingham, the train was delayed almost 2 hrs leaving, train usually arrive in Slidell at 6:20,we arrived after 11 pm,the family had plans so I couldn’t participate. My conf.number 17AA1F
Hey Diane – I am not Amtrak so I can’t help you with that! I encourage you to contact Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL and ask to speak to Customer Relations
Round trip travel for two from Seattle WA to Portland OR paid for 2 months in advance. One of the two had to delay return travel by one day. Ticket agent assured me that the person delaying travel could pick up voucher at the ticket office in Seattle by giving my name since I paid for the tickets. On the next day when he attempted to pick up the ticket the agent said they couldn’t find the ticket. He had to buy another ticket.
I called Amtrak and was told they would charge $5.30 and refund the balance of the cost of travel to Portland OR. Complained to customer relations who argued that they were not there and don’t know what the agent or my friend said therefore did not think the fee should be refunded. After some time spend arguing that their excuse was unreasonable and could be used for any communication between Amtrak and a customer he relented and refunded the fee in the form of another voucher.
You seem to have fared better than we have. In our original conversation with customer service they told us that we had been automatically credited with an amount over 500 dollars to our account which they could refund us for the 13 hour delay. I later called and cancelled the remaining portion of our trip, well before 24 hours in advance and was disappointed to find that they did not credit us for the entire amount of the remaining trip, but no one in customer service can explain why. The 500 dollar credit for our troubles disappeared and instead we were sent a $200 voucher for future travel we will never use. I am out the remaining $700 for our trip! We made our train connection only because our connecting train was running 4 hours late too. We were over 7 hours late when we arrived at our final destination – it was too late to rent a car and the hotel room we could find for the night was $489!
That really stinks. From what I’ve read, the “formula” that they use really makes no sense and is pretty arbitrary. That’s the main reason that although my Amtrak trip was a blast… I’ll probably never take another Amtrak trip
My Calvin Klein luggage is damages, my train was selayed by a day and I spent money to stay overnight at a hotel callee Le pivillion.
You realize you are replying to a 7 year old post???
Coming back from Herman Mo on Saturday October 10 we had a 20 minute delay because of a domestic dispute. Why is that all of the passengers problem. Simply kick the idiot off and let us non deviant folk go home. It was ridiculous.
the amtrak employees that”man” that cafe car are less than adeqate.
they are slow number one and they close the cafe car WAY before or WAY AFTER the appropriate station stops. I pay a lot of money—ten trips at a time–and have identified those employees who are are good and those who are are not.
You should be more discriminating….a lot of us pay a lot of money and expect a lot more service… youre cafe people are LAZY.
Thanks for the comment. I’m not sure if you know but this is not an actual Amtrak site – if you have specific comments you should definitely write in to Amtrak themselves (www.amtrak.com)
Thanks for your post. It helped me! I just got a voucher for full value ($36) of my badly delayed train that arrived at 3:43 a.m. today, The train (from NYC to Albany) had engine problems, which resulted in us arriving about two and a half hours late – on a route that only takes two and a half hours! I thought full compensation was fair, in this case.
Awesome! It’s always nice to get compensation for Amtrak delays!
I love AMTRAK and/or METROLINK! But I have a serious complaint which needs to be addressed! And that is this: The restrooms at the Chatsworth Station are closed, and I don’t know why! I would pay 25ç just to be able to use the restroom! This is a HEALTH issue! I would like to see a change! PLEASE! Arleen
I will never take Amtrak again. I took the train instead of the bus expecting to be comfortable. It was so hot I felt faint the entire 2 3/4 hours. The conductor said she cannot control the heat. I felt sick the entire way to NYC.
I reserved two months ahead for Thanksgiving travel by Amtrak from Syracuse to Baltimore, with a 50 minute connection buffer at NY Penn. Syracuse train was 40 mins late arriving and by the time we were nearing NYC, the conductor told us we would miss our next train and should call Amtrak to book on a later train. I did that, but was astounded to learn that by rebooking (due solely to their delay) on short notice and right before the holiday, I would be charged an amount that nearly doubled my original cost. I filed a complaint online but other than an automated “we’ll get back to you”, have heard nothing for two days. Seems like remarkably unfair business practice. Will post again when/if I get results.
That’s odd – my understanding was that Amtrak took care of rebooking everyone if there were Amtrak delays. Definitely call the number for compensation and let us know what happens
You are right Dan…When I called customer relations directly, they apologized and reimbursed my cc for the extra charges. When I called on route to rebook (due to their delay) they should have put me through to customer relations rather than booking, but I did explain to the booking agent that this was due to their delay and was told “our arrival times are estimates only, so you will be charged”. So, direct to customer relations next time!
hi, in january 24 I think that is the exact date I was supposed to travel from san francisco to san diego with amtrak. The driver called the pólice because a problema ocurred with the passenger and the seats so she didn´t let us travel with her and she got us out opf the bus, it was dark like 11 pm or something like that. My mother and I were forced to sleep in an hotel and we spend money we didn´t have in a hotel and a cab, only because your driver decided to step us off the bus. I would´t want to take legal advice in this situation but I will be forced to do it if you as the a Company do not respond properly to this situation. I have the contact of the other people that were in the bus that day and you can ask them the kind uf situation that my mother and I lived in an Amtrak truck that night and the danger we were into in San Francisco´s Street that night in middle of anywhere.
Hi Paola, sounds like quite the adventure. Unfortunately I am not amtrak so I can’t really help you. I suggest you call amtrak directly to address your problem
I read your comment About Amtraks fine print letting you use a travel voucher to purchase a ticket for someone else. Have you been able to confirm this? I’m being told no over the phone with customer relations.
From what I understand, you can only use an Amtrak delay voucher to purchase a ticket for someone else if you actually go to an Amtrak ticket station (you can’t do it over the phone or online)
My 2-hour trip was delayed 3 hours due to an accident (fatality) that was not Amtrak’s fault. The accident happened in the morning and delayed many trains for much of the day. One of the employees in the station where many of were waiting made an announcement and suggested that all of us affected by the delay contact Amtrak Customer Relations after completing our trip to see if they would accommodate us in any way.
I contacted Amtrak Customer Relations the next morning, and they issued a travel voucher in an amount equal to the full cost of my ticket. My guess is that voucher was for the full amount because the delay (3 hours) was much more than the duration of the trip itself.
Amtrak was terrific to work with, even though the delay was in no way their fault.
IM IN THAT SITUATION NOW. I HOPE THEY HELP ME OUT LIKE THEY HELPED YOU!
I was on train 91 from Phil to Tampa when around 8pm we went over something on the tracks. They told us at first it would take an hours for a new engine to replace the one that was damaged. It took 9 1/2 hours later to get into Tampa. We were not served lunch but we did get a snack around 2am. And a slice of cold pizza thrown in a box with bottled water. Do you think i deserve compensation? It will be a while before i take the train again,
You’ll never know unless you call. My guess is yes, you will
Delay on NE corridor PHL-WAS. Received full refund as credit (ticket only $105). Still for those living in the NE corridor – I take the train a few times a year so can use the credit. Waited on hold about 20 minutes – 10 minutes on main Amtrak number then was transferred to customer relations where I waited another 10 minutes on hold before speaking to an agent. I was asked for my reservation number (6 characters), date of travel and train number.
Res# AC7B64
8/29/2016
Train 98
I want an email address where I can send the pictures I took of the bathroom conditions on car 25020. They were never cleaned the entire 20 hour trip.
Our trip to Orlando Florida has been a disaster with delay after delay also the restrooms have been out of order for a number of times. It has been a very unpleasant trip for me and my wife. I would hope that Amtrk can take care of this
Problem. We are a border train 91 silver star to Orlando Florida.
I love that people think you are Amtrak! I live in East Glacier Park, MT and our business depends on the Empire Builder train. This summer has been better for on time, but in the past it has been up to 27 hours late. This was great info and will pass on to our customers. Thanks!
This has been the worst experience today. The train was 5 hours late. And now we have sat for 2 hours in Jacksonville. We lost our day in Epcot and wasted the entire day. The last 3 trips I have taken on the Amtrak have been late. I hope to never use amtrak again!
Amtrak offers compensation for delays? I always thought delays were a typical “can’t predict, therefore will not compensate for” factor in travel. Is this a new thing? I don’t remember my father getting anything back from the dozens of times the Northeast Corridor was delayed on my trips to and from school (and his, and my sister’s, trips to visit me) back around 1980!
Hi everyone, I don’t have much experience on amtrak delays but I can speak a little about amtrak e vouchers. I booked a trip on the Southwest Chief and Coast Starlight for my grandparents and they were unable to make the trip due to health reasons. Amtrak would not refund me the over $4000 I paid but instead gave me an evoucher good for one year of travel. I was told I could use the voucher on any amtrak service (tickets only) in any travellers name regardless if they were on the original ticket. The voucher is only in my name and I have been using it myself and also for others who I’ve booked tickets for and sold to them at around half price. So yes vouchers can be used online to book any ticket and also at any station (I needed to present my ID when using it at the station whereas online it asked me for the original email address used when inputting the voucher number as payment. I still have quite a large amount left if anyone is interested 😉 Michael michaelantone @ mail.com
Mrs Sheila Webb, The Website, School Lane Broadholme. Lincoln Lincolnshire. England LN1 2LZ
Dear Customer Services.
Re- unacceptable service
We have returned from holiday having spent two days in New York and then travelling by Amtrak train to Niagara Falls before embarking onto other destinations.
The date we travelled with your service was Thursday October 27th at 7.15 am from Penn Station. Train Number 63.
We have never travelled on this route before and we were very disappointed by the way we were treated by the your station staff.
My husband and I had taken two large cases and two small ones as we were away for almost one month. On arrival we queued to have our tickets verified then directed to a queue to await the train, we had no information as to whether there was an buffet car on the train. The passengers in the queue all visited the food outlets to stock up for the long journey. We waited a considerable time without seating before being escorted to a moving staircase. I was horrified to see that the porter was just ushering everyone onto the moving staircase with their cases and I felt very frightened at the prospect of the speed by which this was taking place and the dangerous situation for myself. I do not have any feeling in my left arm and so I refused to go down as did the couple behind me. I tried to explain to the porter my disability but he was just too busy pushing everyone onto this stairs as quickly as possible. My husband suggested that he go down with the small cases and then the porter could put the large cases on the stairs after him. I then proceeded down and waited at the bottom, there was another porter on the station who was ushering everyone down the track to the front of the train. We stood awaiting our luggage and was immediately told in a discourteous manner to move away that we could not stand there. Trying to explain to this man our situation was very difficult as he just was not interested, after everyone had come down we still were waiting for the luggage and tried again to explain to the porter our plight. He just was not interested and just kept saying we would need to get on the train or catch the next train out. My husband asked if there was a way to get back to the top of the stairs and the porter just snapped at him to go up the stairs. We were not familiar with the station and had to ask where the stairs were, the porter was again getting agitated that we were not on the train. I asked why he could not telephone someone upstairs and ask them where our luggage was, he would not do this for some reason. My husband appeared back again and said he could not find where the stairs were and the porter said he should have gone up two flights of stairs. By this time I was extremely distressed and very worried about my husband who at 68yrs of age was running up and down trying to locate our cases. My husband then appeared down the moving staircase and said there was no-one to ask and the cases were not there, he was clearly in a physically distressed state and perspiring heavily. The porter was clearly anxious that we get on the train and I was by this time extremely distressed by the lack of information and assistance. We thought at that time that we would have to continue to our other destinations without our luggage. We set off down the platform at speed to get on the train which was to proceed at any minute. There was a lady conductor on the platform and I quickly reported our situation, she too did not respond with any comforting information but just said a ‘redcap’ may have put them on the train. I again asked if she could telephone upstairs to find out but she too was reluctant to do this. In exasperation we got on the train, both my husband and myself were very upset by the disgraceful treatment we had received from the station staff. The customer service was the worst I have every experienced in any country visited.
It is most unfortunate that I have had to write to you and we do not readily complain about anything but I have to report this incident to you and ask how do disabled travellers manage, and is there no elevator to go down if passengers have difficulty with their mobility, I did not see anyone come down with the luggage so how did it get down ? My husband eventually found the luggage a few carriages down. This incident almost ruined our holiday but thankfully we arrived in Canada and the service there was just impeccable with very helpful and courteous staff, the customer service was outstanding.
I am truly sad that we had this experience especially as we were so much looking forward to our vacation in America. I am not looking for compensation I just wish to advise you of the poor service we received.
Your sincerely
Sheila Webb RMN
Sheila Webb
sheilawebb@onetel.com
Tel: 44-01522 704792
Cool Story, but People!!!! This is not Amtrak Customer Service!!!
Thanks for having my back Judy!!! 🙂
Warning. Never ever use Amtrak unless you have no life except to sit on their trains and love rude and inadequate customer service. Went from Charleston to Washington DC and the train was only 45 minutes late. Really lucked out on my trip to Washington. Left Washington this morning to return to Charleston and no one will tell me how long the delay is because they say they just don’t know and act like I’m crazy because I’m curious about what time I may get home. The best estimation I can make is most likely a five to six hour delay. Sure would be nice to know though. But I guess thats just asking too much. I also witnessed an elderly lady fall when boarding the train. The Amtrak employee just stood there, didn’t help her up but did ask her if she was ok. She got up and as she was walking away he said under his breath “Jesus Christ” and shook his head in disgust. Worst way to travel that I have ever experienced. I will never make this mistake again.
Hi. I am on the SILVER STAR GOING TO HOLLYWOOD,FL.IT WAS LATE LEAVNG THE STATION. AND LATE ARRIVNG TO MY DESTINATION.ON THE FIRST TRIP.THERE WAS NO AIR CONDITIONER ON THE TRAIN,THE CONDUCTORS WERE NOT HELPFUL AT ALL
The FARES are terrible as your refund policy.I paid $380.00,, and I had to leave early,so why could I nit get back $150.00 at least this amount. Of money.I’m know AMTRAK is bankrupt.why should that matter.the consumer has rights.
Ive been riding amtrak for almost 40 years.lately the trains have been delayed as long as 10 hours.well i use a walker and cane to get around. I requested accessible seating but alas none i had to leave my bags and walker to the attendent..who then forgot to give it back.now i have no walker and they cant find it .the last stop was Miami where they are suppose to clean the train .my question would someone toss it away..who or what do i do..customer service has no relief and most of the service station you get a machine..please help
Soon it will not be an issue. If the new Trump budget is approved, all long distance Amtrak trains will not have the funding to continue and cease service as early as 1 Oct 2017. Please email your elected officials! I live in East Glacier Park, Montana and we depend on the train for our only public transportation. In my business alone I will have to lay off 30% of my employees, as we will no longer need rental cars for the tourists who arrive by train.
I would like a refund voucher for my trip March 16th for the 5 hour delay
My experience is not as bad as above… Amtrak falsely advertised on its website that a bus (this time has no trains because too few people take it) will take 17 minutes to arrive. It was a short trip to my destination and my next bus (with a different carrier) would be 15 minutes after its scheduled arrival. First, Amtrak was 5 minutes late picking me up. Second, it is impossible to drive to my destination in 17 minutes – all the apps say it takes 25-30 minutes (without traffic). I called Amtrak hotline and they did not allow me a refund, nor pay for a replacement ticket for the next bus I missed saying it was not their responsibility if Amtrak was late. But if the rep (Syreeta?) listened, she would know my point – that Amtrak falsely advertised the wrong arrival time so that bus will always be late and unpresuming customers will buy the wrong tickets…
My name is Stephanie ways, and I ride the Amtrak every year when my family and I go to Atlanta in July. I am very very upset with you because I checked for tickets the week before last and there were sit, now I check and all the sit are sold out, you people must really be stupid to think I would believe that when I get my ticket around the same time of the year. When I know it’s because your doing track work and think we’re stupid, well guess what am not . I have family already on that train and 6 more people need to be on that train and your telling me they sold out so I can get on some other train, how dare you sit up in your office and tell your customer to kiss your ass, and inconvenient all of use when you know people travel in July , that we have to take that train and pay more, and tell use the train is sold because you pull all the tickets. We plan this trip last year and because your ass can’t fix the track when the problem happens you went to inconvenience all of use, but I guess if your family won’t tickets it would be no problem. Well think again, let the dam ticket go and inconvenience people, fix the dam track when family’s come home and when it slow and stop trying to get use to for your dam problem.
Stephanie….
If you read the above blog, you would see that this in not an Amtrak site, so your poorly spelled comments will not be seen by Amtrak. If tickets were showing in line, you should have purchased them then, not assume that they will still be there later, as there only a certain number of seats. If a plane sells out you cannot still get on, even if you have been on that route in the past. I would suggest that when you do write to Amtrak that you do not curse, as you get more flies with honey.
LOL Judy – thanks for having my back!
Stephanie,
I also forgot to mention that it is not Amtrak who maintains the track systems, it is the parent railroad. Amtrak only leases the track time to run their train on the track. As for the prices of tickets changing, it is called Dynamic pricing. All travel companies do the same thing.Do you think a room in NYC on New Years Eve is the same as in September? No. It is supply and demand.
Interesting though, I DO think they (and others most likely) fiddle with this.. I was watching some tickets, and the price went up, I though ‘oh d^%n I’ll get a different day then, but which?’… checked again by chance after midnight just in case and the price went back down so I grabbed it.. someone cancelled their tickets? Maybe…. but I would not be surprised in the least if it’s high tech psycho price fiddling…
The train left Washington DC 2 hours late that means it will be 2 hours late to Pittsburgh. You had all day to notify me of this delay. I got to the station early cause it was the only ride I had. After looking into this these Dc, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago trains have habit of doing this and Amtrak does not care. I’m going to cancel my Seattle to Minneapolis on July 17th. I want my money back and I’ll never use a train ever again. Unless you have some compensation to me. Reservation number 3B6FC0
If it was the only ride you had, then it would not matter what time the train left, since you would already be there! The Empire Builder to Seattle can use all the spare seats it can get, so please cancel early so people can book to Glacier to come see me!!!
I too am amazed at all the people who believe that this is an AMTRAK site and that you can do something for them.
People, Dan is a travel blogger and just telling us about his trip and his experience .
If you have a problem call ANTRAK like Dan did , or write/email them. Do not post your complaints here
Thanks Jane :-). I would turn off comments, but whenever I get another one, I get a little chuckle 🙂
My 17 year old granddaughter rides Amtrak from Bakersfield to Merced. And she is constantly harassed and offered BEER. She is always fearful. Should this be reported to the police?
We where not at fault. We arrived Indianapolis, Indiana. They told us that we got on the wrong bus. They unpacked our belongings and before they left they packed one of our luggage back on the bus. They left with one of our luggage. We are now stuck here in Indianapolis until the next day for the next bus. We are so unsatisfied with this situation. They have not told us we got on the wrong bus until we’ve already arrived Indianapolis.
Just wanted to add for posterity – my friend and I got in four hours late when we took the Capitol Limited from Pittsburgh to DC. We’d paid $124 total for two seats and two carry-on bikes. I called to complain the next afternoon and they instantly sent out a $100 Amtrak voucher. They mentioned they “don’t normally give refunds for delays,” but based on how quickly they caved, it seems to be pretty routine.
Thanks for actually giving a relevant comment about the Amtrak refund experience as opposed to just complaining to me as if I personally had any ability to fix Amtrak 🙂
Travel on Car Train twice this summer and both times the train was late by 5 hours. The first time the staff showed consideration keeping us inform. Also The staff were excellent. The second time there was lack of communication which caused us to loose thousands of dollars because we were on our way to a business meeting that we couldn’t cancel on time. The service was not the best one. We were thinking on using Amtrak for all our travel needs, but after this upsetting experience we will have to think about it seriously.
I was given a case number for a possible refund. I was given either a wrong email or misunderstood what was given to me.
There is an engineer on Sunday evenings around 7 pm that holds the horn on from just outside Charlottesville, VA to Orange, VA. It is very annoying. True the horn must be sounded, but not continuously. There are lots of horse and cattle farms near the track and it upsets the animals. Plus, very irritating for those of us who live near the track. I have lived here for 40 years and the train horns rarely bother us, but this particular engineer finds a perverse enjoyment in blasting his horn over a 20 miles stretch. You can hear him when he starts and stops.
I used this train service from Newport News, Va to Newark, NJ and back. Both times always at least 30 to 45 minutes delays. Never on time. This happen on train #94 on 29 Nov 18. On 26 Nov 18, train #95 there was no heat on the train all the way back to Newport News,Va. I missed my pickup ride and had to catch a cab home. Once again delays. We all especially the elderly complained to the young conductors to no avail.
Flixbus:
Hi there,
I usedyour services from LA to Palm springs on the Xth of Decemnber.. Your service was cancelled and the next service was after 4 hours thatthen reached the destination 5 hours late.
The first 2 messages reported a 1 hour and then a 2 hour delay.. After this a cancellation was reported. Why was a cancellation not reported right away so that I could ve taken a train or another bus.
My schedule was thrown haywire and I ended u missing the bus back(which ironically left before the scheduled 1930 I am told)
So, I called up the helpdesk and they told me they could do nothing and they could not even put me on the next bus!!! This is despite the onward service being delayed 5 hour and putting me in trouble for the rest of the day.
Now, I ended up booking another bus because by the even the Amtrak services had left!
I expect a ull refund for all legs of the journey in light of what I have had to endure..
Additionally, I had a similar experience with Flixbus in Basel where the bus didnt turn up on time and there was NOBODY to help either with information or any updates as to when the bus might arrive..
Since I had an onward plane connection, I decided to go without waiting for the bus..
So, I didnt bother trying to get a refund then but now I want a refund for that journey as well..
Here are the details of the recent journey
Here are the details of my first journey:
Above and beyond all this, I will be reporting to the authorities as you cannot have a 5 hour delay and have no automatic compensation for passegers! Especially in a hub like LA, you CANNOT have this situation where you dont even have a spare bus!
AMTRAK
Travelling from the vantage point of a first floor does make a difference and gives it the edge in that regard over legends like the Glacier express..However, that is where the comparison ends. The glacier expresstrumps the poorly funded
Amtrak in the infra space suffers from old coaches, runs on diesel (resulting in fumes occasionally on the ventilation), less than ideal toliets(compared to European counterparts) and warping on some glass windows!
However, all of this is pushed into insignificance when you see the american countryside transition from great plains to high mountains to canyons,deserts,rivers and lakes!
The train has a fantastic dining car and a good cafe car. However, the coach section leaves a lot to be desired. Although the legroom is fantastic and the seats OK(could do with more plushness and ergonomics),
the wafts from bad toilets if you happen to be unlucky, the ventilation that is not car specific( which means on e idiot smoking on the train ensures everyone gets second hand smoke) and the less than adequate heating on cold stormy days.
Amazingly, seating isnt assigned – this works well given a lot of people get aboard and get off on the route and hence seats are always becoming available.However, a full train may be a logistical nightmare..
Travelling in winter, I got 2 seats t myself and had a choice of seats to pick
TIP – Stay on the last coach – this is where the seats are likely to be available and the view of the tracks from the back of the train can be a fantastic add-on.
The sightseeing car is great and I spent most of my time on the trip there.. The issue is – there is just one car that is’sightseeing’ – unlike the glacier express where the whole train is built in that manner
This means that on a full train, I cna imagine the need to ‘sacrifice’ your time in the car so others can get a go.. That is less than ideal – I was lucky to travel on a less than busy day where I never saw the car fully utilised -and hence didnt feel guilty hogging space
This is clearly because of the underfunded Amtrak unable to upgrade to Glacier express style coaches that this scenery clearly deserves!
The other big flaw is the train uses privately owned tracks that are runinng goods and hence arent as worried about schedules.This means that the train routinely runs late – I dont mean ’10 min spater’ as in Switzerand – but 4-5 hours-sometimes 6 hours!
This is routine – so please do not make any plans(or worse, connections) – based on the punctuality of the train. For the record, my train was 4.5 hours late!
On, May 26, 2019 I booked a trip from Cincinnati OH to Manassas VA. I was misled on the day, I was suppose to leave. From the agent I booked my trip with.
I know these calls are monitored?? I, asked the agent several times, is this the day I’m supposed to leave. The agent stated yes! Didn’t ask agent their name. But it was a male. Agent said I, would leave on Friday / Saturday at 3:27 am.
Turns out those days were wrong!! It should have been Thursday / Friday at 3:27 am. So my (COMPLAINT) is I, was charged $90.80. Which is total bullshit!!
This is for information that was told to me by the agent and call being recorded. It cost me a very important family graduation!!! I shouldn’t have been charged all that money.
I traveled from Cincinnati to Chicago. When I reach the Cincinnati train station the gentleman that work there was fast asleep on the chair with other guests waiting to board the train. From Cincinnati to Chicago we experience urine throughout the whole cabin throughout the whole entire trip. The bathroom smell permeated throughout. The train Personnel was courteous kind and helpful. Upon reaching Chicago Union Station is where we began to experience our troubles. The customer service was rude to demeaning and short-tempered with us. Several times snapping at us yelling at us and calling us names because we asked questions. R train from Chicago to Colorado was canceled. Weather related incidents is what caused the cancel and that did not cause upset to me because you cannot control Mother Nature. However hours and hours of unanswered questions not knowing what was going to happen they did put us up in a hotel with vouchers for a taxi to and from the hotel and vouchers for food in the Union Station food court. When we were getting ready to leave the hotel to come back to the station and hopes to catch the next train to Colorado the taxi company that they gave us a voucher for refused to come out here and said it was out of their jurisdiction. We then had to rely on the hotel for communications between us and Amtrak in the hotel finally got us a bus from Amtrak to pick us up.. there were about fifty of us stranded. Most of the passengers just decided to take it upon themselves to get their own taxi cab. I spoke to customer service on the phone I believe it’s in Washington DC or Pennsylvania and they told me to go back to the station and request a ticket back home to Cincinnati because there could be a delay from Colorado coming back home …I couldn’t do that with a twelve-year-old passenger with me. We had a couple of day leway but that was it. so we decided to come home and forget the rest of our trip.
During our stay at Chicago Union Station I watched abuse neglect and share disregard of the elderly and the handicapped. At one point after waiting 5 hours my sugar started to drop I am hypoglycemic. Mind you I’ve been waiting 5 hours to speak to a manager to get a trip back to Cincinnati. I asked the customer service rep named George and told him I was hypoglycemic and my sugar was dropping. When it gets that bad I have been known to pass out. after explaining this to George he simply stated do you want to see the manager or do you want to eat? I chose to eat. The entire trip was just in comprehensible and I can’t believe a place that’s run by the government is so blatantly callus towards the guests that pay their salary.
This is the short version.
I a reservation on Amtrak silver metor leaving Florence at 11pm train was 4hours late. I live in sumter this is the most horrible experience I have ever had you guys need stop running trains because you are not very good at need to upgrade whole system take notes from Japan. I would like to be compensated for my inconvenience
I was suppose to catch the train at 3:55am June 21st and 6 hours later I finally got on the train in Malvern Arkansas. Suppose to arrive in San Antonio Texas at 9:55 and won’t arrive until almost 3 am.. I’m tired I’m upset. I will be calling customer service complaining..
Some pretty bad experiences on the Silver Star from Harrisburg, PA to Fort Myers, Florida and then on my return trip from Fort Myers back to Harrisburg.
En route to Fort Myers I was suffocated by a bathroom stench– our entire car smelled horrible. The attendants kept trying to spray, but nothing could prevent the stink. I have asthma, and the ongoing spraying irritated my throat and lungs and I had to take emergency prednisone in my bag, I was glad to be off that train.
On my return trip, I opted for a view liner roomette, unable to get the Silver Meteor last minute, and though its better because I have a private bathroom in here, I was disappointed yet again. I have diabetes, and I rely on being able to get fresh fruits and salads, and to avoid processed pizzas and burgers etc. Unfortunately their snack booth was sorely lacking and out of several items — the items missing just happened to be most of the healthy ones that I can eat with my diabetes. I am really disappointed. I have been an Amtrak customer for years now and was hoping my trip to see the birth of my first grandchild wasp going to be much better than this.
Upon STARTING our vacation from Glenwood Springs Colorado to Cleveland, I KNEW immediately I would NOT MAKE IN IN EFFICINCY suite wit a “PROSTETIC LEFT LEG”;(UNABLE to bend at ALL)!! I BEGGED, I CRIED( DO NOT DO THAT for Conductor THREATAND a 72 hr. police HOLD), MONEY ,NO RESULTS!! I WAS TOLD BY CUNDUCTOR TRAIN WAS BOOKED!!! REALLY!! THIS HAS NOT HAPPEND SINCE THE ’60’s!!!! AT ANY RATE; INSTEAD of accommodating the disabled (WAR VET), THEY PUT MYSELF and my CERTIFIED SERVICE DOG off the train in DENVER!!! ANGEL(my certified and licensed SERVICE DOG) WERE THREATEND WITH PERMANAT DIS-BARMENT from AMTRAK and worse yet, ARREST!!!!!
Case # 6209954
When we arrived in Topeka Tuesday morning November 15, 2022 our2 suitcases were not there. The ticket agent didn’t know there was luggage coming off the train.
Ticket agent Frank Could said we would need to pick up luggage in Kansas City. On Wednesday 1:30 am ticket agent called and sais.our luggage was back at Topeka and we needed to pick it up. We told him we felt Amtrak should send it to.us so.he gave us the 800 number to report delayed bag.
We called the 800 number and talked to Costumer relations and was given a Case number.
Customers relations said to talk to ticket agent in Topeka to arrange shipping. We called ticket agent, and that is when he said no instructions were given to him to send our luggage to us. He did say that the luggage would go on to Chicago and be destroyed.
I talked to Marion #4067 from Customer Relations on November 17th @ 3:40 pm, and she said to send our complaints to you. We did go pick up our luggage on Friday, November 18, 2022.
We feel that we need to be reimbursed for 300 mi!es round trip from our home to Topeka. We also.had to buy a meal away from home.
We do have receipt for gas.
Thank you for taking care of this.
Bruce and Debbie Ferguson
You do realize this is a 7 year old thread and is not Amtrak. Nothing here will get you a resolution to your issue. Destroying your bags seems a bit harsh.
On July 16, 2023 I returned from NYC to Deerfield Beach in what turned out to become the worst Amtrak ride ever. No toilets in the rooms. One of the two toilets in the corridor was out of service, the other had no water to wash. There was also no water in the sinks in the rooms. Also, no toilet seat covers in the one toilet working. Disgustingly unsanitary ad dirty. Why the toilets were removed from the sleeper rooms was surely the stupidest decision. Also,when we got to Washington DC, where the engines are changed there was no engine therefore a three hour delay. Did someone forget the train was going to be there?
I was not able to use my 33,000 points which always got me a free round trip but not this time. I had to pay $637 for this horrible nightmarish ride instead of the usual $450.
Amtrak promises wonderful experiences but sure doesn’t keep promises.
I was offered a $100 voucher today and that was an insult after so many inconveniences. I feel that I am entitled to a refund of the $637.
I sent a letter outlining more about a month ago but I have not heard back from you. That in itself is an insult and leaves a bitter taste.
Thank you.
ARLENE SPATZ (PWaC – I removed the contact info that was included)