Amtrak E-Commerce (was e-ticketing) and Apps

RE: Consistency

Rode the Piedmont today and found electronic ticket collection to be the same process as used for paper tickets. The conductor scanned tickets after everyone had boarded and found a seat. There was none of the scanning before boarding I encountered recently in Chicago (two long distance trains) and Seattle (one corridor train). The scanners on the Piedmont also appeared to be MUCH quicker than the scanners I encountered in Chicago several weeks ago. Overall my first corridor-train eticket experience went very smoothly.

A couple folks bought tickets on board and the process also seemed to be quicker than in the paper ticket era.

I also had some time to chat with the station attendant in Salisbury NC. He really liked electronic ticketing and felt like the Salisbury passengers appreciated the convenience of bypassing quick-track. I asked him if had heard opinions from conductors and he replied that he had not heard any complaints about the new tickets (but I did not have the sense he spoke with many conductors).

As an aside, passenger loads on the mid-day Piedmont trains really seem to be growing. They now regularly pull a third coach along with the combi car.

One question is answered. Tickets can be re-scanned by follow-on crews and the scanner units tell them the destination so they don't have to rely on your printed ticket in any way. Still an open question if how Amtrak deals with replayed tickets if tickets can be re-scanned.

Jersey_Mike wrote:One question is answered. Tickets can be re-scanned by follow-on crews and the scanner units tell them the destination so they don't have to rely on your printed ticket in any way. Still an open question if how Amtrak deals with replayed tickets if tickets can be re-scanned.

If it's a live connection, that's actually pretty easy.

Presumably the scanner can be programmed with the train number and the day.

So let's say you a e-ticket, and Jeff, that nefarious guy he is, has copied it.

You're travelling from WAS to Portland, ME.

You both get aboard the Acela, 1st class out of Washington. Conductor comes along and scans your ticket first. No problem, the computer confirms that ticket 1B52E is legit on that train and segment and has not been used.

Then he goes and scans Jeff's eticket. Computer looks up the train and ticket and says, "Hey, something isn't kosher here and it's not the cheeseburger." It beeps at the conductor. The conductor then looks up the name associated with the ticket and asks Jeff for his ID. Jeff can't produce it and next thing he knows he's met at BWI airport by his the friendly Amtrak Police officer.

Now if it's reversed, Jeff is scanned first, it gets tad more complicated. He asks for your ID, you show it, no problem. BUT, he may not know who has the illegal copy. It's possible the computer can say, "the person you scanned 6 people ago". I don't know. But it would be easy enough to do. If it's "the person you scanned 125 people ago" then that's a problem. Jeff might get a free ride then.

Now, when you get to Boston and get on the Downeaster, since you're on a new train, with a new train number, the process can start over again.

(and presumably there's a way to rescan on the same train such as for the crew change at NYP.)

Overall, with a good connection it's not hard.

Come to think of it, even without a good connection, it's not to hard since the local device can store a local copy of the DB until it regains connectivity. And in that database it can detect duplicates.

So, basically finding duplicates is easy. Finding out who IS the duplicate is may be much harder.

And honestly, it's duplicate tickets is probably a small enough problem that Amtrak doesn't mind that problem overly much.

From an NARP email:

The Ins and Outs of eTicketing

ETicketing offers substantial benefits both for traveler convenience and to help Amtrak reduce costs. But it does introduce new issues and questions.


What if I make a multi-train trip on one reservation and I skip one of the segments? Suppose I’m ticketed from Eugene to Chicago and a friend offers me a ride to Portland with the result that I don’t ride the Cascades?
Amtrak always recommends that you contact them right away if your plans change. In general, if you fail to show on one reserved segment of your trip, that and all subsequent segments on that reservation will be canceled unless you contact Amtrak in advance. In this case, Amtrak can easily adjust the reservation to make sure your space is protected if you choose not to (or are unable to) make a train in your itinerary.
There are more ways to contact Amtrak. You can still speak with an Amtrak agent. But now you can make changes on Amtrak.com, the Amtrak Mobile Application or at a Quik-Trak kiosk—even after your trip has started.


Will my reservation be canceled if I’m on the train but the crew fails to collect my ticket?
If your ticket is not scanned, it is best to search out the conductor to have that done. However, Amtrak will not let a conductor push the “sweep” button (indicating ticket collection from a particular point is completed) if:
(a) an unusually small number of tickets are collected, and/or
(b) only one conductor is logged in, indicating that indicating that there is only one conductor working the train and there is a higher probability of tickets not being collected.
In these situations, incidentally, the system may infer that you traveled when you did not. If you learn that to be the case, tell Amtrak so they will adjust your record appropriately. But, again, it is best to tell Amtrak your change-of-plans in advance.


What if I find that my reservation has been canceled against my wishes, for whatever reason?
Talk with an Amtrak agent, who will restore the reservation.


Can I avoid the cancellation problem by booking consecutive segments as separate reservations?
Yes, but Amtrak discourages booking consecutive segments as separate reservations.
This may result in a higher fare than if the itinerary had been booked as one reservation.
Also, this places responsibility for managing connecting itineraries in the customer’s hands rather than Amtrak’s. Customers may not leave enough time to make their connection. Also, if there is a schedule change or a late arriving train, Amtrak will not know about the connecting segment and the customer will have to make sure their connection can still be met, or move the connection themselves.


What if I change a subsequent segment after printing my eTicket, and I do not have a smartphone, access to a QuikTrak machine, or time to see an Amtrak ticket agent?
There is no need to print out a new eTicket if you are boarding at a station without gate control. When the reservation is changed in the Amtrak reservation system, the modified itinerary is sent to the conductor’s iPhone and the conductor will be aware of the change.
At stations with gate control (Washington Union Station, New York Penn, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc.), you will need to print out a new eTicket or be able to display the revised eTicket on your Smart Phone.
This lets the gate usher confirm that you are boarding the correct train. The gate areas at these stations can be very congested and it is easy for a customer to board the wrong train. Amtrak gate ushers provide some protection against this.


What if I board a train before the station shown in my reservation?
It is always best to tell Amtrak in advance about any itinerary changes. In this case, there may not be seats and the fare may change. See in the answer to the first question the many ways that you now can change your itinerary, including after you begin your trip.

Jeff Smith wrote:From an NARP email:

The Ins and Outs of eTicketing

ETicketing offers substantial benefits both for traveler convenience and to help Amtrak reduce costs. But it does introduce new issues and questions.

What if I make a multi-train trip on one reservation and I skip one of the segments? Suppose I’m ticketed from Eugene to Chicago and a friend offers me a ride to Portland with the result that I don’t ride the Cascades?

Amtrak always recommends that you contact them right away if your plans change. In general, if you fail to show on one reserved segment of your trip, that and all subsequent segments on that reservation will be canceled unless you contact Amtrak in advance. In this case, Amtrak can easily adjust the reservation to make sure your space is protected if you choose not to (or are unable to) make a train in your itinerary.

There are more ways to contact Amtrak. You can still speak with an Amtrak agent. But now you can make changes on Amtrak.com, the Amtrak Mobile Application or at a Quik-Trak kiosk—even after your trip has started.

<snip>

Now, there is a potentially expensive suggestion. Say that Portland to Chicago segment is in a sleeper, and say you booked it months in advance to get a low fare. Call at the last minute to delete the Cascades trip, and Amtrak will reprice your entire trip at the current fare. Skipping the Cascades segment, which previously would have cost nothing, may now cost a bundle due to the increase in the Empire Builder accommodation charge. That is OK with NARP, I guess.

Maybe the agent can scan you in remotely, or you can tell them you didn't get scanned by the C/R instead of having your reservation re-worked. I have had agents change my reservation without a re-price, usually if a train is late, so they have that power you just need to convince them.

Again the better bet is to try to make separate reservations unless there is a significant price difference.

Greg Moore wrote:Now if it's reversed, Jeff is scanned first, it gets tad more complicated. He asks for your ID, you show it, no problem. BUT, he may not know who has the illegal copy. It's possible the computer can say, "the person you scanned 6 people ago". I don't know. But it would be easy enough to do. If it's "the person you scanned 125 people ago" then that's a problem. Jeff might get a free ride then.

I foresee QR codes to be scanned by the conductor, either at the car or row level, to help match scanned tickets with seats if this becomes an issue. If the handheld can say "it was the person you scanned 125 people ago, and he's in car 3" then things potentially become easier to match back up.

So far as the skipped-segment issues go, I'm not surprised it's happening. With Amtrak under fire for the deficits it runs, adopting modern demand-management techniques and policies to boost revenue (aka "finding ways to charge people more money for the same service") is IMHO preferable to the alternative of service reductions.

Amtrak will lose more money through shenanigans than it will if it adopts an honest ticketing policy. Cancelling an entire reservation or charging more because someone wants to simply not utilize a segment is dishonest and disreputable.

This lets the gate usher confirm that you are boarding the correct train. The gate areas at these stations can be very congested and it is easy for a customer to board the wrong train. Amtrak gate ushers provide some protection against this.

This is the official excuse for the gate ushers? "it is easy for a customer to board the wrong train"?

This is completely bogus. The way people board the right train in civilized countries is the following:
(1) There is a big board (nowadays, computer monitors) which says "Train Blah-de-Blah is boarding on track #Whatever"
(2) The platforms have big signs saying "Track #Whatever" pointing to the correct side of the platform

Of course, it's absolutely true that in Chicago and New York the platforms are fairly poorly labelled.
In LA the platforms are labelled utterly clearly, but the big board is not obvious.
These are simple things to fix, though.

The only decent excuse I've seen for the gate ushers is to prevent overcrowding on platforms, with the associated risks of people falling onto the tracks. That is the *only* excuse. That excuse does not apply to LA. It does not apply to Philadelphia. It does not apply to the north tracks at Chicago.

Now, there is a potentially expensive suggestion. Say that Portland to Chicago segment is in a sleeper, and say you booked it months in advance to get a low fare. Call at the last minute to delete the Cascades trip, and Amtrak will reprice your entire trip at the current fare. Skipping the Cascades segment, which previously would have cost nothing, may now cost a bundle due to the increase in the Empire Builder accommodation charge. That is OK with NARP, I guess.

This shouldn't happen. If it is happening, this is simply an error on Amtrak's part which should be easily correctable.

It's perfectly feasible to design the reservation system to allow for agents to "shorten" reservations by cancelling and refunding individual legs without repricing other legs. In fact, I'm fairly sure Amtrak's reservation system is *capable* of doing this already. I distinctly remember having a two-leg return reservation, and cancelling the first leg (it had been bustituted) while retaining the second leg, *without being repriced*. The reservation system has not been completely replaced -- so we know that the reservation system is *able* to handle this.

If Amtrak has been, as a matter of policy or poor training, *not* operating its reservation system this way, it needs to fix that.

Jersey_Mike wrote: I have had agents change my reservation without a re-price, usually if a train is late, so they have that power you just need to convince them.

Bingo. It's possible. There should be no problem with deleting part of a reservation without a re-price on the rest. If the agent claims that they can't do that, demand to talk to their supervisor.

There's a headache for the computer and agent if your through fare is less than the sum of the local fares. To get a refund or adjustment, the remainder of the trip has to be repriced. It might be better in that case to just ask Amtrak to protect the subsequent space.
Another example, the original trip started just before the end of a low off peak fare period. Your later boarding up the line on the same train is after the start of the peak fare period. Compare carefully before asking to be repriced.

How exactly do these things work?? Last week I book tickets for travel to Baltimore on Saturday to return on Sunday. Usually when you book on-line on the website it gives you the option whether you want to pick up the ticket at a quik-track machine if there's one avalaible or have it get mailed to do, however, when I book gave me no choice, and when the reservation went through, it gave me this e-ticket to print out. Do I just show the e-ticket to the conductor like it says so on the e-ticket thing (has the 2 trains I booked for along with the business class accomodation), or do I have to put the credit card into the quik-trak machine at Bridgeport to print out the tickets??

gprimr1 wrote:Interesting the comment about boarding. I've def gotten off the train early (New Carlton vs DC) but I've never boarded a train at any destination other than what the ticket says.

I think all and all, the ability to resell unused seats is going to be good for business. That Sunday evening train that's sold out now can become unsold out and more people can ride the train, thus more money.

As for the comment about the long ticket taking times; my guess is that the software probably has a function where when the conductor is done scanning, he can press a button indicating he is done with tickets at that particular station or some other function to denote when he is done scanning tickets for a particular station.

I doubt they will go to scanning tickets at manned doors, I can't see it being time effective when you have a lot of people boarding at once.

You can get off the thing early with a paper ticket too. If I'm comming down the empire corridor I'll always book my ticket for NYP, however since I have to go to GCT if the train I'm on is late/early and I can get a Metro North connection at Poughkeepsie or Croton I'll get off the train there, I'll just let the conductor now ahead of time (usually around Albany when I have a better idea) that I plan to get off earlier then what the ticket says.

7express wrote:How exactly do these things work?? Last week I book tickets for travel to Baltimore on Saturday to return on Sunday. Usually when you book on-line on the website it gives you the option whether you want to pick up the ticket at a quik-track machine if there's one avalaible or have it get mailed to do, however, when I book gave me no choice, and when the reservation went through, it gave me this e-ticket to print out. Do I just show the e-ticket to the conductor like it says so on the e-ticket thing (has the 2 trains I booked for along with the business class accomodation), or do I have to put the credit card into the quik-trak machine at Bridgeport to print out the tickets??

I just traveled last weekend with an e-ticket. The process was very smooth. I printed the e-ticket (at home) and kept it easily accessible at the station. When the train stopped at the platform a conductor came out and asked for my ticket. I gave him my printed e-ticket and he scanned it with a portable device. He then handed me a "boarding pass" and directed me to the correct car.

There was no need to stand in line at the station office or to use a Quick-Trak machine. I didn't have any luggage to check, so you will still need to see an agent if you plan on checking luggage.