nova08

I just recently had a issue because of the policy for conductors to double scan your boarding pass.

I was on a PHL-BOS Acela roundtrip. On the first trip up to Boston my ticket was scanned just after boarding at PHL and then again after the conductor change in NYP. When it was time for my return BOS-PHL train, I was unable to get an barcode on my phone nor able to print at the kiosk.

I spoke to an agent who quickly asked and then deduced that because my ticket was scanned twice the system thought I already took my return trip and subsequently didn't offer me the ability to print. The agent needed to call Amtrak support to correct the issue and print the ticket.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Seems like a mix of an IT mess up and an unneeded double scan simply because of a crew change.

Needless to say I won't book any more roundtrips through NYP.

physioprof

Ticket agent is making up nonsense. Tickets are always scanned a second time when the crew ch anges at NYP.

Sicariis

If you take a NER from Boston to Virginia, you'll get your ticket scanned a third time in WAS for another crew change and head end change. Nothing like spending over 12 hours on a regional, though I guess its beats having to connect and risk missing your train.

nova08

It seems strange that I encountered this issue with my reservation and upon looking at my reservation the story the agent instantaneously made up is that the issue was a result of my ticket being scanned a second time.

For kick's on my next trip I'll book another round trip. If I have the same issue then I am skeptical that it's some other random issue and the agent made up a story just to give me some type of explanation. If I don't, well then I'll call myself too gullible.

Just because the policy is to scan in/out of WAS or NYP does not mean there is not an underlying technology issue that would result in this type of issue with a reservation.

fairviewroad

Perhaps, but if that was the case, then this would impact thousands of people each week. There would be widespread confusion and discontent among riders and the glitch would have been fixed pronto.

That said, the easy way to avoid this is to book your next trip as two separate one-ways. Except for when using a B1G1 coupon, there is no financial incentive on Amtrak to book a round-trip ticket as opposed to two one-ways.