Amtrak Guest Rewards - Cutoff time for picking up a sleeping car ticket from a Quick-Trak machine?

I have a trip in a sleeping car on an Eastern long-distance train on Christmas Eve. The station is within walking distance of where I live, so I'm planning to just arrive at the station maybe 20 minutes before departure, pick up the ticket from a Quick-Trak machine and board, perhaps through the ClubAcela.

Anything wrong with this? Will my ticket be cancelled if I don't pick it up by a certain time?

Thanks.

what is your backup plan in case the machines are not working?
I Always travel with a backup plan.
I would make it earlier in case I had to see an agent. Otherwise I would pickup my tickets beforehand and then arrive at the station 20 minutes before.
In this case it isn't like you can catch a later train.

OP mentioned ClubAcela at the boarding station--that would be my backup plan, if not my primary. If all of the Quik-Traks are out of service, the Club agent can issue the ticket.

Your ticket gets cancelled once the scheduled departure time is reached.

Also keep in mind that the agent in the Club Acela can print out your ticket(s) for you.

Still in all, on Christmas Eve I suspect that I'd probably allow a bit more time than 20 minutes, just in case.

Have the QuikTrak machines at NYP ever been out of order? In maybe 100 trips out of NYP, I've seen the occasional machine on the fritz, but never a whole bank of them dead.

Have the QuikTrak machines at NYP ever been out of order? In maybe 100 trips out of NYP, I've seen the occasional machine on the fritz, but never a whole bank of them dead.

Well on the one or two occasions where ARROW has crashed, all the Quik-Traks were out. But that's a pretty rare event thankfully, and generally no I've never seen all of them down at once.

Have the QuikTrak machines at NYP ever been out of order? In maybe 100 trips out of NYP, I've seen the occasional machine on the fritz, but never a whole bank of them dead.

I repeat " In this case it isn't like you can catch a later train. "

I have a trip in a sleeping car on an Eastern long-distance train on Christmas Eve. The station is within walking distance of where I live, so I'm planning to just arrive at the station maybe 20 minutes before departure, pick up the ticket from a Quick-Trak machine and board, perhaps through the ClubAcela.

Anything wrong with this? Will my ticket be cancelled if I don't pick it up by a certain time?

Thanks.


For a long distance / sleeper trip, I try to be there a bit earlier. Once you're 'at the station' you can be pretty much in vacation mode, and it gives one a chance to look around the shops or relax in the lounge a bit.

20 minutes is cutting it close and leaves very little room for error.

Comes down to personal preference. I've cut it that close--hell, closer--when I lived a two minute walk from my station. (Now that I live farther away, I do try to give myself extra time in case something delays me en route.) Sitting in stations gives me hives, and I'd rather take the risk of having to postpone my departure for a day than lengthen that time. But Mr. ambyr hates risk, and will go an hour in advance even for a runs-every-hour NE Regional.

So I'd say go for it, but I am apparently in the minority here.

Comes down to personal preference. I've cut it that close--hell, closer--when I lived a two minute walk from my station. (Now that I live farther away, I do try to give myself extra time in case something delays me en route.) Sitting in stations gives me hives, and I'd rather take the risk of having to postpone my departure for a day than lengthen that time. But Mr. ambyr hates risk, and will go an hour in advance even for a runs-every-hour NE Regional.

So I'd say go for it, but I am apparently in the minority here.

For a 'runs hourly regional' (such as NYC-PHL or NYC-DC) I don't much care and will cut it closer, since I can always just catch the next one.

For a Long Haul, (especially with Sleeper -- which is NOT refundable if you miss the train) or for the AutoTrain, especially this time of year when the southbound trains are sold out from 12/20 through 1/12... I'm there early enough to guarentee boarding because there is no convenient 'next train' availble.

Since the OP's train involved sleeper service, which implies it's a daily train, not an hourly train, I'd trend towards being earlier than later.

Just be cautious because things do happen. We were travelling from Portland, ME to Boston on award tickets. Fortunately we got to the station quite a bit ahead as we were leaving our luggage and one person and then returning a rental car to the airport.

Scanned my receipt at the Quick Tik and only one of two tickets printed. Being award tickets complicated things even more. Took nearly an hour with the local agents on the phone to AGR and others to resolve.

Fortunately, one of us was able to wait it out with the luggage while the other returned the car.