bmvaughn

Anyone ever booked ex-ZFV (Philadelphia 30th. Street Rail Station, PA) instead of EWR?

Not thinking of doing this myself, but how would UA know if you didn't "fly" the ZFV-EWR-ZFV segments?

Reason I ask is I see fares ex-ZFV often cheaper than ex-EWR. 1/10-14 ZFV-SEA for example.

SEA1K4EVR

I've never done it, but I can't see how they'd possibly know if you skipped the Amtrak segment.

aacharya

Both of you are highly seasoned FTers.

There's a massive thread answering the OP's question, and refuting the responder's assumption.

bmvaughn

Care to provide a link? I searched this forum and came up with nothing in the first 4 pages.

aacharya

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...ak-co-faq.html

It's in the pmCO forum (1st page) - since it's where it began.

bmvaughn

A thread with no updates to the original "FAQ" post for 8 years. I'm looking for current information.

sbm12

Then read the thread. There is plenty of current information at the end.

Just like in all the other official mega-threads in this forum.

bmvaughn

Thread has conflicting information. Some say you can do it, some say you can't do it. Not very useful IMO

aacharya

Let me distill for you:

If you skip the segment ZFV-EWR or EWR-ZFV - you will most likely get away with it, but your return will be flagged.

Personal experience. My flying partner (non-elite, split PNR) had her return cancelled once, while mine was untouched.

sbm12

Well, it changed at one point, so you used to be able to and then you couldn't. There aren't any posts that I can recall seeing at the end saying it was possible. It hasn't been for several years now.

bmvaughn

Uhhh...

Cargojon

This ^

I recommend never going out of ZFV before the Amtrak staff get onhand. We did this once, the quick track machines could not find our reservation / tickets, there were no live people to help us.

We called Continental, told them of our situation, and that we were driving to EWR to get our flight. We ended up missing the original flight and took the next one out.

Despite this - they cancelled our return trip home. Had to call them again from Vegas to get straightened out.

sbm12

Yeah...there is one person saying you might get away with it, but even they admit that the rest of the reservation is probably going to be "flagged." And there are several others - nearly all of whom are well known in these parts and more reliable IME - saying don't do it.

Your choice who to believe.

sinoflyer

I just did a LAX-ZFV roundtrip earlier this month (June), but I actually went to Phila. because the PHL fare was a few TODs more. My thought is that UA would not know if you skipped the Newark Airport-30th Street rail segments. UACO and Amtrak are on different reservations systems, and you pick up your boarding passes separately from each respective carrier. (I.e., when you OLCI on either end, you don't get the Amtrak passes.) Moreover, Amtrak RDMs get credited several days after the UA segments. To me, these suggest that UA has no way of knowing a no-show--at least until you had completed your trip if it's no more than 2-3 days.

But this is just my observation, from someone who actually never attempted what you are asking. YMMV.

sbm12

You, too, should probably read that other thread. The systems are actually reasonably integrated these days.