I understand your point, and agree with what you are saying and think you have a solid point on rev tickets.
However as you point out it can involve a long hold time for non S/S+, which I am guessing the OP is since he is asking a newbie question. Plus with the total lack of integration of Amtrak and AGR you can't make changes outside AGR hours.
I have been lucky and sweet talked ClubAcela agents to make the changes for me. However this is time consuming and doesn't always work. If Amtrak had an easy way of switching award tickets to other trains I think this would solve the problem. If I haven't printed my ticket there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to change the reservation from a QuickTrak machine. Lines at NYP, PHL, & WAS can be so long that you could miss the next train waiting in line to try and talk an agent into bending the rules for you to make a change.
Originally Posted by
ivk5
Sorry ClimbGuy, I do feel the need to comment:
Taking advantage of Amtrak's leniency on refund of rev/award tickets by holding multiple alternative bookings is frowned upon. This blocks the seats in Amtrak's inventory and prevents Amtrak from selling those seats to someone who actually intends to travel. If enough people do this, Amtrak may eventually have to crack down on duplicate bookings and/or tighten its refund policy to mitigate the impact to its load factors. This is particularly true in the Northeast where trains do sell out at periods of high demand.
For rev tickets, last-minute changes can be made at the station or by phone, and may involve paying a higher fare bucket, which is by design. For award tickets, changes may be readily made during AGR's call center hours (alas, only M-F, and sometimes after waiting on hold for non-S/S+).
[end thread hijack]
ivk5