Purchasing refundable tickets?
 

I'm trying to purchase a ticket for travel on the NE regional, and want to make sure it is 100% refundable in case I don't use it. The problem is that it is more then 14 days away, so amtrak.com is only offering me their Advanced Purchase promotion which is non-refundable.

I can get it to fare up to full fare ($16 more) by adding business class, but I really don't need business class. Is there anyway to just pay the full coach fare now?

I am confused. If you don't print out your ticket after booking it (instead, you wait to print it until you are about to get on the train), you can cancel anytime before the train leaves and get a full refund. I do this all the time. I didn't even know there were non-refundable advanced-fare tickets. (I usually travel on the Acela, not Regionals, but sometimes I do take the Regional.)

The other point I would make is that a Regional train is unlikely to sell out before the 14-day window, so you may as well just wait until you're under 14 days out to buy the ticket. Since you are more concerned with flexibility than price anyway, why not do that?

I have done that also, but does that still work for 14 day advanced purchase tickets? I got the impression from reading at amtrak.com that it does not.

If I can get a full refund before I print the ticket, that is fine since I never print the tickets until I am at the station anyways.

As far as waiting.. I need a ticket on that specific train, and it is during peak times where I have seen fares double or triple that when closer to time. I don't mind spending a few extra bucks for refundable tickets, but don't care for paying double.

I am just now doing a dummy booking for a Regional train that departs on Sept. 12 (i.e. more than 14 days out). I don't see any option for flexible vs. non-refundable (Advanced Purchase) on a given train, just the regular list of choices of available trains and their prices. I've never had a problem canceling/refunding a ticket I've booked via that screen.

Looking at the T&Cs for that ticket, they say (among other things):
To me, that would imply that if you haven't printed out the ticket yet, it hasn't been issued. However, as you note, the Refund Policy says:
To be honest, I am confused. I'm quite sure I've bought tickets more than 14 days out and cancelled them with no penalty before--I never print out my tickets ahead of time. Perhaps someone with a different experience can chime in on this.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.5.0.81 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

They say non-refundable, but that's not true in my experience. I have refunded the cheapo tickets probably eight or ten times.

I wonder if there has been a policy change. For years I could book and get a full credit card refund up to train departure. Haven't traveled recently, but was looking to book again. The policy now states that there is a 10% refund fee for credit card/cash/etc. but you can get a full refund if you get a travel voucher.

Am I missing something? Is the old policy of full refunds still in place?

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...=1241267362242

You can still get a full refund (e.g. to your credit card) if you have not printed out the ticket. I'm not sure if Amtrak's Terms/Conditions are clear on this.

As have I--not quite as many times, but I've booked, canceled, and made changes to supposedly non-refundable fares.

I think that's the key. With Amtrak, there is no such thing as an e-ticket; all tickets are paper. Therefore, until you print your ticket out at a Quik-Trak machine or with a station agent, you technically do not have a ticket--you have a held, paid-for reservation that has not been ticketed. The moment your ticket is printed, your reservation is then ticketed (and then subject to further restrictions on refunds--90% refunds in normal cases or no refunds in the case of the 14-day nonrefundable fares).

If the OP is still worried, I'm sure an Amtrak phone agent can manually book a ticket in a non-restricted fare class, but many of us here can attest that the nonrefundability restriction doesn't apply as long as you haven't printed it out. (Even then, you can still exchange it for another ticket with no loss of funds.)

I'm not sure how it is affecting refund status, but you should be aware that Amtrak is slowly moving to e-tickets. As of right now, when you book a ticket online, it is "issued" as an electronic ticket as soon as you pay for it, and then when you print out the ticket it is behind the scenes exchanging that e-ticket for a paper ticket that you can use to travel.

So far, only the Auto Train offers ticketless checkin and travel (see http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...=1248543222421 ) but as far as I know, every advance paid reservation technically now starts as an e-ticket.

(You'll note on the paper ticket that the date of issue listed on the paper ticket now reflects the date you make the reservation/purchase; before, that date of issue was the date the physical ticket was printed.)

But, like I said, it seems to be people's experience that the issuance of the e-ticked with purchase does not affect the ability to get a refund....

I believe the Downeaster is also doing e-ticketing right now. Anyone else have the amtrak iPhone app? I had some reservations on it for travel last weekend, and it was a little creepy in that when I looked at the reservation in the app it asked me if I wanted it to generate an e-ticket. I wish I had a screen shot to show people.

Do you agree with this, jackal?

It appears that some think that once you book a reservation, then pay for it, and get a ticket number, the ticket is then... "issued." (No more transactions to take place in between anyone's computer systems.)

The ticket is simply waiting for you to go to the QTrak machine, and well, pick it up. I kinda agree with this. What do you think?

If you read bwb6df's post carefully, you'll see s/he clearly indicates that this is a recent change:

I am quite willing to be corrected based on new, previously unknown information. The snark was unnecessary.

Also, if bwb6df is correct (and I have no reason to doubt he is), then a portion of your post--

--actually contradicts what he said:

Sounds like there is still a transaction to take place between a couple of computer systems. ;)

Correct. Not only does the ticket reflect the date of purchase, as opposed to the old method where it was the date the ticket was printed, but the location is no longer the station code where the ticket was printed. The location now reads ITN for Internet. Only if you visit with an agent to actually buy your ticket from said agent will it have the code for that station as the issue point.

Next, as noted by Amamba, the Downeaster is currently testing the scanning equipment live on the train. You cannot just show up with your computer printout however, they haven't reached that part of the test yet. A rider must still obtain a valid standard issue ticket from an agent or Quik-Trak. But the conductor will now scan your ticket's barcode and a small printer will actually printout the seatcheck, instead of the conductor using the standard decades old seat checks.

The conductor will still lift your ticket, just like normal. That's done in part prevent people from trying to get a refund as well as to allow Amtrak to verify that the scanning system is working properly.

The next step in testing should see things spreading to the Capitol Corridor in early December. It is also possible that you may start seeing some units show up on the LD trains by late December, but I sure wouldn't hold my breath either waiting for that.

The unofficial, and I stress that "unofficial", estimate is that we may start to see a transition to actual eTicketing phasing in across the system stating in February 2012 and running through May 2012. But it wouldn't surprise me to see that timetable slip at least a bit.

Sorry - I could have been more clear about what I meant by "between" rather than what it sounds like is happening "within". No snark intended!

Apologies if I misinterpreted it. :)