E-tickets are here!
 

I wonder, for multi segment trips, does the conductor get a choice on the scanner of which segment to lift when scanned?

Well so far it has been fairly smooth sailing, although the conductor looks confused about 1/3 the time.

I've been putting 4 PHL-PAO segments on one e-Ticket and 4 PAO-PHL segments on a second e-Ticket so I have a "morning" and "afternoon" PDF for scanning.

One time the conductor asked how many people were traveling together.

Another time it seemed to take almost a full minute for the conductor, after scanning, to search and select a segment to use. It think it's because I did the "reservation" for consecutive days (like Aug 20,21,22,23) and ended up using them Aug 21,22,23,24... so the conductor had to go back in time to find the Aug 20th unreserved segment.

One time I present my Android phone for scanning, it worked but took a few tries. I'll stick with paper printouts for now.

Today on my Acela trip WAS-->NYP, two different passengers near me had their tickets scanned and the conductor informed them that their ticket was "not registered" - they were told to call 1-800-USA-Rail or he wouldn't accept their ticket. Unfortunately I was unable to see if they were smartphones or paper e-tickets (sorry!)

One of them got pretty stressed at being told he had to make a phone call. I think he moved seat because after a while the conductor went through the car, re-checking everyone's tickets, trying to find him. Then there were several grumpy announcements calling for him by name. The final announcement threatened him with police at Philly if he didn't make himself known to the train staff... Seems he eventually turned up and got it sorted.

Does anyone have any updates on under-riding an e-ticket by one stop?

I normally travel PVD-NYP but purchase the ticket as RTE-NYP to be eligible for the 500 point Acela minimum. Obviously this is a non-issue for my return trip, since I'd just be getting off the train early, but on the outbound will I run into issues not boarding until PVD, even though it is only a 20 minutes between stations (e.g., will I actually show up as a no-show after only 20 minutes pass)?

I would not guess it would be a problem. Not only would the conductor not care (certainly not enough to go in and un-lift the ticket--why would he do that, since that would give you the ride for free--or, even more of a hassle, call Amtrak's space control department and have them edit your ticket), he really has no way of finding out that you got off early unless you have a very memorable name and face.

I think the question is more about getting on late, not getting off early. If you get on 20 minutes after your trip is scheduled to start, and don't get your ticket scanned until then, there is some risk of your ticket getting cancelled--but I think this is a low risk. I've only taken two round trips since e-tickets came in, but both returns involved travel out of NYP, where it typically takes at least 20-30 minutes for the conductors to scan everyone's ticket. I had no issues. If the ticket gets cancelled as a no-show, you can give your reservation number and show the printout of your e-ticket--I can't believe you'd get thrown off the train.

So far on this thread no one has reported actual problems resulting from this issue.

There will be some bugs to work out of the system, but I would guess you will be fine with hopping on board a stop or two later. There have been times where I've been 2.5 hours into a 3 hour trip before the conductor made it to my car to lift tickets!

I'll bet the app has a means to override if an exception is presented. More of a concern is if your next segment or remainder of your ticket gets canceled! Another reason to break tickets up into one-ways when not cost restricted.

Ah, misread the OP.

I rode a NER from MET to PHL and didn't get my ticket scanned until after TRE. I doubt it'd be a problem.

This is a serious concern of mine. I also mostly travel PVD - NYP (or PVD - PHL) but always book to a boston station to get the bonus points for select city pairs.

I just traveled last weekend and actually hauled myself up to BOS on the 66 and then took the 2159 (9:15 AM) acela south to NYP because I was nervous about having a cancelled ticket.

I asked the conductor when I was on board and he did say it was possible that the ticket would be cancelled between RTE and PVD.

Now, on my trip north, I booked to RTE and just got off in PVD. Not a problem. Interestingly enough, however, I was in the FC on the 2252 yesterday. 1st conductor comes through and scans all of the tickets right out of NYP. However, after Stamford, a second conductor comes through and starts scanning. The FC attendant said that we had all already been scanned, but then he scans my ticket and said it hadn't been processed yet. So I don't really know what the deal is, because my ticket scanned successfully when we were north of Stamford on the way home.

In any case, if you are riding in the FC car or on a train that regularly sells out, I personally am not yet willing to risk an auto cancellation for points by booking to RTE and then boarding in PVD. But with amtrak, YMMV.

I would love to hear of anyone who has successfully booked a ticket starting in RTE and then boarded at PVD since e-ticketing was implemented.

In my experience conductors do not seem to care if you get off early, they seem to care if you get on later than you are ticketed for.

A few times I have gotten off at NWK or MET instead of NYP and each time the conductor has always said it is not an issue.

Dan

Well, I'm traveling on Acela business class, so I don't have the accommodation upgrade issue to deal with.

I went ahead and purchased the ticket from RTE rather than PVD...I'm traveling on Wednesday so I will update everyone with my success/failure. I figure the worst that happens is that if the ticket gets cancelled as a no-show I immediately buy a new one on my iPhone, but I am with the majority and doubt that will be the case.

The trip I had referenced above was postponed until today; however, I had no issues using my ticket that was issued RTE->NYP when boarding in PVD. The conductor's scanner beeped happily, and the only thing the conductor said was "thank you."

Thanks for the update.

E-Ticket issued for reservation made in April
 

I have an AGR sleeper award reservation booked in April for this November 8, SAC-SEA. I had not retrieved the ticket yet from Quiktrak.

Recently, I received an email containing the E-Ticket for this trip.

So, I guess they are catching up on old reservations for future travel.

That make sense. The refund policy has changed regardless of when you purchased. :(