New Companion Pass Restriction?
Dec 19, 2019, 7:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Posts: 1,884
New Companion Pass Restriction?
I'm being told that the companion pass I have and that I want to use on an Acela on a weekend day can only be used on a weekday Acela, not a weekend one. Anyone hear of that restriction. It's not listed on the coupon.
Dec 19, 2019, 11:49 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: DCA
Posts: 449
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Dec 21, 2019, 6:28 am
#7
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,770
Did a dummy booking on Amtrak.com for the date you mention - looks fine here (see below). Also searched just 1 pax and the fares were $131 for value biz and $224 for flex biz so that is indeed showing correctly.
That being said, I'm not actually sure what's going on with the First pricing - according to the companion pass language those can't be used towards F tix. The F price without the coupon is $208/person so 2x should be $416 so I'm not sure what the $351 is - it's as if it's applying the coupon to a biz fare and then applying some sort of partial discount on the upfare...this isn't something I've looked into before so I'm not sure how that works.
That being said, I'm not actually sure what's going on with the First pricing - according to the companion pass language those can't be used towards F tix. The F price without the coupon is $208/person so 2x should be $416 so I'm not sure what the $351 is - it's as if it's applying the coupon to a biz fare and then applying some sort of partial discount on the upfare...this isn't something I've looked into before so I'm not sure how that works.
Dec 21, 2019, 11:45 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Philadelphia & Palm Springs
Programs: UA-GS 3MM, AA-gold, Amtrak Select +, Bonvoy Titanium, Honors gold
Posts: 79
Companion fare for Acela first or business class on conventional trains will be calculated by 1 value fare plus the accommodation charge for business or first & the second person pays the accommodation charge only...only the rail fare portion is “free” for the companion.
Dec 23, 2019, 5:48 am
#9
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,770
Interesting - thanks. What exactly is an "accommodation charge"? Is it an upfare that costs more than the listed fare differential? In this case, a single F ticket is selling on this route for $208 and value biz for $131, or a $77 differential. 2x77 + 131 would be $285, which is less than the $351 with the voucher. So what's the calculation going into the $351?