Flying Machine

Just Booked SAN-IAH-EWR-ZFV-EWR-ORD-SAN first weekend in September for $238.00 a.i. not bad.. Thanks and Safe Travels

glasnost7

Just booked BWI CLE LAX CLD LAX EWR BWI for $263 or 4.0 CPM. Sort of in line with what ExitRowLegroom says, sometimes you can have too many segments spelled out in your search, causing it to come back with a higher fare.

ExitRowLegroom

Anyone taking this trip on 9/8?

NYC1K

For what dates?

NYC1K

I'm doing 9/4, 9/6, & 9/11.

ExitRowLegroom

I have decided that my only venture out of the airport will come during my three hour layover in SFO on the return from SAN. There is an In-n-Out Burger about five minutes from the airport via taxi. Being an east coaster, this seems like the best option available to me.

NYC1K

Just finished the first of many MR on this routing. None of the flights were cancelled and I got a UDU to 1st class on the SAN-SFO-EWR leg. SAN-SFO was delayed due to maintenance issue but I had enough layover time to make the SFO-EWR flight. There's also a shower place before security in SFO. For those wondering it's a great option and only cost $11 but it closes at 10:30PM. I was clean and ready for the world when I boarded the SFO-EWR flight at 11PM.

The ZFV-EWR-ZFV was a mess and I intend to skip it on my next trip. UA & Amtrax systems do not interface and I had a hard time printing my ticket at the train station in PHL & EWR.

When I checked in at EWR the UA system could not tell whether I was coming from ZFV and just prompted me to check in full for the EWR-XXX-EWR legs. I also got TOD'ed but declined all offers.

I'm not going to bother with the ZFV-EWR-ZFV leg on my next upcoming MR and drive to EWR instead. Also, relying on Amtrax on the inbound to PHL cost me 4+ hours due to the ticketing issue and Amtrax service woes.

Good luck to the rest of you and hope you are as lucky as I was on the no "Cancelled flights" experience.

Spinky

I'm doing it, on the 2:19 pm out of ZFV and the 5:25 out of EWR, 9:29 pm turnaround back to EWR. Also have the same run on 9/22.

NYC1K

Wow! You are playing it close. Any flight delay or cancellation will trip you up.

makhdoom

Most of my MRs are timed in a similar fashion. Long layovers mean less time for flights and accmulating miles for me. In case of cancellations and delays etc., I have had reasonable luck with getting re-routed and requesting and receiving credit for original routing. I try to avoid last-flight-out when booking.

P.S. I realize that NYC1K's concern is stemming from his recent ZFV-EWR-ZFV experience and its a valid concern.

PVDtoDEL

Watch out for this - sometimes Amtrak's system actually interfaces properly with CO's, and then you are SOL.

When I take advantage of deals out of ZFV, I usually buy a PVD-PHL ticket on the same train and pick up my ZFV-EWR ticket from PVD the night before.

flycal312

I'm in the middle of one of these runs, so I feel like I can also contribute to the discussion.

Based on my experience, as a previous poster mentioned, the Amtrak/UA relationship is a total cluster. The Amtrak checkin machines show a United codeshare checkin option, but after much work with USA-RAIL, I was unable to get a ticket to print. I ended up going to Penn Station to butter up the disinterested, incompetent Amtrak staff there to get a boarding pass printed (it was an ordeal, but it is possible). For future reference, the process in Amtrak's version of Shares to get a boarding pass to print seems to be:
-- hit F12
-- select field 2
-- select exchange

While I got a boarding pass for the PHL-EWR train, after I flew the EWR-LAX portion of the itinerary, the initial train segment disappeared and an agent told me that the train segment showed as having not been taken. This didn't impact my ability to take any of the flights thereafter.

I have one of these coming up again later this month and I think my approach will be:
1) Print out UA boarding passes at home
2) Go to Penn to get Amtrak boarding pass
3) Take NJ transit to EWR

spikyone

I had a similar headache with the UA/Amtrak codeshare issue. I think it might stem from the fact that I actually do take ZFV-NYC Amtrak (with earning going to my Guest Rewards account) from time to time using the same credit card I used to purchase this ticket with.

At check-in at ZFV (I'm actually PHL based, so works well for me), the QuikTrak machine would only pull up future Amtrak travel - not UA codeshare - and didn't have an option for the CO/UA codeshare (I later discovered that if I swiped a different cc/debit card, it would give me the option to type in my CO/UA flight number). In the end, I had to go to the Amtrak ticketing line and have an incredibly slow agent print out a boarding pass after looking up my name on the train I was supposed to be on. FYI, Amtrak agents have NO idea about the UA codeshare program - they don't care about codeshare flight numbers, UA PNRs, etc. and don't know what to do with them even if you give it to them.

On the way back, I got a Rail Transfer boarding pass from check-in in SAN with printed transfer instructions and a notice that I had to check-in with Amtrak. Unfortunately, I arrived at EWR after 7p (Amtrak EWR desk closes at 7p) and only had the QuikTrak machines/red phone to work with. Again, QuikTrak machine didn't pull up my name on any trains, and Amtrak agent over the red phone also couldn't find my record. In the end, the phone agent told me to just get on the train and have the conductor sort it out.

Boarded the train, explained my situation, and then proceeded to spend the next hour of my life on hold with Amtrak and UA as they attempted to figure out what went wrong. Conductor insisted I needed to pay the bulk rate for my trip ($59) and the sympathetic UA agent suggested I just pay it and write customer care for a reimbursement. Important to note that 2 other UA/Amtrak customers were on board (1 ticketed on LH via a travel agent), and Amtrak couldn't find ANY of the passenger's ticket... Completely messed up. I actually have another trip from ZFV in October and hoping it goes a bit smoother.

Spinky

I understand but it's the same plane and the run was late but it didn't matter

NYC1K

Ok,

Latest update. I'm in SAN right now and sitting at the YANCAN restaurant eating fried rice and beef and a glass of 9oz CAB while waiting for my SAN-SFO flight.

I DID NOT take the Amtrax at ZFV and my flights were NOT cancelled when I checked in at EWR . As a matter of fact I got UDU'ed on the SFO-SAN-SFO and the SFO-EWR red eye. Wow UA has been good to me on the UDUs inspite of the venom of TOD.

I have absolutely no intentions of taking the EWR-ZFV portion tomorrow and I'm ok forgoing the lousy 250 EQMs that comes with it. Ditto the ZFV-EWR leg

My advice is to milk the situation right now that UA and Amtrax systems do not talk to each other.