craz

100%

about the only thing a person can get away with is the skipping out on the last segment be it EWR-ZFV (started @ ZFV) or EWR-ZFV if they are flying on a 1 way tkt where the very last segment was the EWR-ZFV

skipping ZFV-EWR as the 1st segment or if its apart of your return Itin is playing Russian Roulette with a bullet in every chamber and you have to pray for the pistol to malfunction. imo too much of a risk these days, although some have been Lucky but its not aslam dunk youd get away with it as it was yrs ago

CMK10

Please don't do it. The ZFV option is really nice and often cheaper. The last thing we need is for UA to either get rid of the option or start making the prices the same as EWR-XXX.

JFKSFOLAX_friend

Exaggeration. Yes, the systems are better integrated but this is an exaggeration.

craz

its alot worse for someone flying XXX-EWR-ZFV-EWR-ZZZ since they will have to skip the train twice and hope nothing gets CXed on them as well as hope if they were caught on the Inbound and were able to get the Outbound reinstated that the agent didnt put any notes into the PNR,since it would be that much harder to get the return EWR-XXX put back in if they skipped the ZFV-EWR segment

a person doing ZFV-EWR-XXX-EWR-ZFV would only have to deal with a CX flight 1 time since they will be walking away once they get back to EWR

Too bad the % of being successful w/o being caught and getting it reinstated cant be made public like yesteryear.

LeftsideWindow

Can someone clarify the process for taking ZFV-EWR segment? I've read this (and the other thread) and there doesn't seem to be much current information.

I am wondering:
1) How early one could go to ZFV and pick up a ticket?
2) Can this ticket still be used on an earlier/later train?
3) Does Amtrak / UA consider this segment "flown" when you pick up your ticket or when you are scanned to board a train (assuming you are scanned)?

Thanks!

sinoflyer

Rather than going point-by-point, I'll explain the process and hopefully that will answer most of the pertinent questions. All Amtrak "Northeast Regional" (used to be called Northeast Corridor, which I still like) trains are reserved--no more unreserved trains. This means that passengers must have a ticket for the exact train that they plan to travel on. I've never tried to pick up my ticket a day before, nor change to an earlier train, nor miss my train to see what would happen next.

At 30th Street, an agent verifies your train number before you can proceed down the steps to the platform. The ticket is lifted on the train by the conductor. At Newark Airport, an agent looks at your train stub before letting your through the turnstile for the AirTrain, no charge. In none of those instances was an electronic implement used. So, you technically "fly" the train segment either 1) at the time of ticket issuance at 30th St, or 2) whenever the conductor turns in the tickets for data entry--Penn Station? Boston? I'm inclined to believe it's 2), since you can OLCI for the UA segments in advance.

There is not much "current" information about skipping the Amtrak segment because, I think, many of of us don't see the benefits of doing so outweighing the risks. I have no reason not to believe what others have said about the level of integration between UA and Amtrak systems. Plan on taking the train that you are booked on, or don't book that train.

FlyingNone

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It's not like somebody at United is in some back room hunting these things down but "robotically" it's going to cancel the downline segment because the pricing of the ZFV-EWR-ZFV segments will have been built into the whole fare. Non-use of part of it nullifies this "through" fare.....the rest is history as they say.

DeErEtYn

I think it's fairly "safe" to skip the last segment XXX-EWR-ZFV.
At EWR you can even just pickup the Amtrak ticket and just not board the train.

LeftsideWindow

Practically speaking, it doesn't appear to be quite as simple or automated as you make it out to be and I think some of the posters (myself included) are just trying to understand the nuances of how the system works.

craz

or better put would be those who have done it and gotten away with it dont want to smear it in UAs face. too much talk of how it was done will close it down, if it exists. And those who tried and got caught wont want to admitt that, end result = no current info

FlyingNone

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That's how it works - whatever you DON'T use is most likely going to affect the downline segment. The risk is great. If it doesn't cancel anything else by not using it, so be it but I certainly wouldn't suggest people just let it lie and then they have nothing left. Doesn't really matter to me, it's their choice but I'm describing the definite risk.

sbm12

FWIW, there is a record of the ticket being printed which is part of the electronic trail. And the Amtrak conductors have been piloting a digital scanner product for ticket "collection" lately so that is also growing the electronics aspect of the process.

JFKSFOLAX_friend

(I could sworn I posted this yesterday but my post is gone. Weird.)

Bingo.

There is a lot of information in the heads' of Flyertalkers. But, what gets posted is a fraction of that (think: why would people want to kill the Golden Goose?). This happens all the time and, unfortunately, waters down Flyertalk.

aacharya

It's watered-down because FT lets 'guests' on to see information without logging in. And folks come here to post instead of a google search, get their answer, and never come back. Over time, FTers (myself included) thus get jaded.

Maybe if we asked United FAQ to finally complete that FAQ, it might be better.

txp

Very interesting find. IAH-EWR in first class is $800 one way. To ZFV, it's $400. I traveled many times on these Amtrak trains. Amtrak usually took 4-7 days to post the mileage into my old OnePass CO account. At that time, CO could see whether I have in fact traveled the train, but before that they could not. So, the biggest risk from my perspective is not to have the UA segment cancelled, but to get in trouble with the airline later. In short, there is some communication between Amtrak and UA, but not in real time.