Amtrak Autotrain R/T vs. 1 way for refunds

[CherylA]

We took the autotrain to FL this February and loved it. We plan to book for next Feb as soon as our dates open up. This past trip I booked a R/T (I believe it was cheaper than 2 1 ways) but I didn't have my tickets mailed to me. I loved this because if the weather was bad and we couldn't get down to Lorton or if someone was sick and we had to cancel our trip we could get a refund easily. When we took the first leg of our trip though we had to pick up the tickets for the return portion of our trip too. This makes me wonder what would have happened if we were not able to take the retun trip for whatever reason. Could we have gotten a refund or no? Is it better to book each leg seperately even if it's a bit more expensive?

 

[chartle]

If its a service issue you can get a full refund.

We went Aug 08 during Tropical Storm Fay. The train we were supposed to take back to VA at 4:00 PM didn't get in until 7:00 PM because of debris on the tracks.

That morning we got a call and then just decided to drive back. Before we left the area we went to the Kissimmee station and refunded our tickets for a full refund.

I think if you just don't want to go, there is a percentage fee for a cancellation. I tried reading this but it hurt my eyes.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1241267362242/1237405732517

But it looks like you can get a full value voucher or only get 90% back.

 

[LisaNJ25]

We got a refund from Labor Day weekend 07 when the train was canceled due to freight train accident. Took over a month and cost me $10 in postage to get the refund but we did.

We are booking again for this August and plan on not getting the tickets printed ahead of time also, this way I can apply the kids $19 or free promo if it comes out in may.

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Train tickets are a little different than plane tickets - - although you can get a round trip ticket price on Autotrain, you really have two tickets (one each way) plus a ticket each way for the car...car and the passenger each way tickets constitutes a trip and could be refunded (depending on the rules). Sleepers do have special circumstances and need to be cancelled so many hours in advance though.

 

[CherylA]

Thanks guys, thats good to know. I just hated that they made me take my return trip ticket as a paper ticket when I checked in for the 1st leg of my trip. I had to hang onto those paper tickets through my whole trip and pray I didn't loose them. Plus it took away the option of just chaning our mind about taking the train back. It was unlikely that we would have done that but I liked having that freedom. Unfortunatly it does seem to cost a little more to book each way separately and since you do seem to be able to get a refund in most cases for the unused portion of your fare it probably doesn't make sense to spend extra $$ and buy them separately. If the cost were the same or very similar though I'd rather have 2 separate tickets.