Amtrak Vacations

I rec'd a call the train has been cancelled and they can put me on a bus. that is not acceptable since I wanted the train experience. They refuse to refund me my money. Said only the train is cancelled. I can drive or take a bus. the bus is 2 days of traveling I will miss my tours. this is supposed to be my dream train trip. I've never been on a train before. Amtrak will refund $396 for the train. Amtrak Vacation will only is half $557 in a voucher and I lose out on $557 of my hard earn money due to no fault of mine. this is so unfair and should be illegal.

I found out too late that we had fallen for this company pretending to be part of Amtrak - how they have been operating without a cease and desist is beyond my comprehension.
They did nothing we couldn't have done ourselves on Amtrak's and hotel websites. Our train was delayed TEN hours, which made us miss our rental car pickup time. They did nothing to inform us of the cause for the delay (because they are not Amtrak, now it makes sense), nor did they take action to rebook the rental car. The train back was cancelled due to weather conditions. Again, not Amtrak, so naturally we found out through actual Amtrak's automated voice system which by the way, only said that (ellipsis for robot voice pauses) "your train to ... Chicago ... has been ... cancelled.". We had to separately rent a car to Phoenix (2hr drive) and a flight back home. While it's not their fault the train was cancelled, the complete inaction was a terrible experience. We paid many thousands of dollars for this trip, which honestly would be worth it if it ran smoothly, but putting us through this experience makes me regret the decision to go with such a poorly performing service. Had I known that "AMTRAK VACATIONS" are not affiliated with Amtrak, I would have certainly checked twice for reviews - hopefully this deters someone from making the same mistake we did.

I found out too late that we had fallen for this company pretending to be part of Amtrak - how they have been operating without a cease and desist is beyond my comprehension.
They did nothing we couldn't have done ourselves on Amtrak's and hotel websites. Our train was delayed TEN hours, which made us miss our rental car pickup time. They did nothing to inform us of the cause for the delay (because they are not Amtrak, now it makes sense), nor did they take action to rebook the rental car. The train back was cancelled due to weather conditions. Again, not Amtrak, so naturally we found out through actual Amtrak's automated voice system which by the way, only said that (ellipsis for robot voice pauses) "your train to ... Chicago ... has been ... cancelled.". We had to separately rent a car to Phoenix (2hr drive) and a flight back home. While it's not their fault the train was cancelled, the complete inaction was a terrible experience. We paid many thousands of dollars for this trip, which honestly would be worth it if it ran smoothly, but putting us through this experience makes me regret the decision to go with such a poorly performing service. Had I known that "AMTRAK VACATIONS" are not affiliated with Amtrak, I would have certainly checked twice for reviews - hopefully this deters someone from making the same mistake we did.

We took the National Parks tour to Arches, Zion, and Grand Canyon. They did not inform us we had to find our own way to get the rental car at Grand Junction. We had to get a cab and it was $30. They also did not inform us we had to pay the one way drop fee for the car. The tour guide at Moah for Arches and Canyonlands was wonderful! The trip was as they advertised and was great. Good hotels and Grand Canyon train was the best. You need to make sure you get dinning reservations in GC (on line) as they are all booked up. Except for lack of transportation to get car and charging us one way fee it was great.

Date of experience: March 15, 2023

Amtrak cancelled one of our trains due to Hurricane Ian. This was not Amtrak Vacations fault but the way they have handled it is very disappointing. We still have not received any of our refund. They say we will only get part of it. They won't refund the cost of trip insurance and over $500 will be in the form of a voucher for a future trip with them. This is wrong in so many aspects. It is our money and we do not want it in a voucher. Arrange your vacation your self and schedule your own rail ride through Amtrak direct.

Worst experience booking Ever! I had a 7 day Amtrak vacation planned for October 12, 2022 to Miami that I made in early September. This was scheduled before hurricane Ian. AAA told me that the payment was required in full. At the time, I also purchased insurance for the trip. I was contacted by Amtrak less than one week before my scheduled trip that my train is canceled. Understand. However, no accommodations were made to work around getting us there. I was even willing to take an alternate vacation and even change dates if needed. Amtrak said there were absolutely no beds available for the 7 to 9 day or any trips they had for at least a year. I am 64 and husband is 66 so sitting in a seat upright would be very difficult in an overnight sleeper. I asked for a refund. They declined. Instead, they would provide a voucher good for 2 years. The worst part was they informed us that we would be penalized and lose the $578 in insurance, but THEY canceled, not us. In other words, even if we were to use the voucher at a later date, we would have to purchase insurance again! They would charge us the money for insurance but it is NOT OUR FAULT, so why are we being penalized with no other offers or alternatives? We were so ready to take the trip and had made all plans to go, that is disappointing in itself but being penalized through no fault of our own is unacceptable. I am disputing this matter with my bank for a full refund. This is so unfair. They don't tell you that you will lose your insurance money even if it is not your fault and if you do use the voucher at a later date, you will have to give them that insurance money again!...Buyer, beware!

Luckily, my trip was terminated by the strike threatened cancellation of trains out of Chicago.

But in 3 days:

1. They say that our a) 1- day stay at Little America, bus trip SLC to West Yellowstone, Yellowstone Loop Tour and return trip to Idaho Falls was $3200? Pretty steep. And they refuse to itemize.

2. FORMAL COMPLAINT: please forward to the appropriate department and respond in 10 days.

Your instructions for meeting SLC Xpress. Cabby had no detail where the SLC Xpress stop was on Temple Square. Temple Square is pretty big and pretty crowded on a Sunday morning. It was difficult and exhausting to relocate our luggage and disabled spouse a little over 1/2 mi. from where we were dropped off. Wrong directions? I got plenty of them.

The only way I made it was that I allowed 90 minutes for the transfer. Couldn't you have just provided an address or intersection?

With everything else that was going on I forgot this irritation with the lack of competency in your travel documents. They were worthless.

3. FORMAL COMPLAINT: please forward to the appropriate department and respond in 10 days.

DURING BOOKING I POINTED OUT THAT OUR AMTRACK PROFILE HAS MY WIFE AS DISABLED. I'M A COMPANION.

I'M SURE THAT IF YOU CHECK OUR TRAIN RESERVATION YOUR AGENT TOOK CARE TO BOOK ACCESSIBLE ROOMS, EXCEPT IN ONE CASE WHERE AN ACCESSIBLE ROOM WAS NOT AVAILABLE. LITTLE AMERICA DID NOT HAVE US IN AN ACCESSIBLE ROOM UNTIL I COMPLAINED. A LOT.
I GIVE SALT LAKE EXPRESS GOOD GRADES FOR ACCOMODATING US. BUT THERE WAS NO HEADS UP FROM YOU ACCOMMODATE MY WIFE's MS.

MY WIFE HAD TO BOARD AND DE-BOARD ON HER OWN. IT WAS SLOW, DIFFICULT AND HUMILIATING FOR ALL SLC XPRESS VEHICLES.

THE 9/12 YELLOWSTONE LOOP TOUR VEHICLE HAD A LIFT BUT DRIVER SAID IT DIDNT WORK (OR WAS TOO LAZY TO TRY TO USE IT) UNTIL HALF WAY THROUGH THE TOUR WHEN HE REALIZED HOW THOROUGHLY EXHAUSTED MY WIFE WAS GETTING. EITHER DUE TO EXHAUSTION OR TO KEEP FROM SLOWING THE ENTIRE TOUR DOWN, MY WIFE DEFERRED ON GETTING OFF FOR HALF THE STOPS.

GRRRRR

The trip was definitely a different type of travel adventure but the travel vouchers were confusing and didn’t receive all that was advertised. Information said a dinner in Chicago was included along with two breakfasts. After spending an hour on hold (called AV numerous times for information and clarification, an hour wait time was typical) I learned that the Chicago restaurant was no longer in service. Never received any information on included breakfasts.

They sent me vouchers and got my money 6 weeks ago. Ten days before departure the emails start coming in: the roomettes we paid for are no longer available; but we can sit in coach for a 51 hour ride. The hotel room is no longer available, but they'll get me an even better one for an extra $500. If I cancel because it's not what I paid for nor promised in writing: they keep $600. Worst vacation ever. Will lose the $600, but invest as much time and energy as possible warning others away from these scammers.

I experienced a nightmare trip that was supposed to be for my Birthday. They were nice at first. After they got my money they left a voicemail saying the train broke down. This was 4 months before the scheduled trip. If this happens to you record it. They refused to refund the money after getting a deposit. Forcing me to use a voucher. Then they became nasty. Also the conductors on the train are very rude. They only allow you 4 minutes to get off the train and they will take off making you miss your stop. I have experienced a real life nightmare with a Scam track vacation.

They changed my itinerary one day AFTER taking my money. And they are keeping my $350 trip insurance. Completely unreliable. DO NOT BOOK WIOTH THIS COMPANY. VERy long wait to speak with customer service

I was suppose to be on the California Zephyr en route to San Francisco but was instead on the Southwest Chief.

I had boarded the Chief and was riding for more than an hour before realizing this was not the Zephyr. I had no reason to question not being on the Zephyr. However, After speaking with the conductor and after reviewing Amtrak’s website, I learned the Zephyr is not operating until May. Someone should have informed me of exactly that.

When I spoke to the customer service rep who was making the change, he informed me “that the only thing changing on my initial reservation was the departure time from Chicago and the arrival time in San Francisco.” Not once did he mention this would be a different train (Chief) taking a different route. I reserved the zephyr because of the scenic route. The Chief is ranked #4 as far as scenery goes; it should be ranked at the bottom of the list. The Zephyr is #1. I’ve seen nothing remotely comparable to the scenery on the Zephyr route.

I’M ANGRY and feel like Amtrak represented with false information and basically a lie so I would not cancel my reservation. Amtrak basically did a bait and switch on me. I researched the Amtrak Vacations and saved for 2 years to take this “bucket-list” trip and it’s been ruined from the start.

My elderly father and I decided to take an Amtrak vacation's trip up north due to the rising costs of flights around the holidays. I was injured in October after we purchased the tickets. I was still injured and handicapped and still am to this day in February. I had called Amtrak vacations a number of times to see what assistance they offered for the handicap specifically because I could not lose my left leg and they offered some assistance on the way up but none on the way back. The 27 hour trip was horrible for both of us. We were unable to sleep, the food was horrible and I had extreme swelling develop in my foot. I was advised if I can get a dr's note advising against the return ride that the refund process would be started. I provided that letter. To this date all they will offer is a credit. My father will not be able to take another long train ride and I am still facing my injury and have no interest myself. The only way to talk to this department is by email, no phone calls. This is the worst customer service I have delt with since I became handicapped.

Amtrak Vacations is NOT Amtrak. They overcharge. They set up a tour of Glacial National Park, then found out it wasn't running and didn't tell us. We love riding Amtrak trains (despite very bad luck with this trip) but will never use Amtrak Vacations again.

My wife and I are seniors and she both uses a cane and nighttime oxygen related to M.S. We embarked on a 16 day tour in high hopes. d
Due to employee mistakes,in spite of a request and reassurance given, we lost out on the Yellowstone part of our tour. Our car also lost it's air conditioning on our day through the western desert with no offer of concern or relief.
Subsequently the company takes no responsibility offers no apology, and offers no compensation for expense acquired through their error.