Amtrak & Ultimate Rewards Saves My Christmas

Due to my workload, I booked my trip to Connecticut for the holidays, on the weekend beforehand. Therefore, my chooses were very limited. I decided on the following itinerary:

When flying to Connecticut, I typically I fly either Southwest or US Airways. Both have direct flights to BDL (Hartford/Springfield) from the DC area. The flight cost me an arm and a leg:

When I check-in on Monday, United notified me that my flight was oversold and that they may need volunteers. At the time, they were offering $150 for the voluntary bump. I added my name to the list. I had all day to get home..why not?

The day of my flight, Christmas Eve day, I was running late. I left my apartment later than I want to, but plenty of time to get to the airport. Luckily, I had TSA PreCheck and flew through security in minutes. Strange at DCA, nowadays. 

Arriving at the gate 30 minutes before boarding, I joined the line to speak with an agent. The line was 6 people deep, but I overheard that the flight was oversold by 7 people. My chances of getting a bump looked likely. The people in front of me were asking stupid questions ie "is this the flight to Newark," "I have a seat assignment, do I need to check-in." Finally, it was my turn. "Do you need volunteers still?" "YES!" Still $150? No, I am offering $350.

Then the next problem. The agent did not like that my final destination was BDL. He kept looking for other volunteers, which upset me. I kept on throwing out suggestions including Boston or Providence. Neither of those options provided acceptable options for him. He started looking for other volunteers including those flying to Europe and Africa.

I tried one more option, would they buy me an Amtrak ticket? That's an option, but only if they have tickets. A quick call to Amtrak and I became the new owner of $350 United voucher.

Now the next problem, he could only get me a ticket to Newark Airport's train station:

http://www.panynj.gov/airports

But I was going to Connecticut. Regardless, I took the voucher and train ticket and raced to the Union Station.

Wikipedia

I arrived at the airport at 11:15 am for my 1pm trip. I went to the Amtrak ticket desk to exchange my ticket to Newark for one to Connecticut. After talking to three agents and a supervisor, they all agreed that I could not exchange the ticket. I would have to buy a ticket from Newark's Airport to Connecticut. The cost $45. No problem, I handed the credit card over. Then I looked at the tickets:

• Leave 1pm from Washington, DC and arrive at Newark Airport at 4:30 pm. 

• Exit train, wait for another train to depart at 6:30 pm and arrive in Berlin, CT at 9:45 pm.

Arriving at 9:45pm would ruin my Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is when my entire family gets together. I sulked away from the ticket counter to find food. Now its 11:35am and I have 90 minutes to kill....

At this point, I am seriously regretting my decision to take the bump. Then a major light bulb came on my head: I have Ultimate Reward Points.

Ultimate Reward Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to Amtrak's Guest Rewards. More importantly, Ultimate Rewards points transfer instantaneously to Amtrak Guest Rewards.

                                    

I was so excited about my discovery that I walked out of a food line without paying for my food. I went back to pay later. A quick look at my watch its 11:40 and I remember something about a 12 noon train.

I quickly opened up my work laptop and personal laptop to transfer Ultimate Reward points to Amtrak. A one-way Northeastern ticket cost only 4,000 points.

At the same time, I was booking the award ticket. Time was ticking down and I had no idea if award tickets were still available for a train leaving in 15 minutes. After transferring 4,000 UR points to Amtrak, I tried to book the ticket without luck. I kept on getting this error.

I knew the points were in my Amtrak account. I refreshed the page and tried again. Success!

Now the next problem, I had to get my ticket from the machine and get to the train in 6 minutes. I threw both laptops in the bag without shutting them off and ran. I ran dodging people to find a ticket machine. Of course, the machine did not pull up the ticket with my credit card. Now, I had to find the email with the confirmation code...time was short and so was my patience. Find the email with the confirmation code and my ticket printed. Then I rushed to the train...

With minutes to spare, I boarded the 12 (noon) train headed north. The train was packed, but I found a seat and settled in for my 5 hour trip. In the end, I remember family from southern Connecticut was coming to Christmas Eve and they were more than happy to pick me up from a train station near their home.

In the end, Ultimate Rewards saved my Christmas Eve. 

BTW...I cancelled the train ticket from Newark to Berlin via telephone, so I lost no money.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints!