There’s only one Amtrak

Posted on by

Just was buying my ticket online. Huge amounts of paperwork . . . can’t they contract out with Amazon.com? Anyway, at the very end, I got this item:

Recommended: Add Quik-Trip Travel Protection

Get 24/7 protection for your trip with a plan that provides:

* Electronic and Sporting Equipment coverage up to $1,000
* Travel Delay coverage (delays of 6 hrs. or more) up to $150
* 24/7 Travel Emergency Assistance

Yes! For just $8.50 per traveler, I’d like to add Quik-Trip Travel Protection. This is $8.50 total. Restrictions apply, learn more.
No thanks. I decline Quik-Trip Travel Protection.

“Restrictions apply,” huh? My favorite part, though, is “Travel Delay coverage (delays of 6 hrs. or more) up to $150.” I can just imagine the formula they have: “Your delay is 8 hours and 20 minutes, huh? Let’s look that up . . . it looks like you’re entitled to $124. And thanks for riding Amtrak!” But if your delay is only 5 hours and 50 minutes, forget about it.

P.S. My most memorable Amtrak experience was several years ago when I found myself sitting next to an elderly gentleman who was reading through some official-looking documents. I gradually realized it was Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware. I started up a conversation and told him our research on political polarization, a topic which he knew all about, of course.

6 thoughts on “There’s only one Amtrak”

  2. And what did he say?

    On the main point, yes, Amtrak is annoying and maybe capricious. In my cynical world, a delay coverage threshold of six hours suggests that the lion's share of delays must be quite long – way in excess of the four extra hours I spent traveling between DC and Boston two years ago… or the three hours I spent idling in Queens somewhere outside Penn Station last weekend.

Comments are closed.