Amtrak Vacations Arvostelua 

We Used Amtrak Vacations to book a summer national parks tour in July 2026. Failure of one their vendors to properly provide transfer address resulted the loss of our Yellowstone portion of the trip. We lodged a complaint and have received no concrete reply. At this point we’re just going to file a complaint with the better business bureau (BBB). I would strongly advise avoiding them

Sammi was very pleasant and courteous and took care of my questions easily. I am grateful for the personal attention.

This review is solely to sing the praises of ALLISON FOLEY!!! Allison was an absolute godsend!!! In 2025, I booked an Amtrack train trip for my elderly parents to travel from Chicago to East Glacier Park, MT. My Father has always wanted to take a train ride and see parts of our country he's never seen before. It's been a life-long wish of his. Geoffrey Anderson was terrific in getting this trip and two roomettes booked for my parents. A few days after booking their trip, my sister and I decided we needed to go too as Mom is 80 and Daddy almost 87 at the time of the trip. So I called back and worked with Chris Schutte. I told Chris my Sister and I are both Veterans. He kindly applied a military discount to our rate, proceeded to book us each a seat in coach bc it would help lower the fair a little, then said he tied our reservation to my parents reservation, since we would sleep in the upper bunks in the roomette (Mom and Dad were in the lower bunks). Chris said when we all checked in, to just go to the roomettes with our parents. We were all set!! Well...that is a very far cry from what happened yesterday (8/6/26)!!!

After staying overnight in Asheville, NC on 8/4/26 to not miss our early flight on 8/5/26 to Chicago; and staying overnight in Chicago on 8/5/26 to ensure we would not miss our afternoon Amtrack Empire Builder 3pm departure; and after finally being directed correctly by Amtrack staff at Union Station Chicago to the Metropolitan Lounge, we all checked in for our once in a lifetime trip!! All 4 of us were given blue Frist Class wristbands to wear. No one - and I mean absolutely no Amtrack staff or employees said boo about our 4 suitcases we wanted to put in checked baggage. Not one person!!

It's time to get in line and head to gate 19 to start the boarding process. An Amtrack gate employee said he needed to see our tickets, which I had electronically on my cellphone. The line keeps moving. We're now standing right beside the train. Mom and Dad's reservation was scanned: proceed to car 730, rooms 11 and 12. My Sister and I got our reservation scanned - and all hell then broke loose!! The Conductor (which I repeatedly asked for his name; no Amtrack staff would give it to me!!) said the we would have to go to coach and my parents to First Class sleeper car. Another Amtrack employee comes over and I explain to him how Chris made my and my Sister's reservation. Then the Conductor comes back over, rescans the QR code and tells me that I don't have a roomette reservation, but a seat in coach, and I have to pay the difference if I want the roomette. I stated I already paid for the roomette and I did not owe any more money! The Conductor's behavior was extremely condescending, totally unprofessional given his position, and everything opposite of being customer supportive or friendly in the least! He scanned our QR reservation code one more time and proceeded to tell me that I actually did not even have a reservation as the 2 coach seat reservations had been deleted!!!! Did he offer to listen to what I said? NO!!! Did he offer to assist or help in finding out what went wrong, when, and where? NO!!! He said he had a job to do and wasn't going to lose his job over me not booking the reservation correctly!! I told him Amtrack Vacations booked both reservations. The Conductor said Amtrack Vacations has nothing to do with Amtrack - first time I had ever been told that by anyone affiliated with Amtrack! The other Amtrack employee told me to go down to car 730. Bc my parents were not going to get on the train unless my Sister and I were too.

We go to the roomettes. Avi from the dining room came by and asked about a reservation time for dinner. He then said my Sister and I didn't have a reservation at all. Then the Conductor was there AGAIN saying I would need to pay another $327 if we were going to stay in the roomette. I told him I had already paid for a roomette and I did not owe any additional money! I then called Amtrack Vacations extremely extremely EXTREMELY upset 😡 with this entire process!!!

Why didn't the check-in staff at the Metropolitan Lounge discover the error when we checked in? Why didn't they also tell us how we could of gotten our luggage into checked baggage? Why didn't any of the Amtrack staff offer to help me get to the bottom of someone's else's mistake?? The mistake was not on my end!! Why was I treated like a criminal breaking the law???

But when I called Amtrack Vacations to speak with either Geoffery or Chris, ALLISON FOLEY answered my call. And thank God she did!! I said to Allison that I did not mean to take my anger out on her, it was not her fault, but I was t-totally pissed off - I'm now on the train, it's moving, left Chicago...ALLISON FOLEY LISTENED CAREFULLY, INVESTIGATED, FOUND AND FIXED THE ISSUE!!! ALLISON FOLEY SAVED OUR FAMILY TRIP!! YOU'RE MY HEROINE ALLISON!! THANK YOU!! 😊🫶

Allison Foley was sooooooo helpful and patient with getting my needs met! We needed to change one of the passengers out due to an illness and she worked with Amtrak and the excursion vendors and things worked out perfectly!! I'd love to work with her every time I need assistance!

i had a somewhat tumultuous early experience with booking a trip to the western national parks. I am pushing 80 and a cardiac patient. My doc intervened after i booked to tell me not to take the trip. He then changed his advice and said i could go. Dom Lamour came to the rescue and smoothed out my charges. A real hero. please promote him. Also the Amtrak tracks got flooded early on and put me 24 hours behind. First an agent named Peter Bahn researched plane flights from Chicago to Phoenix which allowed me to make up the missing day. Then Allison Foley took over to arrange shuttle rides to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. I eventually was back on schedule, but Allison was not done. She negotiated a reimbursement from Amtrak of over 700 dollars to cover my airfare and shuttle expenses. These agents were exemplary, especially Dom and Allison. They saved my trip. My brother and sister in law will be traveling next, and I also hope to take another train trip. Thanks, thanks, thanks!!!

Sammi Cain is the best! Our trip was booked by our travel agent and we had a few more questions. I mistakenly went to Amtrak.com and was frustrated that I couldn’t find my booking. Finally, after just a bit of friendly venting by me, Sammi was able to answer every question and even looked up luggage storage facilities to help us out even more. Thanks, Sammi and we can’t wait for our first overnight Amtrak trip.

I would like others to be wary of Amtrak Vacations, along with the company that writes the policy for cancellations and trip insurance Trip Mate. Several segments of our family are rail travelers and train enthusiasts and rail is our preferred way of traveling.
We scheduled a trip that was to begin on July 21, 2026 and to end on August 5, 2026. (trip number AV294377) The day prior to the trip, our special needs son who was recently diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury, announced that he did not want to go on the trip. Beginning on the evening before the trip, I called Amtrak Vacations to discuss re-booking the trip for another date and to discuss how much money of my 2,7xx dollars would be able to be used in a voucher. The agent during 2 phone calls that evening told me that all of my vacation money would be taken because I was not calling 24 hours prior to cancelling the trip. Amtrak Vacations agent gave me a phone number and some type of code where I could speak with agents from Trip Mate about a possible claim since I had purchased the trip insurance (code given was (F528V). After 1 more call to Amtrak Vacations and then still another call to Trip Mate---I had no clear-cut path to retrieve any of the money that we had saved up for the vacation. During the morning of the trip I spent 4+ hours going back and forth between the companies. (Amtrak Vacations and Trip Mate). Here is the conclusion that I arrived at after talking with representatives from the two companies:
1. Trip Mate told me that Amtrak Vacations was not allowed to add the stipulation that you must cancel a trip 24 hours prior to the start of the trip.
2. Amtrak gave me a phone number of Trip Mate, which proved to be incorrect (according to Trip Mate) -- and then read verbatim the rule from Amtrak Vacations that 24-hour notice is required.
3. When speaking with Trip Mate agent on the day of the trip--I was surprised that Amtrak Vacations stated that I did not cancel the trip prior to the train departure on the day of the trip! (Recall that I had 2 prior conversations with the Amtrak Vacations agent the night before the train left.)
4. To take away 2,7xx dollars from someone for cancelling a trip is harsh. I offered to give medical documentation of my son's condition and verification of sometimes erratic behavior. In the past, Amtrak Vacations has offered vouchers so that scheduling another trip would be possible--even with a penalty attached.
5. It seems that Amtrak Vacations and Trip Mate agents do not know or acknowledge procedures in sync with each other for the customer's benefit. Knowing how the companies work together would help to facilitate a resolution that would be fair for the customer.
6. It appeared to me that the two companies worked together to confuse the customer and unnecessarily make what should be a happy vacation experience into a situation that felt like a well-deserved vacation expenditure had turned into a robbery.

Sammi Cain was over the top helpful with our booking. She not only booked us but checked our other reservations to make sure we were set. Excellent customer service!

I worked with Kevin Guadagnoli and Allison Foley to book my first ever Amtrak trip. I wasn't the easiest customer as I'm confined to a chair. They were both great! Very easy to talk to. They knew their stuff, too! They both made sure all my accessibility needs were met. I ended up needing to book a connecting train to make getting to Chicago a lot easier for us. What can I say, no one wants to drive in Chicago to take us to meet the train including my travel companion! lol Got our final travel itinerary today and everything looks perfect!

Hilary Klein went above and beyond to help me throughout the process. She was always responsive, knowledgeable, and genuinely cared about making everything go smoothly. I truly appreciated her dedication and excellent service

Amtrak Vacations

With the Fourth of July 2026 events and a major east coast heat wave approaching, I started looking in late June for a trip that would take me across the United States from my home in Washington, D.C. to northwest Canada. While I’ve spent most of my free time on six polar expeditions over the past three years, this time I wanted to see the country from the ground. Amtrak Vacations exists for travel like this.

I’ve booked a lot of long-distance family train trips between Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, and New Orleans but I arranged those trips using Amtrak’s own booking customer service – a lot like booking a flight directly with the airline instead of using a travel agent. For this trip, however, there were so many moving parts – finding sleeper car accommodation, finding hotels, arranging excursions – the better choice for me this time was Amtrak Vacations (which is part of the Railbookers Group family of brands). My guide and trip developer was Amtrak Vacations representative, Kevin Guadagnoli, who was working through Railbookers. It’s more complicated than it needs to be, but Kevin did a great job assembling my itinerary.

I sought sleeper-car accommodations for as much of the trip as possible. Check. Kevin booked me a sleeper from D.C. to Seattle. I sought transit through Chicago and Seattle with minimal time in the U.S. Check. I left D.C. on Sunday, June 28, 2026, and after a short stay in Union Station we left Chicago and arrived at Seattle’s King Street Station mid-afternoon on Monday, June 29.

I sought accommodation in Jasper and Banff, with a flight back to D.C. from Calgary. Check. Kevin booked me at the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver for two days and booked me a 48-hour pass for the hop-on hop-off tour bus. He booked me for the Crimson Jasper for two nights, added an icefields excursion for the 3-hour trip from Jasper to Banff (making it a 10-hour trip instead of just the three hours to get from city to city). He booked me two nights at the Hotel Canoe and Suites in Banff and booked me for a 10-hour excursion to see the very popular “Mountains, Lakes, and Waterfall Tours” roundtrip offered by Brewster Transportation and Tours from Banff. Then he checked to see how I was returning back to D.C. (on a United flight from Calgary) and he booked me a bus trip from Banff to the airport in Calgary, where I would be staying at an on-site hotel.

The only glitch worth mentioning seems to be directly related to Brewster: in my printed itinerary, I was admonished that in order to take the tour from Jasper to Banff (which was to include an 8-hour tour of the icefields and the Columbia Skywalk) I needed to call 800 760 6934 “at least 48 hours in advance to reconfirm” my booking, pickup location, and time. I started calling that number on Thursday, July 2, and repeated my efforts throughout the weekend. I stayed online 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and more, and never got through. Three times I left a message asking that Brewster call me so that I could know in advance when I was to be picked up – but no one ever called me back. I left email messages with Brewster and with Kevin and no one called me back.

I don’t know if there was anything Kevin could have done to help. While at the Crimson Jasper the hotel staff also tried, without success, to contact Brewster. This became important because while the tour was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., I had an 8:30 a.m. conference call. Brewster called me in the middle of that call – but left no message. My conference call ended at 9 a.m. and I was at the front desk ready to go at 9:06 a.m., when I learned the tour bus arrived at 8:45 a.m. and left without me.

As I see it, by seriously reducing customer service over the holiday weekend, Brewster was able to benefit from whatever Kevin had prepaid for the ice field excursion (which I was not able to join), and my own payment for transit from Jasper to Banff. I still don’t know how much I paid for the icefields trip, and I honestly don’t know those from whom I should be seeking a refund. It’s not that I blame the bus driver who left without me – he or she clearly did the right thing. And really, I can’t blame Kevin for Brewster’s poor conduct.

Brewster’s ground crew members were excellent – great buses, great drivers, great hosts. Their customer service branch, however, could use some training, unless Brewster has found that it’s profitable not to answer their phones over the weekend. That bump in the road aside, Kevin put together an awesome cross-country trip.

Total cost included trip coverage through TripMate, underwritten by General Global Assistance ($1,089). Including this coverage, the total invoice for all travel, including rail, insurance, lodging, and excursions, was $12,234.85. Not bad for an 11-day trip that included as much as I found during this vacation.

Our trip started out ok, train was on time. Our sleeper car room was very very small, I don't think that we were fully prepared for that. We traveled from Seattle to glacier. Food was pretty bad. Glacier hotel and food was great. Problems mainly began on the way home. Our train was delayed 2 hour, our sleeper car was disgustingly dirty including a big blood stain on the harness that keeps you from falling out of the top bed. All in all we were 8 hours late getting into Seattle. It has taken me over a month to get any sort of refund back—and I was just told that we’ll get $812 refunded on our $6000 trip. That’s an utter joke. Never again will we travel with Amtrak

I’m so incredibly thankful for the hard working Amtrak Vacations phone staff, but I absolutely must specifically point out the incredibly helpful, consistently polite, professionally knowledgeable, and friendly Amtrak representative named Victoria. Nothing feels more warm and friendly than calling an organization as large and complex as Amtrak 2-3 weeks after making initial reservations and actually be clearly recognized by the representative that initially helped me. She personifies the best that any company could hope for in a representative in a front-facing position. As I write, I’m in the midst of an 11 day train journey; a slow life course correction from my home in Bellingham WA to San Antonio TX, with a 4 day stop in Iowa to visit my sister, and to ultimately provide CNA care for my aging parents in TX. This move has been a tremendous challenge and has taken months to plan and prepare. Victoria has been “by my side” from the first phone call I made months ago, to my most recent schedule concern this afternoon. How fortunate I’ve been to coincidentally have her help me nearly every time I call! She is genuinely interested in my story, reflective and validating, always supportive, and endlessly patient with my questions and concerns. She has been just amazingly kind and thoughtful, and I just really feel like Amtrak and Victoria are the best friends I could ask for during this difficult but incredibly honorable time. Thank you Victoria, for going far beyond what is expected of anyone in your position. The work you’ve done gives us all great hope and faith in the continued long life of our beloved Amtrak. With deep sincerity and gratitude, Marc.

Great experience with Kevin Helton. He went above and beyond what I called about and gave me great tips on our upcoming trip!
Thank you Kevin!!!

I booked a Amtrack vacation package to go to New Orleans from 05/28-06/2. I always wanted to go on a train ride to a destination. This was on my bucket list. The morning on my departure date, around 2 am. I received a text stating my train to New Orleans was canceled, due to a derailment on their route. I call Amtrack to see what was going on, I was informed to contact Amtrack vacations, so I called them. I ask are they going to find an other train, or other means to get to my destination. They told me that I would have to fine my own way there. Not very good customer service in their part. So I had to find a last minute air fare to New Orleans. Then on the morning of the day I was to take the train back to Chicago, I received an other text at around the same time 2 am, tell me this train was canceled due to an other derailment. I find it very improbable that there where 2 derailment. Again Amtrack Vacations would not assist me in finding outer means of transportation. Their customer service is not up to par, very disappointing with Amtrack and Amtrack vacations. This trip was on my buck list. I always wanted to take a Train vacation. I did receive a full refund for the way there and back. The money wasn't an issue. But not even trying to help me with other means to get their or back, not excepable. I most likely won't ever use Amtrack, or Amtrack vacation in the future.

We had the incredible luck to deal with Victoria Peterson in customer service after Amtrak experienced an equipment change that left us without a room on our cross-country trip, despite having booked months earlier. This was an issue that was not AV’s fault but Victoria took the problem on as if it were her own and went way above and beyond to be sympathetic, helpful, problem-solving and just plain kind throughout all the (many) back and forths to get us a resolution.
We had a less than stellar experience with our initial booker but Victoria more than made up for that. I feel so much more confident heading out on the trip knowing that if we have an issue, Victoria will be there.

I have been working with Amtrak Vacations for several months now, and I just spoke with Hilary. She was beyond helpful. She clarified a few confusing items in my booking for me, as well as realized a promo needed to be applied, which resulted in savings for me. I am very appreciative!

Ms. Sammi is a wonderful customer service agent, she is polite & professional, she help me to get the best deal for my train vacation. We really appreciate her!

David L.

I had booked a trip earlier this year to New Orleans. Found out by accident this week that the departure times changed but I was not notified! The original booker and a follow-up did not really help me, and insisted the departure time had not changed. I contacted a different agent by phone, Hilary K, who totally understood my concern, looked into it with Amtrak, and found that yes, the departure times HAD changed! She did not know why I was not re ticketed, as my trip was coming up shortly, but then contacted Amtrak and verified that I would be receiving corrected e tickets, which I did shortly thereafter. Hilary was a pleasure to deal with, and I would certainly recommended her!

Hilary Klein was really super nice and one of the most help agents from anywhere that I have spoken with in a good while.