Amadeus RailAgent – A New Amtrak Booking Experience

National Railroad Passenger Corporation
60 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002
http://www.amtrakagentsupport.com

Contacts:
Claudine Conaway
Amtrak Travel Agency Sales Center
Philadelphia, PA


April 15, 2010

Amadeus RailAgent – A New Amtrak Booking Experience

As communicated over the past year, Amadeus has been moving its technology from TPF (Transactions Processing Facility) to more flexible open and Web-based systems. As part of this technology change, older systems interfacing with Amadeus must be migrated into a Web-based interface. The time has come for Amtrak’s final leg. Amtrak is already available for you to book through Amadeus RailAgent.


But, we haven’t removed the interface from the Amadeus System. In the next six weeks, we will be removing Amtrak functionality for the Amadeus System. As of June 1, 2010, you will be required to book Amtrak online via Amadeus RailAgent. The following timeline has been established to complete this
process:

  • April 30, 2010
    Amtrak (2V) Availability in the Amadeus System will be removed, and no new bookings will be allowed.

    All current Amtrak reservations you may have in the System should be ticketed immediately.

    Any new Amtrak PNR must be created using the Amadeus RailAgent Smart Tab in Amadeus Selling Platform.
     

  • May 15, 2010
    Amtrak Ticketing capability in the Amadeus System will be removed and any Amtrak reservations that you may have in the Amadeus System are subject to cancellation without notice. There is no support to manage Amtrak bookings or any ticketing issues in the Amadeus System.

    New Amtrak reservations in RailAgent will be ticketed using the new Ticket-on-Departure feature.
     

  • May 31, 2010
    There will be a complete shutdown of the Amtrak Arrow Legacy Platform in the Amadeus System. The “track” (link) will be permanently removed.
    You will continue to have access to Amadeus Rail to book international rail travels with Eurostar (9F), AccesRail (9B), and Airport Express (9G) in the Amadeus System.

Book Amtrak in Amadeus RailAgent

Moving forward, all Amtrak reservations have to be created and paid for through Amadeus RailAgent.

Amadeus RailAgent offers the following benefits:

  • An easy to use graphical interface for Amtrak reservations, pricing, and payment.

  • Inclusion of Amtrak content for point-to-point tickets, rail passes, and sleepers.

  • Ticket-on-Departure is available through Quik-Trak self-service ticketing machines, Amtrak ticket agents, and Conductor delivery. In certain situations and for certain stations, ticket-by-mail is available.

Important Information

  • Amadeus AgentNet customers continue to book Amtrak through the RailAgent link in AgentNet.

  • The Amtrak Script and Amtrak Smart Key have been removed from Selling Platform.

  • Customers should no longer book Amtrak in cryptic mode. No further support is being given to these bookings.

  • Amtrak requires that each passenger have a ticket to travel. The itinerary that is e-mailed at the time of purchase is not a ticket.

  • Amtrak requires that ticket delivery is handled by Quik-Trak or Ticket Agent when those options are available. Ticket by mail and conductor delivery is offered based on the date of the booking and the station that the passenger departs from.

  • In isolated situations there may not be a ticket delivery option available to be processed through Amadeus RailAgent. In those cases, RailAgent will not be able to process the booking.

Support Process & Procedures

Amadeus Service Center Americas assist you with Amadeus Selling Platform. Amadeus is your first point of contact for the following Rail issues:

  • Access to the RailAgent Smart Tab

  • Registration process for RailAgent

  • Log-in issues

  • Functionality issues for the RailAgent Auxiliary Segment in the Amadeus PNR

Amadeus Technical Center assists you with technical issues involving the Smart Tab activation and access, and determining if the problem resides on the Amadeus or RailAgent side.

Amtrak Travel Agency Service Center (TASC) assists you with all functionality once you have accessed the RailAgent Amtrak Home Page.


TASC is available to assist RailAgent users with the following functions:

  • Booking Amtrak reservations

  • Rail product offerings

  • Commissions

  • Account administration and profile discrepancies

  • Technical errors in RailAgent


Web site Support

The Web site http://www.amtrakagentsupport.com offers the tools and information necessary for you to effectively sell Amtrak in Amadeus RailAgent. You can click the Amtrak Agent Support link directly from the RailAgent Amtrak home page.

E-mail Support

Amadeus RailAgent provides e-mail support with a Contact Us link in RailAgent. Inquiries submitted online through the Contact Us form are serviced by TASC.

E-mail Support is available Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern time and responded to within 24 hours, in most cases the same business day. Use the e-mail address wecanhelp@amtrak.com to send an e-mail to TASC.

Telephone Support

Amadeus RailAgent provides phone support provided TASC. Phone support is available Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. United States customers can call: 800 525-2550

Commission Payment Solution

In order to receive commissions on bookings made through Amadeus RailAgent, you must register for a Moneydirect account.

Moneydirect is a free service that distributes funds electronically to the bank account of your choice.

Moneydirect provides the most efficient multi-channel payment processing solution for the global travel and tourism industry.

The registration form is Web-based and easy to complete. Access the form via the My Commission link in Agency Tools on the RailAgent home page or via the link below:

https://www.docusign.net/PowerForms/PowerFormDocument_b0ef5025-1bef-4317-8519-ff724c862b81.pdf

Adobe Reader is required to complete and sign the form electronically. If you do not want to complete the form electronically, you may print the form, complete it, and fax to Moneydirect at 888 445-4190.

All agencies booking Amtrak through Amadeus RailAgent are required to sign up for Moneydirect to receive commission payments. Checks will no longer be sent to pay commissions on Amtrak bookings.

Market Applicability

The removal of Amtrak from the Amadeus System is a change in the North America market.