Captain Da Vinci
Member
So over the past 2 weeks, I've used Amtrak to travel from the east coast to the west coast and back. As my trip went on I started notice some things that are a bit odd and seemed to present a huge opportunity. First odd thing, they don't check your tickets until after you board. They give you a slip of paper (sometimes) as you get on with the number of people going, and then the place you're going. You put the slip of paper above your chair and sit and wait after the train has taken off in order for them to come by and scan your ticket. I've been with my Aunt and Grandparents on this trip and everytime we got on, I spend all my time in the Lounge/observation car. I started to get on and head straight to the car. Here's where it gets interesting. Everytime I went into that car, there would usually already be people in there, and when I went in no one ever asked for my ticket. Usually a conductor would come through and just casually ask the whole car if everyone had their ticket scanned, and then move on not giving two shits. I started to notice on almost every train I got on, (about 10-12 times) there would always be someone in the observation car who looked ragged as fuck. I noticed these same people at night on overnight trips would sleep in the lounge car instead of at their seats, as I did the same thing. I'm wondering if maybe they literally just got on the train and went straight to the lounge car and just stayed in there without ever purchasing a ticket. So my question is what do any of you know about snagging free rides in this manner, and how illegal is it? Like what would the punishment be if caught?