— from Washington State Ferries —
Because of an unplanned technical problem with its Vehicle Reservation System, WSF must postpone the upcoming release of reservations for vehicle space on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes by two weeks. Reservations for the sailing dates of September 27, 2020 through January 2, 2021 will now be available starting at 7 a.m. on Thursday, September 10. Reservation space will not be released on August 27 as previously announced.
Starting at 7 a.m. on September 10, reservations can be made online at bit.ly/wsfreservations. Customers can also contact the WSF Call Center at 206-464-6400 for assistance, though please note that WSF Information Agents are currently working remotely because of COVID and cannot take credit cards or make reservations over the phone. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this fluid and challenging time. To read about how WSF is adapting its service in response to COVID-19, please read our COVID Response Service Plan. For general COVID-19 travel information, please see our website.To read about how WSF is adapting its service in response to COVID-19, please read our COVID Response Service Plan. For general COVID-19 travel information, please see our website.
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I couldn’t make heads or tails out of WSF’s notice, so I checked with Jim Corenman, head of the county’s ferry-advisory committee. This simply relates to the “fall” schedule that begins Sept. 27. On Sept. 10, the first third of the “fall” sailings will open for reservations. (“Fall” is in quotes because it will still be the Covid-reduced “winter” schedule, according to Jim.) Sailings between now and then remain available for reservations on the usual two-week/two-day basis. Hope the clarification helps.
The delay is to allow WSF to fix the glitch in the reservation system that often flashes an error message as a reservation is being finalized, even though the reservation has been completed. Jim says that’s led to a lot of extra reservations being made when not actually needed, in turn leading to “no-shows” and unexpected charges. Fingers crossed. Next thing is maybe a schedule that matches actual service…
Alex, they are not charging no show fees at this time. The extra reservations are keeping others from making them but there are no unexpected charges.
But Alex is right they need to fix the reservation system. I had a huge hassle four weeks ago with a missed reservation because I was visiting someone at the hospital; somehow my credit card stopped working with the ferry website, and it took a bunch of calls, emails and escalation for them to finally fix my account. Such a waste of time. And the poor customer service people, all they could do on the phone was apologize and say that there are big problems.
with no end in sight to tourist season, this bodes ill. i just tried to make a reservation for a medical appointment for Sept 15 – no dice… coming or going.
I am 71, and have a last minute urgent medical appointment at 1pm on the 3rd in Mt Vernon; the earliest rez available is 4:50pm. So, I’m leaving the island at 4:50pm on the 2nd, sleeping at Bayview State Park, and returning on the only rez availble on the 3rd at a theoretical 9:05pm departure. Fortunately I have an old GMC travel van I can sleep in, which works ok this time of year as affordable accommodation.
This rig is mainly ‘in storage’ at the airport, and looks a bit beat up. But, if a few of us wanted a reliable ‘van share’, I’d be open to exploring it. My son-in-law co-founded and managed the car share in Victoria, and might guide us to a simple framework. I’m not sure how we’d connect if there’s interest, but . . . .
The ferries have been running maddeningly late, but they are not full. The last third of the spots are added 7 am two days before the sailing date. If you don’t get a reservation at that time try late in the afternoon the day before you want to sail. Many people cancel just before the 5 pm deadline to avoid losing their no show fee. I have made many reservations this summer for ourselves and our family and have gotten what we needed each time….sometimes you have to work on it a bit.
I remember the days before reservations. Had to be at the landing at least an hour ahead, wait in line, and get on the ferry. Now with a reservation, people have to sleep in their van on the other side to see the doctor. Something is wrong. WSF said reservations would put an end to lines. It is time for a change.