I just recieved the following e-mail from Amtrak which is a survey about their web site. I appreciate the opportunity they are giving the users of their web site at www.amtrak.com to provide feedback, but I was a bit disappointed that they did not include TrainWeb in their questions about other web sites. I think this is just a matter of one hand not knowing what the other is doing as TrainWeb is the only travel related site that Amtrak lists on their "Other Services" page at www.amtrak.com/amtrak/other/!
For what it may be worth, I have added TrainWeb to those questions below and am hoping that many of you will cut and paste this survey into a new e-mail message, complete the survey, and send it back to Amtrak at: Results@ejwco.com, and if you wouldn't mind, send a copy off to me at steve@trainweb.com. If you heard about the Amtrak web site from TrainWeb or could add any other favorable comments about our efforts to promote Amtrak and their web site at the bottom of this form, that would certainly be appreciated!
Note: TrainWeb was NOT included in the survey I received. I have added those lines myself and hope that you will mark those fields where appropriate. If you received a copy of this survey direct from Amtrak and have already returned it, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could just send a quick e-mail to Results@ejwco.com and mention that TrainWeb is a travel related web site that you visit frequently. Thanks again! -- Steve Grande (steve@trainweb.com)
---------------------------- START CUT HERE ----------------------------- Greetings from Amtrak. We are currently in the process of evaluating the current design, layout, and content of our site. Therefore, as a valued customer we'd like to give you the opportunity to take a quick e-mail survey to give you the opportunity to voice your opinions. With your help and feedback we hope to not only have a better understanding of our customers, but also to provide each of you with more focused information, contests, and travel related information we hope will allow you more versatility in planning your next vacation, whether it is business or leisure related. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration. We look forward to hearing from you. Instructions After reading the cover memo press the reply button and then move forward to answering each question. Then please mark each question with a "X" to indicate your answer, including marking either "1," "2," "3," "4," or "5" with a "X" for question number eight. After completion of the survey hit send. Question One * What Internet sites do you visit at least once a week (please check all that apply)? 1a. __ Yahoo 1b. __ Microsoft 1c. __ Netscape 1d. __ AOL 1e. __ InfoSeek 1f. __ Excite 1g. __ GeoCities 1f. __ Microsoft Network (MSN) 1h. __ Lycos 1i. __ AltaVista 1j. __ CNET 1k. __ ZDNet 1l. __ WebCrawler 1m. __ RealAudio 1n. __ Wall Street Journal 1o. __ Pathfinder 1p. __ Hotmail 1q. __ ESPN 1r. __ CBS Sportline 2s. __ CompuServe 2t. __ Mapquest 3u. X_ TrainWeb Question Two * Where did you first learn about the www.amtrak.com site? 2a. __ Search engine query 2b. __ Search engine directory 2c. __ Link within another site 2d. __ Link from another travel related site 2e. __ On-line advertisement 2f. __ Friend/business associate/family member 2g. __ Amtrak collateral materials 2h. __ TrainWeb Question Three * What other on-line travel sites have you purchased tickets from during the past year (please check all that apply)? 3a. __ Expedia 3b. __ Travelocity 3c. __ Preview Travel 3d. __ Travelon 3e. __ The Trip 3f. __ Internet Travel Network (ITN) 3g. __ Flifo 3h. __ Travel Now 3i. __ Biztravel 3h. __ American Express Travel Question Four * In the past year what final destination stations have you traveled to on Amtrak (please check all that apply)? 4a. __ New York Penn Station 4b. __ Philadelphia 4c. __ Washington, DC 4d. __ Los Angeles 4e. __ Chicago 4f. __ San Francisco 4g. __ San Diego 4h. __ Boston 4i. __ Baltimore 4j. __ Sacramento 4k. __ Orlando 4l. __ New Orleans 4m. __ Denver 4n. __ Seattle 4o. __ Another station Question Five * During the past year what was your primary purpose for your Amtrak trip (please check all that apply)? 5a. __ Visit friends and family 5b. __ Visit a city 5c. __ Go to the beach or lake 5d. __ Business 5e. __ Attend cultural events 5f. __ Visit historic sites 5g. __ Visit theme parks 5h. __ Visit casinos 5i. __ Camp/climb 5j. __ Go fishing 5k. __ Snow skiing 5l. __ Visit a resort 5m. __ Other reason Question Six * What was your frequency of business travel on Amtrak during the past year? 6a. __ Once 6b. __ 2-3 times 6c. __ 4-7 times 6d. __ 8-10 times 6e. __ More than 10 times Question Seven * What was your frequency of leisure travel on Amtrak during the past year? 7a. __ Once 7b. __ 2-3 times 7c. __ 4-7 times 7d. __ 8-10 times 7e. __ More than 10 times Question Eight * What type of on-line features are attractive to you (please check all that apply)? Very Useful Not Useful 8a. On-line booking via credit card 5 4 3 2 1 8b. Schedules 5 4 3 2 1 8c. Ease of use and functionality 5 4 3 2 1 8d. 1-800 phone number developed solely for Internet users 5 4 3 2 1 8e. Discounts 5 4 3 2 1 8f. Fares 5 4 3 2 1 8g. Information is updated often 5 4 3 2 1 8h. Company news 5 4 3 2 1 8i. Contests 5 4 3 2 1 8j. Weekly e-mails with special promotions and offers 5 4 3 2 1 8k. Photos and/or video of trains and accommodations 5 4 3 2 1 8l. Fast downloads 5 4 3 2 1 8m. Information on destination 5 4 3 2 1 8n. Site map 5 4 3 2 1 8o. Personally generated maps of specific destinations 5 4 3 2 1 8p. Ability to book hotel, rent-a-car, and tours in on one site 5 4 3 2 1 Question Nine * Have you purchased tickets via Amtrak's on-line reservation center [please go to question ten if you have not purchased tickets!]? 9a. __ Yes 9b. __ No Question Ten * What is the biggest factor that is keeping you from making more transactions via the Internet? 10a. __ Lack of products/services offered 10b. __ Web site is too poorly designed to be useful 10c. __ The reputation of Amtrak 10d. __ Fear/concern of credit card number being stolen (i.e. security issues) 10e. __ Not being able to see and touch the product 10f. __ Fear/concern about not receiving tickets 10g. __ Concern about revealing too much personal information 10h. __ Transactions are too complicated over the Internet 10i. __ Other Question Eleven * About how many hours per week would you say you are on-line? 11a. __ Less than 1 hour 11b. __ More than 1 hour but less than 2 11c. __ More than 2 hours but less than 3 11d. __ 3 to 10 hours 11e. __ More than 10 hours Question Twelve * How old are you? 12a. __ 18 to 24 12b. __ 25 to 34 12c. __ 35 to 44 12d. __ 45 to 54 12e. __ 55 to 64 12f. __ 65 plus Question Thirteen * How many children are in your household? 13a. __ None 13b. __ One child 13c. __ Two children 13d. __ Three children 13e. __ Four children 14f. __ Five children 14g. __ More than five children **Please feel free to add any additional comments, complements, and/or concerns!** ---------------------------- END CUT HERE -------------------------------