I am not trying to diagnose this particular problem - I'm asking to see if others have been similarly rejected, i.e., people who have done all of the required steps in getting ready to fly with their bike and been rejected.

There are often times where our ability to travel with our bikes is at the discretion of the travel agent or official that we happen to be dealing with at the moment and not the published rules.

On this particular trip, for example, I had no problems traveling to the start via Amtrak. On the return, however, I was told by the train conductor that the only way that they'd allow my folding bike on the train was if it can be stowed in the overhead storage. This wasn't official train policy - it was his interpretation of the policy. And in that hectic moment of boarding a train before it left the station, his interpretation of the policy was the most important thing. It was 5:40AM, so perhaps we were both tired. Thankfully, he let me on and did not bother me when he later saw my bike not in the overhead but rather folded into the corner as I had done on my outbound trip. Otherwise, I'd either have to extensively disassemble the bike to stow it overhead or he could have tossed me off the train at the next stop.