Amtrak Guest Rewards - Amtrak Reward Redemption Question

hello,

if i purchase an Amtrak ticket with rewards for a specific train, and i do not make the train or go on that train, can i still use my points for a different ticket?

What train will you be taking and will you be booked into a sleeper?

If you are traveling in coach, business, or F on Acela. You should be able to call AGR and ask them to change the ticket for you assuming there is space on the other train. If AGR is closed at the time you may have luck getting an agent at the station to swap out the tickets for you.

If you have enough points you may want to consider making two bookings. You can cancel the one and have the points redeposited for no fee when you get to your destination.

Sorry, I'll clarify.

I might be taking a short trip tomorrow and am not sure what happens if I buy the ticket but do not take a trip. can i use the points for a future trip or are they lost?

As long as your trip is not in a sleeper room, you can have your points returned to your account for free.

Since you are taking a short trip I am going to guess you are not using a sleeper, so you shouldn't have a problem. Simply call AGR and ask them to redeposit your points.

And Silly me, I forgot to Welcome you to FlyerTalk. Well I see you have been a member for a year and half so you're not new. So welcome to your first post!

Sorry, I'll clarify.

I might be taking a short trip tomorrow and am not sure what happens if I buy the ticket but do not take a trip. can i use the points for a future trip or are they lost?

As long as your trip is not in a sleeper room, you can have your points returned to your account for free.

Since you are taking a short trip I am going to guess you are not using a sleeper, so you shouldn't have a problem. Simply call AGR and ask them to redeposit your points.

And Silly me, I forgot to Welcome you to FlyerTalk. Well I see you have been a member for a year and half so you're not new. So welcome to your first post!


Okay, so if I do not take the train tomorrow, can I just call AGR and say "I will use it on a future trip" or will there be some sort of deadline or specific date needed on their end?

Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

And, yes I came to Flyertalk a long time ago, and sent a PM to someone. First post though.

Do not print out the ticket until you are sure that you will indeed take the train. If you print out the ticket, then you will have to mail it in to get the points back.

So make the reservation only and then don't pick up the ticket until your in the station and ready to ride. If the plans fall through, then call AGR and cancel the reservation.

I don't know if there is a technical deadline, as long as you call within a week or two you won't have a problem.

If you have enough points you may want to consider making two bookings. You can cancel the one and have the points redeposited for no fee when you get to your destination.

Sorry ClimbGuy, I do feel the need to comment:

Taking advantage of Amtrak's leniency on refund of rev/award tickets by holding multiple alternative bookings is frowned upon. This blocks the seats in Amtrak's inventory and prevents Amtrak from selling those seats to someone who actually intends to travel. If enough people do this, Amtrak may eventually have to crack down on duplicate bookings and/or tighten its refund policy to mitigate the impact to its load factors. This is particularly true in the Northeast where trains do sell out at periods of high demand.

For rev tickets, last-minute changes can be made at the station or by phone, and may involve paying a higher fare bucket, which is by design. For award tickets, changes may be readily made during AGR's call center hours (alas, only M-F, and sometimes after waiting on hold for non-S/S+).

[end thread hijack]

ivk5

I understand your point, and agree with what you are saying and think you have a solid point on rev tickets.

However as you point out it can involve a long hold time for non S/S+, which I am guessing the OP is since he is asking a newbie question. Plus with the total lack of integration of Amtrak and AGR you can't make changes outside AGR hours.

I have been lucky and sweet talked ClubAcela agents to make the changes for me. However this is time consuming and doesn't always work. If Amtrak had an easy way of switching award tickets to other trains I think this would solve the problem. If I haven't printed my ticket there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to change the reservation from a QuickTrak machine. Lines at NYP, PHL, & WAS can be so long that you could miss the next train waiting in line to try and talk an agent into bending the rules for you to make a change.

Sorry ClimbGuy, I do feel the need to comment:

Taking advantage of Amtrak's leniency on refund of rev/award tickets by holding multiple alternative bookings is frowned upon. This blocks the seats in Amtrak's inventory and prevents Amtrak from selling those seats to someone who actually intends to travel. If enough people do this, Amtrak may eventually have to crack down on duplicate bookings and/or tighten its refund policy to mitigate the impact to its load factors. This is particularly true in the Northeast where trains do sell out at periods of high demand.

For rev tickets, last-minute changes can be made at the station or by phone, and may involve paying a higher fare bucket, which is by design. For award tickets, changes may be readily made during AGR's call center hours (alas, only M-F, and sometimes after waiting on hold for non-S/S+).

[end thread hijack]

ivk5