Amtrak Guest Rewards - select+ certs on acela

I just recieved my select plus package and have a question about the certificates inside.

Is the companion pass usable for Acela trips?
If yes can the upgrades be used for both me and the companion.

thanks.

The companion pass is good for only coach seating. Since Acela considers the regular seating to be Business Class seating, the companion voucher is not valid on that train.

And you definitely cannot use the free upgrade coupon even if the companion voucher was good, as the free upgrade requires that you pay full fare without discounts. A free seat would be considered a discount. This also means that one cannot book the free companion on a Regional, and then use the free upgrade to get to business class on the Regional.

Mind you on the NEC, with Acela first class available, using the free upgrade to BC on a Regional would be a waste of money,

The companion pass is good for only coach seating. Since Acela considers the regular seating to be Business Class seating, the companion voucher is not valid on that train.


Actually I've had no problems using the companion passes with Acela, but you have the same restriction as booking Acela with points... ie not valid for Acela trains departing from start of business to 8:59am and from 2pm-5:59pm. ONCE I got a clueless agent who let me book a 7am outbound so you might get lucky. .

You definitely cannot use the upgrade coupon on a free ticket of any kind, have tried many times :)

I once got lucky and found a TA at WAS who let me use coupons to upgrade a pair of free Acela tickets from the B3G1 promo! Never hurts to try.

IIRC I have also used the companion voucher for (off-peak) Acela BC tickets.

Haven't tried both together though ;)

ivk5

The companion pass is good for only coach seating. Since Acela considers the regular seating to be Business Class seating, the companion voucher is not valid on that train.


Negatron. The companion voucher that comes with the S+ package is absolutely valid for Acela business class. I just used one over July 4th weekend. I also was able to upgrade both of us to first by paying the accommodation charge, as permitted by the fine print on the rear of the voucher.