This needs some clarification. As for the automatic refund, in the past I have had to call customer service to get a full refund to the original form of payment. That said, things may have changed and refunds may now be processed automatically.

As for printing the ticket, if you print the ticket in advance and want to return if for a refund to the original form of payment, you will have to pay a 10% fee. If you want to apply the value to a future ticket, you can do some without a fee.

I have made multiple bookings a few times in the past and never had any problems. It certainly isn't illegal, but may be it is against the TOS. I read through the TOS here: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten.../1237748590249

and can't find any reference to it.