Amtrak Redemption on Day of
Jan 13, 2016, 2:23 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,913
Amtrak Redemption on Day of
Hello,
I was going to be in NYC in March and have breakfast with family and then just call the Rewards line the day of on the way to Penn Station to use my points for the next Regional train to WAS. I think the beauty of using points is the flexibility to go on any train. Anyways, I know Amtrak rewards has gone through changes and when I do this in a couple months has anything changed where I am unable to do this the day of or something requiring me to redeem in advance and have to pick a time with the new changes?
I was going to be in NYC in March and have breakfast with family and then just call the Rewards line the day of on the way to Penn Station to use my points for the next Regional train to WAS. I think the beauty of using points is the flexibility to go on any train. Anyways, I know Amtrak rewards has gone through changes and when I do this in a couple months has anything changed where I am unable to do this the day of or something requiring me to redeem in advance and have to pick a time with the new changes?
Jan 13, 2016, 3:42 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 311
The beauty used to be that you could redeem any train at the same point value, even if it was leaving that day and thus the most expensive bucket available. Sadly, it's going to cost you a lot of points if you book it that day. Personally, I'd book sooner at a lower point value and just wait at Penn Station, but you may have tons of points to burn.
Jan 13, 2016, 5:26 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: n.y.c.
Posts: 13,988
The beauty used to be that you could redeem any train at the same point value, even if it was leaving that day and thus the most expensive bucket available. Sadly, it's going to cost you a lot of points if you book it that day. Personally, I'd book sooner at a lower point value and just wait at Penn Station, but you may have tons of points to burn.
Jan 14, 2016, 7:37 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,913
I'm confused one person says there are no changes but other messages saying that the # of points are based on the value of the ticket now and its best to buy early instead the day of like before when all the trains were 4K?
Jan 14, 2016, 8:08 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: n.y.c.
Posts: 13,988
The price of award tickets is changing, now based on the actual cost rather than a flat 4,000 points.
Jan 14, 2016, 8:33 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 311
I'm just going on my experience that for that particular trip the day of, pretty much all the fares will be over $116. I checked today for NYP-WAS as an example, and there are just two trains below that amount. But YMMV with city pair and date of travel, of course.