As I understand it, Amtrak tickets become refundable if Amtrak cancels your train. Before I follow up with them, I just wanted to see if my understanding is correct, given this somewhat convoluted sequence of events:

1. In December 2021, I purchased a ticket for a one-way journey in January 2022 using my credit card. This original ticket was non-refundable.
2. Later that month, I changed the ticket to a week later, which required an additional fare collection that I put on the same credit card.
3. In January 2022, I changed the ticket again, this time to February 2022, as an even exchange.
4. Later that month, I changed the ticket once again, to April 2022. This actually resulted in a fare decrease, which was issued to a new voucher.
5. Finally, in April 2022, I changed the ticket one last time to this month. The new price was the same as the previous higher price, so I applied the voucher created on the most recent exchange.
6. Then, Amtrak canceled my train two days before departure, rescheduling me on a later train. At this point I'd pretty much given up on this trip.

Online, the only option was to refund to a voucher, though the full amount without any penalty was offered. As I didn't want to no-show for the later train I wasn't going to take, I went ahead and canceled the trip. The voucher says the "Refundable Amount" is $0.00. It also says the expiration date is Jan 28 2023, which doesn't make sense since "An eVoucher will expire one year after issuance". I guess it picked up the date from the decreased fare at the end of January?

So given all the above, can I expect Amtrak to just refund the ticket, or at least reissue a voucher that's good for a full year?

Call and see. You probably could have gotten refunded had you called, the agents can do things that are not options on the website.

I think chances are fairly good you can get the voucher extended to a year after issuance. Not so optimistic about getting a refund since you already accepted a voucher, but maybe. Call.

Note also that under some circumstances when phone agents can't do something, the Office of Customer relations at [email protected] can.

I realize I never followed up on this, but I eventually called Customer Relations which extended the voucher date without issue. (I didn't push for the refund because I'll use the voucher later this year, just after the initial short expiration would have expired.)

Thanks for the advice.

I have a similar issue: using an eVoucher to pay for a ticket, and then having the train cancelled.

If I call Amtrak, can I definitely get a refund? I don�t want a new eVoucher.

Thanks.

If Amtrak cancels the train, you've got a full refund coming, if you want. BUT, do not depend on the website. You may well have to call them, since, as noted above, agents can do things the website can't.

Amtrak general refund policy--including for no-fee fully refundable tickets such as Acela First Class--is that refunds are always to the original form of payment. If this is the policy applicable to a refund for an Amtrak-canceled train, then your refund would be in the form of a new eVoucher if you paid for the ticket on the canceled train with an eVoucher. Whether an Amtrak agent would be willing to waive this general rule and give you a cash or credit card refund on a ticket paid for with an eVoucher is an open question, but I would not be particularly optimistic.