Taking Later Trains
 

noobie question: On the Northeast Corridor (Regional /Downeaster / Acela) if I buy a ticket with AAA or other discount for like a 5pm train, can i take the 6pm train of the same type if i miss the 5pm train by going to the quicktrak machine and printing the ticket at 5:30pm for instance? Or would I have to cancel the ticket, get a refund, and buy a new one without the discount? thanks!

Once your booked train has passed its scheduled departure time, you will be unable to pick up the ticket from the QuickTrak machine.
You would need to buy a new ticket.

thanks

Also, if you miss the original train, and you are forced to buy a new ticket for the later train, you would not be able to use something like AAA. (Since there is a 3-day advance and 5:30 to 6:00 is less than 3 days! :()

Others have answered your original question, so I won't bother, but in the future if you have any concern at all about what train you might catch, just do the following: book your tickets in advance over the internet. The critical thing is to make sure you book each leg of your trip separately. That way, you can avoid printing out a ticket coupon until right before you get on the train (using Quik-Trak) and thus, if you find yourself with the need to change the train time, you can call 1-800-USA-RAIL and do the change over the phone before you get to the station. This avoids the (often huge) hassle of having to stand on line at the station ticket counter to change a paper ticket that you're already holding.