jackal

I don't think iloveipods' post was in response to yours--his thread title was "V856 blackout dates", so I think he was just posting for general information.

There are no specific discounts for BWI to NYP, but if you look under the National Promotions section, you'll see the generic AAA, etc. discounts.

the_traveler

However, something what you could do is get a ticket from BWI to SPG using V856 (on something like the Vermonter) - and get off at NYP!

But the cost savings between BWI-NYP (using AAA for 10% off) and BWI-SPG (using V856 for 20% off) is only a few cents! (Using a random date, the cost would be high $54.xx instead of low $55.xx! )

jendershot

Hi Everyone!
I am taking my boys on a cross country trip from LAX to New Orleans to Atlanta at the end of March.
Last week the fare ended up being a bit over $760, now its almost $850!!!!

Do fares change a lot?

Will there be any kids ride free codes?
Anyway for a companian ticket?

Its like I missed all the codes for the time we are going....

We do belong to AAA, but I am just hoping for more than 10% as we could use any break we can get!

Thanks!

soitgoes

Hi!
Welcome to FT!

Amtrak fares don't change a whole lot, but availability does--there are multiple fare buckets, each with a corresponding fare. As the train fills up, the fares go up. If you have any flexibility with your travel dates, check the dates around your desired departure for pricing.

I assume you are aware of the 50% off railfare for up to 2 children ages 2-15 with the purchase of an adult ticket? http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...Page&c=am2Copy

jendershot

Yes, I know about the half off kids
Its just so expensive to travel with a whole family~
So I am just hoping something comes up~

I am not super flexible as the New Orleans route only runs 3 days a week and are headed to a wedding in NOLA and then to visit my husbands grandparents in Atlanta, so we have a lot of distance to cover in a limited amount of time!

I am sorry if that sounds difficult~~~ I am just hoping to figure something out!

the_traveler

Welcome to FT, jendershot!

My recommendation is to make your reservations ASAP - but do not pick up your tickets! The reason is that (as you found out), fares rise as the train fills up. Plus you may be taking a sleeper (based on your fare) - these are almost never discounted! And the Sunset Limited has only a certain number of sleepers available.

Just using your 2 fares as an example (and assuming they're coach fares), you had a fare of $760, but today the fare is $850. Assuming you found a discount giving 10% off, The fare would be $765. That is more than the "full fare" of a few days ago! And tomorrow or next week or whenever, you may not find the fare to be $850 - it may be $900 or $1000! (Or it may not be available at all!) Then even a 20% discount would be higher than the "full fare" of a few days ago!

hpmoon

That seems a bit negligible to me. Here's what works, and under many if not most circumstances, you can realize significant cost savings:

1. Make a round-trip reservation, scheduling at least one of the two legs of your trip on a Saturday or Sunday, and select the lowest fare. (In your case, that's $69.)

2. Select a dummy itinerary leg that departs or returns on the same day (and if the leg you want to keep is on a Saturday, you can schedule the dummy leg to return on Sunday departing before 11:00 a.m.). You need to do this because Amtrak's "Weekend Getaway" fares require a round-trip purchase within these parameters.

3. When you "View Fare," you will receive the Weekend Getaway fare for the round-trip itinerary. (In your case, $99.)

4. Go to an Amtrak station and print the tickets at a self-service kiosk.

5. Immediately thereafter, go to the ticket counter and return the dummy itinerary leg ticket, applying its purchase value to the desired one-way itinerary. You will receive a voucher for the remainder, good for one year.

I even did this on a round-trip itinerary for two, where one of the "dummy leg" replacements was to be purchased using reward points -- Amtrak will let you apply multiple vouchers for a single ticket purchase and will give you the remainder in credit that lasts for one year.

With my WAS-NYP itinerary, I saved about $40 on round-trip travel for two. The lowest available fares each way were $69, but using the Weekend Getaway fares for one leg, I saved $20 on each of the two one-way tickets.

fairviewroad

V448 is a 50-percent discount on a companion ticket.

"The "Mardi Gras St. Louis 2008 Fare" is available through the Amtrak website, toll-free reservation number, staffed Amtrak stations or select travel agents. The V448 fare code must be used by February 9 and the discount is for travel every day with three-day advance purchase from now through February 12."

Source:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...04079&ssid=180

The code appears to be good for traveling to St. Louis from any direction.

fairviewroad

50% off companion ticket on Missouri service (STL-Kansas City and points between) using code V665.

Source:

http://modot.mo.gov/othertransportat...Jan08Jun08.pdf

It says "restrictions apply", but it doesn't specify them. Based on a few dummy bookings, the restrictions appear to be the standard holiday blackout dates, plus a 3-day advance purchase requirement.

captainslack

Hi, everybody!

My wife & I are planning to take our first train trip to NYC in mid-April. We'll be coming from North Carolina. Anyone know of any codes that might help us out on the fare? We've got AAA, but anything else would be great!

Thanks!

fp75

Hi!!

My husband and I are planning to visit my family in Atlanta, I am currently in Washington DC, anyone know of any codes for that line? we are planning to travel the weekend of February 22, we have the AAA 10%, but if we could use something else, will be great!

Thank you in advance

jendershot

My trip isnt even for sleeper cars!
(omg! i wish, but that would be closer to $1800)


What happens if I make a reservation and then a discount code appears?
(like free child tickets or something?)
Can I canel and re-make reservations?

jackal

Welcome to FlyerTalk, folks! We're glad you stopped by. Please feel free to take a look at some of the other aspects of our community while you're here. I hope you find us an engaging bunch, since we all love to talk travel!

Unfortunately, I don't have specific codes memorized, but have you checked post #1 in this thread (back on page 1)? All currently-known discount codes are listed in that post (ByeByeDelta, the Amtrak forum moderator and creator of this thread, updates it every time someone posts or lets him know of a new code). If you don't find anything there, the AAA discounts you mentioned are probably your best bet. Because Amtrak's fare bucket structure is very simple, fares go up strictly based on how many bookings are made for a particular train. Your best bet is to book ASAP, since the fares can only go up and never down (unless there's a rash of cancellations, which rarely happens). If you do wait for a discount to appear, any potential savings of the discount will likely be wiped out by the higher fare--a 15% discount does nothing for a fare that's 25% higher!

You certainly can. Amtrak offers 100% exchange credit towards a new booking or a 90% cash refund--unless you have not had your tickets physically issued yet (i.e. gone down to the station and picked them up or had them mailed to you), in which case you can also get a 100% cash refund, too! (If canceling and rebooking with a discount code, it's usually easiest to not have your tickets physically issued, cancel the reservation online, get a refund, and make a new booking with a separate charge on your card, as long as your credit limit can hold the two charges until your refund posts! (Exchanges are a bit more of a hassle--they may be able to be handled on the phone or you may be required to go down to a station and have an agent issue you a physical voucher--I'm not sure, as I've only done it once and I did it at a station.)

But as I indicated above, book now and then wait for a discount code to appear. Even a great discount like a free child doesn't do much good if the fare's double what it was before! (I'm not sure how much difference there is between Amtrak's lowest fare bucket and highest fare bucket for a given route--I don't think it's double, but it could be...and free kid promotions are pretty rare!)

HeHateY

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AlanB

The coach fare on the Sunset Limited from LA to New Orleans can range from a low of $133 per seat to a high of $261. That's not quite double, but it only misses by 5 bucks so I'd say that it could easily be considered double.

And that's just one example based upon one of the routes that Jendershot is planning to travel on. Most other routes have a variance that is close to double, if not double when one is riding over the full length of the route. Some are more than double, like the Empire Builder which can range from a low of $145 to a high of $318.