Are the V### discount codes for AMTRAK travel good (ever? sometimes?) for stops between the listed origin/destination stations?

If not, and the math works in your favor, can you book to the valid destination and just get off at the earlier station you actually want (reversing that for the return trip)?

Thanks. Replies appreciated.

1. Sometimes.

2. Yes. (Just make sure that, on the return, the station at which you want to board accepts passengers. On some trains, certain stations are for passenger discharge only, and you might have trouble boarding those trains at those stations.) There is also a recent thread related to the question you posed:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=859961

Thanks. The other thread appears to be a bit different. The poster was, if I'm not mistaken, inquiring about doing something similar, but with a regular ticket (using Continental Elite points).

My question concerns a similar circumstance, but using a 'special' (such as a 'Weekend Getaway') ticket, which might have different rules concerning getting on/off at intermediate stations.

Also, re: "Sometimes," is there a way of knowing in advance whether a V###-coded ticket will be accepted (for intermediate station embarking/disembarking)? Does the offer have to explicitly state that, or can it be assumed to be allowed if not explicitly prohibited?

(I realize that any rules about 'disembarking' would be hard to enforce, so it's more a matter of whether a conductor will object to the use, e.g., of a Boston-New York ticket by someone who gets on at, e.g., Mystic, CT.)

Trial and error. If the discount code can be used in conjunction with an online booking, try it for your desired city pair and see if it works; if the code cannot be used online, call Amtrak and see if the code will be accepted for your desired city pair.

Note: there are some discount offers that, rather than being valid to or from a particular city, are valid over the length of an entire route. Currently, there is a 20% discount code valid on Empire Service and the Adirondack in New York State, valid for travel between any two cities served by these routes.

Many times they are (but not always). Also if it says "You must call ...", it probably won't!
As long as you don't check baggage, or have a sleeper on the return.

Example #1 - you buy a ticket on the CL from CHI-WAS, but plan to get off in PGH. I don't think you could check your bag just CHI-PGH, because your ticket says you're going to WAS!

Example #2 - You buy tickets for CHI-WAS-CHI, but again you get off in PGH. You have a sleeper on the return. When the room is unoccupied after departure in WAS, the room may be sold for an onboard upgrade to someone. So when you board in PGH, you may find that you have no room!