USA By Train Q and A: The Ticketing and Rail Passes

This article gathers together some of the most popular questions regarding rail travel in the USA, as an alternative to asking Sam.
It's also been published to provide an additional resource for Sam to target.    

Are seat reservations available on Amtrak trains?

On the majority of its routes and services Amtrak's seat reservation policy differs to how reservations are managed in Europe.
On European trains a reservation is issued for specific places on the train, passengers head to their assigned seat when boarding.
However, on Amtrak services this assigning of specific seats is only available when travelling on these services:

• When booking First Class to travel by the Acela services, you will choose the specific seat(s) in which you wish to travel.
• When booking Business Class on the Acela, the Northeast Regional, the Carolinian, and the Vermonter services you can opt to select specific seats.
• When booking either type of Private Room, a Bedroom or a Roomette, on a sleeper train, you will be assigned specific accommodation.

When travelling in Business Class on the other daytime services which offer it, and in Coach class (2nd class / Standard Class ) on trains with reserved seats - which includes the seating accommodation on all night trains, you won’t be assigned specific seats, or be able to select them.
But the number of tickets made available per departure  won’t exceed the number of seats, so you can be sure that a seat will be available when you board - However, you may need to move through the train when boarding, to find the available seats

Hence you can only travel on the specific departure selected when booking and this is why Amtrak refers to tickets as reservations - a place for you is guaranteed on that particular train.

On a limited number of comparatively short-distance routes: including the Pacific Surfliner; Los Angeles ↔ San Diego and the Capital Corridor; San Jose ↔  Auburn via San Francisco and Sacramento, the trains are ‘unreserved’.
Unreserved coach tickets allow you to take an earlier or later train, or even ride at a later date, without having to make a change to the reservation.
Your ticket is valid for travel between the listed station pair up to one year from the date of the reservation (with certain restrictions).
However, there is therefore a very small possibility that seats won’t be available when boarding these services.

How far ahead can tickets (reservations) be booked for train travel in the USA?

Reservations can be made up to 11 months in advance of travel.

How to save money when booking tickets for train travel in the USA?

The six things most worth knowing about purchasing Amtrak tickets at the cheapest possible price:

1: Amtrak doesn’t offer a permanent specific type of heavily discounted ticket -  an equivalent of the types of ticket commonly available in limited numbers for European trains, which can be more than 50% cheaper than the standard rates.

2: Instead it offers occasional promotions on specific routes and services, which are branded as ‘Sale Fares’ - And these are also the only types of ticket released in limited numbers per departure; when available.

3: Two types of ticket are typically available for travel in Coach Class (1) Flex and (2) Value, with the Value price being cheaper, though seemingly, the discount is typically less than $10.
Though if you’re booking months ahead, the Value tickets may be a false economy, as they can’t be transferred to another departure, if your travel plans subsequently change.
If you need to cancel the trip completely only 75% of the cost of Value fares will be refunded.
The more expensive Flex tickets live up to their name, as they can be both fully refunded and are changeable, so can be transferred to alternative departures.

4: Though the core method of saving money when travelling on Amtrak’s trains is to book ahead.
In particular avoid booking on the date of travel, as prices will typically be more than double the cheapest price that was offered for the journey.
Having looked up more than 50 tickets on 20 routes, on 78% of these journeys the cheapest ticket price was available when booking 6-10 months ahead -  But on 47% of these journeys, the cheapest prices could still be booked only two months ahead.
However Amtrak evidently applies a dynamic pricing model which reacts to demand, so evidently on a few of the long-distance route prices which had risen, had then subsequently been reduced further in the week prior to departure.
Though conversely either type of Private Room on the long-distance sleeper trains can sell out completely on the most popular trains, weeks ahead of the travel date.

5: Also due to the dynamic prices, when there is a choice of departures per day, the most popular trains will be more expensive than other departures leaving at different times of day.

6: Hence the core advice is to take a look at a range of departures on other dates or times, in order to get an idea of whether the price being offered for your departure is comparatively cheap.

Are there any permanent deals and offers available for Amtrak trains?

Amtrak offers these discounts:

• Children aged 2-12 years of age.
• travelers aged 65 years and over are eligible to receive a 10% discount on most rail fares on most Amtrak trains.
• Amtrak offers a 10% rail fare discount to adult passengers with a disability.
• Amtrak Share Fares for group travel

What is the child ticket policy on Amtrak trains?

All children 2-12 years of age may travel at 50% off the adult fare.
To take advantage of this offer, select at least one "Adult" as your Traveler type and at least one "Child" when booking using the widget above.
Your discount will apply automatically.

One infant under the age of two may ride free with each passenger paying an adult fare. Free infants ride on the lap of the adult.
Additional infants per adult travel at the child fare.

Child and infant discounts are automatically applied when adding travelers to your booking – no promotion code needed.
Children age 12 and under may not travel unaccompanied.
They must travel with another person who is at least 18 years old.
(A minor who is 16 or 17, who is a parent to children of any age, may bring those children without restriction. The 16- or 17-year-old must bring proof that he or she is the parent of the children).

What is the ticket policy for Seniors on Amtrak trains?

Travelers 65 years of age and over are eligible to receive a 10% discount on most rail fares on most Amtrak trains - but this does not apply to Business class on non-Acela services, First class on Acela or the Private Rooms on the overnight trains.

(On cross-border services operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada, a 10% Senior discount is applicable to travelers aged 60 and over).

The valid proof of age is required when purchasing your ticket and on board the train.
Note that the discounted price won’t be shown when looking up the list of departures, the discount will only be applied once the selected train has been added to the shopping cart and after the Date of Birth is added when making a booking.
Date of birth = Month / Day / Year

Are there discounts available when travelling in a group?

Share Fares are available on Coach seats on most Amtrak routes, including Northeast Regional, Empire Builder, Auto Train, Downeaster, Palmetto and California Zephyr.
The offer is also available in Acela Business Class.
Tickets must be booked at least two days in advance, the discount is automatically applied when booking on Amtrack.com, and the code V291 can be used when booking on the Amtrak app.

Are there discounts available for passengers with a disability?

 Amtrak offers a 10% rail fare discount to adult passengers with a disability.
Child passengers with a disability are eligible for the everyday 50% child discount plus an additional 10% off the discounted child's fare, regardless of the service on which they travel.

Amtrak also offers a 10% discount for persons traveling with a passenger with a disability as a companion.
Those designated as a companion must be capable of providing the necessary assistance to the passenger with a disability.

Can tickets be exchanged to an alternative departure?

Amtrak talks up the freedom ‘to make quick and easy changes to existing reservations that were made online, through the Amtrak App or in a station’.
However, Value or Sale tickets to travel in Coach class are not changeable.

Business Class fares and First Class for travel on the Acela and in Private Rooms (Roomettes and Bedrooms) on the Sleeper trains, along with all Flex tickets, are exchangeable to alternative dates and departures without the need to pay any additional fees.

When a passenger requests to change travel plans due to an illness and upon presentation of a doctor’s note Amtrak will waive fare change and cancellation policies that would have normally applied.
This waiver will apply to all persons in the ill passenger’s party.

Also note that subject to applicable cancellation policies, all tickets are non-changeable after departure – this is deemed by Amtrak as the ‘no show policy’.

Can tickets be refunded?

All types of ticket can be refunded.

However, subject to applicable cancellation policies, all fares are non-refundable after departure – the ‘no show policy’.
For all reservations / reserved fares a full refund will be issued to the original form of payment if the ticket is canceled within 24 hours of the time of purchase and prior to the scheduled departure.
Tickets for unreserved services must be canceled within 1 hour of purchase.

After these time limits, if you have booked a Value ticket you will receive 75% of the price paid if the trip is cancelled, but you will receive only 50% if you book Sales tickets.
Business Class fares and First Class for travel on the Acela, and all Flex tickets are fully refundable.
When Private Rooms have been booked on the sleeper trains, cancellation fees vary based on time before departure.

Note that tickets are void If the passenger receipt is detached or if presented for passage by any person(s) other than the individual or party for whom they were originally purchased, unless authorized by fare code rules.

Is there a rail pass which can be used by visitors to the USA?

A USA Rail Pass enables 10 rides (segments) to be taken in Coach Class over a 30 day period.
Note that when a journey involves connections between more than one train, each train taken is considered a separate ride (segment).

Also note that due to the restriction to travel in Coach class, USA Rail Pass holders cannot travel on the Acela trains, or in the Private Rooms on the overnight trains.
Therefore the only option for travel on the overnight trains is to travel in the seats which comprise the Coach Class accommodation on these services.

Passengers traveling with a USA Rail Pass on reserved and unreserved services will need to confirm their intended trip prior to boarding, which can be done on Amtrak.com and the app, once a pass has been booked.
Though trip confirmations cannot be booked more than 14 days prior to departure - though a limited number of seats will be set aside for pass users on each train.
However, if by the time you book, these seats have all been claimed, you cannot then board that train with a USA Rail Pass.
So mark 14 days ahead in your calendar and book as soon as possible - though note that you will need to revisit the website or app,to book your subsequent journeys.

An unused rail pass is fully refundable if requested within the pass validity period (120 days) and no segments have been booked.
If you have booked travel, your pass is also fully refundable up to 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure of the first booked segment.
A 25% cancellation fee applies if the refund request is made inside 48 hours of scheduled departure of the first booked segment.
The pass is non-refundable following the scheduled departure of the first booked segment.

What else is good to know about the USA Rail Pass?

Don’t opt for a pass until you have looked up the Coach Class ticket prices for the journeys you are considering.
On the train services on which the USA Pass is available, Coach class fares are comparatively cheap.
When travelling on the multi-day longest routes, such as those between Chicago and the Pacific Coast, journeys in the Coach class seats typically cost less than $150.
Hence when taking a lengthy itinerary such as Chicago → San Francisco → Seattle → Chicago, don’t assume that the USA Rail Pass will be a cheaper option.

Also keep in mind the City Pairs restriction, which caps the use of the pass to two roundtrips (four one-way trips) between the same two stations, as well as all intermediate destinations on the route.
So, for example, you couldn’t opt to base yourself in New York and take day trips to both Washington DC and Philadelphia and then use the pass to move on from New York, by taking a train from the city to somewhere beyond Philadelphia or Washington - you’ll need to buy a ticket for the section of that third journey between New York and Philadelphia.