Amtrak train info w/pics!All Aboard-Choo-choo!UPDATED

[Teacher03]

Do you shop through the Amtrak site, or how, to get the points?

Yes, go to the Amtrak Guest Rewards site and click on shopping. It will list, for example, clothing, and then list all the stores you can shop. It takes you right to the store's website. I did much of my Christmas shopping from there. Just make sure you are logged in through Amtrak. It took about 7 weeks to have the points credited.

 

[rockydek]

We love the train! We also have been using the Amtak guest reward program and the CC to get points.It saves you alot of money.
The Amtrak employees are always friendly and helpful.
The earlier you book (11 months out) is least expensive.
Also...when we head to Disney we get off the train in Orlando...Plenty of taxis waiting around...However when we head home we get on in Kissimmee as the train stop is not crowded and you will almost always get seats next to each other...You will notice the difference when you arrive in Orlando and your bags and seats have already been secured. Just a little something my husband thoght of years ago when we traveled with the kids. Less chaotic.
You will have to buy your tickets each way and not round trip.
Nice report Lisa-upnorth!

 

[lisa-upnorth]

Thanks everyone Glad to offer train help!! It is soooo much better than driving or flying down!

Also--Thanks for the info on shopping thru the amtrak site for more points-I did not know about this Now I can justify my shopping better

Can't wait to head to WDW in 2013 to see all the renovations!!!!!

 

[sorul82?]

.However when we head home we get on in Kissimmee as the train stop is not crowded and you will almost always get seats next to each other.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Miffy]

Dear Pepe (my Amtrak Guru!) and other Amtrak Experts:

Are you and your wife both enrolled in Amtrak Guest Rewards?

I'm trying to figure out how this works with a couple, i.e., if we book the reservation together, are the AGR points awarded individually? And, if they are, how does Amtrak split up the money spent (since it'll all be on one person's cc) and the amount for the roomette, which we decided to book? Are the points all awarded to one person?

I'm not sure that my question is any clearer than my non-understanding of how the program works!

I saw somewhere else (don't remember where) that if you book an Amtrak trip and the fares go down and you notify them of this, they'll issue a refund. Yes? No?

I think we're going to book the trip pretty soon, since I gather that the prices go up as the travel dates get nearer, and--correct me if I'm wrong on this, please--as long as the tickets aren't printed, the cost is fully refundable if cancelled.

Thanks a million, and again, many thanks to all the knowledgeable and friendly people on this thread.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Dear Pepe (my Amtrak Guru!) and other Amtrak Experts:

Are you and your wife both enrolled in Amtrak Guest Rewards?

I'm trying to figure out how this works with a couple, i.e., if we book the reservation together, are the AGR points awarded individually? And, if they are, how does Amtrak split up the money spent (since it'll all be on one person's cc) and the amount for the roomette, which we decided to book? Are the points all awarded to one person?

I'm not sure that my question is any clearer than my non-understanding of how the program works!

I saw somewhere else (don't remember where) that if you book an Amtrak trip and the fares go down and you notify them of this, they'll issue a refund. Yes? No?

I think we're going to book the trip pretty soon, since I gather that the prices go up as the travel dates get nearer, and--correct me if I'm wrong on this, please--as long as the tickets aren't printed, the cost is fully refundable if cancelled.

Thanks a million, and again, many thanks to all the knowledgeable and friendly people on this thread.

Yes, both wife and I have a Rewards account.....points are from trip miles.....not split, we each get the same total value in each of our accounts.

As far as refunds, if you have your tickets sent to you and fares go down (which I've never seen in over 20 trips) it will cost you, I believe, 50 dollars for reticketing. If you're picking up tickets at station you can change with no fee. Really not sure on what I stated, we never run into those problems....the further out you book, the cheaper and closer to departure the fares go up. We book as far out as we can...use AAA discount and go with that.

As I say...if we're palnning on a fall trip to WDw, we book the train now...each month goes buy and more tickets are sold, the prices go up and up. And as far as my knowledge, if the tickets aren't printed...full refund.

I know from past experiences....we always have our tickets sent to us (our station of pick up has no office) when we hit DC and can make the earlier out train to Kissimmee, it will cost us to reticket, I believe 50.00 per ticket which we feel is okay, since we get to leave DC without the 6 hour lay over and get into WDW 4 hours sooner....I'll pay anything to get to WDW quicker and earlier.

 

[Miffy]

Pepe --

The Amtrak FAQs on the reward program--which wasn't working when I tried to look this morning--says that they award 2 points for every dollar spent on travel, so maybe the program is different for new members.

We're going to buy the tickets very soon. Our trip's in December. There's a 15% discount code by using the Orlando Magicard (I saw this on an Amtrak discount site), so I think that's what we'll use. We don't have AAA. We're in NYC, so we'll hold off on getting the tickets and I'll stop by Penn Station the day before we leave to print them out.

Many many thanks.

 

[GetGlowing]

When you book your tickets online, there is a place to enter a rewards # for each traveler individually so both you and your husband will get credit for the trip.

 

[lisa-upnorth]

Hello again Pepe!!
I am getting ready to purchase tickets (using my NEW amtrak credit card!!) for our next trip in May. There will be 3 of us going. I have gotten us each our own reward acct. Am I correct in understanding that I should have 3 separate transactions for each ticket-one under each member-to get the points. I will enter each person's reward # when ordering their ticket. OR can I just use my acct # and order all 3 Which would get my acct the most points. Since the 3 of us will always travel together, I can be the one to redeem the points for future travel for all of us?? Can I only use my points to buy a ticket with my name on it in the future? It has me a wee bit confused and I am usually great with this stuff Thanks again for your help!! Lisa

 

[pepe of ohio]

Hello again Pepe!!
I am getting ready to purchase tickets (using my NEW amtrak credit card!!) for our next trip in May. There will be 3 of us going. I have gotten us each our own reward acct. Am I correct in understanding that I should have 3 separate transactions for each ticket-one under each member-to get the points. I will enter each person's reward # when ordering their ticket. OR can I just use my acct # and order all 3 Which would get my acct the most points. Since the 3 of us will always travel together, I can be the one to redeem the points for future travel for all of us?? Can I only use my points to buy a ticket with my name on it in the future? It has me a wee bit confused and I am usually great with this stuff Thanks again for your help!! Lisa

We book both our tickets, each name on each ticket (because we have to each sign them to be accepted on board) through one credit card. We then have our points (which are identical since we travel together) applied to our Rewards Account (we each have one). Sometimes we use my points for an up grade on certain legs of our trip ( since you only use points once for the pair of us) and then on another trip we'll use hers for the up grade, this keeps our points about equal in total. But we hardly use them that way but shoot for the up grade once on board and take the conductor special (40-50% off pre-booking a sleeper. We also don't want the sleeper for the whole trip....we're fine in coach the whole way but sometimes the sleeper is fine from DC to Kissimmee, first leg for us is Ohio to DC and that's thru the day....

I am not sure if you can gift points to another family member...quick call to Amtrak can resolve that question...but I don't see why not. Also, if you get another person to join the Rewards program, and they travel 90 days from joining, you each get a 500 point bonus...it's in the Reward section, along with the CC to get a huge bunch of points after the first use and first travel

I know of one trip, somehow wife had more points than me and went down for free and I had to pay...go figure but I don't keep close tabs on the points. If you find any info out from Amtrak, that differs from what I now, please post.....we're frequent Amtrak users...

 

[lisa-upnorth]

Thanks for the reply!! I did see about 'inviting' others to join and getting the extra points. I am on it and inviting friends and family!

Thanks again! We head to DC in May for 4 days. We can't wait because usually we are just going thru on our way to the Mouse House but this time we will get to enjoy DC!!We get on the train in Albany NY, then to Penn,then to DC (or WDW!!)

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Happy trails on the rails!!!!!

 

[Teacher03]

We book both our tickets, each name on each ticket (because we have to each sign them to be accepted on board) through one credit card. We then have our points (which are identical since we travel together) applied to our Rewards Account (we each have one). Sometimes we use my points for an up grade on certain legs of our trip ( since you only use points once for the pair of us) and then on another trip we'll use hers for the up grade, this keeps our points about equal in total. But we hardly use them that way but shoot for the up grade once on board and take the conductor special (40-50% off pre-booking a sleeper. We also don't want the sleeper for the whole trip....we're fine in coach the whole way but sometimes the sleeper is fine from DC to Kissimmee, first leg for us is Ohio to DC and that's thru the day....

I am not sure if you can gift points to another family member...quick call to Amtrak can resolve that question...but I don't see why not. Also, if you get another person to join the Rewards program, and they travel 90 days from joining, you each get a 500 point bonus...it's in the Reward section, along with the CC to get a huge bunch of points after the first use and first travel

I know of one trip, somehow wife had more points than me and went down for free and I had to pay...go figure but I don't keep close tabs on the points. If you find any info out from Amtrak, that differs from what I now, please post.....we're frequent Amtrak users...

I just wanted to add that you can transfer points between users, but I think you have to pay a small fee. If I remember correctly, you can transfer in increments of 1,000 for $10.00. I don't know if this has been mentioned, but you can also transfer points from other reward programs.

 

[NJGirl]

When you check out on the amtrak site...you can list each traveler and their rewards number and do it all in one transaction. you will each earn the points for your individual tix in your account. You can't earn the points for the other family member...only your ticket. You can, as noted by the poster above, transfer points btwn AGR accounts for a 10 dollar fee if you need to combine for a redemption.

 

[solstice621]

Thanks for telling me about this thread Lisa-UpNorth (from another Adirondacker...I'm originally from there)
Lots of great info here. I haven't been able to read through it all, but 2 questions come to mind after reading a bit.
1- Someone said if you get on at a certain stop you are more likely to get e seat together. There is no guarantee on this? We have 2 little kids and obviously one of us would have to be with each of them. Getting seperated is not an option. (2 and 2 would be fine, though).
2 - What would I do with a car seat? Use it? Or would the train employees put it somewhere?

Thanks so much!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

Thanks for telling me about this thread Lisa-UpNorth (from another Adirondacker...I'm originally from there)
Lots of great info here. I haven't been able to read through it all, but 2 questions come to mind after reading a bit.
1- Someone said if you get on at a certain stop you are more likely to get e seat together. There is no guarantee on this? We have 2 little kids and obviously one of us would have to be with each of them. Getting seperated is not an option. (2 and 2 would be fine, though).
2 - What would I do with a car seat? Use it? Or would the train employees put it somewhere?

Thanks so much!!

Amtrak tries it's best to keep everyone together...you may be 2 and 2 behind one another or 2 by 2 across from each other...depends on the time of year but they won't separate families...haven't seen it happen on all our trips (20+)

Car seat can be stored in the rear of the car, there's some space there for such and luggage....if it's not huge, there's overhead storage shelf alone each side of the car. our experiences with Amtrak employees....you haul it, you store it and are responsible for it.....

 

[JrZoeLeahMom]

Which stop comes first Orlando or Kississimee?

Since my group is a large group I want to keep everyone together, so I think the idea of getting back on the train in Kississimee is a good one.

 

[lisa-upnorth]

Kiss is the stop closest to WDW and the lesser crowded. Have fun!

 

[pepe of ohio]

Which stop comes first Orlando or Kississimee?

Since my group is a large group I want to keep everyone together, so I think the idea of getting back on the train in Kississimee is a good one.

Train headed south from the north, Orlando is first and 20 minutes after comes Kissimmee and going north from the south...Kissimmee is first and Orlando is second. Orlando stop is a long one 30+ minutes easy and Kissimmee is short 10 minutes.....train blows in Kissimmee, loads and is away...waits for no ne so don't be late....Orlando the long stop....tons of people trying to board.....

 

[lisa-upnorth]

pepe-I used my guest rewards credit card today for the first time!!

Gotta start earning those points

 

[Disney Commando]

We are from NJ and travel most of the way via rail, we catch the Autotrain in Lorton VA, I find it the best way to go, by the time we get to VA my back is starting to act up

The great thing about it is you get to bring your car with you loaded with anything you want to bring, you get to Sanford Fl early in the A.M. and are 39 miles from WDW, you get there ready to go, not tired from the drive