Whether or not you need to lower your expenses on costly airline tickets or expertise a special mode of journey transportation, you would possibly contemplate taking the prepare. Whereas the American prepare system pales compared to many European and Asian prepare methods, it may well nonetheless supply a handy different to flying.
When you do determine to take the prepare in the US, Amtrak, which operates many of the medium- and long-haul passenger trains, provides its personal loyalty program to reward frequent prospects with free rides.
Maintain studying to search out out all the things it’s essential to know to maximise the Amtrak Visitor Rewards program, together with the way to earn factors, elite standing, lounge entry and extra.
What’s Amtrak Visitor Rewards?
Amtrak operates the overwhelming majority of intercity passenger rail routes within the U.S. From short-haul to cross-country routes, you may take the prepare to over 500 locations in 46 states and Canada. Amtrak’s fleet consists of a mixture of trains with commonplace coach, business-class and first-class seating, personal rooms, and auto trains.
If you wish to earn rewards in your prepare rides, your solely possibility is to credit score your factors to Amtrak’s personal Amtrak Visitor Rewards program. You earn and redeem factors based on ticket worth and seating class. Relying on how a lot you spend or how usually you journey in premium cabins, you might be able to earn considered one of three elite standing ranges.
Amtrak does not use an award chart however as an alternative costs its award tickets at a hard and fast valuation of about 2.67 cents per level.
Amtrak does not companion with any main transferable factors applications, resembling Chase Final Rewards or American Specific Membership Rewards. Nonetheless, Amtrak Visitor Rewards factors could be transferred to and from Viewers Rewards ShowPoints, which helps you to earn on ticket purchases to Broadway and different stay reveals.
More often than not, you may earn Amtrak Visitor Rewards factors for using trains or spending on cobranded bank cards, however there are a number of methods to earn and redeem throughout the program.
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earn Amtrak Visitor Rewards factors
There are numerous methods to earn Amtrak factors, together with ones that do not require you to depart your property. Amtrak factors expire after 24 months of inactivity, so make sure to preserve your factors lively with any qualifying exercise mentioned beneath.
Earn Amtrak factors by taking the prepare
The commonest approach to earn Amtrak factors is out of your paid prepare tickets. Members earn 2 factors per greenback spent, plus a 25% bonus for business-class journey and a 50% bonus for Acela Firstclass. You may as well earn a 500-point bonus for referring a pal to the Amtrak Visitor Rewards program.
Amtrak routinely provides promotions for discounted tickets and further factors. There’s usually no restrict to what number of bonus factors you may earn with these promotions, however registration is usually required.
Associated: An unique behind-the-scenes take a look at a couple of of an important Amtrak operations facilities
Earn Amtrak factors by means of companions
Amtrak additionally has a number of retail and specialty companions, resembling Teleflora, 1-800Flowers.com, NRG and Vinesse Wines, that allow you to earn bonus factors.
Amtrak even operates an internet buying portal, which provides as much as 14 factors per greenback spent at choose retailers.
You may as well purchase factors, however we sometimes solely advocate doing so when you’re simply in need of the factors you want for a particular award.
Switch factors to Amtrak
Whereas Amtrak does not companion with any main applications with transferable currencies like Chase or Amex, you may switch factors to and from Audiece Rewards ShowPoints. These factors could be transferred at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 each methods.
Earn factors with Amtrak bank cards
If you end up ceaselessly touring on Amtrak, you would possibly need to contemplate making use of for considered one of two cobranded bank cards issued by First Nationwide Financial institution of Omaha.
The no-annual-fee Amtrak Visitor Rewards® Mastercard® provides 12,000 factors after you spend $1,000 within the first three billing cycles of account opening.
In the meantime, the Amtrak Visitor Rewards® Most well-liked Mastercard® comes with a $99 annual price however provides 40,000 factors after you spend $2,000 within the first three billing cycles of account opening. This welcome bonus is valued at about $1,068, primarily based on Amtrak’s fastened award valuation of about 2.67 cents per level.
The knowledge for the Amtrak Visitor Rewards Mastercard and the Amtrak Visitor Rewards Most well-liked Mastercard has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
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This is a breakdown of every card’s advantages:
| Amtrak Visitor Rewards Mastercard | Amtrak Visitor Rewards Most well-liked Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings on Amtrak journey, together with onboard purchases | 2 factors per greenback spent | 3 factors per greenback spent |
| Further bonus earnings | 2 factors per greenback spent on eating | 2 factors per greenback spent on eating, journey, transit and rideshare |
| Earnings on all different purchases | 1 level per greenback spent in every single place else | 1 level per greenback spent in every single place else |
| Rebate on onboard meals and beverage purchases | 10% | 20% |
The Amtrak Visitor Rewards Most well-liked Mastercard features a round-trip companion coupon upon account opening and at every card anniversary, a one-class improve, a station lounge go and 1,000 tier qualifying factors for each $5,000 in qualifying purchases every calendar yr.
Each playing cards embrace a 5% rebate when redeeming Amtrak factors for journey and no international transaction charges. Factors do not expire on both card so long as the cardboard account stays open.
redeem Amtrak factors
Amtrak factors could be fairly helpful, and trying to find award area on Amtrak’s web site could be very simple. To seek for an award ticket, choose “Use Factors” within the higher right-hand nook.
Although Amtrak does not use a hard and fast award chart, very similar to Southwest Airways or JetBlue, the reward costs are roughly tied to the ticket’s money value, and you will get a hard and fast worth of about 2.67 cents per level.
Redeem factors for Amtrak prepare tickets
For instance, as an instance you need to e book a preferred prepare route, resembling this one from New York to Washington, D.C.
a pattern date in June, the usual Northeast Regional prepare begins at 750 factors for a coach seat or 3,113 factors in enterprise class. This corresponds to money costs of $20 for a coach ticket and $83 for a business-class ticket; due to this fact, you would be getting a hard and fast valuation of two.67 cents per level.
Amtrak runs dozens of trains on this route every day, with the worth various, relying on the kind of prepare (Acela versus Northeast Regional), fare class and departure time.
In case your journey time extends past a couple of hours, chances are you’ll think about using your factors to e book a non-public room on a few of Amtrak’s lengthier, extra scenic routes. For instance, you may e book this 46-hour journey from Chicago to Seattle. A sleeper compartment on this nonstop journey prices just below 37,000 factors versus $980 money.
When you’re interested in what 45 hours on a prepare seems like, ensure to take a look at TPG’s evaluation of the Superliner Roomette from Chicago to Portland, Oregon. Senior author Katie Genter booked the tickets on sale for $448 per individual for the one-way journey. In addition to the subpar eating expertise, she loved the scenic journey (although she admits that spending that lengthy on a prepare definitely is not for everybody).
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Redeem factors for non-train journey
Amtrak additionally provides you the choice to redeem your factors for different journey experiences, resembling inns, rental automobiles and cruises.
A $50 reward card for Airbnb, Accommodations.com, Uber or Disney will set you again 6,000 factors. Meaning Amtrak is valuing your factors at 0.83 cents apiece for these redemptions, which is subpar in comparison with the two.67 cents per level you may get when redeeming your factors for prepare journey.
Amtrak Visitor Rewards elite standing
Primary members earn 2 factors per greenback spent, plus a 25% bonus for business-class tickets and a 50% bonus on Acela first-class tickets. Amtrak Visitor Rewards Most well-liked Mastercard cardmembers can even earn 1,000 TQPs for each $5,000 spent on their card.
Perks for incomes elite standing with Amtrak Visitor Rewards are as follows:
| Choose | Choose Plus | Choose Govt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier qualifying factors wanted | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| Bonus factors on Amtrak journey | 25% | 50% | 100% |
| One-class upgrades | 2 | 4 | 4 (plus yet another with each further 3,000 TQPs) |
| Companion coupons | N/A | 2 | 2 |
| Entry to Amtrak lounges | 2 single-visit passes | Sure | Sure |
All elite tiers include two 10% low cost coupons, precedence name dealing with and unique provides. Choose Govt members are mechanically registered for promotions.
Associated: The whole information to Amtrak Visitor Rewards elite standing
Amtrak lounge entry
You will discover Metropolitan Lounges in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington. Amtrak additionally provides unstaffed ready rooms in New Orleans, St. Louis, St. Paul-Minneapolis and Wilmington, Delaware.
Entry is accessible to these with a same-day ticket and one of many following:
- Amtrak Visitor Rewards Choose Plus or Choose Govt elite standing
- Amtrak Visitor Rewards station lounge go
- First-class ticket
- Non-public-room ticket
- Enterprise-class passengers (Portland and St. Louis solely)
Enterprise-class passengers should purchase daypasses for lounge use for $35 at choose places — Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston — or spend $50 for a daypass to entry New York’s location. Pacific Surfliner business-class passengers have the choice to buy a $25 daypass for the lounge in Los Angeles.
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Backside line
Amtrak might not be fairly as widespread as airways within the U.S., however the firm is engaged on turning that round. Amtrak is usually a strong different to flying for a lot of quick journeys, particularly up and down the coasts.
Amtrak factors can be helpful, particularly for journeys the place the most cost effective tickets are already offered out.
