Take Advantage of Amtrak’s New Fares to Book Your Vacation
Although trains were once the dominant mode of transportation in the United States, everything changed with the advent of the automobile and later air travel. Companies merged, routes closed, and traveling by rail became expensive and inconvenient.
Most of these problems remain, but Amtrak may be slowly moving in the right direction: The company recently announced lower prices and more flexible fares. Here’s what you need to know before you book your holiday.
How has Amtrak’s fare structure changed?
According to Amtrak , the company’s new fare structure, launched this week, is the result of “extensive customer research” and an attempt to “better meet customer needs.”
In short, there are now two types of fares – replacing the previous three categories – and this should make the booking process more consistent and less confusing. Two new tariff categories:
- Flexible : Tickets are fully refundable if canceled and can be changed prior to departure without additional charges, however if the new fare is higher the customer must pay the difference.
- Cost : Cheaper than Flex tickets but cannot be changed, although customers receive a 75% refund if a ticket is cancelled.
So how much money can you save? Amtrak offered this example of a one-way trip between Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia:
Before the new fare structure, the cheapest ticket was $19 and the only flexible ticket was $127. Currently, the cheapest ticket is $18, and flexible tickets start at $20 (but go up from there).
Regardless of fare type, any refunds for credit card purchases will now be issued to the original form of payment rather than an Amtrak eVoucher. There will also be occasional sales, with fares offered at even greater discounts than usual. However, these tickets cannot be changed and if you decide to cancel them, you will only receive a 50% refund.
The new fare structure and its updated cancellation and refund policies cannot be applied to Amtrak tickets booked before this week’s launch.