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The Offer
- Amtrak is offering 50% off coach and Acela business class fares
The Fine Print
- This offer is valid for 50% off Acela Business Class and coach fares.
- Valid for sale and purchase September 1-8, 2021
- Valid for travel September 8 through November 18, 2021
- Advanced reservations required at least 3 days prior to travel
- The offer is valid for all service except Auto Train, Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian locally between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (including through traffic) and 7000-8999 Thruway service.
- The discounted one-way fares are available for adult passengers, no additional discounts apply.
- This offer is valid for Acela Business class and coach only; no upgrades to sleepers, First Class or non-Acela Busines Class are permitted.
- Once purchased, sales are not refundable, but exchanges are permitted prior to scheduled departure. A 25% cancellation fee may apply.
- Fares are subject to availability and may not be available on all trains at all times.
- This offer is not combinable with any other discount offer.
- Fares, routes and schedules are subject to change without notice.
- Once travel has begun no changes to the itinerary are permitted.
- Other restrictions may apply.
- Amtrak, Auto Train, Pennsylvanian and Keystone are registered service marks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
Our Verdict
I never know which of these Amtrak deals are good and which aren’t. Amtrak fans feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Hat tip to DDG
This is a great way to get value out of the upgrade coupons for any Amtrak World card holders. You need to buy a cash fare (and $50 Acela NY-Bos is not bad) to use your upgrade coupon, and the best value by far (only real value) is using it from Acela business to first.
No sale on sleeper rooms again. Been following their sales for two years and I don’t think I’ve seen a sleeper cabin sale yet.
Sleeper cabin is best booked with points, and they pretty much never discount the points rate.
In July, I went from LA to San Diego on the Sunliner and it look like it really is 50% off.
Pacific Surfliner and yes it is really 50% off those fares, though not Business since that route is not Acela.
How does this work for unreserved trains where tickets are normally valid on any train on the route for a year? They’re not excluded from the offer. Can you buy a bunch of tickets dated October 2021 and use them over the next 12 months?
I’m curious about this as well
I checked for the Capitols and they say it’s flexible within the promotion period. So you can buy a bunch of tickets dated September 8 and use them through November 18.
Now if only we could get COVID to go away
This is about as good as it gets. Federal law prohibits discounts steeper than 50% on rail fare so the best offers are either 50% off standard or BOGO. No discount if using points though.
Which law? I’d like to learn more
This is the last reference to such a restriction that was signed into law I could find in a quick Google search. Ctrl+F “normal peak fare”. This clause seems to have been in many (most?) Appropriations Acts, with the oldest I could find being from FY 2006.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/2112/text
Try Google. Try this every day. Try this for everything.
In normal times, these would be respectable deals, but they’re not very impressive in the pandemic context.