Two great ways to save or travel FREE on Amtrak.

We all look for travel bargains … especially so for those of us living in Hawaii, because traveling anywhere outside of the state means five-hours in a jet … at the very least. I’ve been into the frequent flyer programs of both American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines from Day One and use mileage for many of my out-of-state travels. Of course, once I get to the U.S. mainland, I usually switch to Amtrak.

I’m always surprised to discover that many people are not aware that Amtrak, too, has their version of a frequent flyer program. It’s called Amtrak Guest Rewards and, compared to most of the airline programs, it’s generous and – even better – it’s simple!

As with the airline programs, you earn points for every Amtrak trip and those points can be exchanged for Amtrak travel. And, also like the airlines, Amtrak offers a credit card which earns still more points for every purchase.

But here’s what I like so much about Amtrak Guest Rewards: It takes 25,000 points to book a roomette on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle no matter when you travel and no matter if there’s only one space left on the train for your travel date. Same thing for the two-night trip between Chicago and LA on the Southwest Chief: it’s 25,000 points any day there’s a vacant roomette. And that’s true for all other awards for all other Amtrak trips.

By contrast, the airlines limit the number of seats on any given flight that will be available for frequent flyer miles, and the closer those get to being used up, the more miles the airline will whack you for that seat.
And here’s another way to save on the cost of Amtrak travel: become a member of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. As a NARP member, you’ll get a 10% discount on your rail fare every time you travel. Just a few trips a year will more than pay for your membership and, of course, you’ll be helping to advance the cause of more and better trains, too. You can go here to join. Thanks!