When booking an Amtrak pass you must provide us with details
of your first journey, passport number, expiry date and date of birth. You will
be issued with a voucher which must be exchanged at this first station for your
actual pass. Before boarding the train you must take your pass and passport to
the Amtrak ticket office where they will issue a free ticket for your journey.
Tickets and
Reservations
Your USA Rail Pass is not a ticket. When travelling on a USA
Rail Pass, you must have a ticket and a reservation for each train you board.
You must make reservations and pick up your ticket(s) before boarding any
train.
Reservations for train travel should be made as far in
advance as possible; seats available for USA Rail Pass passengers are limited
on each train. We do not recommend waiting until the day of departure to make
your reservations since there is a greater chance that seats allocated for the
USA Rail Pass may not be available on your desired train. If your plans are not
flexible, non-USA Rail Pass seats may be available at an additional cost.
Passengers must present their USA Rail Pass and passport at
an Amtrak office for issuance of tickets to be used on the train. The USA Rail
Pass entitles you to regular Coach Class travel on all Amtrak routes except
those listed below. On some trains, you can upgrade your reservation to
Business Class or Sleeping Car accommodation. Amtrak offers half-price fares
for children ages 2-15 when accompanied by a full fare-paying adult (two
children per adult fare; one child under two years of age travels free per
adult). Reservations are required for travel on most trains. We recommend that
reservations be made prior to arrival in the US and as far in advance as
possible. Further restrictions may apply.
PLEASE NOTE: Pass prices are subject to change and are not
guaranteed until actual travel reservations are made.
Eligible Trains
The USA Rail Pass is valid for travel on all Amtrak trains
except:
- Auto Train
- Acela Express
- Metroliner
- Certain Thruway motorcoach connections
- The connections between the Canadian border and Toronto
Travel is restricted to four one-way trips between two
cities, and to all cities in between, over the same route. For example, the
following trips would use up the four trips over the Washington, DC to New York
route segment:
- Trip 1: Washington, DC to New York
- Trip 2: New York to Washington, DC
- Trip 3: Washington, DC to Philadelphia
- Trip 4: Philadelphia to Washington, DC
Regions and Travel
Periods
Passes are available in three travel durations and travel
segments (15 days/8 segments, 30 days/12 segments and 45 days/18 segments)
throughout the entire United States. Travel must begin within 180 days of the
date the pass purchased.
Travel Segments
Amtrak considers a travel segment any time you get on and
then get off a vehicle (train, bus, ferry or other allowable leg) regardless of
length.
Example 1
Because we don't have a direct route from Washington, DC to
Oklahoma, City, OK, you could ride the Capitol Limited train from Washington to
Chicago (segment 1), then ride the Texas Eagle train from Chicago to Fort Worth
(segment 2) and finally ride the Heartland Flyer train from Fort Worth to
Oklahoma, City (segment 3). This journey from Washington to Oklahoma City would
use three of your allowable segments.
Example 2
To travel from Spokane, WA to Portland OR, you could ride
the Empire Builder train directly to Portland using one segment or you coulde
ride the Empire Builder train to Seattle (segment 1) and then ride the Amtrak
Cascades train from Seattle to Portland (segment 2). Both journeys take you to
Portland but use a different number of your allowable segments.
Each segment booked counts toward the total allowable number
of segments permitted for the pass.
Refunds and Pass
Changes
The USA Rail Pass is only refundable before travel begins.
The pass, and all tickets issued with the pass, must be turned into an Amtrak
ticket agent no later than the day before the date of the first use written on
the pass. A cancellation fee of 20% will apply, together with a small admin
charge. Substantial cancellation fees apply when sleeping accommodations are
cancelled less than 24 hours in advance.
Pass Voucher can be cancelled up to 48 hours before start date on pass voucher as long as it has not been exchanged for the actual pass – once exchanged it is non-refundable/non-exchangeable. Any upgrades booked onto passes are also non-refundable once booked. Additionally: a new condition from Amtrak for their rail passes is that as well as having a specified start date – the use of the pass must be concluded within 6 months of the date of issue; e.g. a 30 day pass could only be issued a maximum of 5 months in advance of the starting date