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I just purchased my Amtrak tickets through www.amtrak.com last night. I forgot that I had $250 worth of certificates coming from American Express Rewards. I called Amtrak to see if I could use these towards my recent purchase and have my Visa credited for the $250. I was told that I would have to cancel my reservation at a penelty of $30/passenger and rebook it inorder to take advantage of the certificates. I was also told that even if I had remembered when I made my reservation via the Amtrak website, that the site does not accept certificates. I would have needed to go to an Amtrak station and "hand them over" to use them toward a reservation. Has anyone else run into this situation?
danrasco Member # 1542
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Catherine, I am a furloughed employee of Amtrak, but reservations is right. Your certificates should be turned into to amtrak when you book your trip at the station. The web is great for booking, but to take advantage of your certificates you needed to actually go to the station. As far as the $30 fee, this is a normal procedure when changing dates, downgrading, etc. More information can be obtained from National Reservations, or your local ticket agent at your home town station. The $30.00 might seem high, but airlines charge greater fees than this. Suggestion: In the future, always personally see your travel agent, and I hope you enjoy Amtrak, it is a great way to travel....Good Luck.....
reggierail Member # 26
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Right Dan and I do hope you get back to work soon. Hopefully with Gunn coming in & Warrington out, we may see a turnaround at Amtrak. Thanks for mentioning also that an Amtrak authorized travel agent can also accept coupons, vouchers or certificates as payment. CatherineH, I hope your certificates are good till your next trip & you enjoy this one enough to take another. Reggie
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