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expiredserra | Staff posted Jun 08, 2021 02:36 PM
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expiredserra | Staff posted Jun 08, 2021 02:36 PM

Amtrak USA Rail Pass: Travel 10 Segments within 30-Days

$299

$499

40% off
Amtrak
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Deal Details
Amtrak is offering an introductory fare for its Amtrak USA Rail Pass where you can travel 10 Segments within 30-Days for $299.

Thanks to Deal Hunter serra for finding this deal.

Note, book this offer from June 8 - 22

About the USA Rail Pass:
  • The USA Rail Pass allows you to take a multi-segment journey on Amtrak for one low, fixed price. After you purchase your pass, you will be able to start booking each segment of your trip directly from your purchase confirmation, by going to 'Modify Trip' on Amtrak.com, or by looking up your reservation on the Amtrak mobile app.
  • A travel segment occurs any time you board and disembark a train (or other scheduled services). If your trip involves making one connection, you will use two segments of your USA Rail Pass.
  • The pass validity period is 120 days following the date of your purchase. Once you travel on your first segment, you will have 30 days before your pass expires.
  • The USA Rail Pass is not a ticket and is not valid for travel; it is used to obtain all tickets for travel. You must have a ticket and a reservation for each train you board.
  • Travel in regular Coach class seats which feature wide, reclining seats with a big picture window, ample legroom, and no middle seat.
  • Hop on/off the train across 500 destinations

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • This offer is $200 lower (40% savings) than the regular price of $499.
    • The USA Rail Pass is valid for travel on all Amtrak trains except Auto Train, Acela, Thruway bus connections (7000-7999 series), and the Canadian portion of trains operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada.
    • Travel is restricted to four one-way trips between two cities, and to all cities in between, over the same route.
    • Review the complete terms and conditions here. -qwikwit

Original Post

Written by serra | Staff
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Amtrak is offering an introductory fare for its Amtrak USA Rail Pass where you can travel 10 Segments within 30-Days for $299.

Thanks to Deal Hunter serra for finding this deal.

Note, book this offer from June 8 - 22

About the USA Rail Pass:
  • The USA Rail Pass allows you to take a multi-segment journey on Amtrak for one low, fixed price. After you purchase your pass, you will be able to start booking each segment of your trip directly from your purchase confirmation, by going to 'Modify Trip' on Amtrak.com, or by looking up your reservation on the Amtrak mobile app.
  • A travel segment occurs any time you board and disembark a train (or other scheduled services). If your trip involves making one connection, you will use two segments of your USA Rail Pass.
  • The pass validity period is 120 days following the date of your purchase. Once you travel on your first segment, you will have 30 days before your pass expires.
  • The USA Rail Pass is not a ticket and is not valid for travel; it is used to obtain all tickets for travel. You must have a ticket and a reservation for each train you board.
  • Travel in regular Coach class seats which feature wide, reclining seats with a big picture window, ample legroom, and no middle seat.
  • Hop on/off the train across 500 destinations

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • This offer is $200 lower (40% savings) than the regular price of $499.
    • The USA Rail Pass is valid for travel on all Amtrak trains except Auto Train, Acela, Thruway bus connections (7000-7999 series), and the Canadian portion of trains operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada.
    • Travel is restricted to four one-way trips between two cities, and to all cities in between, over the same route.
    • Review the complete terms and conditions here. -qwikwit

Original Post

Written by serra | Staff

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Top Comments

murxam
2 Posts
10 Reputation
You have to use all 10 rides within 30 days from your first ride. But the first ride has to be made within 120 days of the pass purchase.
irrationalconsumer
1602 Posts
160 Reputation
How do you work on the train? The amtrak wifi is garbage based on my experience
IlluminatusCU
4566 Posts
124 Reputation
Not just the distance between cities but the layout. In most cities you're gonna need to rent a car over and over to get around within town, and if you're doing that - just rent the car and drive the distance.

174 Comments

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Jun 09, 2021 07:51 PM
2,233 Posts
Joined Nov 2014
TurtlePerson2Jun 09, 2021 07:51 PM
2,233 Posts
Quote from itsarectangle :
How's this never become a big thing? Eurail on the other hand is awesome.
It's a little bit complicated, but I think it comes down to three things:
1.) Automobile ownership and operation is cheaper and more prevalent in America
2.) Trains travel slower in the US.
3.) Cities in the US are farther apart because many of them were settled or grew in the age of automobiles.

My uncle lives in Paris and travels for his consulting job frequently to other parts of the country. While I was visiting his family, he had to travel to Lyon and he took the train to get there. It's a no-brainer. The train takes half as long as driving and probably costs less as well. There's good public transport in Paris and Lyon, so he would have no trouble getting around once he's there and he would have no problem getting from his home in the Paris suburbs to the train station.

Compare that to me living in Dallas and wanting to visit my family in San Antonio. It's a 4-5 hour drive, but probably a 5-6 hour train + bus ride. It'll cost me a little bit over a tank of gas (plus mileage on the vehicle). The folks I've known that have taken a long-distance train or a bus, usually had circumstances that made that attractive to them (e.g. didn't own a car, were fearful of traveling on busy highways).

It's possible that certain train routes could become very popular if my #2 reason were just addressed. For example, Los Angeles <-> Las Vegas would be a hugely popular high speed train route (if traffic on I-15 is any indication). But even this route would likely not recoup the cost to build it, since use would be very high on weekends and then very light during the week.
Jun 09, 2021 08:03 PM
728 Posts
Joined Feb 2008
lev280Jun 09, 2021 08:03 PM
728 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank lev280

Quote from kidmoney :
I'm trying to figure out potentially how to get the most value from this:

What exactly is a segment? Amtrak says it is getting on and off a train. So if I book a direct train from LA to Chicago (no transfers), then that is just 1 segment?
My question as well. How is a 'segment' defined. Here is what Google found for me.
http://blog.amtrak.com/2014/07/usarailpass/

Quote :
Day vs. Segments
After you decide you're ready for your Amtrak adventure, you have to decide the length of travel. We offer three options: 15 days with up to 8 segments, 30 days with up to 12 segments or 45 days with up to 18 segments. But what the heck does that mean? The days are consecutive and start with the first travel segment. A travel segment is anytime a rider gets on then off of the train.

Example: USA Rail Pass rider, Joe Schmiden (see what we did there) has a 15 day USA Rail Pass. He travels on our Sunset Limited from San Antonio to Los Angeles, explores Los Angeles then hops on the Coast Starlight and travels to Seattle. Joe Schmiden has only used 2 segments of eight.
Last edited by lev280 June 9, 2021 at 02:07 PM.
1
Jun 09, 2021 08:09 PM
64 Posts
Joined Mar 2012
dogm29Jun 09, 2021 08:09 PM
64 Posts
Aren't the Amtrak dining and observation cars still unavailable for coach passengers because of covid?
1
Jun 09, 2021 08:13 PM
70 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
tapakegadayaJun 09, 2021 08:13 PM
70 Posts
Would taking the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco count as one segment?
1
Jun 09, 2021 08:19 PM
10,486 Posts
Joined Jun 2006
kwadguyJun 09, 2021 08:19 PM
10,486 Posts
Quote from ludocdoc :
Not that useful for commuters - restricted to two round trips between city pairs and intermediates on a route. So at best, get 4 segments of commuting at $75 each.
Does this work for the NE corridor? Can you use this for four Boston <-> NYC or Boston <-> DC trips at $75 each RT? That's a bargain and a lot of people could use four of those in a month.
Jun 09, 2021 08:27 PM
2,506 Posts
Joined Nov 2005
chargerJun 09, 2021 08:27 PM
2,506 Posts
Quote from wristholo :
Aren't the Amtrak dining and observation cars still unavailable for coach passengers because of covid?
I'm not sure how it is currently, but should be opening back soon (western rails only, private rooms only).

https://www.railwayage.com/passen...ce-trains/
Jun 09, 2021 08:42 PM
772 Posts
Joined Jun 2013
icouldnotthink67Jun 09, 2021 08:42 PM
772 Posts
Quote from IlluminatusCU :
Not just the distance between cities but the layout. In most cities you're gonna need to rent a car over and over to get around within town, and if you're doing that - just rent the car and drive the distance.
I'm not following this logic. The major cities you can travel to via rail (DC, NYC, Boston, Philly etc) all have great public transportation and cheap uber/lyft. Is this perhaps a west coast thing? Or non-northeast thing?

I've never rented a car for any of the cities I mentioned above. And probably never would. Oregon, Arizona, New mexico on the other hand - definitely had to (wanted to) rent a car for those.

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Jun 09, 2021 08:48 PM
5,443 Posts
Joined Feb 2007
b534202Jun 09, 2021 08:48 PM
5,443 Posts
Quote from itsarectangle :
How's this never become a big thing? Eurail on the other hand is awesome.
Also awesome: Instead of going to Tokyo or where ever, experience all of Japan with the JR pass.
Jun 09, 2021 08:54 PM
1,091 Posts
Joined May 2005
gluttonneJun 09, 2021 08:54 PM
1,091 Posts
Quote from Big Wang :
https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-...lobal-pass

A 10-day in 2 months is $370 MSRP. Where are you getting $777 from?
I think maybe they were comparing the 30-day pass from eurail with the 10-days-over-30 pass at amtrak?
1
Jun 09, 2021 08:55 PM
685 Posts
Joined Aug 2008
OhFrugalJun 09, 2021 08:55 PM
685 Posts
Some time ago, I read that Amtrak lets us take our cars along. Anyone researched this and how much that will cost to go with this special? That will be great for someone who has the time, energy and free to do ride.
1
Jun 09, 2021 08:55 PM
12 Posts
Joined Dec 2015
string0123Jun 09, 2021 08:55 PM
12 Posts
Quote from tapakegadaya :
Would taking the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco count as one segment?
No 4. There's a stop in Chicago, Denver, SLC, Cali
1
Jun 09, 2021 09:04 PM
1,177 Posts
Joined Oct 2004
JustAnotherSlobJun 09, 2021 09:04 PM
1,177 Posts
Quote from OhFrugal :
Some time ago, I read that Amtrak lets us take our cars along. Anyone researched this and how much that will cost to go with this special? That will be great for someone who has the time, energy and free to do ride.
The Auto train is limited to basically one route: Northern VA <-> FLA . You'd have to pay extra for the car (~$500 each way)
Last edited by JustAnotherSlob June 9, 2021 at 03:06 PM.
Jun 09, 2021 09:34 PM
7,454 Posts
Joined Nov 2006
KManJun 09, 2021 09:34 PM
7,454 Posts
Quote from desiyankee :
What trains have you been on that are worse? The NYC subway is domestic in case you want to point fingers at that. I've traveled multiple countries including in developing parts of the world in Asia. Amtrak is by far the worst in terms of price, on time performance, amenities, customer service and don't even get me started on connections.
Worse in terms of on-train experience, e.g. cleanliness, air conditioning/heat, noise, seat comfort, crowdedness, etc. You know, the stuff that people care about when they're actually on the train. And, I've had worse experiences in Israel (years ago before they modernized as the new system is light years better), central Europe, even some regional western European trains. Amtrak isn't luxury travel but it's not that bad. Sounds like you're spoiled by European trains.
Jun 09, 2021 09:35 PM
7,454 Posts
Joined Nov 2006
KManJun 09, 2021 09:35 PM
7,454 Posts
Quote from hucksack :
I tethered to my phone. There were definitely times where I didn't have service (this was about ten years ago), but I'd say that 75% of the time I had good consistent service and the other 25% was iffy or I had zero service. When I didn't have service usually coincided with epic scenery so it was a good excuse to take a break and worked out pretty well for me Smilie
I don't understand peoples' obsession with WiFi when 4G/5G phone tethering is usually faster, more reliable and more secure. It's like people don't know that their phones are literal hotspots. It's only on planes where WiFi's essential.
1

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Jun 09, 2021 09:36 PM
308 Posts
Joined Nov 2009
fbckidsJun 09, 2021 09:36 PM
308 Posts
Quote from OhFrugal :
Some time ago, I read that Amtrak lets us take our cars along. Anyone researched this and how much that will cost to go with this special? That will be great for someone who has the time, energy and free to do ride.
Not included with Rail Pass. The Auto Train only runs from Lorton, Va to Sanford, FL and back. Expensive as heck, but convenient and fun.

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