How to game Amtrak’s pricing scheme using their return policy

Amtrak really really wants to price their seats like an Airline.

They’ve set it up so that prices increase as you approach the travel day; this is true of both the Accela “high-speed” train and the normal “lower-speed” trains (only 30 min slower DC-NY). The train is a great way to travel between DC and NY, or NY and Boston. For example, for a seat on an Accela express:

– later today:$221.00 (2163 Acela Express New York, NY 3:00 pm to Washington, DC 5:51 pm.)
– in late April: $155 for the same train.

So, like with airlines, it really makes a great deal of sense to plan ahead. But what if you have some general ideas of when you might travel, but aren’t sure exactly until the last minute? With airplanes, you’re screwed because of the huge change fee, often as much as the price of the airfare. HOWEVER, the folks at Amtrak are really nice (or inept, you pick); you can refund business class tickets with no fee, for cash, back to your method of payment! So:

1. figure out when you might perhaps want to go.
2. book tickets tentatively
3. later on, cancel the ones that you don’t need.
4. Buy me a gift with a fraction of the money I just saved you.

* Important: do NOT purchase round trip tickets. Their system can’t cancel one way in a RT booking, and it’s never ever cheaper to buy a RT over a one-way fare.

I wouldn’t be worried about Amtrak catching on. It’s a government-run entity afterall.

Also: if you have an Starwood Preferred Guest Amex, transfer points to Amtrak guest rewards and get a non-capacity controlled one-way on the slow train in the NE for just 3000 points. That’s a good value for last second travel.