Amtrak Guest Rewards Loyalty Program Review

Amtrak Guest Rewards is Amtrak’s loyalty program. It offers several elite status tiers, opportunities to earn points on Amtrak travel, and redemptions for Amtrak travel and beyond. The program is free to join and participate in, and is a great way to get free Amtrak travel with its easy earning and redemption structure.

This guide explains everything you need to know about the program, how to join, the benefits, and more.

Joining Amtrak Guest Rewards

To join, visit the Amtrak Guest Rewards website and click Join Now on the homepage. Enter your first and last name, a password, your email address, phone number, and where you’re located.

Once you register, you’ll receive an Amtrak Guest Rewards number, which you can put on all of your Amtrak bookings. If you already have trains booked before creating an account, call Amtrak to add the number to your future bookings. Contact Amtrak if you booked travel before creating an account and want to see if points can be credited retroactively.

How To Sign In to Your Amtrak Guest Rewards Account

To sign in, click Guest Rewards at the top of the Amtrak website, and then Sign In. From there, enter your username or Guest Rewards number and your password to log in to the website.

Viewing Your Account Activity

To view your account activity, click My Account.

Once you’re in My Account, you can view all your transactions and filter your earnings or redemptions.

If you’re an elite status member and have discount, upgrade, or Auto Train priority offloading coupons, you’ll find those under the My Coupons section. From there, you can easily apply whatever coupon you’d like to your trip, or copy the certificate number to apply over the phone.

Points Expiration

Amtrak Guest Rewards points expire after 24 months of inactivity, but simply earning or redeeming during that time will reset the clock. Additionally, if you hold an Amtrak Guest Rewards^® Mastercard^® or Amtrak Guest Rewards^® Preferred Mastercard^®, your points won’t expire as long as you have the card. It’s easy to earn and redeem points, so you should be able to find an earning opportunity or worthwhile redemption at least every 2 years to keep your points alive.

Amtrak Guest Rewards Benefits

Elite Levels

The Amtrak Guest Rewards program has 3 different elite levels: Select, Select Plus, and Select Executive. Each level, like an airline elite status, offers various benefits, including extra point earnings, upgrades, and lounge access.

The lowest elite level is Select, and this is earned with 5,000 Tier Qualification Points (TQPs). For every $1 you spend on Amtrak travel, you’ll earn 2 TQP, so this status requires $2,500 on Amtrak travel to be spent. This elite level receives 25% more Amtrak points on Amtrak tickets, 2 one-class upgrades annually, 2 10%-off discount coupons, 2 single-visit lounge passes, and priority call handling.

The next highest level is Select Plus, which requires 10,000 TQPs (or $5,000 in spending). At this level, you’ll earn 50% more Amtrak Guest Rewards points on bookings, 4 one-class upgrade coupons, 2 companion coupons, 2 10%-off discount coupons, access to all Amtrak lounges (no matter the class of service you’re traveling in), and priority call handling.

The highest level in the Amtrak Guest Rewards program is Select Executive, which requires earning 20,000 TQPs or spending about $10,000 on Amtrak in a year. This top-tier level comes with a 100% bonus on all Amtrak travel, 4 one-class upgrades, the ability to earn an additional upgrade with every 3,000 TQPs earned, 2 companion coupons, 1 Auto Train priority offloading coupon, and 2 10% off coupons. You’ll also get unlimited access to all Amtrak lounges when traveling on Amtrak and priority call handling.

These are the key benefits of Amtrak elite status:

• One-class upgrades can easily be valued at $100 each. They’re only valid on Northeast Regional, Acela, and select other trains that offer only 2 classes of service. You will get the most value from these certificates by upgrading on the Acela from business class to first class, where tickets can easily run over $500 one-way between cities like Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Complimentary lounge access is received at the Select Plus and Select Executive levels. You’re allowed access with any Amtrak ticket type, before or after departure, with a guest or your immediate family, which is a generous access policy. You’ll find this benefit especially valuable if you live in the Northeast corridor, where there are the most lounges, but you’ll also find a few scattered lounges in the Midwest and West Coast, too. Amtrak does not offer a paid lounge membership like an airline does, so the only way to access these lounges is through a sleeper or first class ticket or by having the top tiers of elite status.
• The companion coupons are essentially a “buy 1, get 1 free” coupon, and you can save several hundreds of dollars if you use these strategically. You can use them on any coach class ticket, but you’ll find especially good value on a sleeper car train, where you can bring a companion into a room for free and pay only 1 accommodation (sleeper compartment) charge. Splitting the total charge for 2 people can be a reasonable way to travel in a sleeper accommodation on a long-distance train.
• The 10% off voucher is just like it sounds, though there are some restrictions on when it can be used and on certain accommodations. It can save you some money, but this will likely be one of the lesser valuable perks you’ll find associated with status.
• If you can manage to earn Select Executive status, the ability to earn 1 upgrade coupon for every 3,000 TQPs can be especially valuable. It’s an easy way to earn more upgrades, which provide outsized value if redeemed on the Acela in first class. Of course, this level requires the most amount of money spent, but if you’re a frequent Amtrak rider, this perk will be one of your favorites.

Amtrak elite status runs on a calendar-year cycle and expires on December 31st each year.

How To Earn Guest Rewards Points

By far the easiest way to earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points is by traveling on Amtrak, where you’ll earn 2 points for every $1 spent.

When you travel in business class, you’ll earn 25% more points, and when you travel in Acela first class, you’ll earn a 50% bonus. Unfortunately, if you’re traveling in a sleeper car, which normally is considered a first class level of service, you won’t earn more points, even though this accommodation can cost significantly more than business class or first class on any other train.

You can also earn extra points with select retail partners such as Teleflora and NRG. However, these non-rail partners are limited, and it’s not a significant way to boost your points balance.

Co-Branded Credit Cards

Amtrak has 2 major co-brand credit cards: the Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card, which has a $99 annual fee, and the $0-annual-fee Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard.

Amtrak Guest Rewards^® Preferred Mastercard^®

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card is perfect for frequent Amtrak riders.

Amtrak Guest Rewards^® Preferred Mastercard^®

The Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card is perfect for frequent Amtrak riders.

Welcome Offer

Earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 billing cycles of account opening.

40,000 points

Annual Fee

$99

Why We Like This Card

The Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card is a must-have for frequent Amtrak riders, thanks to perks like the annual companion coupon, annual upgrade certificate, rebate on onboard purchases, and rebate on award redemptions.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 3x points on Amtrak travel, including onboard purchases
• 2x points on dining, travel, transit, and ride-share purchases
• 1x points on all other purchases

Cons

• Award redemptions are limited to Amtrak travel

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Card Highlights

• Earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 billing cycles of account opening
• 3x points on Amtrak travel, including onboard purchases
• 2x points on dining, travel, transit, and ride-share purchases
• 1x points on all other purchases
• 20% rebate on onboard food and beverage purchases
• Round-trip companion coupon upon account opening and card anniversary
• 1 class upgrade certificate annually
• 1 station lounge pass annually
• 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points each time you make $5,000 in qualifying purchases
• Points don’t expire
• 5% rebate on Amtrak travel redemptions
• No foreign transaction fees
• $99 annual fee

Financial Snapshot

• Foreign Transaction Fees: 

Amtrak Guest Rewards^® Mastercard^®

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The Amtrak Guest Rewards card helps you earn more Amtrak points with no annual fee.

Amtrak Guest Rewards^® Mastercard^®

The Amtrak Guest Rewards card helps you earn more Amtrak points with no annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 12,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 billing cycles of account opening.

12,000 points

Annual Fee

$0

Why We Like This Card

The Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard is a good option for frequent Amtrak travelers who want to earn more points on their rides and daily purchases with a $0 annual fee.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 2x points on Amtrak travel, including onboard dining
• 2x points on dining
• 1x points on all other purchases

Cons

• Doesn’t offer a lounge pass or upgrade certificate like the premium version of the card

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Earn 12,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 billing cycles of account opening
• 2 points per $1 spent on Amtrak travel, including onboard purchases
• 2 points per $1 spent on dining
• 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else
• 10% rebate on onboard food and beverage purchases
• Points don’t expire
• 5% rebate on all redeemed points for Amtrak travel
• No foreign transaction fees
• $0 annual fee

Financial Snapshot

• Foreign Transaction Fees: 

With the Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card, you can earn 3x points on all Amtrak travel, 2x points on all other travel, dining, transit, and rideshare, and 1x points on everything else. The Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard earns 2x points on all Amtrak travel, 2x on dining, and 1x points on everything else.

The real value comes with the perks, however. The Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card has an annual round-trip companion coupon, an annual one-class upgrade coupon, an annual station lounge pass, and the ability to earn 1,000 TQPs for every $5,000 charged to the card. This card allows you to earn elite status much faster, but also comes with several perks that mimic Amtrak elite status. An upgrade to Acela first class can easily cost $200, so you can save significantly by applying the card’s annual upgrade voucher.

Transfer Partners

Amtrak does not have any partners through which you can transfer points to airlines, hotels, car rental companies, or other vendors. You can redeem points toward gift cards, but this is generally a very bad value, as redemptions start at 6,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points for a $50 gift card.

How To Redeem Guest Rewards Points

By far, the best way to redeem Amtrak Guest Rewards points is for Amtrak travel. Amtrak uses a dynamic system in which the number of points required for a ticket depends on its current price. However, there is no exact fixed amount your points will be worth when redeemed.

In the example below, you can see the Acela train costs $134 in business class and $283 in first class.

That same train would cost 5,025 Amtrak points in business class or 10,613 points in first class — a rate of 2.7 cents per point in both cases.

You can also redeem your points for sleeper cabin travel on longer-distance trains. However, be wary of cancellation penalties that apply if you need to change plans, as they are much more punitive than those for commuter trains. It is not uncommon to lose all or part of your points if you need to cancel a sleeper train after booking.

In addition to using points to cover the entire cost of your ticket, Amtrak also lets you use points and cash, where you can use half the cash required and supplement it with the other half in points.

If you’re looking for other uses, you can also redeem 1,500 points for a single-visit lounge pass, or 2,500 for a one-class upgrade coupon, which can be especially valuable. If you have elite status and run out of upgrades, or you don’t have elite status, you can use points to buy upgrade certificates and save money on the fare difference between classes. This is one of my favorite ways to spend Amtrak points.

These upgrade coupons can be used 48 hours before departure, which is the maximum advanced notice allowed to upgrade a train with a certificate. If any seats are still available in the premium cabin, the upgrade can be automatically applied. As long as a seat remains available for purchase, you can upgrade your train. This is a huge differentiator between Amtrak and airlines, where Amtrak does not restrict the number of seats available for upgrade, making these upgrade coupons extremely valuable.

Final Thoughts

Amtrak Guest Rewards offers great earning and redemption opportunities if you frequently ride Amtrak or spend on the Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred card or Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard. While it’s not as lucrative as an airline loyalty program, there are several sweet spots for earning and redeeming points. It’s a no-brainer program to join, even if you ride the rails only a couple of times per year. If you earn enough points, you can redeem them for a sleeper-car train or Amtrak first class on the Acela, Amtrak’s most premium product.