I wrote last week that today (Monday December 7th) is the last day to do an Amtrak transfer of Ultimate Rewards points to Amtrak Guest Rewards points. Also, keep in mind that the Amtrak Guest Rewards program is changing in mid-January, so you’re running out of time to really capitalize on the sweet spots on the Amtrak zone map.
After our Amtrak transfer, here’s the trip our family is taking
I know that I mentioned after our last Amtrak trip that I never wanted to travel Amtrak again but…. after calling in to get a refund for our (13 HOUR!) Amtrak delay, we ended up with $1150 in vouchers. And while that was going to put a pretty good dent in ONE cash reservation, we decided that we wanted to travel all together, which necessitated a SEPARATE points booking as well.
For some reason, checking Award Wallet (one of my Top 10 miles and points tools), I had 11,000 Amtrak points in my account already.
We decided that we were going to take the Empire Builder train out to Seattle, which is a 2 zone trip
As you can see for 2 zone travel, 2 roomettes cost the same as the bedroom – 40,000 points. Since both will sleep 4, we decided to book 2 roomettes, which required an Ultimate Rewards transfer of 29,000 points
Calling to book travel after doing an Ultimate Rewards transfer to Amtrak
You actually have until mid-January to book travel under the existing Amtrak Guest Rewards (zone-based) system, so although I needed to transfer Ultimate Rewards to Amtrak this weekend (technically by Monday), I didn’t NEED to actually BOOK the points redemption then, though I ended up just booking it on Saturday. I’ll share a little more details on the actual itinerary in an upcoming post – I just wanted to make sure
Are you doing an Amtrak transfer from Chase today? Where are you heading on your trip?
- Ever been bit by no Delta one ways with Alaska miles? It stinks.
- Last Day for a Chase Amtrak transfer! Here’s where I’m going with my points – what about you?
- Would you rather transfer 60K SPG points, or 75K American Express points?
- Amtrak points for sleeper travel is DEAD… or is it?
- Where our family of 8 is going for 40,000 miles and $93 (it's further than you think!)
- Delta just SPLIT UP my family!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I want to book a trip on Amtrak really bad but I just don’t think I can fit this in even 12 months out into 2016. I think I’ll have to pass on this one, sadly 🙂
Oh and I think I would have booked the bedroom to get the private bath instead of the shared public bathroom.
The superliner bedrooms only sleep 3 (and they’ll only let you book 2 people on points), so I couldn’t do that – we need the family bedroom (sleeps 4) or 2 roomettes.
Yah, I just moved 10K Chase points to bring my total up to 40K for
similar reasons.
Bedroom private bathroom is overrated. It’s very small, and I find it not great to shower in. Trip last summer where we had a bedroom, I preferred to shower at the larger one down the hall.
Roomettes are great choice, and usually easier to book!
I agree – I didn’t find it that taxing to use the community bathrooms – especially if you’re on the lower level. And the bathrooms in the Superliner / Viewliner bedrooms are REALLY cramped
Some might be interested that I was able to transfer 40K points from Chase today the 8th. Apparently they haven’t closed the door yet.