Earlier in the week, I wrote about our $6500 Amtrak trip that we are taking this summer as a family vacation. Of course we’re not paying $6500 because we’re miles and points folks! $6500 is just the “sucker’s” price :-D. I wanted to spend a bit more time looking at the Amtrak Zone Map, so we could talk a little about how that works and some ways to maximize it.
Here is a look at the Amtrak Zone Map, which divides the USA into 3 zones (West, Central and Eastern). There is also a Northeast Zone that is simultaneously its own zone as well as part of the Eastern Zone
You can see that there are several cities that are on the zone borders. So if you live in the following cities (like I do!!):
- Wolf Point, MT
- Denver, CO
- Trinidad, CO
- Albuquerque, NM
- El Paso, TX
- Port Huron, MI
- Detroit, MI
- Toledo, OH
- Cincinnati, OH
- Atlanta, GA
Then you can consider yourself in either of your zones, whichever is most advantageous. This becomes important because Amtrak Guest Rewards charges for redemptions based on how many zones you travel in. So if you live in Cincinnati, like I do, then you can go anywhere in either the Central or Eastern zones for the cost of 1 zone.
What about cities that are not on the map? You should be able to use the Amtrak zone map to identify which zone that they are in. If you’re still stuck, you can consult the amtrak.com train schedules. For example, I was looking at Raton, New Mexico and wasn’t sure which zone it was in exactly, so I looked up the train schedule for the Southwest Chief and found that the stop for Raton comes in between Albuquerque and Trinidad, so I figured it was on the border between Western and Central.
Points costs for travel by zone
As I mentioned, the number of points depends on where your origin and destination fall on the Amtrak Zone map. It all depends on how many zones your travel cost.
Remember that Amtrak Guest Rewards is a 1:1 transfer of Chase Ultimate Rewards, which is one of the 5 reasons why I think that Chase points are the best ones out there.
The sweet spots on the Amtrak zone map
First of all, the biggest sweet spots are the cities that are right on the Amtrak zone map borders, as I mentioned earlier. So if you live in one of those cities (or can easily get to one), that will be super advantageous for you.
We were originally going to book our family train vacation from Cincinnati to Denver, but because of availability, ended up deciding to drive up to Toledo (which is also on the border between 2 zones on the Amtrak zone map). That means a family bedroom only costs us 25,000 one-way (though we need 2 of them and are going round-trip, so it cost us 100,000 points)
The other sweet spot is traveling North-South. Because the zones are set up from west to east, if you are traveling north-south, and staying in one zone, you can get a LOT of travel for just the 1 zone price. Boston to Miami is nearly 30 hours of train travel!
Even better, you can take the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Los Angeles (or even to San Diego)
That’s 2 full days of train travel, including an overnight berth, and 6 meals per person, for a family of 4, for only 25,000 points! That’s quite an adventure! And remember, KIDS LOVE TRAINS! Here is a review by Travel With Grant of his adventures on the Coast Starlight train.
I hope this helps you find ways you can maximize the Amtrak zone map – let us know in the comments if you have any other sweet spots
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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 
Would it be possible to go from Albuquerque to Wolf Point for the cost of 1 zone? I tried to price it on the Amtrak website but it wouldn’t price out.
Since there is no route between Wolf Point, MT (WPT) and Albuquerque, NM (ABQ), you would have to route through Chicago Union Station (CHI). Technically you are in 1 zone, but it is not possible to view that routing online. If you call Amtrak, they should be able to help you, or tell you to purchase 2 segments.
Right – you can call and try, but I think that it will require 2 segments
In theory yes, but if it won’t price out on the Amtrak site, then it won’t work.
I’m actually considering taking the California Zephyr from Denver to Emeryville (OAK/SFO) in a week (http://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train).
I would love to do another 2 person bedroom, but my UR points balance is extremely low and I only have enough for a 2 person roomette 🙁
Does Amtrak allow stops enroute?
You can stop, but not for free. If you stop, it will require a separate reservation when you continue
Does Amtrak allow multiple segments?
Can I do Atlanta-New Orleans-Los Angeles-Seattle on one redemption (for two zones)?
No – I don’t think that works. Basically it has to price out on amtrak.com. If you can put in ATL-SEA into amtrak.com and have it return something, then you can book it. If you can’t, then you can’t.
In this case, there are a few redemptions from ATL-SEA but none through New Orleans and Los Angeles
I am seeing ATL to SLC possibly at 3 zones or 60k for family room? Only routing takes you to Washington then Chicago for stops. Also the ATL to WAS train doesn’t have the family sleeper setup.
I see your mention of ATL being one of the border cities but going up to WAS first I guess then makes you travel across all regions.
The whole idea of cross country travel seems fascinating! It’s flights to Europe, Hyatt points or this option that I’m considering.
Thanks!
Yes – it gets a little awkward when you have to consider the actual route map. Where I live (Cincinnati), there is only 1 train in each direction and it leaves at like 1:40a.m. one way and 3:17 the other way :-(. That was one of the reasons we decided to drive up to Toledo to start our journey.
That’s a good point on the viewliner vs. superliner (the family bedrooms are only on the superliner trains). I have a followup post scheduled for next week about the difference between the two.
Has anyone tried using the Antrak auto train from Orlando to Washington DC for a large family of eight? We will be doing the trip in September, To go to a conference in Philadelphia.
I have never done it but I have looked at it – I know I’ve seen a few trip reports online if you Google for them though!
I was reading the fine print yesterday regarding redemption. It says a “circle trip” is not allowed … in other words, you can’t book a round trip with points that brings you back into the same zone that you left. Also, any passenger 3 and older requires a full redemption for any travel, so if you have 2 adults and 2 kids travelling in a family bedroom through 2 zones, that’s 40000 each for one way. The example you give of your travel contradicts these rules. How did you get around this?
I don’t understand your question. We had 4 adults and 4 children (2 of our kids were old enough to count as adults). We booked travel on one zone in 2 bedrooms for 50,000 (25,000 each), then used another 50,000 to go back to Ohio
We are looking at going from Detroit to Seattle and then continuing our trip Seattle to Albuquerque and fly home from there. Just spoke with AMTRAK and they said since we would have to overnight in Seattle it would be considered a two zone and a one zone trip. Do you think she was correct or should we call again?
That is how I understand it too, unfortunately.
We are considering taking the train from Rhode Island to South Carolina. What would that cost? What if we decided to stop in N Carolina and then in a couple days go on to S Carolina?
You can check out prices in cash and points at amtrak.com
Can I travel from St Louis to Seattle and back to St Louis and this be considered 2 zones? Or because I went in and out of zones, this be called 3 zones?
If this would be considered three zones, could I return in business class to not use so many reward points?
Katheryn – this post is several years old and no longer an accurate representation of Amtrak’s pricing strategy. They no longer do zones – instead, tickets are priced on demand on amtrak.com