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Yes, if you have no activity on your account for a 24-month period, your Amtrak Guest Rewards points will expire. Per the Amtrak guest terms and conditions page Section D:
“If no Member initiated qualifying activity is recorded or reported within 24 months for a Member, the Member's points will expire.”
Amtrak Guest Rewards requires you to earn or redeem points to generate activity that resets your points expiration clock.
COVID-19 Points Expiration Policy
Amtrak did what most other programs did and suspended the expiration of points during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, the suspension deadline lapsed several times without a further extension. This would lead to an outcry from customers. Then Amtrak would implement another extension.
The current state of play is that points expiration was only suspended through September 15, 2021. Amtrak failed to grant another extension. But, based on recent belated Amtrak extensions, another one might come soon.
Keeping Your Amtrak Guest Points From Expiring
Fortunately, there are many different ways you can trigger activity on your Amtrak account to reset your points' expiration clock, and almost all of them do not involve you setting foot on a train. All of the following is classed as an activity that will reset your points' expiration clock.
Earn points by:
- taking a trip on an Amtrak train.
- booking hotel stays or renting a car with a partner.
- dining out using the Amtrak program.
- shopping through the Amtrak shopping portal.
- taking a survey.
- Earn 3x points on Amtrak and 2x points on qualifying travel on an Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard
- Earn points for everyday spending on an Amtrak Guest Rewards Platinum MasterCard®
Note: The two Amtrak credit cards named above both prevent your points from expiring as long as your account remains open. You are not required to earn points from spending to protect your points from expiration.
Redeem points for:
- an Amtrak train journey.
- Amtrak coupons and passes.
- Donate your points to Carbonfund.org
- Buy, share, gift, or transfer Amtrak points.
Our Take
Amtrak has been somewhat disingenuous when it comes to point expiration. They frequently change the rules with no warning and no announcement. Even during COVID, Amtrak failed to extend its point expiration suspension several times before relenting and announcing a further extension.
Fortunately, there is a ton of ways you can use to extend the life of your points, and some you can do without leaving the comfort of your living room. So ultimately, there is no reason why you should let your Amtrak Guest Rewards points expire!
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Shopping portal – go to Walgreens and order a photo birthday card to collect in store. Downloading photo is super easy. Points take 3 months to hit your account
I recently opened an Amtrak World Mastercard, to get the 50K signup miles. But I am finding that I don’t really use it that much. Since it has a $95 annual feel, I am thinking that I will switch to the no-fee Amtrak Platinum Mastercard. Any suggestions about how to do this? Should I apply for the free regular card, and then cancel the World card? Or call them and see if they will downgrade my account? Has anyone done this before?
KT – you’ll need to wait until you’ve had the card for a year. You likely paid the annual fee already, correct? Closing the card now won’t make a difference on saving any money there. Here’s what I would do: wait until the 1 year mark. As soon as the fee shows up on your account, call the number on the back of the card. Tell them you want to downgrade to the no-fee card. They may offer you something to keep the card (example: spend $x and get these bonus points__). If what they offer is nothing/not worth it, say you want to downgrade to the no-fee card. This will preserve the 1 year of credit history (length of time, history of on-time payments) from the card you already opened. Plus, canceling right away is likely to make the bank mad. This can result in them not approving you for anything in the future and/or taking back the points they gave you.
First the time time in as long as I can remember, the pandemic has actually made some train routes cheaper than flying the same route. I really tried hard to talk myself into the train option recently, as I’m a huge fan, but I couldn’t do it in the end. The same pandemic that made the pricing competitive stopped me. Would have been in the cabin for 3x as long, with a lesser air filtration system than a plane’s and Amtrak is not restricting capacity in their cars, but rather simply telling you the realtime booking capacity when you purchase. So, no guarantee you’re not sitting right next to someone for the duration. 🙁
Really wish they would extend expiration until the end of 2021 at least…
I have a lot of Amtrak points, but I no longer live in an area served by Amtrak. I planned to transfer Amtrak points to Choice, but Amtrak abruptly eliminated that option with no warning.
Hi J
If you still have points, would you consider transferring them? I would like to take my family on a trip for my son’s senior year.
I believe it used to be 36 months not long ago. Then without much notice it was 24 months. If you are in a pinch, buy a song on iTunes through the portal.
I thought merely having (versus using) an Amtrak credit card (as long as the credit card account was active) was sufficient to get one’s points from expiring? Is that not correct?
Yes, you’re correct: “your points will not expire as long as your card account is open”
I have not traveled Amtrak or received points from them. It is good to know that they remind when your points are about to expire.
Like most points and miles programs, there are some fairly simple ways to prevent your points from expiring….just wish they had a longer window than 2 years, or better yet, no expiration at all!
Yes Amtrak are good with reminding their members when their points are nearing expiration
Amtrak isn’t a brand I really trust for accumulating points,
I used to make use of Amtrak rewards but after I redeemed what I had, I really have not traveled with them since.
Amtrak is very good about sending out emails before the points expire.
Don’t have any Amtrak points to worry about
I have never taken a train ride so I am not really familiar with this program. Still from what was stated on this blog, I would be wary of this program.