Do Amtrak points expire? – The guy scores points
In March 2019, I traveled the rails from Portland, Oregon to Chicago on the Amtrak Roomette. I earned a few Amtrak Guest Rewards point on this journey but have not traveled with Amtrak since. So I wasn’t surprised when I recently received a notification from AwardWallet that my Amtrak points would expire on April 6.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever use these points, but I thought I’d look into Amtrak’s expiration policy and whether I could renew them. Here’s what I found.
Do Amtrak points expire?
Amtrak points expire after 24 months of inactivity.
According to section D of Amtrak Terms and Conditions“Points earned under the Program will not expire as long as the Program continues and the Member’s Program account is active. ‘Active’ means the Member earned and/or redeemed Program points using a Code Member within a 24-month period . If no qualifying Member-initiated activity is recorded or reported within 24 months for a Member, that Member’s points will expire. “
So the key to keeping your Amtrak points from expiring is account activity.
Related: Best credit cards for Amtrak and train travel
How to determine when your Amtrak points expire
If you log into your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and look around, you won’t see an expiration date for your points anywhere. The solution is a somewhat complicated workaround.
After logging in to your account, click your name in the upper right corner of the window and select “My Account”. From here, click “My Transactions” on the left sidebar to see your recent Amtrak Guest Rewards activity.
Your recent activity won’t be helpful if you’re worried about your points expiring. So change the “from” date to 24 months before the current date and click “Search”.
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My most recent account activity was to cancel my award reservation on April 5, 2023. Based on that, if I do nothing, my Amtrak points will expire on April 6 after 24 months of inactivity dynamic.
Related: Jet vs. Amtrak: What’s the best way to travel between New York City and Washington, DC?
How I keep my Amtrak account active
Amtrak’s terms and conditions note that any earning or redemption activity on my account will prevent my points from expiring.
I have many options because my points expire in almost two months. As an occasional Amtrak user, the most affordable options to consider are earning points for Amtrak travel, earning points by participating in Survey Points Club surveys, purchasing Amtrak points, redeeming points for travel Amtrak schedule or earn points by shopping with one of Amtrak’s retail partners.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any upcoming Amtrak travel needs, so earning or redeeming points for Amtrak travel is not a useful way to keep my account active. Amtrak no longer charges a fee to cancel awards, so it’s unclear whether you’ll reset your expiration meter or not if you’ve booked and canceled an award.
I also don’t need to shop with Amtrak’s retail partners like 1-800-Fflowers.com, Teleflora or Vinesse Wines.
Related: You can now search for Amtrak routes on Google Flights
The smallest number of points I can buy is 500, which would cost me $18.85 at a buying rate of 3.77 cents per point. Since I can never redeem my Amtrak points, I’m not willing to pay $18.85 for 500 more points to extend the validity of my existing points.
My best option is to earn a few Amtrak points by taking a Survey Points Club survey. Scores from survey completion are usually posted immediately but can take up to a week. I signed up for the Survey Score Club, answered a few demographic questions, and started my first survey.
After starting the survey, I couldn’t get past the first few pages of questions. When I said my doctor hadn’t prescribed me any prescription pain medication in the past six months, the survey threw up a message saying I wasn’t a candidate. However, I still received 5 points at the beginning of the survey.
Now, my Amtrak points expire on January 12, 2027. However, I would feel better if Amtrak clearly stated the expiration date in my account.
Related: How to keep your airline, hotel, and rental car points and miles from expiring
Bottom line
It’s annoying that Amtrak points expire if your account is inactive for 24 months. However, earning points through the Survey Points Club is a relatively easy way to keep my Amtrak account active. Points posted to my account almost instantly, so Survey Points Club may be an option even if your points are about to expire in just a few days.
Remember that you must manually track when your Amtrak points expire or rely on the award travel tool to track your points and miles expiration dates. After all, your Amtrak points expiration date won’t appear in your Amtrak account, and Amtrak won’t notify you before your points expire.
