In March 2019, I rode the train from Portland, Oregon to Chicago in an Amtrak roomette. I earned something Amtrak Guest Award points on this trip but have not traveled with Amtrak since. So, I wasn’t surprised when I recently received a notification from Awards Wallet that my Amtrak points were set to expire on April 6.
I’m not sure I’ll ever use these points, but I thought I’d look into the Amtrak expiration policy and whether I can redeem them. This is what I got.
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 earns Program Points using his or her membership number within a 24-month period and/or redeems. If a Member-initiated Qualifying Activity is not entered or reported within 24 months, the Member’s points will expire.
So, the key to keeping your Amtrak points from expiring is account activity.
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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 slightly complicated solution.
After logging into your account, click on your name in the upper right corner of the window and select “My Account.” From here, click “My Transactions” on the left sidebar to view your recent Amtrak Guest Rewards activity.
If you’re worried about your points draining, your recent activity won’t be helpful. 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 an award booking on April 5, 2023. Based on this, if I did nothing, my Amtrak points would expire on April 6 after 24 months of inactivity.
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How do 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 several options since my points won’t expire for about two months. As an infrequent Amtrak user, the options that would make the most sense are earning points on Amtrak travel, earning points by participating in Survey Points Club surveys, purchasing Amtrak points, redeeming points for Amtrak travel, or by purchasing Earning points. With one of Amtrak’s retail partners.
Unfortunately, I have no need for upcoming Amtrak travel, so earning or redeeming points for Amtrak travel is not a useful way to keep my account active. Amtrak no longer charges award cancellation fees, so it’s unclear whether you’ll reset your expiration clock if you booked an award and canceled.
I also don’t need to shop with Amtrak retail partners like 1-800-Flowers.com, Teleflora or Vinasse Wines.
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The smallest amount of points I can purchase is 500, which will cost me $18.85 at a purchase 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 some Amtrak points by taking Survey Points Club surveys. Scores for completing surveys are often posted immediately but may take up to a week. I signed up for the Survey Points Club, answered some demographic questions, and started my first survey.
After starting the survey, I couldn’t get past the first few pages of questions. Once when I said that a doctor had not prescribed me any painkillers in the last six months, a message came up in the survey saying that I was not fit. However, I still got five points for starting the survey.
Now, my Amtrak points should expire on January 12, 2027. However, I would feel better if Amtrak stated the expiration date on my account.
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It’s annoying that Amtrak points expire if your account is inactive for 24 months. However, earning points through the Survey Points Club was a relatively easy way to keep my Amtrak account active. Points are posted to my account almost instantly, so Survey Points Club may be an option even if your points are set to expire in a few days.
Remember when your Amtrak points expire, you’ll have to track manually or rely on a rewards travel tool that tracks expiration dates of your points and miles. Finally, the expiration date of your Amtrak points will not be reflected in your Amtrak account, and Amtrak will not notify you before your points expire.