WASHINGTON — Amtrak is considering airline-style nonrefundable fares and ticket-change fees, according to a leaked memo.
The tech website BGR, quoting from a paywalled Business insider report, says the changes could come as soon as January. They would make the lowest-priced “saver” fares nonrefundable and non-changeable 24 hours after purchase, and impose a 25% cancellation fee or 15% change fee (within two weeks of departure) on “value” fares, the next tier up in Amtrak’s ticketing options.
Currently, passengers receive a voucher for 75% of a ticket’s value when they cancel a saver fare, and can get a full refund on value fares up to eight days before departure. Those rules were imposed in March 2018, ending full refunds for saver tickets and imposing the 25% cancellation fees on both
Amtrak had previously tightened refund and cancellation policies in March 2018, when it first imposed the 25% cancellation fee on saver tickets and the current eight-day window for value refunds. [See “Amtrak tightens refund policy,” Trains News Wire, March 30, 2018].
