This forum was very helpful with suggestions on my western loop last fall. I would like to use some more of your collective wisdom & experience. My friend & I will be leaving Denver on the CZ in late Sept. to go to NYC. To get the most variety on the trip I've planned to take the CL to DC and then the NER up to NYC. On the return route I'm planning on the LSL then the CZ to Denver. I have a voucher from a trip I wasn't able to make last year that should cover the first half of this trip. Is it now possible to call Amtrak to make the reservation using the voucher or do I have to go to a station? I live in Tulsa so calling would be nicer. Also should I make reservations at that time on the NER? I'm a little worried about the CL being on time for the connection that I want. Would it be better to just wait till we get to DC or maybe call for a reservation once we're sure the train isn't running late? If we did the call how would we get the ticket (I'm old fashioned and don't have a smart phone)?
Since so many of you suggested getting the Amtrak Mastercard for reward points - I did. I now have around 2300 points and I think I can use these for the second half of the trip. If I understand things correctly NYC to Denver is a 2 zone trip and a roomette on both the LSL & CZ would be 2000 points. Do I make reservations for this part of the trip at the same time as the first part or do I have to go somewhere else to use the points?
One more small question - one of the reasons we are going at this time is we hope to see autumn leaves. Is this something that might be or should we not count on it? Thanks for your help.
Since so many of you suggested getting the Amtrak Mastercard for reward points - I did. I now have around 2300 points and I think I can use these for the second half of the trip. If I understand things correctly NYC to Denver is a 2 zone trip and a roomette on both the LSL & CZ would be 2000 points. Do I make reservations for this part of the trip at the same time as the first part or do I have to go somewhere else to use the points?
One more small question - one of the reasons we are going at this time is we hope to see autumn leaves. Is this something that might be or should we not count on it? Thanks for your help.