^ This. Amtrak's seasonal discounts are basically useless in my experience. They provide little if any real discount while taking away many of the inherent benefits of using Amtrak. It's not just a wash, it's a net negative. My advice is to stay away from "offers" such as this.
Speak for yourself. I had booked round-trips on behalf of several family members traveling on the Empire Builder later this month. These travelers did not qualify for any other discounts,
I'm happy for your savings. It's good thing you started out with regular tickets that came with the benefit of cancellation so you could make that change. In my case and in the case of my family the slight improvement over our standard discounts for seasonal coach-only fares is generally too low to be enough of a benefit to take on the added risk of losing a refund if a change in our plans or obligations ends up altering any of our dates or times.
If you were simply to alter the date and time of your travel, you would still bear no risk under this sale. The T&C state that exchanges are permitted within the ticket validity period. So while an outright refund is not possible with the sale price, you can still change the date. If you decided not to travel at all, then yes you would be out of luck. But with the sale dates being so limited this isn't a case of someone booking a trip months in advance and then having a change of heart.
Most of our trips involve the Sunset Limited in one way or another. Since the Limited only runs runs once every few days it's already pretty rare that it just happens to be running on a date and time we're looking to travel. In those situations even the most minor of changes to the schedule (whether by us or by Amtrak) will generally require a change to a flight or automobile. A non-refundable 10% (additional) discount is not going to mean much in that situation. The Texas Eagle runs daily but even in that situation the rule against sleeper upgrades kills much of the potential usefulness. So, for us, these offers are not worth the added restrictions.
No travel insurance policy I've ever looked at offered an immediate cash/credit refund with no paperwork and no questions asked like Amtrak does. As for airline tickets I generally pick Southwest precisely because there is no penalty for changes in date or time. All you have to do is pay the difference in fares and you're on your way. In the end I guess this is just another example of "to each his own." ^_^
While I understand all that you say, just to be clear let me please point out that you just can't get a refund. Yes, this can be a problem for some who must have the money back right away. But my point is that you can exchange those tickets, provided you did call Amtrak to say I'm not riding that day, for up to 1 year for a different trip. So your money, while not available to you, isn't lost provided you do plan to take another trip within a year.
