Joel N. Weber II
Engineer
If you're departing from a station that has a Quik-Trak machine and/or a ticket office, you can make a reservation online and not have the tickets printed until shortly (days or hours, or even 15 minutes if you cut it close and are lucky enough to not get stuck in a line and everything works right) before you depart, which means that you can cancel the tickets if you change your plans, and since the tickets haven't been printed, you can get a full refund without the 10% penalty. (Though with sleeper accomodations you need to cancel 7 days in advance.)
What happens where there's no Quik-Trak machine or ticket office, though? If you make a reservation via amtrak.com, does Amtrak insist upon immediately printing the tickets and mailing them to you?
What happens where there's no Quik-Trak machine or ticket office, though? If you make a reservation via amtrak.com, does Amtrak insist upon immediately printing the tickets and mailing them to you?