My 4 Strategies to Get Cheap Amtrak Tickets in 2026

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Next week, I’m taking Amtrak from New York down to Washington DC for $24. It’s not a sale.

I’ve written a lot about Amtrak on this blog. I’ve reviewed half a dozen routes, written a lot of words arguing that taking the train beats flying on most short to medium routes.

Yet, at the same time, Amtrak can be expensive. Under pressure to make a profit, they’ve adopted dynamic pricing just like the airlines. That means the same seat can cost $24 one day and $150 another.

But there are a few patterns and strategies to get cheap Amtrak tickets.

Dozens of Amtrak rides later, here’s what works. I’ll start with the two most common.

1) Book the Early Morning or Late Night Trains

This isn’t my most original tip, but I’ve gotta mention it because it’s reliable. The simplest way to get a cheap ticket, what I’m doing next week, is to get the early morning train.

The 5:45am train from New York to DC is fften $24-$35. The 11am train on the same day can run $80 or more.

I’m not wild about getting up before 5am to make that train, but I’m also not wild about paying three times as much to leave at a normal hour. I will either try to go back to sleep or caffeinate and move forward with an extra $50 in my pocket.

The same logic applies to late departures. The last train out tends to be cheaper because fewer people want it.

This only works on routes like the Northeast Corridor, where there are enough daily departures that the unpopular time slots have to compete for riders.

2) For Once-a-Day Trains, Book Months Out (Get Refundable Tickets If You May Not Make It)

Not every Amtrak route gives you a dozen time slots to pick from. Two of my favorites, like the Pennsylvanian and the Ethan Allen Express from New York to Burlington, run exactly once a day in each direction.

On the Pennsylvanian, my girlfriend and I locked in tickets at $56 per person each way by booking more than five months ahead. A week out, that ticket is usually over $100.

The less frequent the train, the earlier you need to book. This is different than some airline algorithms, where you don’t always want to book too early. With Amtrak, earlier is better.

Amtrak releases a limited number of base-price seats, and once they’re gone, prices climb fast. If you know your travel dates, lock them in.

Tricks for Booking Early Even if You’re Unsure

Again, this is obvious advice. So the trick when you’re booking out far in advance and you’re not sure you’ll actually go is to get a refundable option. If you book a Flex Fare with Amtrak, you can get a refund before departure. You’ll pay a few bucks extra, but if you get a low price to begin with and there’s a good chance you won’t make it, this covers you.

If you need to change the day, you’ll have to pay the new prices, but at least if you can’t make it at all you can get a refund.

The other option is to use a third-party booking tool. There are downsides to it, but I do occasionally book Amtrak through Busbud.

Usually the BusBud price is a few bucks more than the Amtrak Flex Fare, so there’s no real reason to book with them.

But sometimes, BusBud gets allocated a certain number of tickets at a certain price, and it can be less than what you see on Amtrak’s website. With Busbud, no matter what fare you get, you’ll always be able to either get a refund or at least Busbud credit.

You can read more about BusBud here in my review.

3) Combine Amtrak with Commuter Trains or Buses

This is one of my favorite tricks and I don’t see it talked about enough.

Here’s the concrete example. Getting from New York to Hartford on Amtrak alone can be expensive, and the schedule options are limited. But you don’t have to do it that way.

Several times, I’ve taken Metro-North from Grand Central to New Haven first. This is a fixed price. You can buy it two seconds before boarding if you want.

From there, Amtrak’s Hartford Line and CT Rail run from New Haven up through Hartford toward Springfield, and sometimes Greenfield. That leg is also a fixed price.

So instead of paying a dynamic Amtrak fare from New York all the way to Hartford, you’re paying two flat commuter rail fares that don’t change based on demand. The almost always comes out cheaper and you’re not at the mercy of Amtrak’s pricing algorithm.

This approach works for other routes. I’ve done this same thing to get to Boston and saved.

This approach works on other routes too. In Connecticut, you can apply the logic to get all the way to New London along the coast with CT Rail’s Shoreline East route.

If your train to D.C. looks expensive, check prices to Baltimore and transfer to a MARC train from there. If Philly to New York looks expensive, check if you can get to Trenton and then take NJ Transit.

My East Coast bias is showing, but you get the idea.

4) Sometimes, Just Take the Bus

I know. This is an article about Amtrak. But if the goal is getting somewhere cheaply, the bus is often a better option. I find that most people don’t know how many bus options there are in the U.S. sometimes the honest answer is that the bus wins.

There are dozens of bus operators across the U.S. Often, you don’t have to be stuck with Greyhound or FlixBus. The best way to see them all for our route is to search on Busbud. Don’t be surprised if you see companies you’ve never heard of.

I ride Peter Pan regularly and think it’s a solid option for a lot of Northeast routes. I wrote a full Peter Pan Bus review with everything you’d want to know about the experience.

For certain routes, the bus is cheaper, nearly as fast, and more frequent. It’s not as comfortable as Amtrak, but neither is paying $150 for a train when you could pay $30 for a bus that leaves an hour later.

Combine The Last Two Strategies

Let’s say you want to get from to Richmond Virginia from somehwere on the Northeast Corridor. If that train to Richmond looks expensive, check trains to D.C. first, then check buses from D.C. to Richmond.

Yeah, it’s a layover. But hey, you’re asking for my tips to save money on Amtrak.

I used this strategy to get from New York to Virginia Beach.

That’s all I got! If you’re looking for cheap business class or private room upgrades, you’ll want to read my article on Amtrak Bidup tips.