<p>S is going to school in Baltimore and will be using Amtrack to get home...I know that route is very expensive, so is there a way to get discounted fares for college students?</p>
<p>Students can receive a 15% discount with the Student Advantage card, or if you are a member of AAA, there is a 10% discount on fares.</p>
<p>[Amtrak</a> - Deals - Passenger Discounts - Student Advantage](<a href=“Amtrak”>Amtrak)</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on the student discount card. It costs $20 - I will have to check the potential savings for D (Amtrak station just steps from campus).</p>
<p>Appreciate the link!</p>
<p>We’ve found air bargains (Southwest) to be as cheap/cheaper than train. Also megabus! They both operate routes to Baltimore. Any chance either has service to your destination?</p>
<p>one more thing is that all train disounts do NOT apply to any roomette or bedroom so you have to sit all the way.</p>
<p>This won’t help for kids already in college, but for those doing campus tours with their high school juniors and seniors, Amtrak has a special, where you pay one full-fare and get the 2nd one at 50%. This info is not on the Amtrak site (or else it’s very well hidden) but you can find it here: [Campus</a> Visit Helping College-Bound Visitors Find Their Way](<a href=“http://www.campusvisit.com/amtrak/]Campus”>http://www.campusvisit.com/amtrak/) Once you fill in the info, you will be directed to the Amtrak site, to complete your reservation. </p>
<p>We have successfully used it several times.</p>
<p>Students who have an ISIC card (my son had one for study abroad) will also receive a 15% discount on Amtrak fares. Discount travel must be booked at least three days before departure. Traveling from Michigan to Wisconsin, he finds the train much more comfortable than the bus at a slightly higher cost. Check the “Weekly Specials” page on the Amtrak site (available Tuesday through Friday for the following week) for heavily discounted fares on some trips, too.</p>
<p>Make sure your son reserves his train well in advance of school vacations. The trains fill up quickly at these times. Also, be aware that the student discount is NOT available on any weekday Acela Express trains, business class or first class. D has been using Amtrak for the past 2 years from Providence to NYC and we never even bought the discount card because of those exclusions.</p>
<p>D traveled home for the holidays via Amtrack from Brown. There was a “frequent flyer” card available. Her points got her one free ride after four years! Don’t know if it’s still available, but worth a look-see.</p>
<p>S will also be in a town on the Amtrak route and it travels to our home city - funny, we were just talking about it this weekend! He will only be 3 hours from home but without a car and while 3 hours isn’t too far, the train could come in handy for winter weather etc. </p>
<p>The train route is listed to be 3 hrs. 16 minutes of travel compared to our almost exact 3 hours travel home door to college door - wondering how true to these times they often are?</p>
<p>I don’t know where momtravels and family live, but around here Amtrak (note spelling) is generally the high-cost, high-amenities travel option. Even with student discounts, it is many times more expensive than Megabus, which also offers free wireless for its rides. Megabus has essentially swallowed the student ground travel market whole over the past two years here.</p>
<p>Good to know that you can’t use the student discounts on the Acela on weekdays!</p>
<p>I found a good site</p>
<p>[Amtrak</a> Promotion Code, Coupons & Discounts: 2010 Amtrak Codes & Fares](<a href=“http://www.railserve.com/amtrak_coupons.html]Amtrak”>Amtrak Promo Codes (29) - September 2023)</p>
<p>Wow! I just looked into the Megabus…DIRT CHEAP!</p>
<p>The fares ranged from 5.00 to 17.00 Baltimore to NYC, then S could take the train home from Grand Central.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>I also found the “Bolt” bus…also cheap and easy way to get from Baltimore to NYC.</p>
<p>S is just going to have to get on the subway and can go home with H who works in the city…</p>
<p>We’ve used Amtrak twice when D’s flight has been grounded due to snow. I was able to get her on a train at the last minute. Maybe I was just lucky! But it was good to have that option. For our route, Pittsburgh to NYC, the fare was pretty reasonable.</p>
<p>Yeah, Bolt Bus also works. I forget that it and Megabus are different – it’s exactly the same idea and same locations here.</p>
<p>Son was going to college in Central Illinois and would only continue if he could come home every weekend. We got him a 10 ride ticket for about 125.00 and signed him up for their Guest Rewards program, so we were able to get several free tickets for daughter’s occasional trips home from her university in Milwaukee back home to Chicago.</p>
<p>We are HUGE Megabus fans here - so much cheaper than Amtrack and so much more reliable! Only once in about 5 trips (so far) has the Megabus been more than 20 minutes late in arriving, and Amtrack is notorious in these parts for their horrible on-time percenatge. D likes all the college-age kids she meets on the bus, too.</p>
<p>Good to know that the buses are reliable.</p>
<p>H takes Amtrak fairly often for business and they are notoriously unreliable…always late.</p>
<p>How could MegaBus charge only $10 for a trip? Let’s say New York to Pittsburgh, almost 400 miles. That’s $10? Are these buses insured? Are they safe? Are the drivers trained, etc.?</p>