eTicketing - Your Ride is Just a Barcode Away

How you make your booking may affect how you get your eTicket, but once you have it in hand, you're ready to board the train. 

• Station Ticket Counter: The ticket agent will print out your eTicket* for you.
• Amtrak Kiosk: If you purchase your tickets at a Amtrak kiosk, you will receive your eTicket* at the end of your transaction.
  
• Over the Phone: You can still call 1-800-USA-RAIL to make your booking and receive your eTicket via email and print it out on your own. However, eTickets cannot be purchased over the phone for Capitol Corridor trains unless you are unaccompanied minors or need special assistance. For more information about Capitol Corridor, call 1-877-9-RIDECC.

*The eTickets printed at the station ticket counter or Amtrak kiosk look different from the print-anywhere eTicket PDF but serve the same purpose. The difference is: from the station ticket counter or Amtrak kiosk, each eTicket is issued based on the individual passenger's name, not reservation number; each eTicket contains up to two travel segments only.

• If you received an eTicket, simply open it in the Amtrak mobile application, or print out another copy of the PDF document attached to your receipt email.
• If you had a paper value ticket, you will need to repurchase it at the ticket counter. When you recover the original ticket, you can submit it and the receipt from the repurchased ticket for a refund of the original ticket. If it has been lost entirely, the Amtrak lost ticket policy applies, and you need to call 1-800-USA-RAIL as soon as possible.
   

When you book your travel at a travel agency or corporate travel office, you will get a paper value ticket, not an eTicket. Make sure to keep your paper value tickets safe as they have dollar value. The travel agency will issue you with paper value tickets; when booking through a corporate travel office, use your booking confirmation to collect your paper value ticket from an Amtrak kiosk or station ticket office. You must use the paper value tickets to board the train.

An eTicket will be issued if you are traveling one-way, round-trip or multi-city on the same eTicketing enabled route. However, you will not receive an eTicket if:

• you are traveling beyond the same eTicketing-enabled route.
  
• you have a group ticket.
• you pay the fare on the train.
   

For Train Routes Requiring Reservations (Most of the Amtrak Train Routes)

If your travel plans change, you must contact Amtrak before the train you originally booked has departed. If you booked it on Amtrak.com and have not started any part of your journey, you can modify your reservation on Amtrak.com; otherwise, you can modify it over the phone at 800-USA-RAIL or speak to a ticket agent at the station. Your eTicket will then be updated to reflect your itinerary change, and any difference in fare collected or refunded. It is recommended, but not required, to print out an updated copy of your eTicket (or obtain a new copy from a ticket agent or an Amtrak kiosk) after you have modified your itinerary.

If you do not notify us before the departure of your original train, and do not board that train, your entire reservation will be canceled, your eTicket will no longer be valid and cannot be used for travel, and the money you paid will be stored in an eVoucher that you can either use for future travel or arrange for a refund, subject to any refund conditions that may apply to the fare paid.

If you are already on a train, and find that your reservation has been canceled because you changed your plans and did not tell Amtrak, you will need to pay the conductor for your trip, even if you had previously paid for the reservation that was canceled. The amount to pay the conductor will normally be at the highest fare level; an additional charge may apply if your boarding station had an open ticket office at the time of departure that you did not use. You will need to contact Amtrak at 800-USA-RAIL or visit a ticket office to inquire about obtaining a credit or refund for the original reservation that was canceled.

For Train Routes Not Requiring Reservations (such as the Capitol Corridor)

eTickets may be used within one year of purchase on train routes not requiring reservations, unless the fare paid specifies a shorter period of validity. You do not need to call 1-800-USA-RAIL for your trip modification, unless the changes include:

• travel on a train route requiring a reservation, or
• travel on a segment that has not been eTicketing enabled.

For more information about Capitol Corridor, call 1-877-9-RIDECC.