Amtrak quietly ends student, AAA discounts

Amtrak officials have quietly ended discounts for students and AAA members and raised the age requirement for senior discounts to 65.

The discounts, which offered up to 10 percent off tickets, were discontinued earlier this year as part of a shift in strategy for the passenger rail service as it attempts to mirror pricing strategies used in other modes of transportation.

“Amtrak is moving passenger rail service to a more streamlined and efficient business model,” spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said. “The goal is to improve overall revenue performance by expanding the use of tactical fare sales to generate ridership growth versus everyday discounts for certain consumer segments.”

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Under the new program, Amtrak will offer new sales every two to three weeks as well as short “flash” sales, which offer steep discounts. One recent example was Amtrak’s “Track Friday” sale, its version of a Black Friday sale, which offered discounts of 25 to 30 percent on most of its routes.