Amtrak is offering Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard cardholders access to Amtrak lounges until August 31st, 2020. All you need to do is show your Amtrak card and your same day Amtrak reservation.
Hat tip to @vsyo
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This is awesome news. Too bad I’m unlikely to use Amtrak until 2021.
What’s an Amtrak lounge like?
The lounges themselves in NY, Philadelphia and DC are definitely not worth your time or effort in any way. However, access is provided from the lounge to directly board the train without waiting in the main boarding line. I do find this feature beneficial especially if running late. I often enter the front door of the lounge in DC and walk out the back door 5 seconds later to board the Acela back to NY. Also worth noting is that United Club membership provides full access to at least some Amtrak lounges on the east coast. Not sure about others.
In concept, they could be nice/handy/welcome….. to arrive early and relax. We only ever utilized the one in Chicago, before a long (and miserable) run on Amtrak to Charlottesville…. Yes, it was clean and large. But about as “sterile” — as in plain, uninviting, and as dull as you could get, with a soda and juice machine as I recall, with a few mass trail mix type dispensers….. Nothing at all like airport airline lounges…. That was about two years ago.
In any case, thanks DoC for passing along the news…. we’ll make use of this. Wife and I both have Amtrak cards, though they’ve been long in the sock drawer and ticketed for possible closure…. (in part as B/A has been so stingy with the spend promotions…. we used to get them, but not this past year)
I’ve only used the one in NY (using coupons that come with the credit card), and the main benefit there is that they tell you the track number before the general public, so you can get in line first. The lounge itself is pretty run down, and has a small selection of free water/soda (although sometimes the fridge is empty). It’s slightly better than sitting in the main waiting area, but as others have written, not a destination in and of itself.