Back in December, I completed my first mini app-o-rama, and was eventually approved for all three cards I applied for–including the Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World. Well, those bonus points recently posted to my account, and I started to wonder, what could I do with those 30,000 Amtrak points? Here are some options, from the practical to the fantastic.

Option 1: 6 NYC-Boston roundtrips

One of the great perks about Amtrak is their pretty consistent schedule out of New York Penn Station. On weekdays, there are trains from NYC to Boston almost every hour, which makes going home to visit my family even easier. With the 30,000 Amtrak points, I’d have almost enough to take 6 roundtrips between the two cities, and then after that, I think my parents might be sick of me ;).

Remember, when you have either Amtrak credit card, you’ll get a 5% point rebate on award bookings, which means the image above only uses 5,113 points.

(READ MORE: Amtrak NYC to Boston Review)

(READ MORE: Amtrak Boston to NYC Review)

Psst, those are some articles I wrote for my gig over at Points With a Crew–you should check them out!

Option 2: 1 one-way trip NYC-Seattle

I’ve always wanted to take the train cross-country, even if Nick thinks that makes me crazy :). I’ve actually written about a plan for this before, which you can read about here.

In the most recent iteration of this, you can get from NYC to Seattle one-way for 29,006 points, just barely under our imposed 30,000 point cap.

This particular route has three segments: one in coach, and two in Superliner Roomettes. In total, the trip will take you ~67 hours, and will take you through some or America’s most beautiful landscapes. These prices also include all meals, which is good, because snacks may cut it on a 5 hour trip, but definitely wouldn’t suffice on an almost 3 day long trip!

Option 3: 6 NYC-Montreal roundtrips

But what if a little international travel is more up your sleeve? Well, you can actually travel between NYC and Montreal, and you can do it six times (or three if you want to bring a friend!)

Each roundtrip will set you back 4,786 points, which is a STEAL!

Option 4: 1 NYC-Miami roundtrip

Finally, you could take one roundtrip between NYC and Miami, which is another trip I’d love to do, but maybe would need to do solo. This one comes in at 22,868 points and ~31 hours each way.

30,000 Amtrak points conclusion

Living on the East Coast, I often find Amtrak to be the best way to get where I need to go in relative comfort and moderate speed. With the sign-up from the Amtrak Guest Rewards World card, my points get me all that, and free travel. What’s not to love?! Remember that all the point prices quoted above are slightly different, as having either version of the Amtrak credit card gives you a 5% point rebate when you book award travel.

Header image is a Northeast Regional train in Wilmington, DE. Image courtesy of Pi.1415926535 via Wikimedia Commons.