Amtrak Axes Commission On Busy Biz Routes

Amtrak today notified travel agents that effective tomorrow it will eliminate commissions on reservations that exclusively include its "corridor" trains, or routes between key urban centers, according to a document provided by a travel buyer to Business Travel News.

Citing a need "to build our long distance business," Amtrak will continue to pay an 8 percent commission on long-distance trains, a 10 percent commission on group bookings and a temporary hike to 12 percent on its Amtrak Vacations packages.

In the East, affected routes include Acela Express service between Boston, New York and Washington; Acela Regional service north from Richmond, Va.; Empire Service between Manhattan, Albany and Syracuse; Keystone Service between Harrisburg, Pa., Philadelphia and Manhattan; and service between Springfield, Mass., and New Haven, Conn.

In the Midwest region, noncommissionable routes include Chicago through St. Louis to Kansas City, Mo.; Chicago to Milwaukee; and Chicago through Detroit to Toronto.

On the West Coast, affected service includes Vancouver through Seattle, Portland and Eugene, Ore.; San Jose through Oakland and Sacramento to Reno, Nev.; San Luis Obispo, Calif., through Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to San Diego; and Oakland to Bakersfield, Calif.