Continental and Amtrak were natural partners in Newark, with Amtrak providing feed from locations like Philadelphia. United inherited that codeshare relationship from Continental.
As part of the partnership, United Club members were able to access Amtrak lounges and vice versa.
Alas, like most good things from the Continental era, that partnership will come to an end.
Reciprocal mileage earning will end on December 24th. Many Amtrak loyalists credited United flights to Amtrak for free train rides at a rate of 1 point per mile traveled with a bonus for premium cabin flights. That rate didn’t change when United switched to fare based earnings.
The final day for reciprocal access will be February 4th, 2021.
Codeshare booking options are kaput as well.
If you’ve been to a DansDeals seminar you heard all about ZFV fares and I’ve mentioned them on this site over the years as well. But like the Verrazano trick discussed at the seminars, all good things must come to an end.
ZFV was the “airport code” for the 30th street train station in downtown Philadelphia. By booking a ticket to ZFV instead of Newark you were able to save a small fortune on your flight, and nobody was the wiser if you didn’t take the Amtrak to ZFV.
Last year you were able to book tickets nonstop from Tel Aviv to Newark on United for just $421 by utilizing ZFV and in 2018 there were cheap nonstops to Hong Kong with a ZFV fare. It also worked for flights from Tel Aviv. It was like a hidden city, but it worked better as there were no flights.
Did you ever book a ticket to or from ZFV?
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9 Comments On "Amtrak And United Break Up: Goodbye To ZFV"
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So do we get to hear about verazzano now?
At the next Seminar…
@Dan thanks again for posting “Last year you were able to book tickets nonstop from Tel Aviv to Newark on United for just $421 by utilizing ZFV” it really worked out great for us. We even managed to dump the amtrak both ways.
It’s Biden’s fault. The guy is revamping Amtrak, ultimately ruining a an already broken system
So sad to see that go. I used that route many many times. I was not one of those going to metropark either! I actually used it to go to 30th St. station (which is a wonderful station) saddened to see it go
shame that. enjoyed taking the amtrak.
As a Select Plus member, sad to be losing my access to United lounges. But the big shock is I never even knew about crediting United flights to GPR! Can’t believe I missed out on that
With whats going on now. is one allowed to fly into New York rent a car and go to Jersey? then drive back into ny to fly out? or will quarantine rules apply to that person?
being PHL based… this is unfortunate. Was handy, especially with the station next to EWR. There’s always NJT, I get that, but not switching trains was always nice.