Whether it’s escap­ing from cabin fever or enjoy­ing all the sea­son has to offer, Amtrak has a way to have fun and save money with 20 per­cent dis­counts on sev­eral Midwestern trains from now through April 30, 2010.

Amtrak intro­duced a new Web site designed to show trav­el­ers how con­ve­nient it is to travel by train to visit the country’s national parks.

With the theme “Parks in Your Backyard,” Amtraktoparks.com allows users to see the near­est Amtrak route to fea­tured national park sites, each of which can be reached using pub­lic trans­porta­tion from an Amtrak station.

Now through January 25, Amtrak pas­sen­gers can book a win­ter get­away for up to 20 per­cent off of one-way fares on every Long Distance train route for travel between January 19 and March 31, 2010.

Our fam­ily loves trav­el­ing by train. We often take the sub­ur­ban Metra trains into Chicago when we visit muse­ums or go sight­see­ing with out of town vis­i­tors. When it comes to trav­el­ing greater dis­tances for extended vaca­tions via Amtrak, it’s been more of a con­tentious issue. The cost and time fac­tors often leave us lit­tle choice but to travel by car, for con­ve­nience, or by plane, for the sake of time.

Now through December 19, 2009, Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR) mem­bers will earn dou­ble points for every qual­i­fy­ing trip they take on any Amtrak route from coast to coast — and earn points twice as fast towards free travel and other rewards.

Guest Rewards mem­bers may earn dou­ble points on up to two qual­i­fy­ing trips per day — one roundtrip or two one-way trips. Travel on every Amtrak route and in all classes of ser­vice is eli­gi­ble. To take advan­tage of the dou­ble points offer, pas­sen­gers must be mem­bers of AGR and must first reg­is­ter to par­tic­i­pate at AmtrakGuestRewards.com using reg­is­tra­tion code 91409 or by call­ing 1–800-307‑5000, select­ing option 2 and enter­ing the reg­is­tra­tion code.