# Agr Loopholes



## Guest (Jun 16, 2010)

What are some one zone reward loopholes?


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## Bigval109 (Jun 19, 2010)

Guest said:


> What are some one zone reward loopholes?


It appears that all loopholes have been closed. But I could be wrong.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 19, 2010)

Best one I can think of off the top of my head might be POR-MIA


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## Ispolkom (Jun 20, 2010)

I see your POR-MIA and raise you ABQ-LAX-PDX-WPT.


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## the_traveler (Jun 20, 2010)

Long Train Runnin said:


> Best one I can think of off the top of my head might be POR-MIA


POR-MIA is not a loophole by any stretch of the imagination! It is almost a straight line, although it involves 3 trains - Downeaster, NEC (Regional or AE) and Silver Service!


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2010)

Guest said:


> What are some one zone reward loopholes?


I'd venture that a SAS-CHI-NOL trip on the days the Sunset Ltd. doesnt run would be a cantidate for the longest 2 night/1 zone AGR award trip even though the old Slidell loophole through WAS doesnt exist anymore! (It was a three train,three night one zone loophole)


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## OlympianHiawatha (Jun 20, 2010)

Guest said:


> Guest said:
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I tried "booking" that one through ARROW but a default message and reschedule to the next day's _*Sunset Limited*_ service comes up.


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## Rail Freak (Jun 20, 2010)

Guest said:


> Guest said:
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How about, DEN-WPT or ELP-WPT, although I dont consider it a loophole! But The AGR agents sometimes do!LOL

RF


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## frugalist (Jun 20, 2010)

Rail Freak said:


> Guest said:
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You guys just gave me an idea for a great trip that would involve 2 1-zone bedroom awards: ABQ > LAX (2 hour layover) > PDX (1 hour layover) > WPT, overnight in WPT then WPT > PDX (4 hour layover) > SAC (5.5 hour layover) > DEN. Three nights on the train each way, approximately 38 meals (19 x 2) for less than 40,000 points (36,000 or 38,000 points as an AGR MC holder, depending on when the booking is made). Add a couple of days in both ABQ and DEN. Nice vacation!


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 20, 2010)

OlympianHiawatha said:


> Guest said:
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Another one bites the dust! You can buy a coach ticket from SAS-AUS for $10. then do AUS-CHI-NOL on non Sunset days, one night on the Eagle with 4 meals, one night on the CONO with three meals as a one zone AGR 13,500 point award (in roomette with 10%rebate)! It's on the web site,should work!

The previous poster with the ABQ-WPT and return trip has a great idea,of course WPT isnt the garden spot of North America but the train ride is pretty sweet!


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## the_traveler (Jun 20, 2010)

jimhudson said:


> WPT isnt the garden spot of North America


Is there even a town there? :huh: There isn't much of a station!


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## frugalist (Jun 20, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> jimhudson said:
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OK, then what do you guys think of the idea of PDX > HAV for the eastbound EB segment of the trip, hang around the station for an hour or so for the westbound EB to come in, then start the return trip with HAV > PDX. This allows for a short mid-day turnaround in HAV and avoids having to spend the night in WPT. Granted, it doesn't extend the trip all the way to the eastern boundary of the Western Zone, but maybe the other advantages make up for this?


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2010)

frugalist said:


> the_traveler said:
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Sounds better but might want to consider Shelby in case the EB is running late or the WB is early! This will give you and extra hour and a half cushion and you could have lunch and then catch the train around 5is for dinner on the WB EB! I dont know anything about these towns, just the stations, google them up and take a look, I dont know if AGR/Amtrak will make good on an hour connection in the middle of nowhere?


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## OlympianHiawatha (Jun 20, 2010)

jimhudson said:


> OlympianHiawatha said:
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If it was a snake, it would have bit me as I now went 1 step further and checked from my home station, Norman OK and found valid routing on the _*Heartland Flyer, Texas Eagle*_ and _*CONO*_ for almost 3 good days on the train and in 1 Zone


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## the_traveler (Jun 20, 2010)

Guest said:


> in case the EB is running late or the WB is early


A train can be late, a train can arrive early, but unless it is an "L" or "D" stop, it *MUST* wait at the station until the scheduled departure time!


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## Ispolkom (Jun 21, 2010)

Guest said:


> Sounds better but might want to consider Shelby in case the EB is running late or the WB is early! This will give you and extra hour and a half cushion and you could have lunch and then catch the train around 5is for dinner on the WB EB! I dont know anything about these towns, just the stations, google them up and take a look, I dont know if AGR/Amtrak will make good on an hour connection in the middle of nowhere?


Perhaps Montanan can chime in with his opinions.

I've spent a lot of time on the Hi-Line, and my order of preference for stopovers would Havre, Shelby, Malta, Wolf Point. Both Havre and Malta have interesting dinosaur exhibits at their local museums, but I can't recall how close those are to their respective train stations.


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## Bill Harrison (Jun 21, 2010)

I am planning on taking this one, I am in Akron, close to cleveland.

Putting in Toledo, oh to Seattle, was gives me a routing to chicago, down to LAX, then up to seattle.

That gives me 82 hours of train time (3 nights, 4 days) on the train. I didnt figure out how many meals, lol.

Thats a 2 zone reward, I just have to add a cheap ticket from Cleveland to toledo.

I am going to fly back from Seattle (About 150$ right now into akron canton one way)

Best thing I could figure out from my location for 20000 points.


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## Rail Freak (Jun 21, 2010)

Bill Harrison said:


> I am planning on taking this one, I am in Akron, close to cleveland.
> Putting in Toledo, oh to Seattle, was gives me a routing to chicago, down to LAX, then up to seattle.
> 
> That gives me 82 hours of train time (3 nights, 4 days) on the train. I didnt figure out how many meals, lol.
> ...


Bill,

That's a great trip! Do It!!!

RF


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 21, 2010)

Agree, that's a nice trip, and if you book it before 7/31 and have an AGR MC youll get a 10% point rebate= 18,000!!

And if I figured correctly, youll eat 11 meals in the diner and ride 3 different LD trains! Book it Danno!!!


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## Bigval109 (Jun 29, 2010)

So tell me if the so called atlanta loophole is gone. I wanted to buy a ticket to atl the use my reward to sea.That provided me with the most rail time. My main question is, is it still a two zone reward or has it changed to a three zone?


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## Bigval109 (Jun 29, 2010)

Rail Freak said:


> Bill Harrison said:
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> > I am planning on taking this one, I am in Akron, close to cleveland.
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I love that routing :wub: . My two zone reward will be from cin to sea. taking the cardinal to chi the swc to lax the the cs to sea. The bad news :wacko: is that it will be next year when I get to go.


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## the_traveler (Jun 29, 2010)

Bill Harrison said:


> Putting in Toledo, oh to Seattle, was gives me a routing to chicago, down to LAX, then up to seattle.
> 
> That gives me 82 hours of train time (3 nights, 4 days) on the train. I didnt figure out how many meals, lol.
> 
> Thats a 2 zone reward


I'm actually surprised that was offered!






Last year, I had a cheap northeast zone award to BUF, intending to buy a cheap ticket to TOL. The only options given for TOL-PDX were CL->EB, LSL->EB or CL/LSL->CZ->CS. I wanted to go via LAX. When I put in CHI-PDX, the SWC->CS option came up!





So I bought a ticket from BUF-CHI instead, and began the award in CHI!


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jun 29, 2010)

That would be three now.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2010)

If its from CHI Mica it would be two zones since SEA is in the Western Zone,CHI in the Central! BTW-your new avatar is pretty good looking whatever it is??


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## rick (Jul 1, 2010)

I just booked a trip for May of next year using my 2 zone AGR points. Toledo-Chicago, Chicago to Portland on the Empire Builder,then connectng to the Coast Starlight to San Luis Obispo. At 1000 points,the full length of the Surfliner to San Diego will probably work out. We will fly back to Chicago or Cleveland and take the train back to Toledo. I wanted to do this early enough in case one of the trains was full,or heaven forbid, the 2 reward zone point limit would be raised to 25,000 points. With Amtrak taking over AGR,anything is possible. I remember they raised the Northeast region from 2500 to 3000 points a while back.

Two people traveling, four full days on the train,almost four nights(we may board in Cleveland)10 meals..not bad!


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## WyoRider (Jul 8, 2010)

could you go from denver to seattle on a one bedroom reward? or would it take 2 one for each train?


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## Guest (Jul 8, 2010)

That would be a one zone award (20,000 points minus a 5% rebate=19,000, if you have an AGR MC), would ride the CZ#5 from Denver to Sacramento, layover 8+hours(no overnights allowed),then catch the CS#14 from SAC-SEA! Book early,check often, the bedrooms are hard to get on these trains, might have to go with a roomette (15,000 minus any rebate)if you want to go during the busy season! Good luck!


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## the_traveler (Jul 8, 2010)

Guest said:


> That would be a one zone award (20,000 points minus a 5% rebate=19,000, if you have an AGR MC)


Correction!!!!!!!






The 10% rebate goes until July 31, 2010! (After August 1, it's 5%!) And that is based on when you *BOOK* your award - *NOT* when you take the trip!

Thus, the above example booked before 7/31/10 would be 18,000 points!


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