# Least Money Spent for Select Plus?



## VentureForth (May 29, 2012)

So, the easy way to get Select Plus is to spend $5000 on a round-the-continent trip in a bedroom the first week in March to get the most benefit out of the program. But with bonus points, and other incentives - some which apply and some which don't - is spending the $5000 the only way to get Select Plus?

What is the cheapest someone has made Select Plus in?


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## Bob Dylan (May 29, 2012)

VentureForth said:


> So, the easy way to get Select Plus is to spend $5000 on a round-the-continent trip in a bedroom the first week in March to get the most benefit out of the program. But with bonus points, and other incentives - some which apply and some which don't - is spending the $5000 the only way to get Select Plus?
> 
> What is the cheapest someone has made Select Plus in?


Nope! The Best way is to take "Cheapie" Point runs (up to 4 a day!)where there are 100 Rail (Quality Points now!)Minimum for each leg, irregardless of what the Tickets cost! Those fortunate enough to live in California, around CHI or on the NEC have a definite advantage, but even those of us in "Flyover" Country have been able to do it by taking $4/$5/$6 etc. Point runs! Of course Bonus Points dont count towards Select and Select+ Status,but these, along with AGR MC Points and Buy Points.com help pay for Expensive Award Trips!


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## VentureForth (May 29, 2012)

If I lived in NC with my mother in law (NOOOOO!) I could do a couple of round trips between Kannapolis and Salisbury for $5.50. I could get to S+ for as little as $550. Pay for it all on my AGR MC and I would have 30,000 points for a nice roomette bonus ride!

But alas, I live where there are no day trips. I could go to Yemassee from Savannah, spend all day at a Chinese Restaurant and return for as little as $30 (plus Chinese food). Harsh way to pick up 200 points.


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## Misty. (May 29, 2012)

While I haven't done it (yet at least. Haven't been that desperate to make S+ yet), I'd imagine the absolute cheapest way would be doing STL-ALN round trips... If you're willing to do two round trips in each points run day, you'd only have to do that about every other week to make S+... total cost, $250, if I've figured correctly ($2.50 is the D bucket price right now)


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## Devil's Advocate (May 29, 2012)

Earning Select/+ is expensive and/or time consuming unless you live near a major hub and/or corridor. On the other hand, if you don't live near a hub or corridor then why would you even _want_ Select/+ in the first place? It doesn't really offer/change much of anything for those of us who don't live near the action. Once I worked through the details I pretty much gave up on ever obtaining status with Amtrak. Lots of time and money for very little payoff.



jimhudson said:


> Nope! The Best way is to take "Cheapie" Point runs (up to 4 a day!)where there are 100 Rail (Quality Points now!)Minimum for each leg, irregardless of what the Tickets cost!


FYI: "irregardless" = "not regardless"


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## PRR 60 (May 29, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


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Lexicographers could come to blows arguing about the word _irregardless_.

Here is the pro-_irregardless_ take from Merrium-Webster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_fUMcTb1jI

Irregardless <_< , I think you are right about Select+. I live on the east coast, but could get Club Acela access a whole lot cheaper than doing dozens of nonsense trips to get S+. Other than the lounges (and pretty mediocre lounges at that), I don't see anything worth more than a minimal effort with S+


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## Exiled in Express (May 29, 2012)

PHL/ARD or MKA/MKE hops come immediately to mind, though I have to wonder if favorable pricing on Acela pairs would not be cheaper. After minimal research the answer is a sold "no".


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## Bob Dylan (May 29, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> Earning Select/+ is expensive and/or time consuming unless you live near a major hub and/or corridor. On the other hand, if you don't live near a hub or corridor then why would you even _want_ Select/+ in the first place? It doesn't really offer/change much of anything for those of us who don't live near the action. Once I worked through the details I pretty much gave up on ever obtaining status with Amtrak. Lots of time and money for very little payoff.
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Of course my situation is different than yours Chris! Im retired, you work! To me it IS Worth It to make Point runs to gain Select and/or Select + Status since Ill ride lots of Trains anyway (and use the AGR MC for everything I can!) and the Bonus Points,HotLine, the Coupons, the Free Trips/Hotels/Rent Cars etc. ARE worth it! I only have to spend about $500 on Point run trips to get to Select+ Status. The two Award trips I usually take each year are Loooong and Winding, inspired by the_traveler! :lol: I do give my Coupons away most of the time to those that need them since usually when Im in the East, or where they may come in handy, Im on a Sleeeper anyway! Or else just use my Card to enter the CAs and Metro Lounges and various "First Class" Waiting Rooms! (Amtrak could improve alot in this Area for sure!  )Of course,As we say , YMMV!!!


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## AlanB (May 29, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> On the other hand, if you don't live near a hub or corridor then why would you even _want_ Select/+ in the first place? It doesn't really offer/change much of anything for those of us who don't live near the action. Once I worked through the details I pretty much gave up on ever obtaining status with Amtrak. Lots of time and money for very little payoff.





PRR 60 said:


> Irregardless <_< , I think you are right about Select+. I live on the east coast, but could get Club Acela access a whole lot cheaper than doing dozens of nonsense trips to get S+. Other than the lounges (and pretty mediocre lounges at that), I don't see anything worth more than a minimal effort with S+


Why does everyone always seem to discount the 50% bonus that comes with having Select Plus?

For example, if I do a round trip in Acela FC between a city pair, that nets me 1,500 AGR points just for the run. Then I get another 750 points thanks to that 50% bonus, so its like I took yet another one way run in Acela FC in terms of points.

Yes, the lounges may not be wonderful or even useful to many people, not to mention that many of the other perks are also useless or close to it if not near a big city. And I'm not saying that one should go out of one's way to earn Select Plus status. But if one finds oneself rather close to having enough points as the year winds down, that bonus is probably well worth the cost of a silly points run to gain the status.


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## pennyk (May 29, 2012)

I do not live in a hub or on the NEC, but I have been Select Plus for two years and it has become my "hobby" to try to obtain it again this year, which will be more difficult, since I have no cross country trips planned. I think I will be select based on the points I have and the reservations that I have already made. I am not sure how many points runs from WPK to ORL (and back) I am willing to take to get to select plus. :wacko:

As Alan mentioned, the 50% bonus on paid trips comes in handy when accumulating points for future trips. BTW, I think I am a "certified" train geek - I even referred to myself as one in the taxi cab I had to take from BWI train station to WAS Union Station last Sunday afternoon, when the NEC trains were not running between PHL and WAS.


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## amamba (May 29, 2012)

Last year I got to 9600 rail points (I know, I am so pissed I didn't just suck it up and do some points runs at the end) to get to S+. It was pretty easy for me because of the acela city pairs. I buy BC from BOS - NYP (board in PVD sometimes), use the free upgrade coupons, and then that is 750 TQP (rail points). A roundtrip is 15,000 points and then I only have to do a bunch of those to get there. Add in some points runs here or there or just my normal train riding and that is how I got to 9,600 last year. I also had a cross country trip in there, but it was an AGR award so I got 0 points.

My H achieves S+ easily just by his monthly commuter pass. That is another easy way for folks on the NEC to hit S+. And again, it is nice once you are getting the 50% bonus on rail points when you are S+.

To me, the best part of S and S+ are the upgrade coupons - which are super nice on acela. I don't think those would be as valuable to me if I didn't live in the NEC and have frequent cause to go to NYP & PHL (or even WAS).

Also I do sometimes travel for work, and when I do, I am allowed to travel acela BC, and then if I want, I can pay for the upgrade to FC. So for me, that might be worth it to have my office pay the base rail fare and me pay the accomodation charge for the FC seat for the 250 extra rail points. It is better than 2pts per dollar, and if I buy the upgrade on my AGR MC, I am also getting 2 pts per dollar spent.

Of course the benefit of all of these points is my free LD sleeper travel! This summer I do doing SEA - SPG on the EB & the LSL, and in November I am doing roundtrip WFD - DFB on the meteor and the star. So that is 80K points I will have spent in calendar year 2012 on LD sleeper travel - and I will have earned them all (well, my H earned most of them!). I didn't even buy any although I might buy some in June while the 30% bonus offer is out there.


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## gatelouse (May 29, 2012)

VentureForth said:


> If I lived in NC with my mother in law (NOOOOO!) I could do a couple of round trips between Kannapolis and Salisbury for $5.50. I could get to S+ for as little as $550. Pay for it all on my AGR MC and I would have 30,000 points for a nice roomette bonus ride!


Not quite 30,000 points with this strategy. While Amtrak will give you 100 points per segment, Chase won't. So it's 10,000 rail points + 1100 points from the credit card + 1250 Select bonus points = 12,350.

Still, I envy anyone with the patience and cleverness to get to S+ for under $1000!


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## benjibear (May 30, 2012)

So to be a select or select plus you must earn the qualifying points in each calander year. Then your membership in select or select plus expires on March 30 the following year. Am I correct in this? So to get the most benifit, you want to earn your select or select plus as early in the year as possible. Am I right?

I just looked and I have 940 points. I only joined in January and really only took 8 short day trips.


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## VentureForth (May 30, 2012)

Program typically runs March through February. In don't know if I get mile #10000 on NYE if my benefits start that following March or only last through that following February. That'd suck. I'm more inclined to say the former. But I don't know. If you earn 10,000 points in Jan or Feb, that'd be otherwise the only way to get a full year out of the program.


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## gatelouse (May 30, 2012)

Everyone who qualifies in 2012 earns status through Feb 28, 2014 regardless of when they qualified.


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## PRR 60 (May 31, 2012)

VentureForth said:


> Program typically runs March through February. In don't know if I get mile #10000 on NYE if my benefits start that following March or only last through that following February. That'd suck. I'm more inclined to say the former. But I don't know. If you earn 10,000 points in Jan or Feb, that'd be otherwise the only way to get a full year out of the program.


There are two time periods. Qualifying for status is based on trips taken during a calendar year (Jan 1 to Dec 31). The "Program Year" runs from March 1 to the last day of February the next year. Accumulating 5000 points (Select) or 10,000 points (Select Plus) during the calendar year will qualify you for status for the current program year (ending Feb 28 or 29 of the next year) AND will qualify you for status for the following program year.

For example, if you hit 10,000 Tier Qualifying Points today (5/31), you get 2012 Select+ status ending 2/28/2013, and you also get 2013 Select+ status which ends 2/28/2014. No matter when you earn status, you get at least 14 months of benefits, and in most cases, much more.


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