# Will this work to redeem AGR trip?



## Sue (Aug 2, 2011)

Me, my husband and my daughter want to take go from Milwaukee to Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief in a family bedroom (this is the one with 4 beds, right?). I believe this is 30,000 points. Coming home from Los Angeles I would like to take the Coast Starlight and then get on the CZ. Will this be 30,000 points also for a family bedroom? Is there a better way to go? I have been on the EB and would like to try something different. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Sue


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## RRrich (Aug 2, 2011)

That sounds like my trip - but not in a family bedroom. 

Problem I see is those trains are mighty crowded :help: and FBs are hard to get so book early :hi:


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## manderson (Aug 2, 2011)

Sue said:


> Me, my husband and my daughter want to take go from Milwaukee to Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief in a family bedroom (this is the one with 4 beds, right?). I believe this is 30,000 points. Coming home from Los Angeles I would like to take the Coast Starlight and then get on the CZ. Will this be 30,000 points also for a family bedroom? Is there a better way to go? I have been on the EB and would like to try something different. Thoughts?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Sue


Be sure you measure out the beds in the family bedroom. The 3rd and 4th beds are for *little* kids.


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## Sue (Aug 2, 2011)

Thanks for the tip to books early. It is ok about the shorter beds too. My daughter isn't very tall.

Thanks!

Sue


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## the_traveler (Aug 2, 2011)

The longest kid's bed is 4'9" long! And there is no same day connection available from the CS (departing from LAX) to the CZ, so you will need 2 separate awards!


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## Sue (Aug 2, 2011)

Oh no! I don't want two separate awards! How many extra points would that be? What if I reversed my trip and went from Milwaukee to Chicago and on the CZ then the CS to Los Angeles? Would that be one award? Which way would give me the best scenery? Does it matter?

Sue


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## Sue (Aug 2, 2011)

What is the best way to go? Which routes would get me the "most"?


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## Acela150 (Aug 3, 2011)

Sue said:


> Oh no! I don't want two separate awards! How many extra points would that be? What if I reversed my trip and went from Milwaukee to Chicago and on the CZ then the CS to Los Angeles? Would that be one award? Which way would give me the best scenery? Does it matter?
> 
> Sue


IIRC. It would be considered an award. But you would have to take the next days train. So you would arrive from MKE take the CZ to EMY. Overnight in EMY then continue onto LAX. Overnight in LAX then continue on back to CHI. Not sure if i'm right. Maybe our AGR guru the_traveler could correct me if i'm wrong and elaborate on this.


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## SP&S (Aug 3, 2011)

MKE-LAX or LAX-MKE on the Hiawatha and Chief would be one award.

LAX-MKE on the Starlight and CZ would be two awards as there is no same day connection.

MKE-LAX on the CZ and Starlight would also be two award as, again, there is no same day connection.

However, consider this alternative: MKE-LAX on one award. Buy coach LAX-EMY on the CS. Overnight in EMY. Then use another award EMY-MKE. This only uses two awards, the coach portion would all be during the day and should cost less than $140 for the three of you. Just a thought.


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## the_traveler (Aug 3, 2011)

If you want the best scenery, go MKE-CA on the CZ!



The CZ is considered by many (including myself) as the most scenic route on Amtrak today!



(The climb up the Front Range out of Denver, the mountain passes along the Colorado River and the crossing of Donner Pass are all in daylight!


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## Sue (Aug 3, 2011)

If I went from MKE to CA on the CZ do I get off in EMY? Is there a way to get to Los Angeles on one award? I have 60,000 points and would like to book ASAP. Would you recommend taking CZ both ways or should I take the Southwest Chief one way? I appreciate your advice on the scenic route!

Sue


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## the_traveler (Aug 3, 2011)

Although you won't get to ride the CS, you. can get from northern CA to LA for 1,000 points each in coach. You can change at SAC, MTZ or EMY,


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## Sue (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks everybody. Think I will go with CZ one way and SC the other way and pay for coach seat on CS.

Sue


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## the_traveler (Aug 3, 2011)

Instead of paying for coach on the CS, you _may_ want to consider looking into the cost of a roomette or bedroom!



I know you're saying that this is a daytime trip - but there are reasons, including the following:


A sleeper includes the room (of course), but also the rail fare for all registered in that room (up to the maximum allowed)
A sleeper also includes meals in the Dining Car or Pacific Parlour Car (PPC). On this segment that is 3 meals included *PER PERSON*!
Access to the PPC. (Coach passengers can not use the PPC at all.)
A wine and cheese tasting event.

I don't know off hand what the fares are, but say it's $50 for the adults and $25 for the child's fare. That's $125 total for coach + meals. Now say the bedroom costs $200 (including meals). I myself would say that the meals and other extras are worth $75!

And it may sound strange, but many people do just this! Going north, it may be full leaving LAX, but may be almost empty by the time it gets to Oakland or so. Going south, it's just the opposite. So compare coach and a sleeper! A sleeper may even cost *LESS*!


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## Sue (Aug 3, 2011)

I checked on the Amtrak sight. It is $137 for 2 adults and one child. The room is $390 11 months out ($330 about 10 months out). When I click on the room, it adds the whole $390 and $137 for a total of $527! Yikes. Am I doing somehting wrong? This is LAX-EMY. I will check out the southbound. If my husband uses a award, how many points would that be for the 3 of us?

Sue


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## the_traveler (Aug 3, 2011)

A roomette (including meals for all 3) would be 15,000 points! A bedroom (including meals for all 3) would be 20,000 points. Coach (without meals) would be 5,500 points *EACH* or 16,500 points total!



Or as I also stated earlier, you can go via the inland route for 1,000 points *EACH* or 3,000 points total!


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## Sue (Aug 3, 2011)

Oh my land! I'm not using points! LOL I guess I will fork out the $.

Thanks for all your help.

Sue


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## abcnews (Aug 4, 2011)

$527 is not too bad for 3 people on a train all day - plus you have a Bedroom, private bath and shower, and you can gain access to the special, Pacific parlor Car, which is a bit of a throwback to the days of rail travel before Amtrak.


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## abcnews (Aug 4, 2011)

I just tried one date - Monday, June 18th - $339.50 for two Roomettes (2 adult + one child). You could get two Roomettes across from each other - upper level (nice). Then you have a lot of space. You could just purchase one Roomette - for day travel (2 adults and one child).

Or $417 for 2 adults and one child - with a bedroom. $417 for 3 is a good price. That is a very scenic ride.


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## FlyingBoat (Aug 6, 2011)

You could take the CS Form LA to Portland and Empire Builder from Portland to MKE all for one award ticket.


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## Rail Freak (Aug 6, 2011)

FlyingBoat said:


> You could take the CS Form LA to Portland and Empire Builder from Portland to MKE all for one award ticket.



No,no,no, You can only get as far as WPT on a 1 zone award ticket!!!!


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## the_traveler (Aug 6, 2011)

Rail Freak said:


> FlyingBoat said:
> 
> 
> > You could take the CS Form LA to Portland and Empire Builder from Portland to MKE all for one award ticket.
> ...


Rail Freak was saying it can not be done for a 1 *ZONE* award ticket, but it can be done for a 2 *ZONE* award ticket!


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## Sue (Aug 7, 2011)

I like the idea of getting 2 roomettes across from each other! Thank you for the tip!

Sue


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## Acela150 (Aug 8, 2011)

Sue said:


> I like the idea of getting 2 roomettes across from each other! Thank you for the tip!
> 
> Sue


You would have to call 1-800-USA-RAIL and ask for that and speak to an agent. It can not be done online.


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## FlyingBoat (Aug 10, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Rail Freak said:
> 
> 
> > FlyingBoat said:
> ...


Right, I didn't say anything about a 1 zone award.

I missed the part about your wanting something different than EB.

But f you have the time and 10K more miles you could do them all.

30K MKE to LAX

20K one way award LAX to Denver. Either back through ABQ or probably better up through SAC taking the CZ east. This is a combination of buses and San Joaquin to Sac.

20K one way award from DEN back to SAC on CZ then SAC on CS to PDX and PDX to Madison (Columbus, WI) on EB. This way you get to ride the CZ both ways through the scenic areas, can have a stop over in Denver if you like and still ride the CS, though not from LA. (you would need a rep who will book this as one zone for you, but it has worked for me out of ABQ to MSP. )

It would be a long trip. LOL, I may need to try something like that out for myself next year!


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## Ispolkom (Aug 12, 2011)

FlyingBoat said:


> (you would need a rep who will book this as one zone for you, but it has worked for me out of ABQ to MSP. )


Not so easy. Last week Mrs Ispolkom tried three times, and all three agents told her that DEN-SAC-PDX-MSP was a 2-zone trip.


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## FlyingBoat (Aug 21, 2011)

Ispolkom said:


> FlyingBoat said:
> 
> 
> > (you would need a rep who will book this as one zone for you, but it has worked for me out of ABQ to MSP. )
> ...


Too bad. It may be getting tougher. My experience 3 out of the 4 calls I made regarding ABQ to MSP said it was 1-zone, and I booked two of them. 1st call, the agent told me it was one zone when I was expecting two and didn't even know it could be considered one. When I got the points to actually book it, 2nd agent said it couldn't be done, 3rd agent did it no problem, 4th added another room for same itinerary also as one zone. If it is of any help, 1st agent told me it can be booked as one or two zone and the agent needs to know how to do it, which he also said most should know. 2nd agent went to supervisor who told her it could only be two zone, so I wouldn't push it to supervisor.


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## Ispolkom (Aug 21, 2011)

FlyingBoat said:


> Too bad. It may be getting tougher.


The trip is still worth it at 30k points, so we booked it. As I've written before, my experience with AGR is that there are no rules, just probabilities. Ever since April 1, 2010, it's been very hard to book a circuitous 1-zone trip (a so-called loophole), but your experience shows that it's not impossible. The same seems to be true with layovers during award trips.


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