# 1 & 2 Zone Travel Awards



## Rail Freak (May 28, 2011)

For those of you who are AGR Members, what are your favorite 1 & 2 Zone awards. The best bang for your points!!!


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## yarrow (May 28, 2011)

favorite 1 zone redepmtion: spk-pdx-lax-abq or trinidad. also, spk-pdx-sac-den

favorite 2 zone redemption: spk-chi-nol-atl or atl-nol-lax-pdx-spk

all offer a lot of train for the points


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## Rail Freak (May 28, 2011)

yarrow said:


> favorite 1 zone redepmtion: spk-pdx-lax-abq or trinidad. also, spk-pdx-sac-den
> 
> favorite 2 zone redemption: spk-chi-nol-atl or atl-nol-lax-pdx-spk
> 
> all offer a lot of train for the points


Thr routes with NOL connections- are they allowing that with you paying for hotel?

I'm doing ABQ-LAX-PDX-WGL & WGL-PDX-SAC-DEN in a couple of weeks!


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## frugalist (May 28, 2011)

yarrow said:


> favorite 1 zone redepmtion: spk-pdx-lax-abq or trinidad. also, spk-pdx-sac-den
> 
> favorite 2 zone redemption: spk-chi-nol-atl or atl-nol-lax-pdx-spk
> 
> all offer a lot of train for the points


1 zone: Florida to Portland, ME sounds like it would be fun. Or Florida to St. Albans. Or to Montreal. Or to Toronto. (Are those allowed as 1 zone awards?).

2 zone: Florida to Denver via NYP and CHI. (We booked that award as part of our cross country trip in July - had to book a 2 zone + a 1 zone to get the routing we wanted).


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## Rail Freak (May 28, 2011)

Although I booked this just before AGR went back in-house, this past Feb I took DEN-EMY-PDX-CHI-WAS-STP. Once back in-house they wanted to charge 4 zones because they said it was a customized route. I explained to them I could book DEN-WPT & then WPT-STP for a total of 3 zones. They finally agreed! It was a great trip too!


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## frugalist (May 28, 2011)

Rail Freak said:


> Although I booked this just before AGR went back in-house, this past Feb I took DEN-EMY-PDX-CHI-WAS-STP. Once back in-house they wanted to charge 4 zones because they said it was a customized route. I explained to them I could book DEN-WPT & then WPT-STP for a total of 3 zones. They finally agreed! It was a great trip too!


Our agent was very accommodating in letting us build our customized route. 2-zones: SBG-NYP-CHI-DEN plus 1-zone: DEN-EMY-SEA-VAC.

What was the logic in trying to charge you for 4 zones? At no time are you re-entering a zone you had previously been in.

I've seen a reference to a 4-zone redemption a few times in this forum. How many points did they propose to charge you? There is no 4-zone award on the AGR redemption chart. And for a bedroom, a 1-zone plus a 3-zone would be 70K points, whereas a 2-zone plus a 2-zone would be 60K points. AGR is so silly sometimes.


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## Rail Freak (May 28, 2011)

frugalist said:


> Rail Freak said:
> 
> 
> > Although I booked this just before AGR went back in-house, this past Feb I took DEN-EMY-PDX-CHI-WAS-STP. Once back in-house they wanted to charge 4 zones because they said it was a customized route. I explained to them I could book DEN-WPT & then WPT-STP for a total of 3 zones. They finally agreed! It was a great trip too!
> ...


I couldnt figure it out either. What started the problem is I called to change my connection in SAC to EMY. That's when a supervisor challenged my reservation. So I just cancelled the whole trip. About an hour later she called me back & ok'd the connections I wanted! A 3 Zoner!!!


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## PRR 60 (May 28, 2011)

frugalist said:


> 1 zone: Florida to Portland, ME sounds like it would be fun. Or Florida to St. Albans. Or to Montreal. Or to Toronto. (Are those allowed as 1 zone awards?).
> 
> 2 zone: Florida to Denver via NYP and CHI. (We booked that award as part of our cross country trip in July - had to book a 2 zone + a 1 zone to get the routing we wanted).


The only one of those you cannot do with AGR is Toronto. The Maple Leaf within Canada is operated as a VIA train and is not available for AGR award travel.


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## manderson (May 28, 2011)

1 zone: Seattle to San Diego. Doesn't maximize train time, but what a ride.

2 zone: Seattle to New Orleans via the EB/CONO, or CS/CZ/CONO. Or New Orleans to Seattle, add the CONO/SWC/CS option.


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## the_traveler (May 28, 2011)

Rail Freak said:


> Thr routes with NOL connections- are they allowing that with you paying for hotel?


That is the only way it is allowed, whether paying by cash or via points. Amtrak never pays for the overnight in NOL. That's the reason the SDL loophole worked via WAS. It was so you did not have to pay for a hotel in NOL. (WAS and CHI allowed a same day connection, NOL did not!)


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## boxcar479 (May 29, 2011)

I've found a new way to get from Ftw-Dal. If I go Ftw-Del Rio to Chi. I get the TE, Sunset Lmtd. to Lax, CS to Pdx, and EB to Chi. I do have to pay for FTW-Del Rio portion.But not a bad 2 zone award IMO. esp If I book another 2 zone Chi-Sdl,via Card. and Crescent which gets me 7 straight days on the train 40,000 points for a roomette for two Then throw in another one zone award Nol-Dal via Cono-TE 15,000. with an overnight or two in the Big Easy nice round the country trip for 55,00 points roomette Thanks AU


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## City of Miami (Jun 1, 2011)

I have done San Antonio/Springfield/Galesburg/Sacramento/Seattle twice now and am thinking about doing it again this summer. That's four nights and five full days for 20K points [do we still get the 5% rebate?] - if I bought it right now it would be about $1600. You have about 5 hrs for the van transfer through the corn fields from #22 to #5 and then you have about 9 hrs in Sacramento to transfer to #14 - from 3pm to midnight. I happen to have a good friend to visit in Sacto so it's a bonus! This is a fantastic ride......yes, I think I'll do it again.


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 1, 2011)

City of Miami said:


> I have done San Antonio/Springfield/Galesburg/Sacramento/Seattle twice now and am thinking about doing it again this summer. That's four nights and five full days for 20K points - if I bought it right now it would be about $1600. You have about 5 hrs for the van transfer through the corn fields from #22 to #5 and then you have about 9 hrs in Sacramento to transfer to #14 - from 3pm to midnight. I happen to have a good friend to visit in Sacto so it's a bonus! This is a fantastic ride......yes, I think I'll do it again.


Same thing Works in Reverse Also, SEA-EMY-GBB-SPL-SAS. I took this Route Last Summer, the Van Ride Sucked but as You Said the Rest was Great!  And Have You Considered Saving Your Points for the Gathering in SEA in Oct. or Do You have Lots and Lots of Points??? Be Glad to take Them Off Your Hands! :lol:


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## OlympianHiawatha (Jun 1, 2011)

City of Miami said:


> I have done San Antonio/Springfield/Galesburg/Sacramento/Seattle twice now and am thinking about doing it again this summer. That's four nights and five full days for 20K points [do we still get the 5% rebate?] - if I bought it right now it would be about $1600. You have about 5 hrs for the van transfer through the corn fields from #22 to #5 and then you have about 9 hrs in Sacramento to transfer to #14 - from 3pm to midnight. I happen to have a good friend to visit in Sacto so it's a bonus! This is a fantastic ride......yes, I think I'll do it again.


I just tried that routing and found it works out of FTW as well, but not out of Norman, OK even though there is a "legal" connection with the _*Eagle*_ both ways! I may give this routing a try later this summer, and if I can't talk the agent into throwing in _*Heartland Flyer*_ from Norman, it's only an extra $42. Eight good train nights for 40,000 Points makes that van hop look worth it


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