# Amtrak Points/ CO Miles Transfers



## Rail Freak (Nov 26, 2011)

Is Amtrak & CO breaking off their Partnership? I was gone for a couple of weeks & just noticed the Dec 31 notification on the AGR Site!

Thanx


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## PRR 60 (Nov 26, 2011)

_From AGR:_



> *UPDATE ON THE AMTRAK GUEST REWARDS PARTNERSHIP WITH CONTINENTAL ONEPASS AND PRESIDENTS CLUB*
> The Continental OnePass program will formally end in December. A new Amtrak Guest Rewards partnership with the United MileagePlus program is in the works.
> 
> In the meantime, here’s what the changes mean for members of Amtrak Guest Rewards:
> ...


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2011)

Anyone able to get through to Continental? Whenever I call a message just keeps looping about the United Continental merger...


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## the_traveler (Dec 13, 2011)

Guest said:


> Anyone able to get through to Continental? Whenever I call a message just keeps looping about the United Continental merger...


You do not call the main phone number. You *MUST* call the One Pass Service Center directly to request the transfer!


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## PRR 60 (Dec 13, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone able to get through to Continental? Whenever I call a message just keeps looping about the United Continental merger...
> ...


713.952.1630

Monday - Friday 6:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Central Time


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## Ispolkom (Dec 13, 2011)

Or 800-554-5522 if you'd prefer a tollfree number.


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## Golden grrl (Dec 13, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone able to get through to Continental? Whenever I call a message just keeps looping about the United Continental merger...
> ...


I am on hold with I have been calling the 713-952-1630 number since noon ET and have been in the same loop described by original poster. Or when not in that loop, either got a recorded message " We cannot take your call; please call back later" or kept getting transferred to agents working in reservations. Three of these people told me to call the 713-952-1630 number, which is exactly the number I'd called. Finally, one guy admitted they were having problems "due to the merger" and said he would connect me via an inhouse transfer. After about ten more minutes of waiting, I got through just now [4:09 pm ET] and am told they made the transfer. Took less than a minute once I actually got through.


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## amtraknovi (Dec 19, 2011)

Golden grrl said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > Guest said:
> ...



going on an hour and a half so far with 713 952 1630. Any ideas? Should I hold or call back at some magic time?


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## alben (Dec 20, 2011)

amtraknovi said:


> Golden grrl said:
> 
> 
> > the_traveler said:
> ...


I found out that a person must be really patient when calling the Continental One Pass Service Center . I called Dec 9th and was on hold 1 hr 15 minutes to transfer points. Yesterday, Dec 19th, I was on hold an hour to transfer some more points. Call with a speaker phone so you can do other activities until they pick up. Once the cs rep picks up the phone, the transfer only takes a minute or two. I haven't see my points in my Amtrak account yet. I was told 8-10 days to transfer. Dec 9th to Dec 20th is 11 days...


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## jb64 (Dec 23, 2011)

Pleasantly surprised that I was on hold for only 5 minutes this morning to take care of my transfer. Was expecting much longer.


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## Golden grrl (Dec 25, 2011)

alben said:


> I found out that a person must be really patient when calling the Continental One Pass Service Center . I called Dec 9th and was on hold 1 hr 15 minutes to transfer points. Yesterday, Dec 19th, I was on hold an hour to transfer some more points. Call with a speaker phone so you can do other activities until they pick up. Once the cs rep picks up the phone, the transfer only takes a minute or two. I haven't see my points in my Amtrak account yet. I was told 8-10 days to transfer. Dec 9th to Dec 20th is 11 days...


Yep, Continental removed my 5000 points within 2 hours from their side. Was told 8 business days for transfer to show up. That statement was on the 13th. Obviously, that's 12 days ago, 8 of them business days... I'll give them tomorrow (the 26th) as probable vacation day, but will check both Continental and Amtrak on Tuesday or Wednesday. Would appreciate any advice as to how to get the points posted to AGR.


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## Rail Freak (Dec 25, 2011)

Usually the transfer will show up on Monday morning. I bought the SPG deal last week & anxious to see when those points show up!!!

RF

Edit: Well it's Monday 12/26 & no point transfer. Hope it's because of it being a holiday!!!


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## alben (Dec 25, 2011)

12/09/2011 Amtrak Mileage Transfer 2VX60 (60,000)

12/19/2011 Amtrak Mileage Transfer 2VX5 (5,000)

I have not seen points from either of these transactions show up yet in my AGR account.

Looks like I am going to need to make a call...


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## enervator (Dec 26, 2011)

I called the 800 number about an hour ago. I was on hold for about twenty minutes before getting through. Once they picked up, it only took a few minutes to do the transfer. Now I just have to keep an eye on the AGR account to make sure they've arrived.


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## dudebro (Dec 27, 2011)

enervator said:


> I called the 800 number about an hour ago. I was on hold for about twenty minutes before getting through. Once they picked up, it only took a few minutes to do the transfer. Now I just have to keep an eye on the AGR account to make sure they've arrived.


I requested a CO -> Amtrak transfer on Dec 13th and still hadn't seen it show up as of today. I emailed Guest Rewards and here is their response....pretty unacceptable.

"Please note that Continental OnePass point transfers may take up to 6-8 weeks, and names must match on both accounts"


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## Rail Freak (Dec 27, 2011)

dudebro said:


> enervator said:
> 
> 
> > I called the 800 number about an hour ago. I was on hold for about twenty minutes before getting through. Once they picked up, it only took a few minutes to do the transfer. Now I just have to keep an eye on the AGR account to make sure they've arrived.
> ...



I would call!!!!! 800-307- 5000 (AGR) ---800-554-5522 (CO)


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## Golden grrl (Dec 27, 2011)

Rail Freak said:


> dudebro said:
> 
> 
> > enervator said:
> ...


Yeah, just like the other poster, I requested the transfer on Dec 13th and no show as of this evening [27th]. I was _specifically_ told by CO that it would take "up to 8 business days" for the transfer to show up. It took less than 2 hours for the points to disappear from my CO account.

I will call AGR, tomorrow, around 11 Eastern, if there is no sign of my points by then.

Will post the AGR response here.


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## PRR 60 (Dec 27, 2011)

dudebro said:


> enervator said:
> 
> 
> > I called the 800 number about an hour ago. I was on hold for about twenty minutes before getting through. Once they picked up, it only took a few minutes to do the transfer. Now I just have to keep an eye on the AGR account to make sure they've arrived.
> ...


The "6-8 weeks" is standard AGR boilerplate. What is more important is that no one seems to have had transfers completed over the last few weeks. If you were the only one having issues, that would indicate that something went wrong with only your order. Since everyone is having the same issue, It's a widespread issue, and CO/AGR will clear it up. You have the debit shown in your OnePass account. Your points, and everyone else's, well get into AGR eventually.


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## Golden grrl (Dec 28, 2011)

Golden grrl said:


> Yeah, just like the other poster, I requested the transfer on Dec 13th and no show as of this evening [27th]. I was _specifically_ told by CO that it would take "up to 8 business days" for the transfer to show up. It took less than 2 hours for the points to disappear from my CO account.
> 
> I will call AGR, tomorrow, around 11 Eastern, if there is no sign of my points by then.
> 
> Will post the AGR response here.


No joy yet.

Just tried [11 am eastern] to call Continental to get their side of the story. Got the standard message about how busy they are, and recommendation to check their website. Click, their automated responder hung up. (Good luck to anyone still trying to start the transfer, they aren't even letting you wait on hold.)

So I turned to AGR via 800-307-5000. Got a nice young man whose name I couldn't catch. He said not to worry, so long as my request was before Dec 31. He couldn't figure out why Continental suggested 8 business days, said it was normally 2-3 weeks. It's been 15 days for me so far, so I told him I'd give it about double the "normal" time before I got _too_ worried about my points vaporizing. He laughed, said that was a good plan.

I'll keep watching.


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## Ispolkom (Dec 28, 2011)

PRR 60 said:


> The "6-8 weeks" is standard AGR boilerplate. What is more important is that no one seems to have had transfers completed over the last few weeks. If you were the only one having issues, that would indicate that something went wrong with only your order. Since everyone is having the same issue, It's a widespread issue, and CO/AGR will clear it up. You have the debit shown in your OnePass account. Your points, and everyone else's, well get into AGR eventually.


Like when AGR switched over to their new Web site in October 2010. Points transfers were held up for weeks, but as far as I know, they all eventually went through.


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## Gratt (Dec 29, 2011)

Just spent a grand total of one hour and twenty-seven minutes on the line to transfer 60K to my AGR account and they took the miles out of my account right away.

I just hope that Amtrak and United renew an agreement along the same ones they had with CO.

United has a major hub in ORD and LAX on top of ERW. Amtrak has millions of passengers in these cities and it would be in their best interests to work together.


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## Rail Freak (Dec 29, 2011)

Not to be the Negative One but, the points always come out swiftly, it's the transfer that seems to get delayed! I've never heard of some one getting screwed, though (for a lack of a better word)!!!

Have Fun


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## Ispolkom (Dec 29, 2011)

Gratt said:


> I just hope that Amtrak and United renew an agreement along the same ones they had with CO.


United had a transfer agreement with AGR. They canceled it. I'd be amazed if they restored it.


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## PRR 60 (Dec 29, 2011)

Ispolkom said:


> Gratt said:
> 
> 
> > I just hope that Amtrak and United renew an agreement along the same ones they had with CO.
> ...


Although the new name is United, Continental is at least an equal partner. It has been said that the new Mileage Plus is being headed by a former CO person. Since the CO hub at EWR will remain, I think there will be some on-going relationship between Amtrak and the new UA. What that will look like remains to be seen.

I think some kind of cross-earning opportunities may happen. AGR member could directly earn points on United flights, and MP members could earn miles on Amtrak trips. In conjunction with that, I could see award opportunities as well. MP members could cash in miles for Amtrak travel, and AGR members could cash in points for UA travel. That's the way airline partners typically work, so it would make sense. What I think may be in jeopardy is United Club access by AGR Select+. Since United does not provide blanket lounge access to MP elites, it would be surprising to see UA give Amtrak elites that perk. That's just my take. I'm often wrong.


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## the_traveler (Dec 30, 2011)

Just a reminder that 12/31/11 os the last day to transfer from CO/UA to AGR!


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## PRR 60 (Dec 30, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Just a reminder that 12/31/11 os the last day to transfer from CO/UA to AGR!


And from AGR to CO!


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## Golden grrl (Dec 31, 2011)

Seems like a lot of us have tried to transfer CO points to AGR and have seen the debit on the CO side, but nothing on the AGR side.

I would really appreciate it if anyone who has requested the transfer anytime in December would let us know, here, when they do see their points arrive on AGR.


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## jb64 (Dec 31, 2011)

Golden grrl said:


> Seems like a lot of us have tried to transfer CO points to AGR and have seen the debit on the CO side, but nothing on the AGR side.
> 
> I would really appreciate it if anyone who has requested the transfer anytime in December would let us know, here, when they do see their points arrive on AGR.


according to a post at flyertalk, there was a glitch in the system and they were working on making sure that all of the transfers were happening over the weekend. The standard response was that they hoped they would all be there at the beginning of the week. The Glitch was on CO's side, not AGR.


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## rrdude (Dec 31, 2011)

Golden grrl said:


> Seems like a lot of us have tried to transfer CO points to AGR and have seen the debit on the CO side, but nothing on the AGR side.
> 
> I would really appreciate it if anyone who has requested the transfer anytime in December would let us know, here, when they do see their points arrive on AGR.


Contacted CO on 12/14, 5K points were transferred "out", but as of today, not yet posted in AGR. I am just going on faith that it is taking longer due to the "rush" at the end of the year. In the past, points have always shown up at MOST, seven days later.......... *Keeps Fingers Crossed*


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## Golden grrl (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks jb64 and rrdude, helpful info from you both. I have great doubts that anything will happen over this weekend, so I don't have any expectations for this coming Monday. Perhaps something will show up next week, but I'd think it more likely will be in the second week of January. I'll keep checking daily and will post here should there be any changes.


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## reefgeek (Jan 3, 2012)

No joy for me yet. Transferred the points out on December 8, no sign of them in AGR yet (Jan 3). I just spent an hour listening to the same CO on-hold message repeat before I gave up in disgust. Glad to see this thread here so I know I'm not the only one in this spot!


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## Golden grrl (Jan 4, 2012)

reefgeek said:


> No joy for me yet. Transferred the points out on December 8, no sign of them in AGR yet (Jan 3). I just spent an hour listening to the same CO on-hold message repeat before I gave up in disgust. Glad to see this thread here so I know I'm not the only one in this spot!


Same here, reefgeek, no joy when I checked and doublechecked again today. As noted above, I transferred out on Dec 13. Can't get through to CO [i get the auto-message, then I hear click and they hang-up].

Has anyone seen any points transfer CO to AGR in the last month or two?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?


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## Rail Freak (Jan 4, 2012)

Golden grrl said:


> reefgeek said:
> 
> 
> > No joy for me yet. Transferred the points out on December 8, no sign of them in AGR yet (Jan 3). I just spent an hour listening to the same CO on-hold message repeat before I gave up in disgust. Glad to see this thread here so I know I'm not the only one in this spot!
> ...



I bought & transfered 15K on 11/25/11 & they were in my account the following Monday! Looks like SPG transfers are the safest bet, these days!

Good Luck


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## Golden grrl (Jan 5, 2012)

I just got my points, requested Dec 13, posted sometime this afternoon. Here's how it happened. This morning, I noticed an advertising email from Continental which included the following:

"For issues related to your OnePass account, please contact the OnePass Service Center by e-mail " and included a link to my one pass account. So I logged into that account and contacted Continental using the form on their webpage. I included my email addy and CO number, then used the following wording:

"On December 13, I called and requested transfer of xxxxx points to Amtrak Guest Rewards. My CO account activity shows that transfer on 12/13/2011, Amtrak Mileage Transfer ... but no sign of the transfer is found at Amtrak. I have confirmed with Amtrak that they see no activity from the CO transfer, even though the points were deducted on December 13. The Continental agent with whom I originally confirmed the transfer told me to expect to see those points within 8 business days. It has now been double that number of business days.
Reading blogs, I see it commonly reported that you had a glitch in transfers and hoped to get it fixed over last weekend and that we should see the points Monday [the 1st].
Would you please manually transfer my points. My AGR account is xxxxxxxxxxx"
There was an immediate autoreply to my email, saying that my "message has been received and will be directed to a member of our OnePass team for review and research," and giving me a Case ID number. That was this morning at 9:50 eastern; I checked about an hour later and no joy then. I have just checked again at 4 pm, and

JOY JOY JOY :lol:

the points were there.

I'd recommend you others who are still waiting try this email pathway. I imagine you all got the email from Continental with the subject line "Introducing Auction Headliners:..." and can use the_ issues_ link in your own email to send them a similar request to manually transfer your missing points.


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## reefgeek (Jan 5, 2012)

Mine got posted last night. Hooray, I have that full-wallet feeling again! :lol:


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## jb64 (Jan 5, 2012)

Mine finally posted today, too


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## rrdude (Jan 5, 2012)

jb64 said:


> Mine finally posted today, too


Ditto.


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## YourFoodSherpa (Jan 6, 2012)

It would appear as though the backlog of points all posted sometime yesterday, as my account now has the needed points to secure my trip!


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## alben (Jan 9, 2012)

YourFoodSherpa said:


> It would appear as though the backlog of points all posted sometime yesterday, as my account now has the needed points to secure my trip!


Ditto


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