# Change in AGR Rules



## Bob Dylan (Apr 8, 2019)

According to a Post on trainorders, Amtrak has implemented New Rules pertaining to when AGR Points Expire.

Barring any activity on your account, all Points will now Expire after 24 months instead of 36 months.

No mention of how having the BoA AGR Card will effect this?

I haven't received any Official Notification from AGR???

Anyone have anything on tuis??


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## pennyk (Apr 8, 2019)

https://www.amtrak.com/terms-and-conditions.html

"April 3, 2019: Amtrak Guest Rewards points now expire after 24 months if an account has no qualifying activity."

*"Point Expiration*

Subject to these Program Terms and Conditions, points earned under the Program will not expire as long as the Program continues and the Member’s Program account is active. “Active” means that the Member earns and/or redeems Program points using his or her Membership Number within a 24-month period.
If no Member initiated qualifying activity is recorded or reported within 24 months, your points will expire. You can view all point and travel activity in the "My Transactions" section of My Account on this site."


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## Steve4031 (Apr 8, 2019)

Not an issue for me. I ride often. But this will affect others negatively so one more downgrade. Not good.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 8, 2019)

pennyk said:


> https://www.amtrak.com/terms-and-conditions.html
> 
> "April 3, 2019: Amtrak Guest Rewards points now expire after 24 months if an account has no qualifying activity."
> 
> ...


Thanks Penny!


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## SP&S (Apr 9, 2019)

Once again this site keeps me more informed that Amtrak itself ever does.


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## Acela150 (Apr 9, 2019)

Not really an issue for me seeing as I'm back and forth between Philly and Boston so much. 

Also of note, having the AGR CC does keep your account open as long as you have it.


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## Anderson (Apr 10, 2019)

Fundamentally not much of a change, but did this get mentioned in _any_ emails? Having this drop on the heels of the whole arbitration clause getting slipped in reeks of dirty pool. IANAL but if anyone loses a mountain of points overnight as a result of this there's probably a case for bad faith (i.e. Amtrak forced the arbitration clause in so they could do this). Which, if said person hasn't logged in for several months, reminds me an _awful_ lot of the whole shrinkwrap contract practice.


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## tonys96 (Apr 10, 2019)

Does anyone know if having the BoA Amtrak card still keeps points from expiring?


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## SarahZ (Apr 10, 2019)

tonys96 said:


> Does anyone know if having the BoA Amtrak card still keeps points from expiring?


Yes.


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## AmtrakBlue (Apr 10, 2019)

SarahZ said:


> Yes.



Is that “yes, someone knows” or “yes the card lets you keep your points”?
(I know what you meant, just nitpicking [emoji14])


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## jebr (Apr 10, 2019)

AmtrakBlue said:


> Is that “yes, someone knows” or “yes the card lets you keep your points”?



Yes.


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## tonys96 (Apr 12, 2019)

Ok


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## CAMISSY55 (Apr 13, 2019)

SarahZ said:


> Yes.



Question: Does just having an open BofA AGR CC account retain the points OR must there be “qualifying activity”(from #2 of new policy) recorded on the credit card?

Confused.


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## piedpiper (Apr 13, 2019)

So if I'm reading things right - on 'my transactions' the points from survey points club are there, so that would be considered 'qualifying activity' - YES???


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## willem (Apr 13, 2019)

The new terms are, as far as I can tell, silent about whether the extra points earned for business class travel are tier qualifying. (Also, as far as I can tell, the new terms are silent about whether the extra points earned by virtue of holding status are tier qualifying.) Would someone gently tell me where to look for that information? Thanks.


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## piedpiper (Apr 7, 2020)

Woo Hoo - I just went over 10,000 points on Survey Points Club


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## Amtrakfflyer (Apr 10, 2020)

This goes right along with my other post today in the main section regarding August/September travel. Right now the airlines are bending over backwards to loosen rules, restrictions, fares on various programs and at least appear to be more passenger friendly since they are getting a bailout. 

Leave it to Amtrak to continue to put the squeeze on customers even during what could possibly be the biggest economic downturn in our lifetimes. It’s not like Amtrak didn’t get a bailout as well, they did.


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## MARC Rider (Apr 10, 2020)

willem said:


> The new terms are, as far as I can tell, silent about whether the extra points earned for business class travel are tier qualifying. (Also, as far as I can tell, the new terms are silent about whether the extra points earned by virtue of holding status are tier qualifying.) Would someone gently tell me where to look for that information? Thanks.


Unless these new terms have changed things (and if they're silent about it, I guess maybe they didn't), the extra points earned for Business and first class travel are tier qualifying, the extra points you get by virtue of holding status are not. (It would be nice if they are.)

Example: a $50 Business class ticket yields 100 points for the fare (tier qualifying) and 25 points for it being business class (also tier qualifying). If you're Select Plus, you get an additional 100 points that are NOT tier qualifying. The trip yields 225 points, of which 125 are tier qualifying.


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## MARC Rider (Apr 10, 2020)

What I'd like to know is how they're going to handle their status (Select, Select Plus, Select Executive) members as a result of the reduced travel during these travel-restricted times. I know I may have trouble making Select Plus for 2020, as I have been traveling a lot less than I usually do. (The recovery from my foot surgery pretty much limited my trips in January and February, I did go to Boston in early March, but I've cancelled a lot of the NEC trips I'd be otherwise taking, and who knows when the travel restrictions will be lifted, and even if they are whether I would really want to travel to New York.) Forget about longer trips. I've read that some of the other loyalty programs are being very protective of their members with status and will at least let them keep their status for an extra year if they can't travel enough this year to earn the points. I wonder how AGR will handle this, as I suspect that most AGR members with Select Plus and Select Executive are the NEC and other corridor road warriors who appear to the the favored constituency of the current management. (Plus a lot of those Acela riders do have powerful positions in both Washington and New York.)


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## willem (Apr 11, 2020)

MARC Rider said:


> Unless these new terms have changed things (and if they're silent about it, I guess maybe they didn't), the extra points earned for Business and first class travel are tier qualifying, the extra points you get by virtue of holding status are not. (It would be nice if they are.)



Thank you.


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## TinCan782 (Apr 11, 2020)

MARC Rider said:


> What I'd like to know is how they're going to handle their status (Select, Select Plus, Select Executive) members as a result of the reduced travel during these travel-restricted times. I know I may have trouble making Select Plus for 2020, as I have been traveling a lot less than I usually do. (The recovery from my foot surgery pretty much limited my trips in January and February, I did go to Boston in early March, but I've cancelled a lot of the NEC trips I'd be otherwise taking, and who knows when the travel restrictions will be lifted, and even if they are whether I would really want to travel to New York.) Forget about longer trips. I've read that some of the other loyalty programs are being very protective of their members with status and will at least let them keep their status for an extra year if they can't travel enough this year to earn the points. I wonder how AGR will handle this, as I suspect that most AGR members with Select Plus and Select Executive are the NEC and other corridor road warriors who appear to the the favored constituency of the current management. (Plus a lot of those Acela riders do have powerful positions in both Washington and New York.)











Amtrak Guest Rewards Updates | Amtrak







www.amtrak.com


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