# Value of agr points?



## caravanman (May 22, 2014)

Hi,

Living abroad, I don't qualify for AGR membership, but I am interested in a brief explanation of how AGR works?

How much is a "point" worth? Does it have a money value, or a train mileage value? Do you get a point for each $ spent on rail travel, or on other stuff when you use a credit card?

I am not a credit card user myself, but just interested to know how much one has to spend to get "agr rewards for a roomette" as I have seen folk mention?

Ed.


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## Bob Dylan (May 22, 2014)

Greetings Eddie! Hope you had a great birthday and are recovered! Its perhaps easiest to Google up the AGR web site and read all about the program! There's a lot involved and the Chase AGR Master Card ( along with other Travel Cards and Programs) is a great way to rack up points for Amtrak Travel and other travel awards also!


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## BCL (May 22, 2014)

Just as a basic scheme, it's 2 points for every dollar spent. However, the big deal is that there is a minimum of 100 points per "segment" regardless of the value of the segment, with a maximum 4 of these accruing points per calendar day. There are also bonus points for reaching certain status levels. I get a 25% bonus for the Select tier after achieving 5000 base points (not including bonuses or 3rd party points) from Amtrak travel alone.

There are different means to get segments. One is to arrange travel as multi-city with a short stop. The cost is the same, but there actually has to be that stop. A conductor has asked me if I wished to simply use two segments all the way through. That would only count as one segment. A bus connection also counts as a segment. Those of us near the San Francisco Bay Area can take advantage of the bus to/from San Francisco. When I was getting close to the 5000 points I needed, I booked a round trip to San Francisco using a weekend 50% off special. This included two short train segments and two bus segments. Total round trip time including the stopover was about 150 minutes. I had enough time to stop for coffee and breakfast. The travel cost $12 but accrued 400 points.


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## TinCan782 (May 22, 2014)

When you buy points (without any bonus) the cost is $0.0275 per point.


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## City of Miami (May 22, 2014)

20000 points to redeem a 2 zone roomette for 2 which could be 1 or 2 nights depending on end points. Chicago to LA for example, or NYC to Chicago or New Orleans. Takes a lot of 100 pt. segments to get there! However the price of the accommodation at the time of booking is irrelevant.


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## the_traveler (May 22, 2014)

You earn 2 AGR points per $ spent on Amtrak travel, no matter how you paid. If you have the AGR MasterCard and use that to pay for your fare, you earn an additional 2 AGR points per $. Any other purchase (such as food, meals, hotels, coffee, etc...) made with the credit card earns 1 AGR point per $. As said another way is to use the "Points For Shopping" shopping portal to earn points.

As far as the value of an AGR point (to borrow a commercial's slogan) - it's PRICELESS! :giggle: Especially if you need to travel and have AGR points to use. Many people value them at the price you could buy the points for - 2.75¢ per point. Many try to redeem for at least 4-5¢ per point - you can redeem for 7-8¢ per point semi easily. I have redeemed for 10-12¢ per point a few times.


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## Ispolkom (May 22, 2014)

caravanman said:


> How much is a "point" worth?


That's a tough question, really. As* FrensicPic* writes, they cost 2.75 cents each when you buy them without a discount. On the other hand they cost me nothing if I earn them using a credit card. Or they cost less than 2.75 cents if you buy them when there's a promotion.

What they are worth is even harder to say. Like *the_traveler* I've made long-distance sleeper redemptions that work out to 11-12 cents per point, if you divide the cost of ticket by the number of AGR points the redemption cost me. Are they really worth 11-12 cents, though? I'd say no, because I'd never pay that much to travel.

Me, personally, I'll use points rather than money if the yield is at least 3 cents per point, so to me that's what they are worth. Others have different views.


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## TinCan782 (May 22, 2014)

Just for comparison, when I'm getting ready to book an AGR redemption trip, I"ll do a "what if" booking to see what the current fare is for my accomodations. For an upcoming trip, the one-way sleeper fare for the two of us was $890.75. I booked that same trip with 25,000 points which, at a "cost" of 2.75 cents per point (if I could buy that much in one transaction), was $687.50...$200 less. Now, many of those points were from my AGR credit card, points for shopping through the AGR "mall", points purchases with 30% bonus every year, 2x points for Amtrak travel (and another 2x from the Chase card for those trips) and, the 10% points "rebate" from prior AGR travel redemptions. As *Ispolkom *pointed out, the "cost" is then actually less than 2.75% per point.

I look at points purchases (and my other points earnings) as paying ahead for Amtrak trips in the future.


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## caravanman (May 23, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. AGR seems such a popular topic that I thought it good to know about, even if I can't join. I tend to be less than impressed by most loyalty card "offers", but if one is going to buy something anyway, one might as well get some freebies!

Ed. 

ps thanks for the birthday wishes, had a good day!


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## rrdude (May 23, 2014)

caravanman said:


> Thanks for the replies. AGR seems such a popular topic that I thought it good to know about, even if I can't join. I tend to be less than impressed by most loyalty card "offers", but if one is going to buy something anyway, one might as well get some freebies!
> 
> Ed.
> 
> ps thanks for the birthday wishes, had a good day!


All you need is a USA address...... To send card to, and to register..... Just saying. Don't think there is any actual "verification" done....


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## AmtrakBlue (May 23, 2014)

rrdude said:


> caravanman said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the replies. AGR seems such a popular topic that I thought it good to know about, even if I can't join. I tend to be less than impressed by most loyalty card "offers", but if one is going to buy something anyway, one might as well get some freebies!
> ...


Are you offering to rent him a room in your place? :giggle:


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## the_traveler (May 23, 2014)

AmtrakBlue said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > caravanman said:
> ...


Sure, he is - for a 2 zone award point value!


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## BCL (May 23, 2014)

rrdude said:


> caravanman said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the replies. AGR seems such a popular topic that I thought it good to know about, even if I can't join. I tend to be less than impressed by most loyalty card "offers", but if one is going to buy something anyway, one might as well get some freebies!
> ...


The terms indicate that it's for US and Canadian residents. How to define a "resident" is another matter. It's not like eligibility terms for lifetime federal recreation passes (senior or disabled) which stated that someone has to be a citizen or permanent resident. Those are specifically relating to a benefit for those permanently residing in the US. Those terms have clear legal meanings that would seem to exclude visitors or those on temporary visas. I would think they don't care as long as you're a customer. Someone on a student visa would probably be welcome to join AGR. Not sure about someone on a tourist visa or a temporary permit.



> https://amtrakguestrewards.com/info/terms
> 
> 1. Membership is open to all residents of the U.S. and Canada.


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## the_traveler (May 23, 2014)

Part of the reason for that rule is so AGR does not have to pay postage to mail things to Germany, Japan, South Africa or in this case England. It was more so before e-tickets when they had to mail the tickets if you did not live near a staffed station, but occasionally things are still sent by mail/


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## me_little_me (May 23, 2014)

I PMed you with info on how to join & get points.


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