# Award Math



## jmbgeg (Jun 26, 2009)

A one zone (1005) deluxe sleeper award takes 10,000 points to redeem. If you assumed: 1)that you are a Select Plus member earning 2.5 rail points per dollar spent and 2) that all points used for an award were rail related and not hotel, etc.; then: 3) you would have to spend $4,000 to earn a 10,000 mile award; and 4) a hypothetical free $1,350 one zone award ticket (rail fare and accomodation) would represent a return of 34% on the $4,000 spent. Not a bad perk for frequent travelers. The ratios would vary for Select and standard AGR members.


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## AlanB (Jun 26, 2009)

Your math is way off. First, a one zone Bedroom award is 20,000 points, not 10,000.

And an Select Plus member gets a 50% bonus or effectively 3 points per dollar spent on a ticket.

I didn't even look at the rest of the numbers to see if they add up properly, since your base was wrong.


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## jmbgeg (Jun 26, 2009)

AlanB said:


> Your math is way off. First, a one zone Bedroom award is 20,000 points, not 10,000.
> And an Select Plus member gets a 50% bonus or effectively 3 points per dollar spent on a ticket.
> 
> I didn't even look at the rest of the numbers to see if they add up properly, since your base was wrong.


You are obviously correct about the 20,000 points. Don't know what I was thinking, since I had just pulled an 20,0000 point award earlier in the day.  Still a good deal. Sorry fopr the "ready, fire, aim" post. The math goes like this. If a Select Plus member gets three points per dollar you would have to spend $6,667 to earn a 20,000 point award. If you booked a $1,350 trip using a 20,0000 point award, that would reflect a return of about 20%.


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## Upstate (Jun 26, 2009)

Tell us more about this $1350 trip. What are the starting and ending points? I am thinking this is a last minute high bucket fare that is not that great for comparisons.


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## PRR 60 (Jun 26, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> You are obviously correct about the 20,000 points. Don't know what I was thinking, since I had just pulled an 20,0000 point award earlier in the day.  Still a good deal. Sorry fopr the "ready, fire, aim" post. The math goes like this. If a Select Plus member gets three points per dollar you would have to spend $6,667 to earn a 20,000 point award. If you booked a $1,350 trip using a 20,0000 point award, that would reflect a return of about 20%.


And, what makes that even more interesting is that, except for some Acela trips, Amtrak travel is maybe the least cost-effective way to earn Amtrak points. Anyone who has typical spending can easily earn a two-zone bedroom award every year by using the AGR credit card. Actual Amtrak travel is not needed except for a token paid trip once every three years to keep you account alive. The card does not even have an annual fee, so you just spend what you normally spend and get free Amtrak travel.


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## jmbgeg (Jun 26, 2009)

Upstate said:


> Tell us more about this $1350 trip. What are the starting and ending points? I am thinking this is a last minute high bucket fare that is not that great for comparisons.


Spokane to Portland on EB (high bucket) plus PDX to LAX mid-bucket for a deluxe bedroom plus rail fare. Up to $1,350 total one is also not unsual for the EB Spokane to Chicago, if you end up with an $890 or $1,172 bedroom.


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## jmbgeg (Jun 26, 2009)

PRR 60 said:


> jmbgeg said:
> 
> 
> > You are obviously correct about the 20,000 points. Don't know what I was thinking, since I had just pulled an 20,0000 point award earlier in the day.  Still a good deal. Sorry fopr the "ready, fire, aim" post. The math goes like this. If a Select Plus member gets three points per dollar you would have to spend $6,667 to earn a 20,000 point award. If you booked a $1,350 trip using a 20,0000 point award, that would reflect a return of about 20%.
> ...


I don't have an Amtrak affinity Mastercard, but I rack up the points staying at Starwood and Hyatt hotels by preference.


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## Upstate (Jun 26, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> Upstate said:
> 
> 
> > Tell us more about this $1350 trip. What are the starting and ending points? I am thinking this is a last minute high bucket fare that is not that great for comparisons.
> ...


Thats crazy. I will count my blessings for not living on that route


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jun 26, 2009)

Don't forget about the massive amount of free bonus points you can get during the promotions! During the Spring 09 promo, I made no less than 5 points per dollar with my bonus added in-- and of course the AGR credit card!


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## transit54 (Jun 26, 2009)

PRR 60 said:


> And, what makes that even more interesting is that, except for some Acela trips, Amtrak travel is maybe the least cost-effective way to earn Amtrak points. Anyone who has typical spending can easily earn a two-zone bedroom award every year by using the AGR credit card. Actual Amtrak travel is not needed except for a token paid trip once every three years to keep you account alive. The card does not even have an annual fee, so you just spend what you normally spend and get free Amtrak travel.


More so than Acela trips are short distance hops on along corridors other than the NEC. A Boston to Stamford trip on the Acela runs about $82 low bucket and results in 500 points, or 16.4 cents per point. A trip from, say, Waterbury, VT to Essex Jct, VT costs $8.50 and generates 100 points, or roughly 8.5 cents per point. Now, this gets better when combined with a promotion. My last Amtrak trip (which happened to be from Waterbury) generated 200 points as a result of the promotion and therefore was only 4.25 cents per point. For this reason I'm always looking to take Amtrak instead of driving or taking the bus if I can fit it in my schedule.

This weekend, I'm going to Boston via the Vermonter and the LSL. I'm going to be in BC on the Vermonter and the total trip cost was $159.60. For this I get 1,026 points (112 rail + 200 bonus each was on the Vermonter, 100 rail plus + 100 bonus each way on the LSL). While only marginally better than the Acela, I come in at 15.5 cents per point (though I think the Acela has a promotion at the moment, so it still might beat it). Of course, the best part about the trip to Boston is that I'm not paying for it, so its effectively 1,026 free points.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jun 26, 2009)

PRR 60 said:


> And, what makes that even more interesting is that, except for some Acela trips, Amtrak travel is maybe the least cost-effective way to earn Amtrak points. Anyone who has typical spending can easily earn a two-zone bedroom award every year by using the AGR credit card. Actual Amtrak travel is not needed except for a token paid trip once every three years to keep you account alive. The card does not even have an annual fee, so you just spend what you normally spend and get free Amtrak travel.


That is _*IF*_ you qualify for the card, which due to the economy, is increasingly hard to get!


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## DowneasterPassenger (Jun 26, 2009)

rnizlek said:


> More so than Acela trips are short distance hops on along corridors other than the NEC. A Boston to Stamford trip on the Acela runs about $82 low bucket and results in 500 points, or 16.4 cents per point. A trip from, say, Waterbury, VT to Essex Jct, VT costs $8.50 and generates 100 points, or roughly 8.5 cents per point. Now, this gets better when combined with a promotion. My last Amtrak trip (which happened to be from Waterbury) generated 200 points as a result of the promotion and therefore was only 4.25 cents per point. For this reason I'm always looking to take Amtrak instead of driving or taking the bus if I can fit it in my schedule.



A senior fare from BKY to EMY to $5.10. So about 5 cents a point. Promos bring it down to under 3 cents. A retired person could do two r/t's per day for $20.40 and rack up 1000 points with promos.


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## Upstate (Jun 26, 2009)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> PRR 60 said:
> 
> 
> > And, what makes that even more interesting is that, except for some Acela trips, Amtrak travel is maybe the least cost-effective way to earn Amtrak points. Anyone who has typical spending can easily earn a two-zone bedroom award every year by using the AGR credit card. Actual Amtrak travel is not needed except for a token paid trip once every three years to keep you account alive. The card does not even have an annual fee, so you just spend what you normally spend and get free Amtrak travel.
> ...


Take a lesson from those crazy subprime mortgage kids and use your imagination with you stated income. Have you tried saying that you are a self employed engineer making 97K? Respectable story but not outlandish.


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## jmbgeg (Jun 26, 2009)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> Don't forget about the massive amount of free bonus points you can get during the promotions! During the Spring 09 promo, I made no less than 5 points per dollar with my bonus added in-- and of course the AGR credit card!


Yes, I am getting the promotion points too.


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## the_traveler (Jun 26, 2009)

Upstate said:


> ALC_Rail_Writer said:
> 
> 
> > PRR 60 said:
> ...


That's me!  And my part time job is CEO of a bank! :lol:

I agree with PRR 60. In June, I had posted to my account over 6,000 AGR points from my MC. And a few weeks ago, I made some purchases from Best Buy and Petco (via Points for Shopping) - and earned another 300 points. And just yesterday, I made 2 referrals - earning another 1,000 points.

I can't wait until I actually step aboard a train to earn some points! :lol:


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## sky12065 (Jun 26, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> Upstate said:
> 
> 
> > ALC_Rail_Writer said:
> ...


I hear ya! I joined AGR on March 30th and already have at least 11,000 points just from the Chase card and over 20,000 points overall.

I'm waiting at the ALB train station as I type this waiting for the LSL 49 that's more than an hour late. They had equipment problems at NYP and had to switch out the problem equipment. It should be here hopefully in about 25 more minutes.

So at the end of this journey I'll have more than.... ah... let me see... shucks, I can't even keep up with the counting any more! :lol:


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