# help, please?



## A.J. (Aug 15, 2011)

ok, so i'm trying to plan a trip and make the most of my points (have just over 35k right now). ideally, would like to do a round-trip from ALB to somewhere on the west coast. this means first taking the LSL to CHI. i'd like to preferably take either the chief or the zephyr. could someone please advise me on the best way to get the most out of my points? and if i'm starting from ALB and connecting in CHI, how does that effect my points/zones? i'm super new to using the points, so any help would be really really appreciated! thank you!

also, i'd be returning the same day i arrive or the day after. i assume I don't have enough points to cover both directions, just one. however, if there's a trick to all this, please feel free to tell me!


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## PRR 60 (Aug 15, 2011)

To answer your easy question, connecting through Chicago has no effect on the points needed for award travel as long as it is a same-day connection. If you stay overnight in Chicago, then you have to book the trip as two trips.

There are a number of options based on a 35,000 point limit. I’ll offer one here, and I’m sure others will chime in with their ideas. First, 35,000 points will not get you coast-to-coast and back in a sleeper. So, we’ll have to mix and match sleeper and coach awards. Here’s one thought that uses the Chief outbound, the Zephyr coming back, and gets you a Roomette for part of your journey. The total cost is 33,500 points.

Two-zone coach award: 8000 points - ALB to ABQ:

Lake Shore Limited from Albany to Chicago connecting to the Southwest Chief from CHI to Albuquerque (ABQ). Even through your coach ticket ends in ABQ, you just change cars for the rest of the trip west.

One-zone Roomette award: 15,000 points - ALB ABQ to SFC (or PDX):

Southwest Chief from ABQ to Los Angeles (LAX), connecting to the Coast Starlight from LAX to Oakland (OKJ), connecting to San Francisco by Thruway bus if you wish to stay in SF. You will have to overnight in the Bay Area before heading back the next day on the Zephyr.

Three-zone coach award: 10,500 points - SFC (or PDX) to ALB:

Thruway bus from San Francisco to Emeryville (EMY), connecting to the California Zephyr from EMY to CHI, connecting to the Lake Shore Limited CHI-ALB

If you wanted to substitute the Empire Builder for the Zephyr, you could take the Starlight all the way from LAX to Portland (PDX), and then take the EB back to Chicago (overnight not required). Your one-zone Roomette award would get you from ABQ to PDX with two overnights and six meals. Your three-zone coach award would get you back from PDX to ALB using the EB connecting in CHI to the LSL.


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## boxcar479 (Aug 15, 2011)

have you already bought your 10,000 AGR points this year? if not, you buy enough points to get you up to 40,000. book your trips west using Toledo as your start point. Toledo is the zone divider, you can get from Toledo to the west coast in a roomette for 20,000 points one way. use another 20,000 to get you back to Tol. You can buy 10,000 [points for 275. a good deal.You just missed the 30% promotion. Your wife, family or friends can have an AGRaccount too, and you can share points fo a fee. There are lots of other ways to use points, and my idea may not be the best idea, but it's mine. :blink:


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## the_traveler (Aug 15, 2011)

Two slight corrections to PRR60.

#1) He said "ALB to SFC (or PDX)" in the 2nd example. He meant "ABQ to SFC (or PDX)" instead.

#2) If you wanted to go without stopping, you could actually take a roomette from ABQ to WPT for the same 15,000 points!




There is both a same day connection in LAX and PDX! And from WPT back to ALB would be only a 2 zone coach award, saving some points. And you would also get meals and a wine and cheese tasting on the EB!

If you don't know the codes, here they are.


ALB = Albany, NY (train station)
ABQ = Albuquerque, NM (train station)
LAX = LA (train station)
SFC = San Francisco
PDX = Portland, OR (train station)
WPT = Wolf Point, MT
EB = Empire Builder


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## the_traveler (Aug 15, 2011)

boxcar817 said:


> Your wife


Per her profile listed, A.J. is female. Thus I doubt she has a wife!


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## boxcar479 (Aug 15, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> boxcar817 said:
> 
> 
> > Your wife
> ...


Oops :blush: sorry A J. But your significant other can join AGR and buy/share points. -_- thanks for the catch Trav_


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## Rail Freak (Aug 15, 2011)

What I did in June was flew to ABQ & took the SWC,CS - PDX (1 zone) Stayed a few days, then took the CS, CZ to DEN ( 1 zone ) & flew home from there. Although flying is a pain in the butt, I hate spending my AGR Pts on one nite trips. Normally, I'd take a 2 zone trip but I had original plans to WPK and changed plans when the EB was having it's problems. (not that they arent now!)


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## Ispolkom (Aug 16, 2011)

What do you want to do, and how much experience do you have on long-distance trains?

I ask that because jumping into a cross-country train trip might be a bit much, if you've never traveled overnight on a train before, and it turns out that you don't like it.

Many people on this site (myself included) enjoy riding trains period, so our notion of the best use of points is the longest trip. This is not a normal way of thinking, of course. Who prefers flying a circuitous route with changes at various airports to a direct, nonstop flight?

Another way of thinking about maximizing value is to look at what it costs to book a train trip. I prefer to use AGR points to book trips that I could never justify paying for.

A case in point: the California Zephyr. Great mountain scenery, eyewatering bedroom prices.

If I lived in Albany and had 35,000 AGR points, here's what I'd do:

Albany-Toledo paid coach. Sure, it's most of a night in coach, but it's the beginning of your trip, and you'll be excited about traveling. I always try to arrange my travel so I go up in class of travel over the trip.

Toledo-Chicago-Martinez-Portland bedroom (30k AGR points) This gives you almost the entire California Zephyr, plus the Coast Starlight, which has a special Pacific Parlour car (another sightseer car) just for sleeper passengers. As you'll notice, the Sightseer Lounge car gets quite crowded. I'd debark the Zephyr in Sacramento, spend the afternoon there, and take an evening train from Sacramento to Martinez, but that's up to you. You could also continue your trip all the way to Seattle, but I like Portland better.

Portland-Albany paid flight.

You could certainly travel in a roomette for 20k AGR points, especially if you're traveling alone, but I really like the bedroom.

A random date in January gives a total for that trip of $2421, which works out to 8 cents a point. Pretty good redemption in my book.

One other thing: the cost in points to book a roomette or bedroom is identical, regardless of the number of people traveling.


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 16, 2011)

Ispolkom said:


> Who prefers flying a circuitous route with changes at various airports to a direct, nonstop flight?


Before 9/11, and if I had the $$, I would have. I love take off and landings :wub: and would have found it fun to check out each airport. Of course, that was in my younger days when I had more stamina.


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## PRR 60 (Aug 16, 2011)

AmtrakBlue said:


> Ispolkom said:
> 
> 
> > Who prefers flying a circuitous route with changes at various airports to a direct, nonstop flight?
> ...


I still enjoy the occasional joy ride. Last fall, my wife and I did a one-day, six-flight, 3200 mile trip to nowhere. We connected through Charlotte three times in the same day. It was great.


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## A.J. (Aug 16, 2011)

wow thank you for all of the great suggestions and help! first things first, though. yes I am female and no I do not have a wife.  although my boyfriend is, interestingly enough, an engineer for a freight company but unfortunately, his idea of a vacation does not involve railroads.

I have enjoyed many long-distance trips and haven't had one since April. I'm trying to use mostly points to avoid a squabble about finances with family. long story but i'm sure others out there know what its like. I have used my points before, but in a more straightforward way, which was probably dumb and I probably didn't make use of them as well as I should have!

thanks again for all of the advice. I'll keep you posted about what happens!


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## the_traveler (Aug 16, 2011)

Ispolkom said:


> Who prefers flying a circuitous route with changes at various airports to a direct, nonstop flight?


Guess who?



(In my younger days)





Back in the 1980's, I flew from Boston, MA to Albany, NY (about 150 miles or so) *VIA CALIFORNIA*!



(BTW: I also threw in an Amtrak trip from San Diego to LA during that trip!



) And that was just a weekend trip! I went BOS->MCI->SAN->(SAN)->(LAX)->LAX->ATL->ALB in about 24 hours for around $100!


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 16, 2011)

Ditto! Back in the day when I lived on the Road and made my own Travel reservations Id purposely look for the longest routes whether Train/Plane/Bus/Ferry or Car. Once I booked a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, there were many direct/non-stop flights to there but my routing was: WAS-CHI-SAS-Monterey(Mexico)-SLP-MEX-GDL-MNZ-PVR. It cost like $200 less than Direct Flights but it wasnt about the $$$, most was spent on wine, women and song, the rest was wasted! :lol: :lol: :lol:

The Journey is the Thing, not the Destination!! :excl: :excl: :excl:


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## the_traveler (Aug 16, 2011)

jimhudson said:


> most was spent on wine, women and song, the rest was wasted! :lol: :lol: :lol:


And not necessarily in that order, I heard!


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