# New Select Executive Tier at AGR



## AlanB (Nov 26, 2012)

From AGR Insider at FlyerTalk:



> Amtrak Guest Rewards will soon announce the launch of our newest and most rewarding tier: Select Executive. Starting on January 1, 2013, members who earned 20,000 or more Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) in 2012 will enjoy this new status.
> Select Executive members will receive:
> 
> 
> ...


You can view the post here.


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## Acela150 (Nov 26, 2012)

20,000? Holy God that's a lot. Worse part. People earn 20,000 in a year. Not sure how many. But that's crazy.


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## kal-tex (Nov 26, 2012)

Does the inclusion of access to United clubs imply that there is an Amtrak/United relationship - and might the one-for-one points transfer be reinstated?


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## AlanB (Nov 26, 2012)

kal-tex said:


> Does the inclusion of access to United clubs imply that there is an Amtrak/United relationship - and might the one-for-one points transfer be reinstated?


I wouldn't think that any such conclusion could be drawn. Select Plus already gets one into the lounges and that wasn't enough to reinstate point transfers.


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## Steve4031 (Nov 26, 2012)

I have to work my ass off to get 10,000 points. I don't see getting the 20,0000 points as even remotely possible for me. But I do like that AGR credit card. Im siting on 38k points. And they gonna get used . . .


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## CHamilton (Nov 26, 2012)

I assume AGR has done their research, and know roughly how many people will have that number of points by the end of the year. I imagine that the vast majority will be Acela commuters. It will be very difficult for anyone in the rest of the country to accumulate that number of points -- I won't even try, even though I've already made S+ for 2013. But note that once one reaches the new level, it will be relatively easy to stay there, thanks to the 100% bonus and the unlimited ability to purchase points.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 26, 2012)

Steve4031 said:


> I have to work my ass off to get 10,000 points. I don't see getting the 20,0000 points as even remotely possible for me. But I do like that AGR credit card. Im siting on 38k points. And they gonna get used . . .


We have someone at OTOL who is over 40,000 TQP for the year. He probably hit 20k before June 1. BTW, he lives in northern California.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 26, 2012)

CHamilton said:


> I assume AGR has done their research, and know roughly how many people will have that number of points by the end of the year. I imagine that the vast majority will be Acela commuters. It will be very difficult for anyone in the rest of the country to accumulate that number of points -- I won't even try, even though I've already made S+ for 2013. But note that once one reaches the new level, it will be relatively easy to stay there, thanks to the 100% bonus and the unlimited ability to purchase points.


Bonus points and purchased points do not count as TQP's.


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## Anderson (Nov 26, 2012)

No, but it said a 100% tier bonus, not just a 100% bonus.

Damnit, I wish they'd announced this six months ago.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 26, 2012)

Anderson said:


> No, but it said a 100% tier bonus, not just a 100% bonus.
> 
> Damnit, I wish they'd announced this six months ago.


The "Tier Bonus" is the bonus you earn for your elite level. For Select, it is 25%. For Select+ it is 50%. For the new Exec level, it will be 100%. In all cases, Tier Bonus points are only redeemable points, not Tier Qualifying Points.


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## Shanghai (Nov 27, 2012)

Looks to me like it is step one in the degradation of Select Plus level.

I would think that the lounge privileges and class upgrades will be

reduced for Select Plus members. There must be too many Select Plus

people with too rich program benefits. With the reward structure currently

in place, there is a bias towards Acela travel, which I believe offers the

best future to the Amtrak funding.


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## pennyk (Nov 27, 2012)

Will anything change for those of us that are a mere Select Plus?


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## jis (Nov 27, 2012)

It will take something in the vicinity of $5000 to $6000 spent per year on Amtrak to get there if done via Acela, For someone who has the time and energy it will take 200 $6 point runs, so at least theoretically you could get there for as low as $1200 or perhaps even less if you can find a cheaper point run. At least I am unlikely to have the time, money or energy to get there.

Now if this new level were the equivalent of 100,000 miles on airlines, If Amtrak were ever to create an equivalent of airline Platinum level (75,000 miles) which would presumably be 15,000 AGR points I could come within striking distance of that and be coerced into spending a few more bucks to get there. Until then I plan to ignore this whole development, just like I also ignore 100,000 for airlines.


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## Shanghai (Nov 27, 2012)

I think this is an over-reach by Amtrak. There isn't much that Amtrak can offer to encourage people to

go for Select Executive over the present Select Plus. In comparison to the airlines elite status, I think

the airlines can offer a greater variety of perks than can Amtrak. It is unlikely that I will ever reach

the Select Executive status but I hope the Select Plus status will continue to offer its present perks.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 27, 2012)

pennyk said:


> Will anything change for those of us that are a mere Select Plus?


I'm wondering if lounge access for S+ is going away. It seems interesting that they list lounge access as a perk of Exec since it is already a perk of S+, and then say that those who reach Exec can continue get lounge access using the S+ card until the new Exec card arrives next year. That kind of suggests that lounge access will not be a perk for S+ for the 2013 program year. I could at least see the United Club access limited to the new Exec level.

I see this as aimed at regular Acela users, many of whom are not traveling on their own dime. Two qualifying round trips a month would do the trick, with TQP's to spare. For them, the extra First Class upgrade coupons are a nice perk, particularly if Amtrak could find a way to make redeeming them less clunky.


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## Steve4031 (Nov 27, 2012)

If there is no lounge benefit for select plus, Im not pushing myself to get to select plus. I think allowing pre-boarding for select plus and the this other higher tier iin Chicago for coach passengers would be something that I would value. As a select plus there are not that many benefits at CUS other than the 50 percent bonus.

The other thing that displeases me about select plus is that 15 day cancel penalty for first class. I hate the idea of losing points if I have to cancel at the last minute. I would be ok with some kind of fee to get the points back. Right now I am pretty annoyed with AGR program changes.


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## amamba (Nov 27, 2012)

Eliminating lounge access for S+ would be really frustrating for me. That is one of the big perks to me of that S+ level.

I know of at least one poster on this board who commutes NYP - PHL, and I assume would easily qualify for the new Select Executive level. I am sure he will enjoy those upgrade coupons if he decided to take a few commutes via acela instead of the regional!


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## PRR 60 (Nov 27, 2012)

Steve4031 said:


> If there is no lounge benefit for select plus, Im not pushing myself to get to select plus. I think allowing pre-boarding for select plus and the this other higher tier iin Chicago for coach passengers would be something that I would value. As a select plus there are not that many benefits at CUS other than the 50 percent bonus.
> 
> The other thing that displeases me about select plus is that 15 day cancel penalty for first class. I hate the idea of losing points if I have to cancel at the last minute. I would be ok with some kind of fee to get the points back. Right now I am pretty annoyed with AGR program changes.


The policy concerning AGR sleeper travel cancellations has been postponed until March 1 while they reconsider things. Note that the AGR website still says it goes into effect on January 1, but AGR Insider at Flyertalk assured the angry mob there that the original plan is at least on hold.

Thinking about my lounge access theory, that would be a pretty nasty thing to do for those who got to S+ in 2012 assuming they would have access through 2013. I doubt they would pull the Amtrak lounge access, but I do think the United Club access is in play. I could see wording in the Amtrak/UA agreement that permits United Club access for the "highest elite level" AGR members. If it were worded like that, then the UC access would go only to the Exec members. For those who travel United, the UC access is a HUGE perk. It costs about $400 a year to buy, and for domestic travel, not even the top Mileage Plus tiers get it. I doubt that UA would want to continue offering it to S+ when that becomes a mid-level AGR tier.

_EDIT: Just to be clear, I have no insider info from AGR. No one has whispered anything to me. All I am posting is a suspicion, and I tend to be a glass half empty kind of guy, to take it for what it's worth. When I do get insider Amtrak info, it tends to be nerdy and much duller._


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## jis (Nov 27, 2012)

Oddly enough, because of my circumstances I don't particularly worry about the lounge access as long as UC members continue to have access to Amtrak lounges. And even if they don't it is not the worst thing that could happen. Afterall there are so few Amtrak lounges that exist anyway.

But I think that removing UC access for Select+ would go against the general theory of attracting potential airline passengers to Acelas, at least until Acelas start providing 6 hour service to San Francisco for example.  So I would surmise that this is unlikely to come to pass. But then again there is the countervailing theory that "Amtrak shall miss no opportunity to undermine itself". So who knows?

Actually, until Amtrak is able to provide pre-boarding for Selects, the value of these statuses on Amtrak is significantly diminished compared to equivalent airline status. But then the whole Amtrak boarding process is such a phenomenal Charlie Foxtrot that I do not expect any such thing to come to pass either. The Red Caps union will go beserk for one thing,


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## PRR 60 (Nov 27, 2012)

The post by amamba about the end of year make S+ promo essentially confirms that Amtrak lounge access will remain a perk for Select+. United Club access in not mentioned for S+.


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## jis (Nov 27, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> The post by amamba about the end of year make S+ promo essentially confirms that Amtrak lounge access will remain a perk for Select+. United Club access in not mentioned for S+.


Good catch. So I suppose the "countervailing theory" mentioned by me above, might be the one ruling the day.


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## Devil's Advocate (Nov 27, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> The policy concerning AGR sleeper travel cancellations has been postponed until March 1 while they reconsider things. Note that the AGR website still says it goes into effect on January 1, but AGR Insider at Flyertalk assured the angry mob there that the original plan is at least on hold.


The response to AGR's new 100% points penalty on Flyertalk was relatively calm and collected I felt. Maybe things have deteriorated since I last checked in, but at the time they announced the delay I felt the Flyertalk discussion was rather mild compared to some of the reactions I've seen elsewhere on the same site. If anyone here wants to have input on the new 100% penalty for changes two weeks out they had better get over to the Flyertalk thread and make their position known before AGR has solidified their policy.



PRR 60 said:


> [united Club access] costs about $400 a year to buy, and for domestic travel, not even the top Mileage Plus tiers get it.


I sort of figured that Global Services would have unpublished access, but I guess not?



jis said:


> Actually, until Amtrak is able to provide pre-boarding for Selects, the value of these statuses on Amtrak is significantly diminished compared to equivalent airline status. But then the whole Amtrak boarding process is such a phenomenal Charlie Foxtrot that I do not expect any such thing to come to pass either.


Agreed. I have priority access with AA, UA, and US and while it's not any sort of necessity its still a nice perk. For some reason Amtrak still can't seem to figure out how to offer this for their own elite members, which I find rather confusing.


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## Afsheen (Nov 27, 2012)

amamba said:


> Eliminating lounge access for S+ would be really frustrating for me. That is one of the big perks to me of that S+ level.
> 
> I know of at least one poster on this board who commutes NYP - PHL, and I assume would easily qualify for the new Select Executive level. I am sure he will enjoy those upgrade coupons if he decided to take a few commutes via acela instead of the regional!


Hey, that sounds like me! 

I got the Select Executive email this morning letting me know that I would have the new status as of January 1. The 100% point bonus is nice and I'm definitely looking forward to earning an upgrade certificate every 3K TQP, since I'll rack up twelve or so of those next year. While I was hoping they would go with space-available upgrades (like many airlines offer), this is definitely an improvement over what I've been getting as S+.


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## R30A (Nov 27, 2012)

I got the email too saying I am 50 points away... While on the Adirondack chasing the Via consists. (Northbound we have Amfleets, but I am pretty sure we will catch the VIA cars SB. )

So between that, and the nearly 1K points I have pending, and my sleeper trip coming up, I'm not too worried about making Select Executive... I hope the upgrades are more generous on time limits than Select Plus. While 48 hours is much better than 12, It still can make things hard to plan.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 27, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> PRR 60 said:
> 
> 
> > [united Club access] costs about $400 a year to buy, and for domestic travel, not even the top Mileage Plus tiers get it.
> ...


I don't think Global Services gets lounge access (based on a quick scan of the UA forum at FT), but I don't know for sure. My impression of GS is that it is 1K with some significant personal handling perks added like priority rebooking in irrops, upgrade priorities, and some ability to bend rules. Since I am nothing more than a frequent flyer wannabe, I will never come even remotely close to finding out.


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## Devil's Advocate (Nov 27, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> Texas Sunset said:
> 
> 
> > PRR 60 said:
> ...


Yeah, I hear you. I'm not going to be flying four million miles in my entire lifetime, let alone on the same carrier. I believe the best trick for discounted lounge access is to carry the Amex Platinum which also charges $400 per year in annual fees but comes with a $200 annual rebate for airline expenses. However, I don't think that United Clubs are currently covered by today's Platinum card. Which still leaves the loyalty swap trick, which is where you funnel your status points into a carefully selected foreign carrier in the same alliance or in a bilateral with your chosen domestic carrier, at which point your domestic trips become foreign trips with complimentary lounge access. As for me I don't fly nearly enough to make lounge access much of a perk. Priority access means I can arrive later and board earlier and that's good enough for my purposes.


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## amamba (Nov 27, 2012)

Afsheen said:


> amamba said:
> 
> 
> > Eliminating lounge access for S+ would be really frustrating for me. That is one of the big perks to me of that S+ level.
> ...


Just keep texting me pictures of your 10 am cocktails so I can live vicariously through you.


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## rtabern (Nov 27, 2012)

Wow, 20,000 points... quite a feat! I'm looking back at my AGR point totals for the past few years and they range between 13,000 and 15,000 rail points per year... I travel A LOT now to maintain Select Plus... and dont think I could realitsically obtain 20,000 rail points a year. (BTW, I live in Milwaukee, so a lot of my points are riding down to Chicago and doing day-trips on the Illinois regionals). But, hey, awesome some people on the Forum are there!!

My only reaction is... I *REALLY* hope they don't take the Club Acela and Metropolitan Lounge access away from Select Plus members. I'm hoping Select Plus and Select Executives will have access to the clubs. I ride a lot of extra trips a year to maintain S+... and the only reason I do that... is for a clean bathroom and a free place to store bags when passing through Chicago, DC, NY, or Boston. If they take the lounge access away from S+, I will probably stop doing my point runs and probably drop back to just 4,000-6,000 rail points a year instead of getting 10,000 (or well over 10,000)... I hope Amtrak isn't considering taking away lounge access for us S+'ers.


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## rtabern (Nov 27, 2012)

rtabern said:


> Wow, 20,000 points... quite a feat! I'm looking back at my AGR point totals for the past few years and they range between 13,000 and 15,000 rail points per year... I travel A LOT now to maintain Select Plus... and dont think I could realitsically obtain 20,000 rail points a year. (BTW, I live in Milwaukee, so a lot of my points are riding down to Chicago and doing day-trips on the Illinois regionals). But, hey, awesome some people on the Forum are there!!
> 
> My only reaction is... I *REALLY* hope they don't take the Club Acela and Metropolitan Lounge access away from Select Plus members. I'm hoping Select Plus and Select Executives will have access to the clubs. I ride a lot of extra trips a year to maintain S+... and the only reason I do that... is for a clean bathroom and a free place to store bags when passing through Chicago, DC, NY, or Boston. If they take the lounge access away from S+, I will probably stop doing my point runs and probably drop back to just 4,000-6,000 rail points a year instead of getting 10,000 (or well over 10,000)... I hope Amtrak isn't considering taking away lounge access for us S+'ers.


Yeah, the more I think about it... I hope they don't drop lounge access for Select Plus members.

I have to do a few extra trips a year... or even a few "point runs" from Milwaukee-Milwaukee AIrport... to make sure I reach S+ status.

To me, it's worth the extra money I have to spend every year to do some extra trips to make sure I get 10,000 rail points, so I have a clean bathroom and free place to store my bags in Chicago and the east coast cities with Club Acelas.

It really wouldn't be worth the money or time I'd need to spend to try and get 20K rail points to keep lounge access.

Doing the math, I'd have to do TWO round-trips on the Hiawathas (or 4 one-ways) every week of the year to reach the new "Executive" status.

And, the folks who ride the Hiawatha that much don't buy one-ways, they have monthly passes that don't get that as much points.

AMTRAK, I BEG OF YOU... PLEASE KEEP LOUNGE ACCESS FOR SELECT PLUS!!!


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## Afsheen (Nov 27, 2012)

rtabern said:


> AMTRAK, I BEG OF YOU... PLEASE KEEP LOUNGE ACCESS FOR SELECT PLUS!!!


No need to worry for 2013, AGR Insider confirmed on FlyerTalk that, "The Select Plus benefits have not changed and will remain the same as in 2012."


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## The Davy Crockett (Nov 28, 2012)

The way things have been trending towards 'revenue enhancement' I could see Amtrak working towards United Club access going away for S+ in 2014. That, and possibly the erosion of some other S+ perks, as they get bled off to SE+, as I somehow don't see Amtrak rolling out a lot of costly new perks for the new tier in the future.

My guess is that Amtrak is pretty much stuck with S+ access to its own lounges though, as I think even Amtrak is (hopefully) smart enough to realize what a slap in the face it would be to a majority of its most loyal customers to double the requirement for access to clean bathrooms, coffee, Goldfish Crackers and bag storage. 

And yeah, what about preboarding?


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## Anderson (Nov 28, 2012)

I've done the math, and I could in theory achieve this primarily through "looping" NFK-RVR-NPN-NFK (and variations may become workable at the start of FY13 once VA gets control of those trains), though assuming that I get 100 TQPs per leg, that would come to 300 TQPs/run. Do that 50 times during the year and I can make up 15,000 of the 20,000...but it'll cost me a bloody fortune ($2000 at the in-advance $20 one-way price).

With that said...I'm going to give it a semi-serious look, since racking up another 5,000 points isn't _that_ hard for me to do on my regular travel (1600 at Christmas, 600-1200 each time I go to FL, etc.). The only shame is that I'm _really_ hoping to, y'know, _use_ some of these points one of these years.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 29, 2012)

Anderson said:


> I've done the math, and I could in theory achieve this primarily through "looping" NFK-RVR-NPN-NFK (and variations may become workable at the start of FY13 once VA gets control of those trains), though assuming that I get 100 TQPs per leg, that would come to 300 TQPs/run. Do that 50 times during the year and I can make up 15,000 of the 20,000...but it'll cost me a bloody fortune ($2000 at the in-advance $20 one-way price).
> 
> With that said...I'm going to give it a semi-serious look, since racking up another 5,000 points isn't _that_ hard for me to do on my regular travel (1600 at Christmas, 600-1200 each time I go to FL, etc.). The only shame is that I'm _really_ hoping to, y'know, _use_ some of these points one of these years.


Why would you do that?? What benefits do you see in the new status that are worth spending over $2000 to get?


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## JoshW (Nov 29, 2012)

I'm a commuter from the SF Bay area to the Central valley, using Amtrak (thruway bus and San Joaquin) about three times a week. I'll likely hit SE level around August of next year, assuming I get 100 qualifying points per ticket. I won't see any tangible difference in the quality of my daily commute, as there aren't any lounges in Northern California, but getting %100 qualifying points per ticket will really help when it comes time for a family trip.


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## jis (Nov 29, 2012)

Yeah, I think it is perfectly reasonable to get a status based on travel that actually needs to be done irrespective of whether there is a status level to reach. But to do a substantial amount of completely unnecessary travel just tor each a status is a bit over the top. mind you a trip or two to fill a small gap to get there appears to be OK to me, but beyond that is a clear indication of being infected by the Statusitis virus.


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 29, 2012)

jis said:


> Yeah, I think it is perfectly reasonable to get a status based on travel that actually needs to be done irrespective of whether there is a status level to reach. But to do a substantial amount of completely unnecessary travel just tor each a status is a bit over the top. mind you a trip or two to fill a small gap to get there appears to be OK to me, but beyond that is a clear indication of being infected by the Statusitis virus.


Ditto! As usual , you Nailed it jis!


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## TimePeace (Nov 29, 2012)

jis said:


> Yeah, I think it is perfectly reasonable to get a status based on travel that actually needs to be done irrespective of whether there is a status level to reach. But to do a substantial amount of completely unnecessary travel just tor each a status is a bit over the top. mind you a trip or two to fill a small gap to get there appears to be OK to me, but beyond that is a clear indication of being infected by the Statusitis virus.


Right: instead of simply calling it "quantity discount" status, which is what it is, we call it "Select Executive". Who says we don't have a class system. Clearly "Elite" status is worth a whole lot to the big spenders and high rollers among us.


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## JoshW (Nov 29, 2012)

I've gotta say, I can only think of two travel perks: a waiting room with refreshments at the station, and early boarding. I could care less about getting on the train early, in my case, since it's never too crowded. But it would be kind of cool to have some free coffee at the station. So to me, right now it's essentially a way to get a free bedroom for my family later next year. But were they to implement a couple perks that I could utilize everyday, I wouldn't argue.


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## BOS-T-Time (Nov 29, 2012)

Hello,

I am confused as to what the perk "100% tier point bonus" means. I am nowhere near being at this level but I was just curious, does it mean 100% bonus points towards tier qualifying status of just 100% bonus points? In other words, say you ride Acela and earn 500 points which go towards tier qualification. Do you get another 500 points towards tier qualification status or 500 bonus points towards your account? Here is the link:

https://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/info/selectexecutive

thanks,

BOS-T-Time


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## Anthony (Nov 29, 2012)

BOS-T-Time said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am confused as to what the perk "100% tier point bonus" means. I am nowhere near being at this level but I was just curious, does it mean 100% bonus points towards tier qualifying status of just 100% bonus points? In other words, say you ride Acela and earn 500 points which go towards tier qualification. Do you get another 500 points towards tier qualification status or 500 bonus points towards your account? Here is the link:
> 
> ...


No - it is a 100% bonus you get for being a part of that tier. Bonus points are not Tier Qualifying Points.


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## AlanB (Nov 29, 2012)

Anthony said:


> BOS-T-Time said:
> 
> 
> > Hello,
> ...


Or to put it another way; with a 500 point Acela trip you would earn 1,000 points that you could use to buy a AGR reward and you would earn 500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQP) if you were a Select Exec member.

Right now as a Select Plus member, if I do an Acela run for 500 points, I get 750 points to spend on trips and 500 TQP's.


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## Anderson (Nov 30, 2012)

Well, I can offer four benefits to engaging in some rather absurd points-running:

1) Raw value. The extra points bonus is worth about 10,000 points per year at the bottom of the level (net of what I'd get at S+). Mind you, that's nothing next to what VIA Preference offers, but it's still noticeable. Basically, I might spend a couple of hundred dollars...but a respectable share would be coming back through the door to me.

2) I actually want to make a run at the status in one year primarily to do a massive point buy during a bonus season (though I suspect that SE+ is the kiss of death for any 50% bonus buy offers, being able to drop a 100,000 point buy [absurdly expensive though it might be] in during such a season would be worth my while). Even accounting for periodic devaluations (which I do expect), I am reasonably hopeful that fare increases will tend to at least keep pace with, if not outpace, award price increases.

3) Insurance against benefit erosion. This concern has come up in a few cases.

4) Perhaps most ephemeral, propping up ridership on the NFK-RVR segment until a better schedule can be worked out is something that I do want to engage in.

Notwithstanding this, I do expect my point earnings to slowly rise as time goes on and fares go up on a lot of routes. I'll note that Amtrak may need to seriously look at tweaking the 500/750 point awards before too long...top bucket WAS-NYP is $249 (it's closing in on $300 WAS-BOS), which given the PPR dynamic on that run is likely to turn that "guarantee" into a bit of a joke. In the same vein, on the LD routes I frequent (the Meteor, the Star, and the Cap), fares are up substantially over the last 3-4 years, and if the economy gets rolling again things are going to get "interesting" in some cases.


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## Nick (Dec 2, 2012)

To the Amtrak employees monitoring this thread:

I'm a bit confused. I got a letter this morning saying that I'm getting the Executive status but I am a bit confused as to what are the additional benefits for giving Amtrak 10k in one year (other than 100% point bonus instead of 75%).

United Clubs access is already a part of S+. Will there be if-space-available automatic upgrades to First? Complementary pick ups / pick offs in a destination in the city? Something to parallel the similar perks extended by airlines?

Thank you.


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## calwatch (Dec 2, 2012)

Some might say it is a cynical way to gain more revenue. Right now many pass holders on Capitol Corridor and the Pacific Surfliner are S+ by virtue of holding the monthly pass. Now they will have to buy individual tickets to try to make the new level. The question is, is there any reason for a pass holder on the Capitol Corridor paying $400 a month to buy 10-trips or individual tickets to try to make Select Executive?


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## Blackwolf (Dec 2, 2012)

calwatch said:


> Some might say it is a cynical way to gain more revenue. Right now many pass holders on Capitol Corridor and the Pacific Surfliner are S+ by virtue of holding the monthly pass. Now they will have to buy individual tickets to try to make the new level. The question is, is there any reason for a pass holder on the Capitol Corridor paying $400 a month to buy 10-trips or individual tickets to try to make Select Executive?


I see two: the 100% bonus on points earned and the United Lounge access if they fly a lot as well. Since Select+ is loosing the United Lounge access, some might see this as a reason to go the distance for Select Executive. So, so it seems to the lay-person like myself who never hopes to even get halfway to Select.


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## PRR 60 (Dec 2, 2012)

Blackwolf said:


> calwatch said:
> 
> 
> > Some might say it is a cynical way to gain more revenue. Right now many pass holders on Capitol Corridor and the Pacific Surfliner are S+ by virtue of holding the monthly pass. Now they will have to buy individual tickets to try to make the new level. The question is, is there any reason for a pass holder on the Capitol Corridor paying $400 a month to buy 10-trips or individual tickets to try to make Select Executive?
> ...


*AGR Insider* at Flyertalk says that S+ benefits are not being changed. If so, S+ will retain United Club access.


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## Anthony (Dec 2, 2012)

Blackwolf said:


> I see two: the 100% bonus on points earned and the United Lounge access if they fly a lot as well. Since Select+ is loosing the United Lounge access, some might see this as a reason to go the distance for Select Executive. So, so it seems to the lay-person like myself who never hopes to even get halfway to Select.


I'm sorry, where did you hear that S+ is losing United Club access? This has been stated nowhere and in fact has been debunked by AGR Insider at FlyerTalk.


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## AlanB (Dec 2, 2012)

Nick said:


> To the Amtrak employees monitoring this thread:
> 
> I'm a bit confused. I got a letter this morning saying that I'm getting the Executive status but I am a bit confused as to what are the additional benefits for giving Amtrak 10k in one year (other than 100% point bonus instead of 75%).
> 
> ...


Nick,

Since this forum is no run by Amtrak, officially there are NO Amtrak employees monitoring anything here. Some employees do post here, but they do so in an unofficial capacity.

As for benefits:

Select Plus gets a 50% bonus. So Exec is getting double that, at 100%.

Additionally you will get 48 hour upgrade coupons, just like Select Plus. In addition to the coupons mailed in late Feb, throughout the year once you've earned 20K in points again, for every 3,000 after that you'll get another coupon. You'll also get companion coupons, in addition to a few other benefits.


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## PRR 60 (Dec 2, 2012)

AlanB said:


> Nick said:
> 
> 
> > To the Amtrak employees monitoring this thread:
> ...


So, in other words, not much.


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## Anthony (Dec 2, 2012)

AlanB said:


> Nick said:
> 
> 
> > To the Amtrak employees monitoring this thread:
> ...


Actually, not quite - the 3,000 TQP counter for Select Executive earned upgrades starts as soon as you earn the status, from what I understand. For 2013, if you earned 20K TQPs in 2012, then on Jan. 1 every 3,000 TQPs thereafter will result in an additional upgrade. For those who qualify in 2013, as soon as the status is reached, the 3K TQP counter begins.


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## Nick (Dec 4, 2012)

AlanB said:


> Nick said:
> 
> 
> > To the Amtrak employees monitoring this thread:
> ...


Hi Alan,

Thank you for responding.

If I hear you and others correctly, the only two additional ways the top tier is compensated (compared to S+) is 100% bonus points (instead of 75%) and a class upgrade coupon for each 3,000 TQPs. Do you know if there is a way to raise this with Amtrak - or is there a better forum at which to post this? Doing a comparable travel (weekly NE corridor trips) with an airline would result in many more perks.

Once again, thanks for your information.

Nick


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## Ryan (Dec 4, 2012)

Check out FlyerTalk - "AGR Insider" seems to be pretty plugged in over there and responsive to inputs.


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## AlanB (Dec 4, 2012)

Nick said:


> Hi Alan,
> 
> Thank you for responding.
> 
> ...


Once again, there is no 75% bonus at any level. Select Plus is only 50%, Select Executive is 100% or double that of Select Plus.

Additional benefits of Exec that are not part of Plus, include:

No limit to buying points. (Plus has a 10K limit per year)

An exclusive phone line for Exec's only.

Auto registration for every promo.

And there may be additional perks offered during the year.


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## acelafan (Jan 3, 2013)

A link to a news release I saw today with a summary already discussed. I'll never get to 20,000 a year...I can hardly get to 10,000!

http://www.colloquy....ew.asp?xd=10159


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