# AGR Changes



## the_traveler (Sep 13, 2010)

Per the AGR website



> Program News
> 
> *Coming in October: The new Amtrak Guest Rewards website*
> 
> ...


 At least there's some good news - longer hours!




 And weekends too (I think when it says *daily*)!


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 13, 2010)

The PR part of the change is sounding great! The part I'm curious about is when the fine print shows up. :unsure:


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## OlympianHiawatha (Sep 13, 2010)

And I was hoping they were going to say something about restoring our Loophole trips


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## rrdude (Sep 13, 2010)

OlympianHiawatha said:


> And I was hoping they were going to say something about restoring our Loophole trips



That comes after all daily trains have both morning and evening departures, and all LD's have domes.


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## the_traveler (Sep 14, 2010)

rrdude said:


> OlympianHiawatha said:
> 
> 
> > And I was hoping they were going to say something about restoring our Loophole trips
> ...


After they run Superliners thru Baltimore and NYP, they'll have plenty of "topless" models!


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## WhoozOn1st (Sep 14, 2010)

So is this the changeover to in-house operation of the program?


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## sechs (Sep 14, 2010)

So the program is going to be totally shut down on a Thursday? Why couldn't they do this on a weekend, when we already don't have service?


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## jis (Sep 14, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > OlympianHiawatha said:
> ...


Yea for Superliner Cabriolet!


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2010)

sechs said:


> So the program is going to be totally shut down on a Thursday? Why couldn't they do this on a weekend, when we already don't have service?


Under the new program weekends and weekday don't matter. It is just one day down and then they will be open for the following weekend.

I assume there will probably be some 9-5 M-F types working on this that need to be there to make sure everything goes smoothly.


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## AlanB (Sep 14, 2010)

WhoozOn1st said:


> So is this the changeover to in-house operation of the program?


Yes it is.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Sep 14, 2010)

Aside from better CS hours should we be expecting anything else?


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## rrdude (Sep 14, 2010)

'Kay, I just got 300 points for "60110-Strenth (sic) In Numbers promo"  can someone *remind me *what this is? Anyone, Bueller, _traveler, anyone?


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## Steve4031 (Sep 14, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > OlympianHiawatha said:
> ...


Topless models? We need to keep this a family forum. LOL


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## Eric S (Sep 14, 2010)

rrdude said:


> 'Kay, I just got 300 points for "60110-Strenth (sic) In Numbers promo" can someone *remind me *what this is? Anyone, Bueller, _traveler, anyone?


Was that the "take 4 trips on _Acela Express_ or _Northeast Regional_" in a certain time period and earn bonus points promotion?

On second thought, I think that promotion involved earning extra points for booking hotel or rental cars.


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## rrdude (Sep 14, 2010)

Eric S said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > 'Kay, I just got 300 points for "60110-Strenth (sic) In Numbers promo" can someone *remind me *what this is? Anyone, Bueller, _traveler, anyone?
> ...



Oh yea, it might have been that. I did 800-flowers, Budget Rental, and one of the other two required............


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## the_traveler (Sep 14, 2010)

Steve4031 said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > After they run Superliners thru Baltimore and NYP, they'll have plenty of "topless" models!
> ...


OK, how about convertible models - except the roof doesn't go back!


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 14, 2010)

There's a "Hooters" airline. How about a Hooters Train? Wait, that sounds even worse. :lol:


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## Railroad Bill (Sep 14, 2010)

Has anyone heard about any changes in points needed for travel? Zone changes, etc? 

Hope if they decide to increase the number of points needed for say a "1 Zone sleeper", they will notify members so they can book some travel before the change :unsure:

Weekend access will sure be a positive change


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## the_traveler (Sep 14, 2010)

daxomni said:


> There's a "Hooters" airline. How about a Hooters Train? Wait, that sounds even worse. :lol:


The Hooters train would be a *HOOT*!



And if you're in the first car - you'll hear much *TOOT*ing (of the horn)!


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2010)

Railroad Bill said:


> Has anyone heard about any changes in points needed for travel? Zone changes, etc?
> 
> Hope if they decide to increase the number of points needed for say a "1 Zone sleeper", they will notify members so they can book some travel before the change :unsure:
> 
> Weekend access will sure be a positive change


Points for sleepers shouldn't change. Most policy decisions have been in house already. Most of what the changeover does is pull the implementation of these decisions in house as well.


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## sechs (Sep 15, 2010)

Guest said:


> I assume there will probably be some 9-5 M-F types working on this that need to be there to make sure everything goes smoothly.


It's called overtime. If these folks are exempt (and they probably are), then it doesn't even cost more.


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## Steve4031 (Sep 15, 2010)

That's the difference between trains and cars is that you don't need to have beautiful girls hanging on a train to make it cool. LOL. You will never see a GG-1 with playboy models hanging off of it.


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## MrFSS (Sep 15, 2010)

Steve4031 said:


> That's the difference between trains and cars is that you don't need to have beautiful girls hanging on a train to make it cool. LOL. You will never see a GG-1 with playboy models hanging off of it.


But you might see *our* GG-1 with a Playboy Model hanging on him.


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## the_traveler (Sep 15, 2010)

MrFSS said:


> Steve4031 said:
> 
> 
> > That's the difference between trains and cars is that you don't need to have beautiful girls hanging on a train to make it cool. LOL. You will never see a GG-1 with playboy models hanging off of it.
> ...


That would be Eric's dream - and the model's nightmare!


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## jimhudson (Sep 15, 2010)

MrFSS said:


> Steve4031 said:
> 
> 
> > That's the difference between trains and cars is that you don't need to have beautiful girls hanging on a train to make it cool. LOL. You will never see a GG-1 with playboy models hanging off of it.
> ...


Wonder if the move from Hawaii to Vegas will affect his chances? vegas has lots of babes but Hawaii is a whole nother world!  :wub: :lol:


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## alanh (Sep 15, 2010)

Shutting down for a day midweek is simply because Carlson's contract expires 9/30. They'd have to let a new contract for just 10/1 to keep it open that one day and I'm sure they decided it wasn't worth it.


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## AlanB (Sep 15, 2010)

They're actually shutting down for more than a day, so all this discussion is academic.

According to an email that I just got, AGR will be out of commission from September 29th at 8 PM until November 1st at 8 AM. And that latter time of course assumes that everything goes well. If they have problems transferring the database, like Carlson did when they moved things from Minneapolis to Canada, who knows what could happen.


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## rrdude (Sep 15, 2010)

AlanB said:


> They're actually shutting down for more than a day, so all this discussion is academic.
> 
> According to an email that I just got, AGR will be out of commission from September 29th at 8 PM until November 1st at 8 AM. And that latter time of course assumes that everything goes well. If they have problems transferring the database, like Carlson did when they moved things from Minneapolis to Canada, who knows what could happen.


Ahh, I think the email I received read "Our website and service center will be unavailable from Sept. 29 at 8 pm until* October* 1 at 8 am Eastern Time while we prepare...."

Being down for over a month would be a bi-at$P*@#........


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 15, 2010)

Wow. I can't ever remember a major customer rewards site being down for a whole month. That has to be some sort of record. If we asked for that much downtime for any major system at my job we'd be _out of a job_ in no time.


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## the_traveler (Sep 15, 2010)

I agree that it is *OCTOBER* 1 - per the email:



> Your new Amtrak Guest Rewards® website, coming in October, will allow you to log in with either your email address or your member number. Visit the site to see all the new features we've been working on, just for you. Plus, we're extending our Amtrak Guest Rewards service center hours beginning October 2, so you can reach us every day from 5 am to midnight, Eastern Time. _Please note:_ Our website and service center will be unavailable *from Sept. 29 at 8 pm until October 1* at 8 am Eastern Time while we prepare.


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## JayPea (Sep 15, 2010)

I just went to the AGR site itself and it says it will be down only from Sept. 29th to October 1st.

[Postscript]

Traveler beat me to it!!


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## AlanB (Sep 15, 2010)

Sorry guys! 

Doing too many things at one time.


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## IHC (Sep 15, 2010)

AlanB said:


> According to an email that I just got, AGR will be out of commission from September 29th at 8 PM until November 1st at 8 AM. And that latter time of course assumes that everything goes well. If they have problems transferring the database, like Carlson did when they moved things from Minneapolis to Canada, who knows what could happen.


Should we all take screen prints of our point balance before they take the site down? (Remember all of the Y2K commercials with folks taking pictures of their ATM balance on 12/31/99? :lol: )


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## the_traveler (Sep 15, 2010)

Per the AGR Insider on Flyertalk:



> Coming Soon, New AmtrakGuestRewards.com!AmtrakGuestRewards.com will relaunch on October 1. The website and mobile site will both feature an enhanced look and new functionality that will make it easier for you to manage your account online. The new site will allow you to login with either your email address or member number. You may notice a few changes in our non-Amtrak travel redemption items and the new online mall. Not only will we have new merchants in the online mall but we will be able to fulfill your gift card redemption requests much faster. In addition, we will be extending our Amtrak Guest Rewards service center hours to better serve our members. Beginning on October 2, the service center will be open daily from 5 am to midnight Eastern Time.
> 
> To accommodate the changes, the Amtrak Guest Rewards website will be unavailable from September 29 at 8 pm ET until October 1 at 8 am ET. In addition, the Amtrak Guest Rewards service center will be closed on September 30. It will not be possible for members to redeem points or access their account during this time. The call center will re-open on October 1 at 8 am ET.
> 
> ...


Also



> In an earlier thread we confirmed it will be open on weekends.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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