# Roomette Redemption



## Anderson (Jan 12, 2011)

So...this is another of my stupid questions, but...

I'm looking to do my RVR-NYP-CHI-DAL trip, and I was wondering, when booking AGR, whether two people can use a roomette for the 20k, or if the cost would be 40k for two people in a roomette.


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## the_traveler (Jan 12, 2011)

Any AGR sleeper award includes the sleeper, the rail fare portion for both and all meals in the Dining Car for both!




And if you are going on a train that does not offer sleepers (in this case, if you ride to NYP on a Regional and not one of the Silvers), both of you are entitled to business class. (You may have to remind the AGR agent of it, but you're entitled to it)!


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## Anderson (Jan 12, 2011)

...so in other words, it is quite possible to get more than the cash value of a booking's point value (i.e. what I could get in terms of gift cards) back in food alone _without_ a "loophole"? This...is impressive.


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## Ispolkom (Jan 13, 2011)

Anderson said:


> ...so in other words, it is quite possible to get more than the cash value of a booking's point value (i.e. what I could get in terms of gift cards) back in food alone _without_ a "loophole"? This...is impressive.


That, and the lack of capacity controls, are the reasons why I put up with the negative features of AGR.


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## Anderson (Jan 16, 2011)

Ispolkom said:


> Anderson said:
> 
> 
> > ...so in other words, it is quite possible to get more than the cash value of a booking's point value (i.e. what I could get in terms of gift cards) back in food alone _without_ a "loophole"? This...is impressive.
> ...


Capacity controls?


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## AlanB (Jan 16, 2011)

Anderson said:


> Ispolkom said:
> 
> 
> > Anderson said:
> ...


Airlines limit the number of seats on any given flight that can be purchased using points. Once those seats are sold, even though the flight might have 200 seats still available, you cannot book one of those remaining empty seats using points. They're limiting or controlling the capacity of seats available to those wishing to use points.

Amtrak at present, and hopefully forever, doesn't do that. If you pick up the phone tomorrow and there is only 1 roomette left, it's yours! It doesn't matter that it's in the high bucket and it doesn't matter that it's the last one left on that day's train.


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## the_traveler (Jan 16, 2011)

AlanB said:


> Anderson said:
> 
> 
> > Capacity controls?
> ...


You are partially correct, Alan.

Using an example of a US mainland award, the airlines advertise coach awards of 25,000 miles. However, out of (say) 160 coach seats on the plane, they may only include 10 seats for 25K. Any of the other 150 seats can be had, but for 50K - not 25K!





Amtrak does not do this. All seats or rooms are available for the same point level - no matter if the "paid cost" is low bucket or high bucket!


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## Anderson (Jan 18, 2011)

So, I have a choice when planning the aforementioned trip this spring: I want to go Dallas-Portland or Seattle (the destination isn't really that important to me; I will explain at a later date as things develop), but I'm weighing the following options (all of which would be paid for via stockpiled AGR, _ideally_ for a single 20k roomette reward):

1) The Texas Eagle west through LAX and up the coast. Pro: A fairly straightforward run. Drawback: San Antonio layover.

2) The Texas Eagle back to Illinois, and then switch to the CA Zephyr, and then to the Coast Starlight. Pro: Pretty straightforward. Drawback: Not on the Coast Starlight for as long.

3) The Texas Eagle back to St. Louis, switch to the SW Chief to go through LAX, and then take the Coast Starlight back up the coast. This _might_ be doable because of the morass that is the Sunset Limited. Pro: A _lot_ of time on the train. Drawback: Might not be doable.

4) The Texas Eagle back to Illinois, switch to the Empire Builder. Pro: I've heard good things about the Empire Builder. Drawback: Less time on the train.

What I need to know:

1) Is it allowable (via AGR) to try for a switch on the Empire Builder with a less-than-24 hour layover in CHI?

2) Is it allowable to try for the switch to the SW Chief if heading north up the coast?


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## the_traveler (Jan 18, 2011)

Anderson said:


> What I need to know:
> 
> 1) Is it allowable (via AGR) to try for a switch on the Empire Builder with a less-than-24 hour layover in CHI?
> 
> 2) Is it allowable to try for the switch to the SW Chief if heading north up the coast?


1) No, AGR will not allow it at all!





2) If you enter "A" to "B" on amtrak.com and a number of choices of routes come up, you can chose *ANY* of them as an AGR award!


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## Anderson (Jan 18, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Anderson said:
> 
> 
> > What I need to know:
> ...


On #2, I'm able to run DAL-LAX via the SW Chief, and I'm able to run KCY-PDX via the SW Chief. So, since both are legal connections, I'm guessing that this will fall into the same bin as the RVR-NYP-CHI-DAL bit did.

Now...of the three doable options, which should I likely prefer/which will give me the best experience?


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## Devil's Advocate (Jan 18, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Using an example of a US mainland award, the airlines advertise coach awards of 25,000 miles. However, out of (say) 160 coach seats on the plane, they may only include 10 seats for 25K. Any of the other 150 seats can be had, but for 50K - not 25K.


A few airlines don't use capacity controls in quite the same way as described or even at all, but most of the ones I've used seem to work this way. Originally Southwest had one of the least restrictive and easiest to understand programs among national carriers. Not surprisingly that made it a little _more_ confusing to people who were familiar with derivatives of the American Airlines model. And in a month or two Southwest is about to turn everything on its head again with a completely new model that doesn't look like anything I've seen before.



Anderson said:


> I'm able to run DAL-LAX via the SW Chief, and I'm able to run KCY-PDX via the SW Chief. So, since both are legal connections, I'm guessing that this will fall into the same bin as the RVR-NYP-CHI-DAL bit did. Now...of the three doable options, which should I likely prefer/which will give me the best experience?


Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying but I don't think you can go on legal connections alone. You need to plug in your actual departure and arrival stations and only pick from the list that comes back for those two stations. If you don't like what you see you'll need to buy or redeem a second ticket to another departure city that gives you the routing you actually want. I don't know why Amtrak makes it this tedious to ticket routes the way we want to ride them, but such is life.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jan 18, 2011)

You're only partially right Dax, the situation is much more complicated-- all routings possible are indeed valid, but not all valid routings can be redeemed. For instance the KCY-CBS loophole is still bookable through AGR, you just have to chalk up another zone to do it (still worth it). However increasingly it seems that if you cross a border, add the points.

Still much of it does depend on your agent.


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## Anderson (Feb 20, 2011)

Ok, bumping this instead of doing an entirely new topic: Assuming that I am going to Arizona (this trip keeps reorganizing itself...it's bordering on a comedy, really), will there be an issue with anything if I do a roomette RVR-Albuquerque, NM and then do a coach seat for the last few hours? The layover in ALB is only about an hour, and I'd only be in Coach for about four-five hours on the back end (to Winslow or Flagstaff).


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## the_traveler (Feb 20, 2011)

Anderson said:


> The layover in *ALB* is only about an hour, and I'd only be in Coach for about four-five hours on the back end (to Winslow or Flagstaff).


Do you mean ABQ or ALB?



(ALB is Albany, NY!



)

If you mean ABQ (NM), the answer is yes! However, I would do 2 things:


Check the price of a coach ticket. If is is (say) $40, I would not waste 5,500 AGR points for a 1 zone coach award - I would buy it, and earn 100 AGR points!




When on the train, ask the SCA or Conductor if you can stay in the room to your destination.



If it is not sold between ABQ and ???, they may let you occupy it!



(If any meals are served in the meantime, they will probably put a restriction that you must pay for the meal. I did, and I did!



)

And on the SWC, there is no layover in ABQ - it's just a *LONG* stop!


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## Anderson (Feb 20, 2011)

Yeah, I meant ABQ...*facepalms* And I was planning to buy the room through rather than paying points...coach awards are, with few exceptions, a lousy use of points in my experience.

And...ok, I considered that a layover because it _is_ a long stop, but I know what you're saying there.


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## dlagrua (Mar 5, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Any AGR sleeper award includes the sleeper, the rail fare portion for both and all meals in the Dining Car for both!
> 
> 
> 
> And if you are going on a train that does not offer sleepers (in this case, if you ride to NYP on a Regional and not one of the Silvers), both of you are entitled to business class. (You may have to remind the AGR agent of it, but you're entitled to it)!


So you are saying that the AGR points cover an entire trip ( one way) in a sleeper for two people! That sounds like a good deal. Are you certain that this is correct? Then what about the AutoTrain. You have three fares to pay to ride in a sleeper on that train; the room or roomette, the railfare cost and the cost of transporting your vehicle. According to the chart its a one zone trip but there must be a catch to use AGR points on this train.


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## amamba (Mar 5, 2011)

dlagrua said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > Any AGR sleeper award includes the sleeper, the rail fare portion for both and all meals in the Dining Car for both!
> ...


There is a special supplement for your car, but the point cost of the roomette or the bedroom will still cover two people in the sleeper.


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## AlanB (Mar 5, 2011)

amamba said:


> dlagrua said:
> 
> 
> > the_traveler said:
> ...


Correct! 

In addition to the normal points for a coach or sleeper award, on the Auto Train you also need to have 10,000 more points for a car or 15,000 points for an SUV/Van.


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