# agr is changing,what was your longest,strangest or best redemption?



## yarrow (Aug 15, 2015)

as many of us are expecting big changes for how agr redemptions will work after the first of the year, what have been some of your longest, strangest or best redemptions. i have always tried to maximize train miles so i guess my longest was a 2 zone spokane to atlanta where we were routed spk-chi-nol-atl and on the return atl-nol-lax-pdx-spk. longest 1 zone was probably spokane to trinidad, co. to see the raton and the semaphores. spk-pdx-lax-tri. one of the best was when we went spk-atl but were routed, as a 2-zone, through dc and had a several hour layover there each way. have a 2 zone sea-sac-chi-nol in early october. looks like that could be it. it has been a good run


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 15, 2015)

Haven't been traveling by train for very long (started in 2011). My longest was to last year's gathering and my first time ever having gone to the west coast, by any mode of transportation.

WIL - NYP - CHI - LAX -SJC

NER - LSL - SWC - CS

Then back home

EMY - CHI - WAS - WIL

CZ - CL - NER

Pd for the WIL-TOL & TOL-WIL portions.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 15, 2015)

Back in the good ole "Loophole" Days, I did the "Slidell Loophole" and the "Columbus,WI Loophole" trips on AGR Points.


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## jebr (Aug 15, 2015)

Longest was last year, ATL - CVS - CHI - MTP. Not bad for two zones.


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## Railroad Bill (Aug 15, 2015)

A few years ago we did a Cleveland to Merced, CA via CL-TE-SSL-Bus to Bakersfield and then SJ up to Merced. Also did a CLE to SEA via CL-SWC-CS. It was always interesting getting the zone things to work out of Toledo. I guess there may be no more Toledo Shuffles for us


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## JayPea (Aug 15, 2015)

Mine was also the Slidell Loophole.


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## the_traveler (Aug 15, 2015)

Most of my trips (as most of you know) are epic *LLLOOONNNGGG* rides! 

One of them was for the LA Gathering, doing part of the SDL loophole. I went from BHM to LAX via WAS, CHI and PDX - for a 2 zone roomette award of 20K! I also did the CBS loophole from STL (after the STL Gathering) via KCY, LAX and PDX - for a 1 zone bedroom award of 20K!


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## Blackwolf (Aug 15, 2015)

No loopholes, unfortunately dd not learn of AGR in time. 

Longest redemption was the 2012 cross-country trip HFX-MTR-TWO-BUF-CUS-PDX-SAC in bedroom for a cool 50,000 points. And you know what, every singe one of our trains were EARLY into the destination!!!!!!!


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## BCL (Aug 15, 2015)

Wow - I've done only a single coach redemption - SEA-EMY and only because I didn't want to pay for a flight home. Some would say it wasn't a very effective use of 5500 points for a ride that was $130 (before discounts) at the time of the redemption.

I guess I'm kind of a practical guy. Sure I've gotten a few points from car rentals and hotel stays, but the bulk of my points came from good old fashioned commuting to work. I mostly accumulated points to get status - just barely 5000 points and then 10,000 points the next year. With Double Days, Fast Track to Status (which seemed to double points), Select/Select+ bonuses, some partner points, and lots of little trips, somehow I managed to collect about 36,000 points in less than 3 years without buying a single point and without transferring a point from my Chase SP card.

You know - it didn't really make that much sense for me to redeem points. I couldn't seem to manage the time nor a reason for the long trips that seem to be discussed here. Maybe one of these days, although who knows how this is going to work out.

I'm just kind of hoping for some sort of hybrid, like the special routes remaining a flat redemption amount since they're generally short, and the LD trains with redemption amounts proportional to revenue pricing. And I just hope that minimum points are maintained. They make train travel more fun for me.


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## rusty spike (Aug 15, 2015)

As a relative newbie to AGR, my longest was last year: from MRC-LAX-PDX-WFH. Nowhere near a loop but a nice "c" shaped 1 zone redemption.


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## SarahZ (Aug 15, 2015)

Last summer, I did CHI to NOL, paid for coach to Slidell, then Slidell to WAS and then back to CHI. (Is this the "Slidell Loophole"?) It was a fun trip.  I would say that was my best redemption as far as point values are concerned.

As for my *favorite* redemption, that had to be CHI to SEA, SEA to EMY, and EMY to CHI. I spent two nights in SEA and one night in EMY (technically, San Francisco), so I spent lots of points, but it was totally worth it. That was a great vacation.

Also, in a rare stroke of luck, we were 45 minutes early into Seattle, and that was with the loss of one hour due to the Daylight Saving time change. So, technically, we were 1:45 early. Even the crew was amazed.


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## the_traveler (Aug 16, 2015)

That was the SDL loophole. Before they close it, that used to be a 1 zone redemption - in fact you could also go to ELP, ABQ, DEN or Wpt for 1 zone also!


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## tonys96 (Aug 16, 2015)

Only have done two LD redemptions. LAX/PDX/MSP on CS and EB (two zone roomette) and DAL/CHI/NYP on TE and LSL (two zone roomette). Both were excellent trips.


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## Railroad Bill (Aug 16, 2015)

the_traveler said:


> That was the SDL loophole. Before they close it, that used to be a 1 zone redemption - in fact you could also go to ELP, ABQ, DEN or Wpt for 1 zone also!


I think those trips were what drove Amtrak into bankruptcy..


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## JayPea (Aug 16, 2015)

The Slidell Loophole I took, in 2009, was a 2 zone trip Slidell-Los Angeles by way of Washington DC, Chicago, Portland, and Los Angeles, starting off as Sarah did with a coach ticket from New Orleans. I'm glad I got to do that trip before that loophole closed.


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## Ispolkom (Aug 16, 2015)

My three favorite AGR trips, all with Mrs. Ispolkom and all in bedroom:

2010 A one-zone award: Minot-Chicago-Washington-Slidell-New Orleans (the last leg booked in coach, of course). We checked a bag from Minot, which traveled directly on the City of New Orleans and arrived a day early.

2013 Another one-zone award: Houston-LA-Portland-St. Paul. This trip was booked years after the loophole trips were supposedly banned. I guess one agent didn't get the memo. Actually, this trip was too much of a good thing. Five straight nights in a bedroom is a night more than my back enjoys.

2015 A two zone award: San Diego-LA-Portland-St. Paul. You can still book this trip today, but when we did it there was a derailment on the UP line between Redding and Dunsmuir, so our train detoured through the Feather River Canyon and up the Inside Gateway. We got to see the Feather River Canyon from a Pacific Parlour Car. A private varnish train had made the trip the month before. Those people paid thousands of dollars, while it only cost us 40k points.


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## benale (Aug 16, 2015)

Since joining AGR many years ago I've always found the best bang for the buck in redemptions, usually choosing Toledo as my origination point for some really long trips. Two months ago we did TOL-CHI-LAX on 29 and 421 and on the return LAX-PDX-CHI-TOL- on 14,28 and 30. Two two zone awards in a sleeper for 40,000 points. I've done many similar trips. Until the news of this change came up, I was looking forward to another 40,000 point award in the future. I'm up to 10,000 points now. Have to wait until the end of the month for all the details. Sure hope Double Days are back next month. I take a lot of point runs. Hope that will still be economical for me.


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## Rail Freak (Aug 16, 2015)

NOL-CHI-(swc)LAX-OKJ-LAX-(te)CHI-CVS-NOL,was my longest!

DEN-SAC-PDX-CHI-WAS-STP,in February(to see snow) was my favorite!!!


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## rtabern (Aug 17, 2015)

A trip we did in October 2013 for our 1st wedding anniversary... round-the-country loop in a bedroom for just 55K points... made up of 2 redemptions and generous sleeping car attendants.

We did Fort Madison, IA to Wolf Point, MT in a bedroom (40K points)... #3 FMD-LAX... #14 LAX-PDX... and #28 PDX-WPT.... we had a coach ticket from Chicago to Fort Madison... but the sleeping car attendant gave us our bedroom right out of the gate at Union Station.

Then we did Wolf Point to Milwaukee in a roomette (15K points)... but the sleeping car attendant on #28 said no one was booked in our bedroom and we could just stay in it to Milwaukee. We never had to move to the roomette we had booked.

Not too shabby... it was 6 days and 5 nights in a bedroom... the most time off the train was about 90 minutes in LAX going between #3 and #14.


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## cyferx (Aug 18, 2015)

SarahZ said:


> As for my *favorite* redemption, that had to be CHI to SEA, SEA to EMY, and EMY to CHI. I spent two nights in SEA and one night in EMY (technically, San Francisco), so I spent lots of points, but it was totally worth it. That was a great vacation.


That was my first big redemption too, but clockwise from CHI to EMY, EMY to PDX, PDX to SEA, and SEA to CHI. Spent two nights in San Fran, 7 nights in Portland for a conference, and 2 nights in Seattle. Lots of points, but great trip. Going that direction was suggested on these boards and the advice was right!

Best part of the redemption? I got to take my 13 year old daughter the whole way for no extra charge. Bang for the buck!


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## tomfuller (Aug 18, 2015)

I had a good redemption in March. Chemult Oregon (CMO) via SAC to Galesburg IL (GBB). I rented a car in GBB and had a 1 week car rental and earned more AGR points.

I drove the rental car in 20 states and returned it in GBB and took the SWC via LAX and the CS back to CMO.

On the SWC I had breakfast with Mark Murphy (Amtrak VP - LD trains). Two two zone trips in roomettes.


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## chakk (Aug 19, 2015)

EMY-NOL once before (and once again in early 2016), EMY-AUS once before, and perhaps EMY-TOL or EMY-CIN in the future to burn remaining points.


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## Pooh2 (Aug 19, 2015)

Earlier this summer, we did Emeryville to Boston on the California Zephyr and Lake Shore limited.

Awesome trip!

We booked the trip with about 6 weeks notice, glad we got that in before the AGR changes!


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## AC4400 (Aug 20, 2015)

My best redemption was VAC to ALY on Cascades; 1500 pts for $122 valued ticket!

BTW, will the AGR change include the special routes?


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## the_traveler (Aug 20, 2015)

Nobody knows!


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 20, 2015)

the_traveler said:


> Nobody knows!


The Shadow Knows!


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## dlagrua (Aug 25, 2015)

Philadelphia to Denver this Aug 2nd to 12th. It is a two zone two train trip but at 80,000 points required R/T Bdrm, Amtrak probably didn't lose money on the deal. I hope that the new AGR points system considers how much money people need to spend to get the AGR trips. First they raise the price of points and perhaps follow with a plan to take away more from their AGR passengers? We shall see.


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## StanJazz (Aug 25, 2015)

Chicago to Seattle in a bedroom for 30,000 points. Southwest Chief and Coast Starlight.

Stan


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## jersey42 (Aug 25, 2015)

NYP-NOLCrescent

NOL-CHI CONO

CHI-LAX SW Chief

LAX-PDX Coast Starlight


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## SubwayNut (Aug 27, 2015)

20,000 Points (my only redemption):

PHX-FLG (Shuttle)- stunned they included it

FLG-LAX

LAX-PDX

PDX-MSP (where I got off, redemption was to CBS for my friend who road with me on the same reward LAX-CBS, he was stunned when I said the entire trip's on me, you don't even have to pay rail fare)!


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 27, 2015)

The old Columbus Loophole trip! I remember it well! ( except I did it as a 2 Zone Roomette Award trip from AUS!!!19,000 Points with AGR MC 5% Rebate!)


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## crescent2 (Sep 4, 2015)

Several months ago a friend and I did ATN-WAS-CHI-CVS-ATN in sleepers on AGR points. Things went like clockwork; trains on time, several hours to most of a day to sight-see or explore in each city, then get on a different train, relax and view the scenery, spend the night in a sleeper, visit next city, rinse, repeat. No hotels, the right amount of train time, and even the weather was perfect. No loopholes, just the way you get there from here. Fun trip!


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## PaulM (Sep 4, 2015)

2 zoner roomete Quincy, IL to San Diego via Chicago and Portland.


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## iggy (Sep 19, 2015)

Chicago Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. Then LA on Coast Starlight to Seattle. Back to Chicago on Empire Builder.

Couple day stay in Seattle so had to make it 2 rewards. Roomette for all trains - 40,000 points. Yes I'm aware masters who have done this for years would have gotten even more value.

But points got burnt and I get a trip I've wanted to do for many years.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Sep 21, 2015)

I am still in the middle of my longest redemption. EWR-WAS-CHI-SEA. Last week did NYP-MIA-NWK. I have 15200 points left so I'll be using them to ride the Texas Eagle CHI-SAS. That will leave only the Sunset Limited and Silver Star as the only two Amtrak long distance routes I haven't ridden. It has been fun and AGR was what got me into the whole concept of miles. I had 50k of them piled up when I was 18 I was very proud of that. Now I have earned almost 300k in the AA Advantage program which I suspect will also be gutted soon. I also have about 120k in my United Mileage Plus account. AGR has been a good ride, and I'm glad I have had a chance to experience the burning of the points. I have been so focused on earning points/status this again has been a first. Taking my balance as close to 0 as I could. I guess AGR keeps teaching me more about loyalty programs.


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## Bob Dylan (Sep 21, 2015)

Why not stay on the Eagle/Sunset all the way to LA Stephen? Only 5,000 more points ( 5% rebate with the AGR Card) for the Second Zone ELP-LAX!

And of course, only a fool would ride the Star all the way from NYP-MIA without a Diner for the same amount of points.

Look forward to your trip report and pics!!


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## D.P. Roberts (Sep 24, 2015)

Two years ago we got to do WTI-CHI-PDX-LAX via the CL, EB, and CS with an overnight in Portland. This was the summer when the EB was so late all the time that they allowed a layover in PDX overnight & it was still just a two-zone redemption for 20,000 points. That was probably the only time I've ever taken a trip that could be considered "gaming the system", but we needed to take the trip to LAX anyway - the only gaming part was the "free" overnight, which doesn't really cost Amtrak anything anyway. One thing I'm looking forward to under the new system is being able to stay overnight in "layover" cities without incurring an additional charge.

We're planning on taking a "bucket list" trip next summer, but that has more to do with Amtrak vastly increasing the redemption costs more than anything. We're taking the CZ & CS from CHI to PDX, but in 2 roomettes instead of having the two of us share one roomette. Two roomettes for two zones is 40,000 points in the old system, but that same trip under the new system in just one roomette would be about 43,000 points, so I kind of feel like we'll be getting the second roomette free if we book before January 24.


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## abcnews (Sep 25, 2015)

Yes, one nice perk with the new program is allowing for stopover time in certain cities and regions. With the old AGR you literally had to stay on the train, to get the most out of the zones. I look forward to taking some time off the train at various stops.

You also had to set your targets on city pairs that best used the zone awards. Now for example, you can easily go from Kansas City to Flagstaff, AZ on the SW Chief and not worry that it's poor use of a two zone award (just a one night trip).

Kansas City is easy to fly into from the east, and there is plenty to do in KC until the late evening (westbound) Chief arrives from Chicago. Flagstaff is a perfect destination, but neither Kansas City or Flagstaff is located right on a zone boundary. For that reason we did several trips from the East Coast to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM. Both were perfectly located on the border.

.

Our best redemption...

Back around 2012 my son and I went from Ashland, VA to Alexandria on Business class (NE Regional), then we changed to the westbound Cardinal to Chicago in a roomette - then CZ to Denver (20,000 roomette award). From Denver we did a 20,000 Bedroom (one zone ) to Wolf Point, MT via Sacramento and PDX (three nights). Then from Wolf Point a standard 20,000 roomette back to Ashland on the EB and Capital Limited. Total points were 60,000, less 3,000 Chase AGR rebate (57,000 actual). In order to pull this off in about 7 nights, we had to keep moving, and every night was on the train.


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## neroden (Sep 26, 2015)

abcnews said:


> Yes, one nice perk with the new program is allowing for stopover time in certain cities and regions. With the old AGR you literally had to stay on the train, to get the most out of the zones. For instance, I look forward to taking some time off the train at various stops.


This actually prevented me from scheduling stopovers at least twice. There were two times when I would have preferred to spend a night in Denver on the way from Chicago to Sacramento. But I couldn't justify the much worse deal on AGR redemption. It's still typically slightly more expensive to stay over in Denver than to go all the way through on one train, but not much, and it may even be cheaper if you pick the right dates and get lower buckets.



> You also had to set your targets on city pairs that best used the zone awards. Now for example, you can easily go from Kansas City to Flagstaff, AZ on the SW Chief and not worry that it's poor use of a two zone award (just a one night trip).


Likewise, I have never been able to justify using rewards points for Syracuse-Chicago (a trip which I have taken a *lot*). Now I can.

I don't think I ever managed to get a really good redemption under the old system.


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## Meat Puppet (Sep 29, 2015)

ELP-LAX-PDX-CBS 20,000 points.

3 people each in own roomette.

CS had a suicide jumper so didn't make the connection to EB.

Free night in PDX for 3 to be put on next days EB, 3 separate hotel rooms and $20 food credit each.

Sleeper on the EB had a bad bearing so we had to coach it for about 5 hours.

Amtrak comped each $250 for a total of $750 in credit vouchers which were all

donated to me by the others who had enough amtrak for a while.

So for 20,000 points: 4 nights on the train, 1 night in PDX, $20 Food Credit and $750 travel voucher. I'll take that any day.


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## Bob Dylan (Sep 29, 2015)

Meat Puppet said:


> ELP-LAX-PDX-CBS 20,000 points.
> 
> 3 people each in own roomette.
> 
> ...


Another damn "Gamer"! 

( The old Columbus Loophole/ I remember it well!)


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## aviva_dawn (Oct 26, 2015)

The California special routes loophole is going away. My hometown is RIV, and I live in RNO. Until 1/24/16, it costs 1500 points. Just booked my last of the three three dozen trips I've taken there over the past decade. End of a wonderful era.

Mom and I are doing CS, LAX to SEA the morning after I arrive in RIV. We're debating about taking Metrolink or the short hop on the SWC to get from RIV to LAX that morning....


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## Tennessee Traveler (Oct 27, 2015)

First and only redemption on old AGR: 40,000 points minus 5% cc redemption of 2,000 for actual total 38,000. For this I booked for April 2016 SEA to NOL via Coast Starlight SEA to SAC, California Zephyr SAC to CHI and City of New Orleans CHI to NOL -- All in Bedroom D on all three trains.

As others have said, in AGR 2 I can break this trip up with a stopover in Emeryville for a few days before continuing EMY-CHI-NOL. This redemption is actually s return trip. I purchased and paid for NOL to SEA via CONO and the Empire Builder in late March 2016. Being from Nashville I prefer flying to and from New Orleans on Southwest Airlines over driving and parking my car in Memphis.


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## abcnews (Oct 27, 2015)

BTW - They now have a decent bus connection from downtown Nashville to St Louis to connect with the Texas Eagle each way. It's not a bad option, I think about 5 hour ride on a charter bus.

Under the current rules you can go from LAX to Nashville (via Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle and the charter bus from St Louis). I believe all for only 20.,000 points.


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## Tennessee Traveler (Oct 27, 2015)

Not really interested in a "bus connection". If I wanted bus, I can get to Chicago from Nashville on MegaBus and I can also drive to Carbondale, IL and ride from there plus feel safe parking my car at the Carbondale station. I have done day fun trips from Carbondale. From Nashville I prefer to park my car(I live about 15 miles from downtown and/or the airport) in a near airport parking service with free shuttle to and from the terminal and Southwest fare are low. For longer distances I have accumulated many many AA miles and have permanent Gold Aadvantage status and choose to use those mile to fly first/business class on American.


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## Dan O (Oct 28, 2015)

aviva_dawn said:


> The California special routes loophole is going away. My hometown is RIV, and I live in RNO. Until 1/24/16, it costs 1500 points. Just booked my last of the three three dozen trips I've taken there over the past decade. End of a wonderful era.
> 
> Mom and I are doing CS, LAX to SEA the morning after I arrive in RIV. We're debating about taking Metrolink or the short hop on the SWC to get from RIV to LAX that morning....


I would think Metrolink would be much more reliable. SWC may be on time but may be a bit late or a few hours late.


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