Ispolkom
Engineer
We were feeling flush with all our AGR points and decided to upgrade a future MSP-BOS AGR award trip from roomette to bedroom. So Mrs. Ispolkom calls AGR to make the change. No problem, we get a copy of the itinerary from Amtrak, every thing is just fine: Bedroom on #8 MSP-CHI, Bedroom on #448 CHI-BOS.
A couple of days later, though, we notice an odd thing. Mrs. Ispolkom's balance is 20,000 points lower than it should be. Usually when we've made an AGR award change, there appears a credit for the old award, then a debit for the new award. In this case, though, there's just the 30k debit for the new two-zone bedroom award. No biggie, though, because we've decided to change the trip anyway, going from Minot, No. Dak., to Boston instead. It costs the same amount, and will require another telephone call anyway. So Mrs. Ispolkom calls again.
Here's the odd thing. The 20k credit had been made, back-dated to March, when we'd orginally booked the award. Great mystification as to why that doesn't reflect in the total. We're told they'll get back to us, but meanwhile let's change the ticket. My wife is passed of to another clerk, who quickly changes our reservation, and tells my wife, "Now your train leaves at 5:15."
"No it doesn't. It leaves at 9:42."
The clerk had booked us MIN-CHI-BOS, instead of MOT-CHI-BOS. For those not familiar with 3-letter codes, MIN is Mineola, Texas, not Minot, North Dakota. The change is made, and we're back on the Empire Builder, rather than the Texas Eagle. This time the proper procedure is followed, a 30k credit followed by a 30k debit.
Less than a week later AGR credits my wife's account with 20k points, and sends an e-mail telling her of this. No harm, no foul, but it does mean that you should:
a) check your account and
b) get a detailed itinerary from Amtrak of your AGR reward travel.
A couple of days later, though, we notice an odd thing. Mrs. Ispolkom's balance is 20,000 points lower than it should be. Usually when we've made an AGR award change, there appears a credit for the old award, then a debit for the new award. In this case, though, there's just the 30k debit for the new two-zone bedroom award. No biggie, though, because we've decided to change the trip anyway, going from Minot, No. Dak., to Boston instead. It costs the same amount, and will require another telephone call anyway. So Mrs. Ispolkom calls again.
Here's the odd thing. The 20k credit had been made, back-dated to March, when we'd orginally booked the award. Great mystification as to why that doesn't reflect in the total. We're told they'll get back to us, but meanwhile let's change the ticket. My wife is passed of to another clerk, who quickly changes our reservation, and tells my wife, "Now your train leaves at 5:15."
"No it doesn't. It leaves at 9:42."
The clerk had booked us MIN-CHI-BOS, instead of MOT-CHI-BOS. For those not familiar with 3-letter codes, MIN is Mineola, Texas, not Minot, North Dakota. The change is made, and we're back on the Empire Builder, rather than the Texas Eagle. This time the proper procedure is followed, a 30k credit followed by a 30k debit.
Less than a week later AGR credits my wife's account with 20k points, and sends an e-mail telling her of this. No harm, no foul, but it does mean that you should:
a) check your account and
b) get a detailed itinerary from Amtrak of your AGR reward travel.
