The best way to get 4k of those is to get a Bank of America Amtrak card and put every single thing you possibly can on it (this is how I get there; $3000 worth of Amtrak travel, which is about what I do a year, plus everything on the card). But others in the AGR forum may have other ideas.
Not sure if you get more TQP's from Acelas vs. Regionals or not (aside from getting more because of the higher cost, obviously) because I seldom take the Acela so haven't noticed. There are extra earning promotions on occasion, but they are by invitation only and I personally have never received one and only hear about them here. Otherwise I think you are looking at $2500 worth of Amtrak travel. But others in the AGR forum may know other methods.
I'm aware of all those settings and receive all emails.
Based on numerous IT issues Amtrak seems to have, I'm totally surprised that Amtrak has the skills, technology, and desire to do any 'targeted advertising' other than TV ads in very few select markets. Perhaps they purchased some kind of software package that scans travel history, frequency, etc and 'decides' whether each passenger would use that as an incentive for more Amtrak travel. It's like they're treating us as babes (or senile citizens) that can't make a decision for themselves, so they remove the choice(s).
But this is the thing: I travel exactly the same whether there is an incentive or not. So, eg, Double Days, which is not targeted but is for everyone, simply nets me double the points that I would get anyway. That's a negative for them, as they give me freebies without anything in return. Why should they target me for anything, really? Rain or shine I travel the exact same route, back and forth, the same days every week. It's not a matter of not advertising something or sending an email which costs nothing; it's a matter of giving me something for free (points, TQP's, the next tier of AGR, etc.) which is great for me but yields them nothing. I can't speak to how they do this, I just know as a former marketing person that it makes sense for them to target people who will, on the basis of the promotion, purchase something they would not otherwise.
Yes, it's a net negative...but it's also a soft inducement for folks to travel in the two deep slow periods (mid-Sep to mid-Nov and mid-Jan to mid-Mar). For plenty of pax, it's a nothingburger that gives them free miles. In my case, it nudges me to pay for reservations then rather than redeem points. But the impact varies from person to person, too.
This is exactly my point: for some it will induce them to spend more and some not. So why not target people like you and not people like me? This is why targeted promotions are smart for Amtrak and a dud for me, alas.
They still fail marketing 101, in my book. Why does the grocery store put milk and meats at the rear of the store? Why does CVS usually locate the pharmacy as far from the front door as possible? To induce someone walking through the store with a single purpose in mind to perhaps pick up something they weren't looking for. I confess...I'm sometimes guilty of that.
We’ve been through this; because they believe it will entice more sales. The reason certain promotions are targeted is because they think, based on whatever info, that with certain people, they will probably more than make back the cost of the promotion itself.
