Amtrak Guest Rewards 2.0 Coming January 2016

[NorthShore]

Me, me, me, me, me!

 

[BCL]

I would do that, but I don't know yet which of the several people might join me.

My understanding is that discounted group tickets only require the name of the group leader. However, I suppose that doesn't work for regular tickets or AGR redemptions.

 

[Ryan]

He's talking about a group of 2, not 20.

If you really want to, slap a name on it now and if you need to change it later, you should be able to do that.

 

[yarrow]

what is an "open sleeper ticket"? never tried to do it but i thought it would cover the 2nd person even if, at the time of making the reservation, you are unsure who it will be

 

[Ryan]

It still has to have a name attached to it.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

My computer is being difficult and I can't seem to quote posts these days, but, to Just-Thinking-51's post (#181) about AGR making a profit:

When Amtrak says AGR is making a profit, I can't help but wonder if this claim is about as accurate as Amtrak claiming the NEC makes a profit: Sure it is making a profit, as long as one does not factor in all the actual costs!!! :lol:

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

One did not look at the books myself. However it was a follow up question to the Town Hall meeting. Source is solid, and answer back with out pause.

Does anyone really think Amtrak understands it own accounting?

 

[inspiration100]

I'm not going to sit around and wait till Sept 1st and see what happens. I just booked 2 two zone trips and 1 one zone trip for next year. Since you can cancel without any loss of points, why not?

 

[fairviewroad]

Well, I have seen premium gas cheaper than regular. It was on a cross country road trip a few years ago in several small towns in the midwest, following the tracks instead of the interstate. I noted the pump price, asked if it were a mistake, and was told it was accurate. That is the only time my car saw premium.

<warning: off-topic post>

You can thank ethanol subsidies for this phenomenon. The "premium" gas is a higher octane but is an ethanol blend. The "regular" gas is ethanol-free but is a lower octane. Since ethanol is subsidized, the "premium" gas is cheaper than the regular. Generally speaking, ethanol-blends run less efficiently so the cheaper price is probably offset by the lower mileage/gallon.

In my home state, ethanol-free gas is only offered at a handful of stations due to state law, and as such is considerably more expensive due to a lack of economies of scale. So when I drove through Iowa earlier this month, I gladly paid an extra 20 cents a gallon for ethanol-free fuel, which meant I had to fill up less often...a big plus when you want to drive a long distance.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

I'm not going to sit around and wait till Sept 1st and see what happens. I just booked 2 two zone trips and 1 one zone trip for next year. Since you can cancel without any loss of points, why not?

Me too! I was tired of spending time speculating and worrying about what might happen. We were already planning a trip next June from SAC to NYP. We were short a few points, so we bought what we needed at the 30% bonus offer and I made the reservations yesterday.

 

[Notelvis]

Booked at Points trip for March just yesterday......... and have enough (under current accounting) points remaining for another two single zone roomette trips or one single zone bedroom trip with 5,000 points leftover.

I would imagine that I will book at least one more trip for 2016 before the announcement is made.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

I just booked a lengthy trip myself, but that still doesn't mean I don't like what is more than likely coming down the tracks.

Maybe I'm 'special,' :blink: , but I can gripe and redeem at the same time!

 

[oregon pioneer]

The way I see it, we can sit around and moan and speculate and get our blood pressures up and all that, or sit back and get the full information and then either be able to discover a niche where the new setup works for us, and use it, or if there is no such niche just forget about it and go on with life. There is not much that we can do to change things except in the periphery, and in order to effectively do that using meaningful feedback, first it is necessary to have sufficient facts at our disposal, which we currently don't.

I am in the "wait-and-see" group myself, because there are some trips I want to take that I would use points for but it has not been advantageous with the zone system. I also admit to having "gamed" the system to some extent, though I am not in a position to take maximum advantage.

I enjoy reading the speculation, since I consider you all to be experienced travelers who are quite capable of making good, educated guesses.

:hi:

Thanks for the conversation, because I learn something every time I read this board.

 

[Rail Freak]

The way I see it, we can sit around and moan and speculate and get our blood pressures up and all that, or sit back and get the full information and then either be able to discover a niche where the new setup works for us, and use it, or if there is no such niche just forget about it and go on with life. There is not much that we can do to change things except in the periphery, and in order to effectively do that using meaningful feedback, first it is necessary to have sufficient facts at our disposal, which we currently don't.

I am in the "wait-and-see" group myself, because there are some trips I want to take that I would use points for but it has not been advantageous with the zone system. I also admit to having "gamed" the system to some extent, though I am not in a position to take maximum advantage.

I enjoy reading the speculation, since I consider you all to be experienced travelers who are quite capable of making good, educated guesses.

:hi:

Thanks for the conversation, because I learn something every time I read this board.

DITTO !!!!

 

[SteveSFL]

Booked:

STP-NYP-CHI-HOS for October

ELP-CHI-WAS-ATL for February

SAC-CHI-NOL for May

That about uses up the points. Of course with the current AGR Mastercard, it's impossible to completely use up your points because you get that rebate with every redemption!

 

[seat38a]

Well it looks like they updated the site with official info for the new program. 100 point minimum gone But with the business class bonus, I'll still be loosing points :angry:

 

[SteveSFL]

So redemption is going to be 34.5 points per dollar of fare. So a bedroom for two people from wolf point to Denver was 25k and now would be about 92k

But a roomette from Chicago to Seattle for one person was 20k and now could be had for as low as 14,559 points.

10% points penalty on cancellations (and changes?).

 

[SteveSFL]

If my calculations are correct, points are valued at 2.89 cents each (for Amtrak travel, but we all know that sleeper travel is a bit steeply prices at times).

Interestingly enough, points cost 3.77 cents each when buying with no bonus, but with a 30% bonus they end up costing...........drum roll.............2.89 cents!

 

[JayPea]

From the looks of it, it turns out about like I figured. My uncle and I go on one big trip a year with one of us using points for one portion of the trip and the other using points for the other portion. We have been able to redeem bedrooms for that price; we will probably be back to roommettes now. Well, I can live with that.

 

[SteveSFL]

Redemptions can continue under the current system until January 24, 2016

Looks like Acela travel requires 40 points per $ which gives a value of 2.5 cents per point.

 

[Ryan]

New rules go into effect on 24 January, so a decent amount of time to get some last points runs in and make zone based reservations.

"Up to two children (ages 2-12) may be redeemed at half the rail fare for each adult in the reservation. Infants (under age 2) may travel without a ticket, but if a separate seat is desired for an infant, points must be redeemed according to the child rate policy."

I should have expected this, bring revenue based, but as a father of two, this is a good change.

 

[SteveSFL]

Yep and we will be able to make our 2016 calendar year points purchase before the change too. Hope for a bonus in early January. As I recall, the bonus usually ends on Dec 31.

 

[Ryan]

Redemption is 39 points on the dollar for Acela (business and first), vice the 34.5 for other services.

 

[rtabern]

As someone who did point runs to maintain Select Plus status... I am sad to see these changes and devaluation of my points. A horrible change to AGR in my opinion. I have 280,000 points left. I will enjoy Select Plus for 2016... but will never see it again after 2/28/17. If I have to drop $5000 a year on travel to maintain S+... no thanks. Id rather just pay for annual legacy club membership in Chicago and use that 5000 dollars on the Canadian, a much more enjoyable experience. Atleast I have 4 months to widdle my balance as close to 0 as possible under the old zone system. Looks like AGR and Amtrak will be losing us as customers and a 10 year Select Plus member. More road trips and when I need my train fix... VIA. Will probably only ride short hauls around the Midwest when absolutely necessary.

 

[Jim G.]

The end of point runs...sad!