Business Class Bonus TQP Posting Issues

[Anderson]

I'll say at the outset that for all my dripping vitriol in general I'm giving AGR the benefit of the doubt on this one for the moment, but only because the details sound like an IT goof rather than a change. This may change, though, given the last few days...

Alan (our Alan) posted over on FlyerTalk that he took a trip in BC on Sunday. Well, his points posted. His class-of-service bonus also posted...but only as "points earned" rather than as TQPs (something explicitly noted as a change...AGRInsider had, in fact, specifically clarified this point after the initial announcement in response to some of the blowback since the initial post was unclear...and it looked like tier earning for Acela pax, particularly on NEC-North, was about to get horridly trashed). Given the relative simplicity of the apparent error (someone forgot to insert a line of code) I'm not going to start foaming at the mouth on this one just yet...but sure is yet another "moment" for AGR 2.0.

 

[seat38a]

This question has been going back and forth for a while on weather the class bonus qualifies as TQP or not. My first trip in BC just got posted and the BC bonus is NOT TQP.

 

[jis]

This is being discussed in great detail in the following thread:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/67012-best-strategy-for-achieving-select-plus-living-in-midwest/

Apparently it is a bug in AGR that is in the process of getting fixed and some have gotten theirs posted as TQP. The problem is not limited to Business Class but also appears to affect Acela First Class. See for example this post:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/67012-best-strategy-for-achieving-select-plus-living-in-midwest/?p=646595

 

[seat38a]

I posted my experience regarding this as well. I guess there are couple bunch of treads open regarding this.

Moderator Edit: Two of the threads on the same topic were merged.

 

[penguinflies]

I travel the midwest (Lincoln Service) and today my account was amended to include TQP for the Bonus:

02/03/2016 Business Class Type Bonus Other Earning 21 21
02/03/2016 Chicago, IL (CHI) - St. Louis, MO (STL) Show Details Travel Earning 85 85

Thanks AGR!

 

[Anderson]

AGR seems to be working this one out. I'll reiterate (more politely) my remarks from FlyerTalk that this represents one facet (of many) where AGR has completely botched up communication...since this saga began I've gotten five spammish emails from AGR (2 hawking the ride X get 1 free special, 1 hawking Teleflora, 1 "year recap", and 1 hawking buying points) but there's been no official communication on the various "bugs" with AGR 2.0.

 

[penguinflies]

AGR also updated their FAQ section:

How do I earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points? Members earn 2 points per dollar spent on Amtrak travel. Additionally, members earn point bonuses for all Business class (25% point bonus) and First class Acela (50% point bonus) travel, which will both count toward tier qualification.

Plus, earn even faster when you use the Amtrak Guest Rewards® MasterCard® credit card from Bank of America. And always remember to provide your Amtrak Guest Rewards member number when traveling on Amtrak or transacting with our program partners.

When one reaches Select Status (i'm coming from nothing trying to reach select +). AGR reports:
25% point bonus on every Amtrak trip you take.

Is this bonus also TQP?

 

[Anderson]

AGR also updated their FAQ section:

How do I earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points?Members earn 2 points per dollar spent on Amtrak travel. Additionally, members earn point bonuses for all Business class (25% point bonus) and First class Acela (50% point bonus) travel, which will both count toward tier qualification.

Plus, earn even faster when you use the Amtrak Guest Rewards® MasterCard® credit card from Bank of America. And always remember to provide your Amtrak Guest Rewards member number when traveling on Amtrak or transacting with our program partners.

When one reaches Select Status (i'm coming from nothing trying to reach select +). AGR reports:

25% point bonus on every Amtrak trip you take.

Is this bonus also TQP?

No, it isn't. It's a separate bonuses, and if I'm not mistaken they all stack quite nicely. So, for example:

A $100 ticket on a Regional, in Business Class, for someone who is Select would earn:

-200 points base (TQP)

-50 points class-of-service (TQP)

-50 points status (non-TQP)

Total: 300 points (3/dollar), 250 TQPs.

Same ticket, but with Select Executive status and the ticket is bought with the premium card:

-200 points base (TQP)

-50 points class-of-service (TQP)

-200 points status (non-TQP)

-300 points credit card (non-TQP)

Total: 750 points (7.5/dollar), 250 TQPs

 

[penguinflies]

Thanks for the clarification Anderson. It's what I thought too but their wording in the marketing materials is ambiguous.

 

[PRR 60]

Topic title revised.

 

[seat38a]

I can confirm that the BC bonus on my account has been updated to show that it is TQP.

 

[Anderson]

Thanks for the clarification Anderson. It's what I thought too but their wording in the marketing materials is ambiguous.

That's probably a mild understatement, and I'm given to suspect that the ambiguousness is partly by design.