Combining points and cash

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Mix points and cash is here it seems.

 

[printman2000]

Just received an email...

Introducing Points & Cash!

As an Amtrak Guest Rewards® Mastercard® cardholder, we’re telling you the news first. You can now book Amtrak® travel with Amtrak Guest Rewards points and cash. With more redemption options and fewer points needed, it’s easier than ever to use points for travel.

Points and Cash is available now on Amtrak.com, and will be on the Amtrak app later this month upon the next update. Book your next trip with Points & Cash today.

Of course, this was promised like 10 years ago, so about time.

 

[ST Saint]

Very excited to split the cost of sleepers or still use points while earning some more.

 

[UpstaterNY]

Here's a link to the FAQ: https://www.amtrak.com/guestrewards/ways-to-redeem/points-cash.html

The points seem to be worth less than if used for an award trip: about 1.54 cents/point for cash and points versus 2.67 cents/point for an award booking. I guess it's useful if you have a small number of points that would otherwise go unused, which doesn't apply to anyone here!

 

[City of Miami]

Skeptical as usual. Depends on how they value the points. I doubt the points will be worth more than the ones we now have to purchase to make up a shortfall,

 

[City of Miami]

How do I look at this exactly?
I just checked a trip I'm actually interested in, Charlottesville to Chicago. For a roomette I'm short 5000 points. AGR offers to make up the difference for $294 (plus all of my 14,300 pts). Is that 294/5000 or nearly 6¢/pt? That's more than double the usual charge isn't it?
I can buy 4000 pts +1200 bonus for $151.
I think they actually hate us and wish we'd go away.

 

[zephyr17]

I just checked a trip I'm actually interested in, Charlottesville to Chicago. For a roomette I'm short 5000 points. AGR offers to make up the difference for $294 (plus all of my 14,300 pts). Is that 294/5000 or nearly 6¢/pt? That's more than double the usual charge isn't it?
I can buy 4000 pts +1200 bonus for $151.

Reporting over on Flyertalk are it is 0.04 to 0.06 on Points Plus Cash, so your experience is consistent with that.

I think they actually hate us and wish we'd go away.

Pretty much, yeah.

 

[daybeers]

This is a very welcome change:

 

[BlackDiamond]

That's interesting that they refund points + cash the same way as they were purchased. Some points systems for example IHG hotels let you pay with points + cash but convert the cash to points, so that refunds end up being points only.

 

[Literalman]

I mentioned this to Kev Monteith of "Travels with Kev." This is what he said:

"I looked more into the program, at the math, and compared it to buying points because that is where this program comes in handy. It saves that step.

"From what I looked at, it depends on how many points you use, for the points seem to have a flex value like they can when booking.

"The more points you use, the more they are worth, but that can change.…

"The program is excellent for those who want to use rather than lose their points, which is great for the occasional user and is less complex for some than buying the missing points."

 

[JoeRids]

This is pretty nifty; you can now combine points and cash to buy tickets. It’s probably not the best redemption rate, but it’s definitely more convenient than having to buy points to meet a reward amount, and there doesn’t appear to be a minimum amount of points you need to use it. At a minimum, you can get a “discount” off a cash fare, especially useful for Acela FC or a sleeper room.

 

[MarkInAustin]

I have a use it or lose it voucher which I will have to "combine" with points in some way. However, the way I will combine it is to use the voucher on spousal R/T tix AUS to FTW and one points ticket for a fam member at the same time. Mixing on any single ticket would be a loser.