Current Point Balance / What you Saving For?

[AmtrakBlue]

I have about 430,000 points, don't know when I will spend all of them...Now I am collecting United miles instead.

Wow! You could always BookTrips for the poor AU Members like, well, Me! :giggle: (A 2 Zone Roomette Trip is only 20,000 less 5% MC Rebate! Hint, Hint! )

Beat me to it.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I have a whopping 6908 and will have an add'l 500 when someone I referred travels. I'm hoping to have enough for a one-zone roomette trip before the points expire next year. May have to buy points at this rate.

If not, I'll just take a trip or two on the NEC somewhere.

Unlike some airlines, the points you earn at a given moment don't have specific expiration dates. As long as you have any paid Amtrak travel activity in your account once every 36 months, or if you have the Chase card, your points will never expire.

Which airlines assign expiration dates to specific earned miles?

Or doesn't expire miles for as long as you keep their co-branded credit card?

I have about 430,000 points, don't know when I will spend all of them...Now I am collecting United miles instead.

Just so long as you are aware that hoarding loyalty points is guaranteed to lose value over time. Earn 'em and burn 'em or sell 'em on the gray market. Otherwise what's the point? Loyalty programs are just about the worst "investment" you could have for a retirement account.

 

[Ispolkom]

Which airlines assign expiration dates to specific earned miles? The programs I know reset the clock for all miles with any account activity (not just travel, and activity even includes redemptions). In that respect, Amtrak, requiring actual travel earning to reset the clock, is more restrictive than any of the airline programs I know.

According to this chart, the following airlines expire miles on a set date:

Air Canada

Airtran

Asiana

El Al

Korean Air

Lufthansa (if you don't have status or a credit card)

Spirit requires activity every 3 months, while LAN requires a paid trip every three years, like Amtrak.

Edited to add: The quoted text is from PRR 60, not AmtrakBlue. I much preferred it when I could see (and type) the tags.

 

[Dan O]

I have just under 20K points. I am going to CHI and back from SoCal in June but I have already used points for that. I am not sure what I will do with the points I accumulate. I probably earn about 15-20K points a year from the credit card so should be able to take some kind of trip next summer.

Dan

 

[trainman74]

Edited to add: The quoted text is from PRR 60, not AmtrakBlue. I much preferred it when I could see (and type) the tags.

Click the little "light switch" that's at the upper left of the two rows of icons atop the reply window.

 

[PRR 60]

...Edited to add: The quoted text is from PRR 60, not AmtrakBlue. I much preferred it when I could see (and type) the tags.

I fixed it for you. The full feature editor is more than a little exasperating.

 

[TinCan782]

Coast Starlight sleeper bedroom - LA to Seattle round trip for an Alaska Cruise next year. Currently have half of it covered with points.

 

[Acela150]

My curent balance is around 57,000. I'm hoping to use points for a round trip Cross Country trip.

 

[TimePeace]

I just rolled up to 40,078 with this month's card statement.

I am cooking up a trip for this fall, maybe around the end of October. It will be a two-zone roomette round trip from BOS to the West Coast (coach BOS-TOL/TOL-BOS and the sleeper awards on the other end)... probably something along the lines of CZ/CS to SEA (or maybe SWC/CS) then visit in the Northwest a few days, then back from PDX on the EB. LSL on both legs BOS-CHI and back.

I look forward to taking some regional trains in and around SEA and PDX. Any recommendations?

 

[Ryan]

63,xxx AGR points.

66,xxx Ultimate Rewards points that I can go 1:1 into Amtrak or United (or others).

71,xxx United miles.

Some of them may get burnt on the Gathering, the wife is talking about visiting a friend in FL this summer, I'm going to a Packers game this winter (yay!), and we're considering putting my Mom on a plane to visit my sister in HI to celebrate her retirement.

Some combination of those will probably chew up most of these...

 

[saxman]

Right now I have 208,000 points. Not sure when my next trip is. Just got the Chase Sapphire card and should have 40,000 more in there soon.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I just rolled up to 40,078 with this month's card statement.
I am cooking up a trip for this fall, maybe around the end of October. It will be a two-zone roomette round trip from BOS to the West Coast (coach BOS-TOL/TOL-BOS and the sleeper awards on the other end)... probably something along the lines of CZ/CS to SEA (or maybe SWC/CS) then visit in the Northwest a few days, then back from PDX on the EB. LSL on both legs BOS-CHI and back.

I look forward to taking some regional trains in and around SEA and PDX. Any recommendations?

Be sure and ride the Cascades (not the AMBUS!!) to Vancouver,BC, it's a Great Trip and a Great City! Take your Passport!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

63,xxx AGR points.66,xxx Ultimate Rewards

71,xxx United miles.

So that's where this is going eh?

4x,xxx Amtrak

4x,xxx Dividend Miles

4x,xxx Mileage Plus

8x,xxx Ultimate Rewards

9x,xxx AAdvantage

I'm currently considering a bump to 100K DM for just over $1K while working toward unlocking another 50K UR.

I should probably blow off the points game since scheduling vacation has become much more difficult these days.

At first I just assumed I'd be using more points to fly fewer trips in nicer cabins.

Unfortunately securing premium cabins on foreign carriers often requires scheduling flexibility I cannot depend on.

It's surprisingly hard to quit once you get into it. Oh well such is life I suppose.

 

[Ryan]

I've got you to blame, I just followed the advice you gave me in the thread I started about trying to get to Hawaii (which ended in failure, United has nothing for award availability after something like 10 December).

Now you've got me considering upping my game and trying for an Ink Bold.

 

[PRR 60]

So that's where this is going eh?

...

Looks that way. OK, I'll play:

Amtrak - 6x,xxx

Not sure what I'm going to do with the points. I find myself less and less enthralled with LD trips, so I might look at a weekend with my wife in Boston using Acela.

US Dividend Miles - 38x,xxx

Wouldn't mind grabbing two Envoy round trips to Europe. The other great use is confirmed mileage upgrades: perfect for transcons. That way you also get PQM's for the trip to retain status.

UA Mileage Plus - 47x,xxx

We went to Australia 20 years ago (in coach with two kids 8 and 13!). A return visit in business or first would be nice. Oz is a tough route for a business or first award trip.

The mileage and points game really is addictive. I think my kids are plotting an intervention. :lol:

 

[jis]

I tend not to let too many points accumulate. I try to keep my accrual and spending rate about equal, since points/miles tend to lose value at a spectacular rate over the years, in my experience.

My main use of airline miles is to get confirmed upgrades. Amtrak points are used to get LD Sleeper rides exclusively.

In spite of my best attempts to spend, I still have 4xx,xxx United miles, which is just a testimony to the insane rate at which I accumulate those. And I don't even have a great deal of incentive to collect them as such since I am lifetime Gold and about to become Lifetime Platinum. It is just that between work and family trips, they add up. I cannot always use miles for family trips due to unavailability on flights of choice.

As for Amtrak, I seem to get to Select+ each year without doing anything special, and I have not considered doing anything special to reach the Select-E level, just like I have never done anything special to get to the United 1K level.

There was a period in the early 90s when I made 1K without fail for about 5 years when I was regularly commuting from Newark to Salt Lake City when I worked in the executive office of the CTO of Novell. I used to have a regular office in Novell's Orem location, four doors down from Frankenberg's office, with a wonderful view of Mount Timpanogos.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Amtrak - 6x,xxxUS Dividend Miles - 38x,xxx

UA Mileage Plus - 47x,xxx

Those are some nice totals. If you're planning to do anything with Dividend Miles under the current award chart I'd start scheduling now. There is no telling what US might change on the path toward consolidation with AA and the move to OW. Under the current rules 90,000 miles can net you business class tickets to both Europe and Asia on the same award. Even if you just purchase the points outright like I'm doing you'll still save thousands of dollars.

 

[user 1215]

I recently spend 21,500 to get to NYP and back. 15,000 for the sleeper going north, 6,500 for the Business Class on the return. Remaining balance: 18,996 I can repeat that trip for $68.75 and a fast food charge on my Chase.

 

[winnemucca]

90,000. Saving for a mega rt to DC in April to attend NARP's "Day on the Hill" citizen lobbying effort.

 

[nferr]

About 180,000 right now. Probably buy another 13,000 with the current buy points promotion. I have a couple of long trips in mind.