Fall Double Points Promotion

[Acela150]

The promo is well worth signing up for if you are traveling like a normal person, and not a railfan...

Is it worth signing up for? Sure, we're talking maybe five minutes of work at most. Is it worth scheduling a brand new trip just to take advantage of the promotion? Not even close.

* An $8 PHL-PAO trip, booked as a two-segment through fare (PHL-ARD, ARD-PAO) yields 266 points for an $8 outlay, which is a great deal, but that's still 3 cents/point, which is still more than the 2.75 cents/point you can pay to buy points.

For the record unless your booking last minute Keystone Tickets are usually $6.50 between PHL-ARD/PAO. I've paid $8 for a Keystone Ticket between PHL-PAO twice that I can remember. Once because I booked 30 minutes before departure. The other time I have no idea. It was two days before departure..

 

[PRR 60]

For the record unless your booking last minute Keystone Tickets are usually $6.50 between PHL-ARD/PAO. I've paid $8 for a Keystone Ticket between PHL-PAO twice that I can remember. Once because I booked 30 minutes before departure. The other time I have no idea. It was two days before departure..

The fare difference on the Keystone Service is not based on time of booking. It is based on day of travel. Keystone fares are higher for Friday and Sunday travel (most of the day). Your $8 fare was for Friday or Sunday travel. $6.50 is the fare the rest of the week, and it can be purchased right up to train time.

 

[fairviewroad]

Doesn't that apply to EVERY points promotion, though? Any "typical" trip where you're earning 2 points/dollar, plus a double points promo, plus buying with an AGR credit card, plus getting an S+ 50% bonus (so having the stars align to earn a total of 7 points / dollar), is still 14 cents/point, which is nearly 7x the price of just buying points outright.

Even in extreme edge cases, travelling solely for the points doesn't really make economic sense. Looking at a couple of extreme examples that come in with a very, very low CPM:

* A low-bucket Acela ticket from BOS to WAS (which is $163, I believe) booked as a two-segment through fare to yield two select city pair trips (BOS-NYP, NYP-WAS) and upgraded to first for free the whole way through with one coupon still yields around 3.99 cents/point for 4076 points (1500 + 1500 2x bonus + 750 S+ bonus + 326 if bought with an AGR card), which is still more expensive than sitting at home and buying points for 2.75 cents/point.

* An $8 PHL-PAO trip, booked as a two-segment through fare (PHL-ARD, ARD-PAO) yields 266 points for an $8 outlay, which is a great deal, but that's still 3 cents/point, which is still more than the 2.75 cents/point you can pay to buy points.

That's really just a long-winded way of saying: ride the train if you love riding the train or if it's your most economical option to get from one place to another or if it's the easiest way to get from one place to another or whatever other reason you have, but getting on a train just to earn some points doesn't really ever make sense. If you're already going to be on the train, though, these bonuses are exactly that - a nice bonus for doing something you were already planning to do.

Your analysis is good, but keep in mind there is a cap to the number of points you can buy in a calendar year.

 

[fairviewroad]

The promo is well worth signing up for if you are traveling like a normal person, and not a railfan...

True, I'd guess that the majority of "normal" Amtrak travelers won't exceed two trips per day. But it's not unheard of. If someone is making a

same-day round trip from a station on the NEC to a station on the Empire Service line, they'd have 4 individual tickets but only two of them

would qualify for double points.

Likewise a "normal" traveler could easily take two round-trips in a day on high-frequency, low fare corridors like the Keystones or the Capitol

corridor. For this promotion only the first round-trip would qualify. Not the end of the world, of course. But if someone casually reads the

promotional material which repeatedly refers to "ALL Amtrak travel" you would certainly be in for a surprise (assuming "normal" people even

pay attention to their AGR statements).

 

[Afsheen]

For the record unless your booking last minute Keystone Tickets are usually $6.50 between PHL-ARD/PAO. I've paid $8 for a Keystone Ticket between PHL-PAO twice that I can remember. Once because I booked 30 minutes before departure. The other time I have no idea. It was two days before departure..

The fare difference on the Keystone Service is not based on time of booking. It is based on day of travel. Keystone fares are higher for Friday and Sunday travel (most of the day). Your $8 fare was for Friday or Sunday travel. $6.50 is the fare the rest of the week, and it can be purchased right up to train time.

Thanks for the correction, gents - I went back and edited my post.

 

[PRR 60]

The promo is well worth signing up for if you are traveling like a normal person, and not a railfan...

True, I'd guess that the majority of "normal" Amtrak travelers won't exceed two trips per day. But it's not unheard of. If someone is making a

same-day round trip from a station on the NEC to a station on the Empire Service line, they'd have 4 individual tickets but only two of them

would qualify for double points.

Likewise a "normal" traveler could easily take two round-trips in a day on high-frequency, low fare corridors like the Keystones or the Capitol

corridor. For this promotion only the first round-trip would qualify. Not the end of the world, of course. But if someone casually reads the

promotional material which repeatedly refers to "ALL Amtrak travel" you would certainly be in for a surprise (assuming "normal" people even

pay attention to their AGR statements).

One situation where four segments a day is not unusual is travel to and from San Francisco. A simple round trip includes two train trips and two bus rides.

 

[Acela150]

For the record unless your booking last minute Keystone Tickets are usually $6.50 between PHL-ARD/PAO. I've paid $8 for a Keystone Ticket between PHL-PAO twice that I can remember. Once because I booked 30 minutes before departure. The other time I have no idea. It was two days before departure..

The fare difference on the Keystone Service is not based on time of booking. It is based on day of travel. Keystone fares are higher for Friday and Sunday travel (most of the day). Your $8 fare was for Friday or Sunday travel. $6.50 is the fare the rest of the week, and it can be purchased right up to train time.

I know and that's what I fully don't understand.. It charged me $8 two days before travel.. It was a Tuesday or Thursday. I'll have to go back and look at my ticket stubs to be sure.

 

[winterskigirl]

Will I qualify for double points for a one day round trip ticket?

Double point promotion says :

Limit of two qualifying one-way trips per day. Amtrak Guest Rewards points will not be awarded for canceled or refunded reservations or tickets. Other terms and conditions may apply.

 

[PRR 60]

Will I qualify for double points for a one day round trip ticket?

Double point promotion says :

Limit of two qualifying one-way trips per day. Amtrak Guest Rewards points will not be awarded for canceled or refunded reservations or tickets. Other terms and conditions may apply.

Yes, you will get double points for both segments of your round trip. A round trip counts as two one-ways and meets the promotion criteria.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

You did register for the promo? If not, my understanding is that if you register now, it will be retroactive.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

You did register for the promo? If not, my understanding is that if you register now, it will be retroactive.

Yes, both wife and I registered. We both received the 100 base points but neither have received the double points.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

You did register for the promo? If not, my understanding is that if you register now, it will be retroactive.

Yes, both wife and I registered. We both received the 100 base points but neither have received the double points.

Hmmm... Gotta keep an eye :blink: on those AGR folks!

And may Amtrak never borrow the insurance industry's belief that every day you can delay is money in the bank. hboy:

 

[pennyk]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

Bill, if the train originated on 9/4, before the promo started, the system might treat it as a trip prior to the promotion. My guess is that you need to contact an agent. That has happened to me when riding the Silver Meteor southbound (since it originated the previous day in NYP).

 

[AlanB]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

Bill, if the train originated on 9/4, before the promo started, the system might treat it as a trip prior to the promotion. My guess is that you need to contact an agent. That has happened to me when riding the Silver Meteor southbound (since it originated the previous day in NYP).

I agree with Penny, Bill, your problem is that any train that you would have caught going CLE-TOL originated in NY on the 4th. The system would have seen your trip as taking place on the 4th, even though you didn't board until the 5th. All tickets for that train are processed in one batch, or at least they used to be pre-eTicketing. I'm not sure, but I don't believe that has changed. I think it's still batched together.

So you will almost certainly have to call to get the double points.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Just checked my AGR account and there is a credit for the trip we took two weeks ago CLE-TOL for 100 points but no double points bonus award. We left on September 5 at 3am so it should fall within the rules of the double points offer.

I guess it is time to call AGR again and see if I can get them to pay up

Bill, if the train originated on 9/4, before the promo started, the system might treat it as a trip prior to the promotion. My guess is that you need to contact an agent. That has happened to me when riding the Silver Meteor southbound (since it originated the previous day in NYP).

I agree with Penny, Bill, your problem is that any train that you would have caught going CLE-TOL originated in NY on the 4th. The system would have seen your trip as taking place on the 4th, even though you didn't board until the 5th. All tickets for that train are processed in one batch, or at least they used to be pre-eTicketing. I'm not sure, but I don't believe that has changed. I think it's still batched together.

So you will almost certainly have to call to get the double points.

Yes, I remember reading about this happening on other double points trips now that you mention it

Oh, well it was still a nice ride, even at 3am in the morning

Since the rest of our trip was on AGR to SLC and back, I guess we received a free ride on Amtrak's dime anyway. :giggle:

Thanks for the information. See you all in 11 days.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Now that we are nearing the end of Fall Double Points, I have a question that is the inverse of Bill's. The promotion ends on November 16th. What if one were to start travel on the 16th, but finished on the 17th? Would they get double points?

 

[Exiled in Express]

Now that we are nearing the end of Fall Double Points, I have a question that is the inverse of Bill's. The promotion ends on November 16th. What if one were to start travel on the 16th, but finished on the 17th? Would they get double points?

Tickets are lifted at time of boarding so any train scheduled to be boarded on the 16th will not be a problem. If you are questioning boarding an eastbound long distance train that originated on 10/16 the following day I think you would still get double points per the batching rule but I would not fight for them if they do not post.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Now that we are nearing the end of Fall Double Points, I have a question that is the inverse of Bill's. The promotion ends on November 16th. What if one were to start travel on the 16th, but finished on the 17th? Would they get double points?

Tickets are lifted at time of boarding so any train scheduled to be boarded on the 16th will not be a problem. If you are questioning boarding an eastbound long distance train that originated on 10/16 the following day I think you would still get double points per the batching rule but I would not fight for them if they do not post.

Explained THAT way... :unsure:

makes complete sense! ^_^

Thanks! :hi:

 

[Anthony]

It should all be based on the departure date printed on your ticket.

 

[Acela150]

I don't know if I got lucky or if AGR messed up and it's the kinda thing I'll take. I did a double points run on the 25th of October. AGR posted double points on all four segments between PHL-PAO. IIRC it was only going to be one round trip or two one ways would earn the Double. I guess it was my lucky day.

 

[Anderson]

This is one of the few times I get the feeling I've done well with a promotion (a lot of them just end up with unintentionally lousy timing or offer me low-class tickets I can't upgrade, such as NER Coach...granted, I'll take a free ride on a train, but I'm almost always inclined to spring for BC at least). Right now, I'm at 2534 points off of the promotion, and I'm waiting on 582 more that ought to be coming in (total: 3116). Ideally, I'll jam an Acela run in before the end of the period as well, which should put me up another 1500 or so (as well as cleaning up any "loose change" needed for S+ for next year once I factor in my Christmas trip out to Iowa).

 

[the_traveler]

Remember that the double point bonus does not count towards status. Only the base points do! :excl:

 

[Anderson]

Oh, I know. The points I'm waiting on are for a NB sleeper trip from FL (I'm just under 7000 TQPs for the year at the moment). The trip was $291, so it should give me 582 TQPs, 582 Double Days bonus points, 291 points for S+, 291 points for being an Amtrak purchase on the card, 291 points for being a generic purchase on the card, and about 145 points into my AGR for Business account. All in all, somewhere around 30% of the cost of the trip should be coming back in the door to me.