Loopholes

[Ispolkom]

I have two 4 night BR trips from ABQ to MSP booked with 20K each. Just call another agent. I had the first one booked a couple of months ago. Just called up and booked the same deal for friends of mine to join. Agent looked at my res and said without my asking. That's a one zone trip and charged the 20K.

For the hell of it, I called AGR 3 different times tonight. Each time, I was told that if connections are less than 24 hrs. apart you can stay over on your own dime for 1 zone reward!!!

This is what I love about AGR. FlyingBoat books the loophole trip DEN-SAC-PDX-MSP, the basis of which is AGR's rule that you can't stop overnight in Chicago.

Rail Freak, on the other hand, seems to have no problem booking award trips with an overnight (not, though, with one in Chicago, I see).

I'm planning to travel on FlyingBoat's itinerary next spring. I'll be interested in seeing how many point I'm charged.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Uh oh! Looks like Agent Roulette has given one of our members a Loophole that technically doesn't exist! Alan has said a couple of times that they could either come back later and charge more points for the trip or if the pax is lacking enough points in their account even cancel said trip! Hope that doesnt happen!

Of course Dave makes a good point, if they are going to allow overnights less than 24 hours to make connections (on your dime) then ALL such connections should be valid Awards! :excl: :excl: :excl:

 

[Ispolkom]

Of course Dave makes a good point, if they are going to allow overnights less than 24 hours to make connections (on your dime) then ALL such connections should be valid Awards! :excl: :excl: :excl:

There you go again, expecting AGR to have rational, understandable rules for long distance awards. That's not how AGR works. AGR is like honey badger. He don't care.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Of course Dave makes a good point, if they are going to allow overnights less than 24 hours to make connections (on your dime) then ALL such connections should be valid Awards! :excl: :excl: :excl:

There you go again, expecting AGR to have rational, understandable rules for long distance awards. That's not how AGR works. AGR is like honey badger. He don't care.

Yeah, the right hand doesnt know what the left is doing! It's Amtrak! :wacko:

 

[the_traveler]

With AGR, sometimes the right hand doesn't even know what the right hand is doing!

 

[Rail Freak]

I have two 4 night BR trips from ABQ to MSP booked with 20K each. Just call another agent. I had the first one booked a couple of months ago. Just called up and booked the same deal for friends of mine to join. Agent looked at my res and said without my asking. That's a one zone trip and charged the 20K.

For the hell of it, I called AGR 3 different times tonight. Each time, I was told that if connections are less than 24 hrs. apart you can stay over on your own dime for 1 zone reward!!!

Rail Freak, on the other hand, seems to have no problem booking award trips with an overnight (not, though, with one in Chicago, I see).

I've never booked a trip requiring overnites. Just trying to clear up the confusion! My travels haven't included overnites in CHI but have in NOL & LAX. Come to think of it, I think I'll call back & see what they say about SEA!!!

 

[PaulM]

I've heard where they are now allowing you to do this trip thru NOL for 1 zone if you pay for the overnite room. ?????

That's always been allowed.

Where have I been??? :lol: I was talking to an agent yesterday & she said if your connecting train is 23 1/2 hours or less, they will allow a layover on your dime. Otherwise you're charged an additional zone.

& to think, I thought I knew it all!!!

Thanx Alan

If we are talking about SLD - NOL - CHI via the Crescent and CoNO, then I am doubly confused. This is the first I've heard of the 23 1/2 hour rule; I always thought it was any overnight, i.e., a layover past midnight, was not allowed. The classic case is transferring from just about any western train to another western train in Chicago.

Secondly, I've always heard that for an AGR connection to be a valid, it had to show up in Amtrak.com. As far as SLD - NOL - CHI is concerned, I just checked Amtrak.com and the only connections were via the CL and Card, both now two zones.

 

[the_traveler]

Previously, NOL was the only overnight stop allowed (but on your own dime) for connections between the Crescent and SL (such as ATL-HOS), provided you took the next train out. (No 6 or 7 day stays in NOL.) Now it seems all the rules have changed.

 

[Ispolkom]

Now it seems all the rules have changed.

Or have they? I've never really been convinced that there were rules for long-distance AGR bookings, only probabilities. You probably can't book a loophole. You probably can't book a stopover. Since nothing is written down, though (at least where we can read it), it's all kind of nebulous. Think of AGR as a quantum awards program, where a route only has a certain probability of existing. Some routes, say Chicago-Washington for 2 zones, have a 99.8% chance of existing, while the notorious Slidell Shuffle two-zone award to Portland has only a 3% chance. All you can do is ask and see what you get. Sure, we were told that the loopholes went away on April 1, 2010, but have they? There's only one way to find out -- ask an agent to book you one. Then the probabilities collapse into a yes/no matrix. That is, until you ask another agent.

That's why I love AGR much more than airline frequent-flyer programs. It's much more entertaining.

 

[HoosierStater]

Now it seems all the rules have changed.

Or have they? I've never really been convinced that there were rules for long-distance AGR bookings, only probabilities. You probably can't book a loophole. You probably can't book a stopover. Since nothing is written down, though (at least where we can read it), it's all kind of nebulous. Think of AGR as a quantum awards program, where a route only has a certain probability of existing. Some routes, say Chicago-Washington for 2 zones, have a 99.8% chance of existing, while the notorious Slidell Shuffle two-zone award to Portland has only a 3% chance. All you can do is ask and see what you get. Sure, we were told that the loopholes went away on April 1, 2010, but have they? There's only one way to find out -- ask an agent to book you one. Then the probabilities collapse into a yes/no matrix. That is, until you ask another agent.

That's why I love AGR much more than airline frequent-flyer programs. It's much more entertaining.

"Scotty, I want to book a 2-zone award from Tampa to Seattle!"

"I cannae change the laws of physics, Captain!" :giggle: