wayman
Engineer
I'm signed up for both the NEC Regional B2G1 and the Acela B3G1 promotions.
My first NEC Regional trip just posted today. For a $56.70 ticket, I got
* 114 AGR Rail Points
* 114 AGR "double points for paying by MasterCard" points
* 29 AGR Select bonus points (114x.25)
And of course I'll get another 114 AGR from having bought the ticket with my AGR MasterCard.
Not too shabby. (And, of course, four such tickets will get me a free PHL-BOS round-trip, valued at $144 low-bucket AAA!)
My question is... when I take an Acela trip PHL-BOS in February, it will give me 500 AGR base. Will I get a full second 500 AGR on the "double points for paying by MasterCard" bonus with the B3G1 promotion? That's huge!
Or will that MasterCard bonus be calculated off of the amount paid for the ticket, rather than the AGR awarded? It doesn't read that way in the promotion's fine print, but ... it seems too good to be true.
Because if I then use a Select FC-upgrade coupon, my understanding is that I'd receive 750 AGR base (as if I had paid for the FC fare to begin with), so I would get a whopping second 750 AGR on the "double points for paying by MasterCard" bonus...
... so a $137 low-bucket PHL-BOS Acela ticket, plus a Select FC-upgrade coupon, could get me
* 750 AGR Rail Points
* 750 AGR "double points for paying by MasterCard" points
* 188 AGR Select bonus points (750x.25)
And of course another 274 AGR through Chase from my AGR MasterCard.
That's 1962 AGR for a $137 ticket. That's absurdly good! It's not as efficient as the 136 AGR for a $5.40 ticket I can get on the Keystone when measured strictly in AGR/$, but when you factor in both AGR/time-spent and "Boston is more of a destination than Ardmore so I'm getting actual travel value here too", it's an astonishing deal....
Unless it's too good to be true, and I wouldn't actually get that full second 750 AGR?
My first NEC Regional trip just posted today. For a $56.70 ticket, I got
* 114 AGR Rail Points
* 114 AGR "double points for paying by MasterCard" points
* 29 AGR Select bonus points (114x.25)
And of course I'll get another 114 AGR from having bought the ticket with my AGR MasterCard.
Not too shabby. (And, of course, four such tickets will get me a free PHL-BOS round-trip, valued at $144 low-bucket AAA!)
My question is... when I take an Acela trip PHL-BOS in February, it will give me 500 AGR base. Will I get a full second 500 AGR on the "double points for paying by MasterCard" bonus with the B3G1 promotion? That's huge!
Or will that MasterCard bonus be calculated off of the amount paid for the ticket, rather than the AGR awarded? It doesn't read that way in the promotion's fine print, but ... it seems too good to be true.
Because if I then use a Select FC-upgrade coupon, my understanding is that I'd receive 750 AGR base (as if I had paid for the FC fare to begin with), so I would get a whopping second 750 AGR on the "double points for paying by MasterCard" bonus...
... so a $137 low-bucket PHL-BOS Acela ticket, plus a Select FC-upgrade coupon, could get me
* 750 AGR Rail Points
* 750 AGR "double points for paying by MasterCard" points
* 188 AGR Select bonus points (750x.25)
And of course another 274 AGR through Chase from my AGR MasterCard.
That's 1962 AGR for a $137 ticket. That's absurdly good! It's not as efficient as the 136 AGR for a $5.40 ticket I can get on the Keystone when measured strictly in AGR/$, but when you factor in both AGR/time-spent and "Boston is more of a destination than Ardmore so I'm getting actual travel value here too", it's an astonishing deal....
Unless it's too good to be true, and I wouldn't actually get that full second 750 AGR?
Last edited by a moderator:
) surprise - they doubled this! I thought they would only double the >$50 fares under the B2G1 promo?
