Why would someone use AGR points for hotel rewards

[jmbgeg]

Consider this math. I have 40,000 AGR points. For 40,000 AGR points, I can get five $100 Hyatt coupons (at 8,000 points each), for a total value of $500. How many nights that buys you depends on the room cost and hotel. Other hotels give free nights based upon the tier the hotel is in, but the economics may not differ from Hyatt. For 40,000 points I can get a round trip one zone award in a deluxe bedroom. I looked at the RT fare Spokane to LAX in September and came up with a $2,432 lowest RT fare for a deluxe bedroom on my selected dates. $2,400 vs. $500 is an easy decision. No complaints. I think the Amtrak awards are a good deal.

 

[diesteldorf]

I agree with your thinking completely, but I am guessing that we are both rail fans and that the majority of participants in this forum enjoy train travel.

Looking at from the perspective of someone who may not be either, it comes down to actual dollars saved vs. points spent.

Spending 40,000 on a round-trip from Spokane to Los Angeles in a bedroom is something that some people would never spend money on in the 1st place and would not enjoy doing, so that value of the redemption is moot. However, if someone knows they can take those same 40,000 points and get 2-3 free hotel nights for their annual family vacation that they would need to purchase otherwise, that can be a great deal.

I am curious about two things:

A) If AGR really has 2 Million members, what percentage actively travel on Amtrak?

B) How many of those active members redeem their points for long distance rail travel the majority of the time?

I think our view can be a little skewed sice this is a pro-Amtrak/Rail Fan site but I would guess that there are many people that earn AGR and redeem for non-Amtrak awards.

Of course, I also don't know what buckets you used when making your comparison and that would also affect the value.

 

[Upstate]

There may be someone out there that values that more than sleeper trips. A business traveler that only rides Acela may have zero interest in long distance train travel and if they have elite status with Hyatt the coupon could do them a lot more good than you and I.

Another thing is having more loyalty program relationships breeds more loyalty. Continental gets most of my money for air travel because of their relationship with Amtrak. Even if it is not as good as the CO relationship, the deal with Hyatt may bring a few customers in.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Remember the AGR redemptions for sleepers is quite low.

The NEC gets tens of thousands of AGR tickets ordered each month, there are only a couple hundred rooms sold during the same time frame.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Consider this math:

It is 3,000 for an NEC CC ticket which usually runs between $60-120.

The same price, about 7 times over will yield a value of about $420-700. This costs 21,000 points. For 20,000 points I can get a reasonable roomette reward, two-zones (no loopholes, say... SEA-CHI via SAC) and cost at the low end $700 on up...

But people still buy the NEC CC tickets.

 

[PRR 60]

Consider this math:
It is 3,000 for an NEC CC ticket which usually runs between $60-120.

The same price, about 7 times over will yield a value of about $420-700. This costs 21,000 points. For 20,000 points I can get a reasonable roomette reward, two-zones (no loopholes, say... SEA-CHI via SAC) and cost at the low end $700 on up...

But people still buy the NEC CC tickets.

There's a large segment of the NEC-riding population that sees no value in Amtrak sleeper awards. They have no desire to travel overnight on Amtrak, even for free. Among NEC passengers, there's a brisk business in the Acela upgrade coupon awards (5 for 10k) and transfers out to CO One Pass.

 

[jmbgeg]

Consider this math:
It is 3,000 for an NEC CC ticket which usually runs between $60-120.

The same price, about 7 times over will yield a value of about $420-700. This costs 21,000 points. For 20,000 points I can get a reasonable roomette reward, two-zones (no loopholes, say... SEA-CHI via SAC) and cost at the low end $700 on up...

But people still buy the NEC CC tickets.

There's a large segment of the NEC-riding population that sees no value in Amtrak sleeper awards. They have no desire to travel overnight on Amtrak, even for free. Among NEC passengers, there's a brisk business in the Acela upgrade coupon awards (5 for 10k) and transfers out to CO One Pass.

Good points. Things a western U.S. would not neccessarily think of.

 

[soitgoes]

Most AGR members agree with the OP: The number of people redeeming for the Hyatt certificates or the Starwood hotel nights is minimal.

Transfers to Hilton and Continental are more popular, with the NEC coach tickets being by far the most popular award.

2nd most popular: One zone coach

3rd most popular: Special routes coach (reserved & unreserved combined)

4th most popular: Acela Express Business class

5th most popular: Continental

6th most popular: magazines (no longer available)

 

[Bob Dylan]

Consider this math:
It is 3,000 for an NEC CC ticket which usually runs between $60-120.

The same price, about 7 times over will yield a value of about $420-700. This costs 21,000 points. For 20,000 points I can get a reasonable roomette reward, two-zones (no loopholes, say... SEA-CHI via SAC) and cost at the low end $700 on up...

But people still buy the NEC CC tickets.

There's a large segment of the NEC-riding population that sees no value in Amtrak sleeper awards. They have no desire to travel overnight on Amtrak, even for free. Among NEC passengers, there's a brisk business in the Acela upgrade coupon awards (5 for 10k) and transfers out to CO One Pass.

Good points. Things a western U.S. would not neccessarily think of.

Excellent posts!We Amtrak/rail fans on this forum may utilize planes and stay in hotels and buy stuff from AGR partners for the points but when it comes to spending them most of us take the Amtrak option,hopefully these same businessmen and NEC travelers didnt sign up for the 8/20 points bonanza so we

few,we loyal,we happy band of brothers(and sisters!)will get their bonus points in Oct.!Im with the traveler on this,Ill spend mine on Amtrak,been there,done that with the airlines and hotels!(and Ill buy my shoes in sa shoe store!!LOL!) :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

"... do not want overnight train travel ...", "... don't care about free travel ...", "... 1 zone (no loopholes) ..." - hold on while I restart my heart! :lol:

While I agree with the OP (you do have to stay somewhere), I have a credit card from Hilton that I occasionally use to earn hotel points. And by staying at Hilton (family) Hotels, I earn both Hilton points and (for more travel) AGR points!

Besides - let them redeem otherwise - more rooms left available for us! :lol:

 

[Bigval109]

Consider this math:
It is 3,000 for an NEC CC ticket which usually runs between $60-120.

The same price, about 7 times over will yield a value of about $420-700. This costs 21,000 points. For 20,000 points I can get a reasonable roomette reward, two-zones (no loopholes, say... SEA-CHI via SAC) and cost at the low end $700 on up...

But people still buy the NEC CC tickets.

There's a large segment of the NEC-riding population that sees no value in Amtrak sleeper awards. They have no desire to travel overnight on Amtrak, even for free. Among NEC passengers, there's a brisk business in the Acela upgrade coupon awards (5 for 10k) and transfers out to CO One Pass.

Good points. Things a western U.S. would not neccessarily think of.

Excellent posts!We Amtrak/rail fans on this forum may utilize planes and stay in hotels and buy stuff from AGR partners for the points but when it comes to spending them most of us take the Amtrak option,hopefully these same businessmen and NEC travelers didnt sign up for the 8/20 points bonanza so we

few,we loyal,we happy band of brothers(and sisters!)will get their bonus points in Oct.!Im with the traveler on this,Ill spend mine on Amtrak,been there,done that with the airlines and hotels!(and Ill buy my shoes in sa shoe store!!LOL!) :lol:

I only use my points for amtrak reward travel. I have no interest in any of the other rewards. I love riding the train . In fact I just had my may vacation using my reward points and it was so great that I'm thing of doing the same trip / train ride all over again with a different companion . I love the ride on the CZ.

 

[jmbgeg]

I agree with your thinking completely, but I am guessing that we are both rail fans and that the majority of participants in this forum enjoy train travel.
Looking at from the perspective of someone who may not be either, it comes down to actual dollars saved vs. points spent.

Spending 40,000 on a round-trip from Spokane to Los Angeles in a bedroom is something that some people would never spend money on in the 1st place and would not enjoy doing, so that value of the redemption is moot. However, if someone knows they can take those same 40,000 points and get 2-3 free hotel nights for their annual family vacation that they would need to purchase otherwise, that can be a great deal.

I am curious about two things:

A) If AGR really has 2 Million members, what percentage actively travel on Amtrak?

B) How many of those active members redeem their points for long distance rail travel the majority of the time?

I think our view can be a little skewed sice this is a pro-Amtrak/Rail Fan site but I would guess that there are many people that earn AGR and redeem for non-Amtrak awards.

Of course, I also don't know what buckets you used when making your comparison and that would also affect the value.

I guess that my hypotherical about value may be off point. I am probably not the typical Amtrak customer. My shortest trips are overnight 8 hours in a sleeper (Spokane trains leave after midnight) and I often travel the EB and/or CS long distance. My scenario assumes in part that train fans would not take a shorter/cheaper plane flight and totally ignores the NEC customers. Sorry.

 

[The Metropolitan]

As a member here, I'm obviously a railfan, but I've yet to redeem points for sleeper travel (though I definitely plan to).

I did once redeem points though, 6000 in fact for a pair of NEC One ways (NYP-BAL) last year. Reason being was that my funds were very limited at the time, and my friend and I really wanted to take a daytrip to New York on the train. I coupled this redemption with last years free companion coupon promo, paying $81 and 6000 points for an itinerary that would have costed $352 without either. I could have kept the points and used the coupon for the whole round trip at $176 but money was just that tight.

I just cracked 30K and hope to hold this for a future sleeper trip with companion to get the most out of it, but if the travel bug hits me during tight times, I could very well be left spending points again on less lucrative rewards.

On a similar vein, though a railfan, I could never see myself going to great lengths to book a "loophole" trip where I have to get to a starting point I wouldn't visit anyway and go somehwere I don't care to go. I'm not dissing those who do, but for myself personally, I find it more satisfying to get more out of the trip than just the train ride.

I would however have a problem booking a 2 zone reward that doesn't go two nights. Sort of interesting how it costs more points (20000) to go CHI-BAL 1 overnight on the traditionally cheaper sleepers on the Capitol than it does (15000) to catch the pricier sleepers on the Silver Service, despite a slightly longer ride on the latter.

 

[jmbgeg]

As a member here, I'm obviously a railfan, but I've yet to redeem points for sleeper travel (though I definitely plan to).
I did once redeem points though, 6000 in fact for a pair of NEC One ways (NYP-BAL) last year. Reason being was that my funds were very limited at the time, and my friend and I really wanted to take a daytrip to New York on the train. I coupled this redemption with last years free companion coupon promo, paying $81 and 6000 points for an itinerary that would have costed $352 without either. I could have kept the points and used the coupon for the whole round trip at $176 but money was just that tight.

I just cracked 30K and hope to hold this for a future sleeper trip with companion to get the most out of it, but if the travel bug hits me during tight times, I could very well be left spending points again on less lucrative rewards.

On a similar vein, though a railfan, I could never see myself going to great lengths to book a "loophole" trip where I have to get to a starting point I wouldn't visit anyway and go somehwere I don't care to go. I'm not dissing those who do, but for myself personally, I find it more satisfying to get more out of the trip than just the train ride.

I would however have a problem booking a 2 zone reward that doesn't go two nights. Sort of interesting how it costs more points (20000) to go CHI-BAL 1 overnight on the traditionally cheaper sleepers on the Capitol than it does (15000) to catch the pricier sleepers on the Silver Service, despite a slightly longer ride on the latter.

In my mind, the value of a reward rests with what you would have had to pay for a paid fare; more than how many nights in a sleeper. My two zone awards start in the west, so they are two night awards on a given basis. Notwithstanding that comment, when I have accumulated award points, I make a value judgement on a trip between whether to buy the ticket and add more points, or use an award. I would never use a one zone award Spokane to Seattle when I could save it for a Spokane to Los Angeles or Spokane to Reno trip. Destination and travel time and the available bucket rates come in to play.