Recent content by Afsheen

I've resisted jumping in here until now, but I just wanted to add yet another voice reminding people that there are many reasons to be working or using electronics on the train. For me, using my commute time to work means less time at the office and more time at home with my newborn son -...

That's the right question to ask! And, yes, many of the trains I take (like lennyj I commute NYP-PHL, although I do so 20ish days a month on a monthly pass) are packed - with no ability to add more trains (and maybe no ability to add more cars?), raising prices just makes sense for Amtrak.

NYP-PHL monthly went from $1314 to $1350 and ten-ride is now $600 (not sure exactly what it was before, but high $500s). Monthly was $1278 in early 2012, and I think even less in late 2011. Gone up roughly $100/mo in 18 months. I noticed the Acela buckets went up, as well - low bucket is $99...

In my experience, it's mainly people who are frequent Acela riders between BOS-NYP/NYP-WAS or NEC monthly pass holders (a year of NYP-PHL or WIL-WAS, to name two common commuting pairs, gets you enough points to hit SE and then some). I see a lot of familiar faces going NYP-PHL, both in...

The coupons say, "Offer valid for Coach class travel only. Upgrade to Business class or First class (excluding sleeping car accommodations) is available upon full payment of applicable accommodation charges." I've used the coupons for Acela travel before, in which case the companion coupon...

I had the same thing happen to me in November, but in my case, I was buying my ten-ride moments before hopping on a train. Unlike you, however, I had a totally blank ticket pop out and saw the same "OUT OF ORDER" message, so I just went to the next machine and bought a new ticket, thinking that...

For SE members, it lists your available coupons right next to your points balance on amtrakguestrewards.com, as well as on your account summary page. Each coupon has a unique ID, as well as the SE AGR phone number, and an option to print it out to use at a station. Even though they're...

My SE packet arrived yesterday, as well - no paper coupons, of course, but a reminder that 4 upgrades and 2 companion coupons will be automatically added to my account on March 1st.

Fred's math is slightly off - you don't get 100 points per ride using a 10-ride pass, rather you get 2 points per dollar, just like the monthly pass.

I should keep track next year of exactly how many times I go, but a rough estimate of days off/holidays/driving for a couple weeks after Hurricane Sandy when trains were less predictable/days that I stayed over after working late, puts me at roughly 220 NYP-PHL R/T trips this year, for a total...

No need to worry for 2013, AGR Insider confirmed on FlyerTalk that, "The Select Plus benefits have not changed and will remain the same as in 2012."

Hey, that sounds like me! :) I got the Select Executive email this morning letting me know that I would have the new status as of January 1. The 100% point bonus is nice and I'm definitely looking forward to earning an upgrade certificate every 3K TQP, since I'll rack up twelve or so of those...

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

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...

Oh, you know what, I hadn't ever checked, but you're right - all my monthly pass points post dated on 1st of the month. I'll try buying mine on the 5th this time around and see if it gets double points.