Recent content by MisterToad

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
  1. MisterToad

    Chase Sapphire Preffered - Changes to the program

    They actually removed the option to purchase points from the website last August. I guess you could still purchase them by calling. When you could buy them, they sold for 2.5 cents per point. You could purchase up to 5000 points per month.
  2. MisterToad

    Real Time Train Tracker

    I just use http://www.amtrak.com/trainlocationmap.
  3. MisterToad

    Real Time Train Tracker

    The train tracker is looking for an HTTP Referer of http://www.amtrak.com/home. There are browser plugins that allow you to specify the referer that you want to send to a particular site. I just tried one called Referer Control in Chrome that seems to work fine. If you want to try it, your...
  4. MisterToad

    Train status via text message

    TextMarks is discontinuing its free service on October 15, 2013, so after that date you will no longer be able to obtain train status via a text message to 41411. The 401-AMTRAK-1 service will continue to provide train status. Send a text message to 401-AMTRAK-1 (401-268-7251) containing...
  5. MisterToad

    AGR Redemption Guidelines

    AGR Insider did respond to that concern - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/21056510-post5.html For what it's worth, I redeemed points for a family bedroom a few minutes ago at the bedroom rate (25,000 points for a 1 zone trip).
  6. MisterToad

    American Express Points

    Go to http://www.points.com Click the sign up button and fill out the form to create an account. On the right side of the screen is a list of loyalty programs. Click the add button next to Aeroplan. Click the add button next to Amtrak Guest Rewards. On the left side of the screen, Aeroplan...
  7. MisterToad

    American Express Points

    You exchange the points yourself from Aeroplan to AGR on points.com. Aeroplan has no involvement in the points transfer.
  8. MisterToad

    American Express Points

    The best way to transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to AGR that I've found is to transfer from Amex to Air Canada Aeroplan, and then exchange Aeroplan miles for AGR points on points.com. 25,000 Membership Rewards points become 25,000 Aeroplan miles, which become 14,166 AGR points.
  9. MisterToad

    Parking in Lynchburg

    Based on my past experience trying to park in Lynchburg, I would park in Roanoke or Bedford and take the SmartWay bus to the Lynchburg station (http://www.smartwaybus.com/amtrak.htm). Parking is free at the Roanoke Civic Center or Bedford Welcome Center, and the bus costs $4 each way. Parking...
  10. MisterToad

    Which Frequent Flier program gives AGR?

    Anyone can transfer 1:1 from SPG to AGR in 5000 point increments. https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/partners/detail.html?IndustryType=TRANSPORTATION&PartnerCode=AMTRAK
  11. MisterToad

    Earning AGR points...

    Yes, if you have the Sapphire Preferred card, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points directly to United Mileage Plus.
  12. MisterToad

    Is there a points purchase discount available now...

    30% bonus through the end of the year. https://amtrakguestrewards.com/external/buypoints
  13. MisterToad

    Planning Advice

    I agree that flight options from the Bay Area are much more plentiful and generally less expensive than flights from Sacramento, but if you do happen to find a flight from Sacramento that works for you, there is a bus that runs hourly from downtown to the airport. It departs about 5 blocks away...
  14. MisterToad

    Forgot Text Message #.....

    I created the 41411 service first, using the free version of a service called TextMarks. In order to recoup the cost of providing the service for free, TextMarks adds an advertisement at the end of each message. The ads are not targeted to any particular user. The free version of TextMarks...
  15. MisterToad

    Train status via text message

    I just wanted to give an update on the 401-AMTRAK-1 service. Since my last post, there were still issues with the service not sending text messages consistently - it was only working about 75% of the time. However, a week ago I made some changes in how the service works, and in the last week...
Back
Top