AGR points for dining car voucher?

[jcl653]

I love eating in the dining car. I typically book roomettes on LD trains using AGR points, so meals are included.

I was recently toying around with the idea of booking a LD coach seat with AGR points. The real hangup for me is that I would have to pay cash for meals in the dining car.

Has Amtrak ever offered the option to purchase meal/food vouchers with AGR points? Do y'all think this is a realistic suggestion to make?

 

[Guest]

I love eating in the dining car. I typically book roomettes on LD trains using AGR points, so meals are included.

I was recently toying around with the idea of booking a LD coach seat with AGR points. The real hangup for me is that I would have to pay cash for meals in the dining car.

Has Amtrak ever offered the option to purchase meal/food vouchers with AGR points? Do y'all think this is a realistic suggestion to make?

Interesting idea, however since a single zone award is only 5,000 more points for a roomette over coach (in most cases) it probably is better to buy points (you can buy up to 10,000 a year, works out to 2.75 cents a point if no promo is on),this way all meals are included! Most of us dont use points for coach or short distance travel, save them for LD trains! Remember if you buy your tickets you get double rail points plus any bonsuses you are due and in the case of breakfast and luch the meals in the diner are usually a better deal than a la carte in the cafe! Alsoi in sleepers you get coffee/juice/bottled water and a shower and bed! Others might have a different view, but unless the awards for the diner could be worked out to reflect the actual prices of the food and beverages I would think that using points for food would be a poor use of them!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Speaking of buying points, is now a bad time? I was thinking of topping up so I can have them ready for actually booking something.

 

[the_traveler]

I was recently toying around with the idea of booking a (meaning one) LD coach seat with AGR points. The real hangup for me is that I would have to pay cash for meals in the dining car.

... a single zone award is only 5,000 more points for a roomette over coach (in most cases) ...

1 zone coach = 5,500 points

1 zone roomette - 15,000 points

So how is the roomette only 5,000 points more?

No there never was an option to use AGR points for meals! However, if you use the AGR MC to pay for your meal, you will EARN 2 AGR points/$!

 

[Rail Freak]

Speaking of buying points, is now a bad time? I was thinking of topping up so I can have them ready for actually booking something.

I've only been train traveling a couple of years but, I'd say buy them anytime before Dec 31 as the Pt Purchase Bonus for this year is over. Just make sure to do it before the end of the year as you can buy 10k more Jan 1!!!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Damn, I knew I should have payed more attention. Grrr! Oh well, it's my own fault. I just never bought points with the airlines or hotels so it didn't seem that appealing at first. Now I realize it's not so bad with AGR compare to other accrual methods.

 

[Guest]

Speaking of buying points, is now a bad time? I was thinking of topping up so I can have them ready for actually booking something.

You just missed out on the 30% Bonus for buying points, it expired on 7/31/10! If you don't need them soon Id wait and see the fall promos that come up, you have till 12/31/10 to buy 10,000, then on 1/01/11, as the_traveler says, you can buy 10,000 more! With Amtrak taking over AGR in Oct.might be lots of changes? :unsure:

 

[the_traveler]

Speaking of buying points, is now a bad time? I was thinking of topping up so I can have them ready for actually booking something.

It's never a bad time to buy points - but the 30% extra points bonus offer ended!

But also remember that you can buy up to 10,000 points PER CALENDAR YEAR - and December 31, 2010 and January 1, 2011 are different CALENDAR years!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Can I just buy points in my name and then have someone else buy points for me and thus get around the 10,000 point limit?

 

[jcl653]

On the topic of buying points, another free option is to sign up for the Starwoods Preffered AMEX card using their current 30,000 bonus point offer. My wife just did this.

My link

 

[Bob Dylan]

Can I just buy points in my name and then have someone else buy points for me and thus get around the 10,000 point limit?

Yes, check out the transfer of points, it costs a penny a point to do it (ie 10,000 points equal $100 but that's cheaper than buying 10,000 which is $275, but even buying them, then transfering is a good way to get points quick that are needed for a LD trip!)which is a good deal, and any member of AGR can transfer them to your account or vice versa!

 

[the_traveler]

and any member of AGR can transfer them to your account or vice versa!

Just a reminder - my account is 01234567890!

 

[rrdude]

Can I just buy points in my name and then have someone else buy points for me and thus get around the 10,000 point limit?

Yes, check out the transfer of points, it costs a penny a point to do it (ie 10,000 points equal $100 but that's cheaper than buying 10,000 which is $275, but even buying them, then transfering is a good way to get points quick that are needed for a LD trip!)which is a good deal, and any member of AGR can transfer them to your account or vice versa!

Once "you" have bought the max allowed per year, you, or anyone else, cannot "buy" points in your name. You CAN however have another AGR member buy them at normal purchase price, then TRANSFER them to you, and pay the transfer fee too, even though you have capped your actual "Buy" limit.

The downside to this is that you PAY to BUY them, & you PAY to TRANSFER them also. But it is allowed.

 

[AlanB]

Can I just buy points in my name and then have someone else buy points for me and thus get around the 10,000 point limit?

Yes, check out the transfer of points, it costs a penny a point to do it (ie 10,000 points equal $100 but that's cheaper than buying 10,000 which is $275, but even buying them, then transfering is a good way to get points quick that are needed for a LD trip!)which is a good deal, and any member of AGR can transfer them to your account or vice versa!

Well you're sort of correct there Jim.

Daxomni asked if he could buy points for himself, and then have someone else buy him points as a gift to get around the 10,000 point limit. The answer to that question is, NO. It's 10,000 points per account per calendar year, no matter how they were purchased.

However, as you noted Jim, he could have someone else buy points on their account and then transfer those points over to his account. But that gets rather expensive to do that. You'd first have to buy the points and then pay yet another fee to transfer them. I've not done the math, but I suspect at that point it probably is just cheaper to go travel on Amtrak and earn points that way.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Yeah, I should have been a little more clear in that I was specifically talking about the direct gift purchase instead of the secondary transfer option. Thanks for the quick replies. It sucks to miss out on a 30% bonus but it sounds like it's still a decent offer as-is and I'm slowly learning the ropes of when and how the bonuses and limits apply. I haven't done the math on a purchase-and-transfer transaction but it seems it might still be cheaper than a high-bucket sleeper or the like.

 

[AlanB]

Well unless you have a trip coming up that you actually do need more points for, I'd hold off for now in buying points. Since you have till the end of the year, give it some time to see if maybe come the fall they don't offer another bonus for buying points. If they do, then you luck out. If not, you still can buy points in early December and loose nothing by waiting.

 

[Guest]

Can I just buy points in my name and then have someone else buy points for me and thus get around the 10,000 point limit?

Yes, check out the transfer of points, it costs a penny a point to do it (ie 10,000 points equal $100 but that's cheaper than buying 10,000 which is $275, but even buying them, then transfering is a good way to get points quick that are needed for a LD trip!)which is a good deal, and any member of AGR can transfer them to your account or vice versa!

Well you're sort of correct there Jim.

Daxomni asked if he could buy points for himself, and then have someone else buy him points as a gift to get around the 10,000 point limit. The answer to that question is, NO. It's 10,000 points per account per calendar year, no matter how they were purchased.

However, as you noted Jim, he could have someone else buy points on their account and then transfer those points over to his account. But that gets rather expensive to do that. You'd first have to buy the points and then pay yet another fee to transfer them. I've not done the math, but I suspect at that point it probably is just cheaper to go travel on Amtrak and earn points that way.

Alan: I think it you do the math, 10,000 points bought @ $275 plus a $100 transfer fee=$375.

Ridng $375 would get you 375X2= 750 Rail points plus any bonsuses if Select or Select+.

A one zone sleeper award(15,000) can be as much as $1,500, a 2 zone(20,000)

up to $2,000+ and includesd meals and rail fare and room for up to the limit of the number of pax in the room.This means that having another member purchase and transfer points would be a better deal than spending the $375 on rail fare or purchases with the AGR MC!

 

[frugalist]

On the topic of buying points, another free option is to sign up for the Starwoods Preffered AMEX card using their current 30,000 bonus point offer. My wife just did this.

My link

If someone has the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa, they have yet another option for buying points. The Sapphire card awards Ultimate Rewards points. You can buy up to 5,000 UR points per month at 2.5 cents per point ($125 for 5,000 UR points). UR points can be transferred to AGR on a 1:1 basis in 1,000 point increments. So, if you're going to come up short on your AGR points for an upcoming trip, with a little bit of planning your can top off your account by buying 5,000 UR points per month and transferring them to AGR until you have the points you need.

By the way, the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card offer for 30,000 bonus points has expired. If you haven't already applied for and received the card under this promotion, it's too late.

 

[frugalist]

Alan: I think it you do the math, 10,000 points bought @ $275 plus a $100 transfer fee=$375.

Ridng $375 would get you 375X2= 750 Rail points plus any bonsuses if Select or Select+.

A one zone sleeper award(15,000) can be as much as $1,500, a 2 zone(20,000)

up to $2,000+ and includesd meals and rail fare and room for up to the limit of the number of pax in the room.This means that having another member purchase and transfer points would be a better deal than spending the $375 on rail fare or purchases with the AGR MC!

If you're going to "buy" an award, this would be the calculation:

For a 15,000 point award (1-zone roomette):

Buy 10,000 points for your own account = $275.00

Friend buys 5,000 points for his account = $137.50

Friend transfers 5,000 points to your account = $50.00

Total cost = $462.50.

For a 20,000 point award (1-zone bedroom or 2-zone roomette):

Buy 10,000 points for your own account = $275.00

Friend buys 10,000 points for his account = $275.00

Friend transfers 10,000 points to your account = $100.00

Total cost = $650.00.

For a 30,000 point award (2-zone bedroom):

Buy 10,000 points for your own account = $275.00

Friend 1 buys 10,000 points for his account = $275.00

Friend 1 transfers 10,000 points to your account = $100.00

Friend 2 buys 10,000 points for his account = $275.00

Friend 2 transfers 10,000 points to your account = $100.00

Total cost = $1025.00.

These are the true total costs you have to use when making the decision whether it's cheaper to buy/transfer AGR points or just pay for the trip. Don't forget to add into the comparison the value of any reward points you get for paying for the trip with a credit card, and for the AGR points (and rail points) you will earn on a paid trip. For this comparison, I would value AGR points at 2.75 cents each.

Here's a specific example of making the comparison of whether it's cheaper to buy/transfer AGR points for a reward trip, or to just pay for the trip.

Assume you have the AGR World MasterCard and get 2 AGR points for every dollar spent on Amtrak Travel. You get another 2 AGR points per dollar spent no matter how you pay for your ticket.

You want to go from ATL to NYP in a roomette on Sept. 15 (just you to keep the calculation "simple"). Arrow tells me a roomette + 1 railfare = $328. If you buy your ticket with an AGR World MC, you will earn a total of 1312 AGR points on this trip. Valued at 2.75 cents per point, that's $36.08 worth of points.

A 1-zone roomette award is 15,000 points (you do get a 5% points rebate if you have the AGR MC, but you have to have the full 15,000 points to book the award). That would cost $462.50 to buy & transfer all those points if you were starting from zero. Add in the $36.08 value of the AGR points you won't be getting since it's an award ticket, and your total true cost for this award is $498.58. Since $328.00 is less than $498.58, it's cheaper to buy your ticket.

Several factors can change the calculation. If you qualify for a discount, the cost of a paid ticket will be less. If you bring a traveling partner with you the cost will go up by the amount of one rail fare, but the AGR award will still cost 15,000 points.

I would use this same process to determine if it's cheaper to pay for any trip, or to take it as an AGR award.

Study this. There will be a quiz tomorrow.

 

[inspiration100]

in class or take home? multiple choice or essay? :lol:

 

[Ozark Southern]

I was recently toying around with the idea of booking a (meaning one) LD coach seat with AGR points. The real hangup for me is that I would have to pay cash for meals in the dining car.

... a single zone award is only 5,000 more points for a roomette over coach (in most cases) ...

1 zone coach = 5,500 points

1 zone roomette - 15,000 points

So how is the roomette only 5,000 points more?

Yes, if you are purchasing a roomette for yourself only, this is true. However, my wife and I travel together, so for us it's two coach tickets at 11,000 or a roomette at 15,000--very good use of 4,000 points.