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.