Amtrak Guest Rewards rocks!

[Chessie Hokie]

I have been saving up AGR points, through both Amtrak travel and AGR MasterCard, for years and have not spent any yet...amassing about 126,000 points. One reason I haven't used any points was a misunderstanding of the rules. The AGR website does a poor job of explaining the accomodations and coach ticket requirements.

I had always assumed that, as with a normal paid reservation, both a coach class ticket and accomodation (i.e., roomette) ticket was required. In other words, for a two zone roundtrip I expected to use 16,000 points for r/t coach PLUS 40,000 points for r/t roomette. And traveling with my wife that would have also required an additional 16,000 points for a second coach class ticket (I had at least broken the code for a roomette being a single charge for either one or two travelers, with dining car meals included). By my understanding that would have cost me 72,000 points for a two zone trip. So I patiently piled up points over the years (while thinking this wasn't nearly as good a deal as I was getting on airline miles).

Finally it was time for me to put together a trip I have been dreaming of doing since I started collecting points, so I called AGR to start the ball rolling. I was absolutely shocked (and extremely happy and excited) to learn that the roomette charge is all that is required! Yee-haw! That saves me up to 32,000 points from what I had long assumed! Suddenly I have many more points left over for even more trips than I had dreamed...this is fantastic! I am ecstatic!

Now I am thinking that AGR is in fact a great deal and will likely start shifting even more of my spending to my AGR card rather than my Delta SkyMiles AMEX card (which has done wonderful things for me as well...four free (other than taxes/fees) r/t tickets to Europe this summer, four r/t tickets to Yellowstone last summer and six r/t tickets to the Virgin Islands three years ago!). Previously I have used the AGR card only where AMEX isn't accepted.

The secret is putting ALL spending on the card...I almost never use cash for anything. Using cash or writing checks means lost points and lost opportunities. The danger, of course, is overspending and going into debt...that takes some self discipline, but I manage to pay off my balances every month, so interest charges are not an issue. I pay utility bills, property taxes, gas, groceries, even my kids' college tuition...everything possible with the card. An added benefit is the consumer protection advantage of most cards over using cash. I am amazed at how many people don't take full advantage of the points earning power of credit cards such as AGR.

Amtrak Guest Rewards absolutely ROCKS!

 

[AlanB]

Yes, AGR is actually a pretty decent program overall. It has its flaws and pitfalls like any FF program, but when it comes to Amtrak travel its pretty generous. I especially like the limited blackout dates, and the fact that there are no capacity controls. If you call up today and it's the very last room on the train, it's still yours. So many FF's only put up X number of seats per plane and once they're gone, you loose. You go find a different flight, different day, different month.

 

[the_traveler]

As you noted, I like the fact that an AGR award for a roomette costs the same for 1 or for 2. Thus a 1 zone coach award for 1 costs 5,500 points (plus meals) or for 2 costs 11,000 points (plus meals), but a 1 zone roomette for 2 costs only 15,000 points (with meals included)!

 

[darien-l]

I made a similar incorrect assumption about AGR awards a few years back -- I thought that all awards were per person, and that point amounts for sleepers were quoted on a "per person based on double occupancy" basis that's so common in the travel industry. Thus, I thought that a 1-zone roomette award for two was 15,000 x 2 = 30,000 points. It just didn't make sense for a roomette to go for only slightly more than coach. Needless to say, I was also very happy to find out I was wrong.

 

[JayPea]

Slow as I am to catch on :lol: it took me a few months to figure out that I was wasting opportunities to amass points by not putting everything on the AGR card. I, too, almost never use cash or write checks. I use the AGR card for almost everything. I've been careful never to carry a balance on it, though. Many years of not having enough always to cover everything has taught me to spend very carefully. And it makes it so much easier to budget knowing you'll have one big bill to pay once a month than a bunch of little ones scattered thoughout. I wish now I'd taken advantage of AGR earlier.

 

[RailFanLNK]

I was under the false assumption (until Alan B chimed in) that a "roomette" from LNK to NYC I would have to book it out of CHI since I would be changing trains. He asked, "why aren't you booking a roomette from LNK all the way to NYC?" And thats when I found out its a roomette the WHOLE way. I was pleasantly suprised and found that AGR is a good way to work toward some inexpensive travel on Amtrak. Now...if they could get the online mall to work worth a crap........................