Chessie Hokie
Train Attendant
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!
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!