Buying AGR points

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Ronbo

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
287
Location
Bainbridge Island WA
I am sure that this has been discussed before, but I couldn't track down a thread. I am curious if the offer from Amtrak to buy extra points is a good deal or not, compared to either taking a trip, or buying from a partner online thru the shopping mall. I don't have the AGR credit card, so that doesn't fit into the equation. Thanks for any feedback. Good bang for the buck?

Ron

Bainbridge Island, WA
 
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Before AGR 2.0 (the new AGR), it was a good deal. Many are now saying it's not a good deal since point redemptions are now cost based, not zone based.

But if you need to pad your AGR account, xx% more can't be that bad a thing, can it?

I got the offer too, but my AGR account is in pretty good shape right now and my bank account isn't, so I'll probably ignore it this time.
 
Just for information - You do NOT need to use the AGR credit card on the Points for Shopping portal to earn AGR points. You can use ANY credit card to pay. It just that by using the AGR credit card that you will earn 1 point/$ for the purchase additional. However, if you prefer (say) hotel points and you have a hotel branded credit card that gives (say) 10 hotel points/$, you can use that credit card to pay. You would earn AGR points for the amount of the purchase from the portal, and then you would earn hotel points for using the credit card.
 
I look at buying points as a way of "saving up" for future trips. That said, I know there are those who will pop up saying there are better ways to "save". Perhaps not as good a deal now than it was prior to the current but like pointed out by AmtrakBlue, you may want to just pad your account. This past promo, I passed on purchasing points for my account but, I did purchase points on my wife's account.

We earn very few points via Amtrak travel; most of our points are generated via our AGR credit cards and use of the shopping portal and supplemented by points purchases. We tend to plan and book our trips a year or so out and have an idea of how many points will be needed to accomplish the Amtrak portion of the trip. Once at our destination, hotel accommodations, food, etc. are put on our AGR credit cards to generate points for future trips. An upcoming trip this fall is wrapped around a cruise (second time). Amtrak was booked months ago under the old zone system. With the BofA AGR credit card, I'm getting two points per dollar by paying for the cruise and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise...points for next year's trip! The Chase AGR card only offered one point per dollar.

The value of points purchases is harder to calculate now with the redemption based on the dollar cost of the ticket.
 
The value of points purchases is harder to calculate now with the redemption based on the dollar cost of the ticket.
That's not my impression. The new system seems much more straight forward. The redemption value of an AGR point is $.0289 if you just divide the cost in dollars by the number of points required to redeem a trip. How much does it cost each to purchase those points? Is it more or less? There is the answer to whether it is cheaper to pay cash or points. It's probably pretty much the same.

Now we know sometimes the number of points required for the same dollar value is higher on certain trips than others - holidays and high volume days etc.

Personally I stopped buying points several years ago except when 50% bonus was offered which iirc brought the cost down to about $.018. My points cost me nothing coming from Amtrak travel or general credit card use.
 
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That's not my impression. The new system seems much more straight forward. The redemption value of an AGR point is $.0289 if you just divide the cost in dollars by the number of points required to redeem a trip. How much does it cost each to purchase those points? Is it more or less? There is the answer to whether it is cheaper to pay cash or points. It's probably pretty much the same.

Now we know sometimes the number of points required for the same dollar value is higher on certain trips than others - holidays and high volume days etc.

Personally I stopped buying points several years ago except when 50% bonus was offered which iirc brought the cost down to about $.018. My points cost me nothing coming from Amtrak travel or general credit card use.
Actually, what I meant was the value of making a points purchase, not the value of the points themselves! That can be pretty well quantified. The point value (purchased,earned, or redeemed) is pretty well established. And I agree with your comment: "My points cost me nothing coming from Amtrak travel or general credit card use."
 
Thanks everyone for your feedback, very informative and excellent suggestions. I am relatively new at this AGR game! Hopefully I will be able to put your ideas to good use.
 
The value of points purchases is harder to calculate now with the redemption based on the dollar cost of the ticket.
That's not my impression. The new system seems much more straight forward. The redemption value of an AGR point is $.0289 if you just divide the cost in dollars by the number of points required to redeem a trip. How much does it cost each to purchase those points? Is it more or less? There is the answer to whether it is cheaper to pay cash or points. It's probably pretty much the same.

Now we know sometimes the number of points required for the same dollar value is higher on certain trips than others - holidays and high volume days etc.

Personally I stopped buying points several years ago except when 50% bonus was offered which iirc brought the cost down to about $.018. My points cost me nothing coming from Amtrak travel or general credit card use.
It's not that straight forward because the points a trip "cost" you may be higher than the $.0289/per point value as has been repeatedly pointed out here. In addition, you don't get the discount for AAA/Senior, etc. so the cost per point is higher.

Personally, I'm no longer buying any points. When the discount for $$ is a better deal, I'll pay for that portion in cash and use the points for times when they are actually a good deal or for taking trips I wouldn't take otherwise because of the price.
 
I look at buying points as a way of "saving up" for future trips. That said, I know there are those who will pop up saying there are better ways to "save".
Keep in mind that you're buying a currency which is only valued by a single service provider and will never increase in value. In fact your points are virtually guaranteed to decrease in value over and over again the longer you hold them. And that was true even before AGR2 came around and decimated the value of points for most long distance travel. At this point I'm hard pressed to think of a worse method for saving up for a future trip.
 
I look at buying points as a way of "saving up" for future trips. That said, I know there are those who will pop up saying there are better ways to "save".
Keep in mind that you're buying a currency which is only valued by a single service provider and will never increase in value. In fact your points are virtually guaranteed to decrease in value over and over again the longer you hold them. And that was true even before AGR2 came around and decimated the value of points for most long distance travel. At this point I'm hard pressed to think of a worse method for saving up for a future trip.
 
I look at buying points as a way of "saving up" for future trips. That said, I know there are those who will pop up saying there are better ways to "save".
Keep in mind that you're buying a currency which is only valued by a single service provider and will never increase in value. In fact your points are virtually guaranteed to decrease in value over and over again the longer you hold them. And that was true even before AGR2 came around and decimated the value of points for most long distance travel. At this point I'm hard pressed to think of a worse method for saving up for a future trip.
Yes I saw that and I still think it's important to point out that your "saving" scenario doesn't merely result in a poor return. Over a long enough timeline it's virtually guaranteed to result in a negative return. Knowing that Amtrak is under a constant threat of operational meddling and budgetary reductions the potential risk could include the practical loss of all savings. Which means best case you'll get even money (requires buying and immediately using points during a bonus period) and worse case you could end up losing everything (suspension/retirement of intended route, dissolution of AGR). Those odds are bad enough that they should not be called "saving" in my book, with or without quotes.
 
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Under the current AGR I think it's a good idea to buy points if you need a few more for a specific trip but not simply to 'stock up'.

In the past I'd purchase during the extra 50% sale but that doesn't make sense for me since the program changed. I get many points through shopping and also with my credit card but the entire system feels different and not in my favor. That being said I admit that I've booked three trips that took considerably less points with this new system than if they'd been booked under the old one. One is for a three zone bedroom trip that was barely 40000 points which under the old system would have been 60000. Another trip was for a two zone in a Roomette which was about 14000 points instead of the old 20000. But when the price was low I used to pay cash for those trips instead of using points.

I guess the biggest change is that you cannot count on being able to book a last minute trip without thinking about the point cost. I've paid cash for many Amtrak trips and that won't change but now my AGR trips involve more planning and I do miss the freedom we had with the previous program.
 
Right now, absent a sale that would put the cost per point under about $0.02/point, in light of the handling of the devaluation and the variably present "penalty fares" I would not buy points. Basically I'd demand a premium beyond the initially advertised $0.029 given both the Acela redemption penalty and the fact that at times tickets can cost as much as 2x what was initially advertised.
 
What Anderson said, plus the fact that redemptions are calculated based on the adult fare, even if one is eligible for a discount fare.
 
To top off an account before booking a reservation? If there happens to be a sale in which points are cheaper than cash, and the points are being used right away for a specific purpose?

It's a lot less likely under AGR 2.0 for buying points to be advantageous, but there are times where it's the best option available or the stars align and it works out to be the best option.
 
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To top off an account before booking a reservation?
Did Amtrak abandon the points + cash option? If they did then point taken.

If there happens to be a sale in which points are cheaper than cash, and the points are being used right away for a specific purpose?
AGR2's monkey points have extremely limited acceptance, come with indirect blackout dates in the form of punitive exchange rates, and are predestined to lose value relative to other forms of payment over time. As a result their cost should be substantially cheaper than other forms of payment which have none of the aforementioned limitations. The fact that Amtrak is pricing their points at or above the equivalent cash cost, even when discounted or bonused, removes nearly every remaining incentive for buying them directly. If people stop buying points under the current purchase/redemption rates maybe Amtrak will sweeten the deal in the future. Or at least we can hope.
 
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