The Metropolitan
OBS Chief
As it stands now on 10/3, I'm 1978 points shy of AGR Select without a single reservation in the system, and it seems I'll have to plan now to find a way to crack the barrier again, IF I think that it's even worth it.
It would seem the realistic bare minimum with which I could accomplish this would be to take 10 round trips from Baltimore to Washington bought on advance purchase rate at $220 total. This would yield me the 2000 rail points, about 4500 points total considering the Fall doubler and current Select tier bonus, and the likelihood of about 1250 points over next year from the Select tier bonus, for an expected value of about 5750 points plus the Select perks.
But taking TEN round trips is VERY time consuming and tedious, I'd be averaging one a week.
Yes, there's the Acela for a quick 500 points a pop if booked right, but at about $140 a pop, much more expensive than the time intensive option of eeking out the minimum 100 point award as chaply as possible.
A points run, perhaps... But the one time I did an 8 segment/800 point run wore me down pretty well, and I seem to recall a 4 segment/day maximum having been initiated since I took the mission of insanity back in 2007.
But the thing that nags at me is, "Is it worth it?" Making Select for this calendar year hasn't done much for me so far. I've earned about 750 bonus points thus far, and used the three upgrade coupons on the Carolinian's BC to a value of only $66 (the sweating of worrying if it would even be still available one hour before departure would make me avoid doing this again). The 10%/CA Day Passes are unused but look pretty bad after months in the wallet to the point where I'd almost be embarrased to redeem them.
Last year, it just seems I got a bit more bang for the buck. The 2500 point "magazine redemption" bonus was probably my favorite, and I used the upgrades on an Acela all the way from Boston for a value of $228, getting an additional 250 rail points for myself in the process. I even recall the daypasses coming in handy at least once when Washington Union was a bit too harried for my travelling partner's tastes.
So having blathered out my AGR S story as if anyone cares to hear it, I guess I'm curious if anyone else out here is formulating what they'll have to do to hit an AGR Status, and questioning their sanity in doing so!
It would seem the realistic bare minimum with which I could accomplish this would be to take 10 round trips from Baltimore to Washington bought on advance purchase rate at $220 total. This would yield me the 2000 rail points, about 4500 points total considering the Fall doubler and current Select tier bonus, and the likelihood of about 1250 points over next year from the Select tier bonus, for an expected value of about 5750 points plus the Select perks.
But taking TEN round trips is VERY time consuming and tedious, I'd be averaging one a week.
Yes, there's the Acela for a quick 500 points a pop if booked right, but at about $140 a pop, much more expensive than the time intensive option of eeking out the minimum 100 point award as chaply as possible.
A points run, perhaps... But the one time I did an 8 segment/800 point run wore me down pretty well, and I seem to recall a 4 segment/day maximum having been initiated since I took the mission of insanity back in 2007.
But the thing that nags at me is, "Is it worth it?" Making Select for this calendar year hasn't done much for me so far. I've earned about 750 bonus points thus far, and used the three upgrade coupons on the Carolinian's BC to a value of only $66 (the sweating of worrying if it would even be still available one hour before departure would make me avoid doing this again). The 10%/CA Day Passes are unused but look pretty bad after months in the wallet to the point where I'd almost be embarrased to redeem them.
Last year, it just seems I got a bit more bang for the buck. The 2500 point "magazine redemption" bonus was probably my favorite, and I used the upgrades on an Acela all the way from Boston for a value of $228, getting an additional 250 rail points for myself in the process. I even recall the daypasses coming in handy at least once when Washington Union was a bit too harried for my travelling partner's tastes.
So having blathered out my AGR S story as if anyone cares to hear it, I guess I'm curious if anyone else out here is formulating what they'll have to do to hit an AGR Status, and questioning their sanity in doing so!
