Cascadia
OBS Chief
The Cascades line has a promotion right now for double miles, and I was thinking of taking a short jaunt just to get the extra miles. Every trip on the Cascades normally earns 100 miles regardless of length of trip, so I figured I would get 200 miles each way on a short round trip, plus the double miles for purchasing it with the Chase AGR credit card.
I was pricing out tickets from BEL to MVW, at ten dollars each way. So the cost would be, 20.00 for 440 AGR miles.
Cascades award tickets fall in the "special line" category and use 1000 miles for an award trip. I priced BEL to PDX (this time of year) at 41.00 one way. Or, a person could use 500 miles for a first class upgrade on the line, but the first class upgrade was only costing 15.00 right now, so that's not very sensible either.
So for using it on the Cascades line, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense does it. Then again in the summer the ticket cost may be substantially more?
The other thing is to think of it differently, as something to do, and an excuse to ride the train, I never go south, only north to Vancouver, so I haven't seen the bit of scenery just south of here, which is supposed to be spectacular, apparently it's kind of a cliff along the water for a ways before you get to the Skagit Valley?
I have over 8000 miles right now and would love to see them pile up more with the Empire Builder in mind, so maybe when you think of putting the miles toward the EB or a sleeper it makes a lot more sense?
related issue: Am I nuts to think I can make this jaunt work out, taking the morning train out of Bellingham to Mount Vernon, then hopping on the northbound one ten minutes later LOL? I guess my logic is, the train is in Bellingham overnight and I can't think why it should leave late here or lose too much time in the half hour trip, then the northbound one is most likely at least ten minutes late into Mount Vernon, giving me a cushion?
I am laughing at myself but could it work? If I get stuck there I could take a Greyhound back, I guess. Or if it was during the week, a county bus.
Sorry my post turned into two questions!
I was pricing out tickets from BEL to MVW, at ten dollars each way. So the cost would be, 20.00 for 440 AGR miles.
Cascades award tickets fall in the "special line" category and use 1000 miles for an award trip. I priced BEL to PDX (this time of year) at 41.00 one way. Or, a person could use 500 miles for a first class upgrade on the line, but the first class upgrade was only costing 15.00 right now, so that's not very sensible either.
So for using it on the Cascades line, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense does it. Then again in the summer the ticket cost may be substantially more?
The other thing is to think of it differently, as something to do, and an excuse to ride the train, I never go south, only north to Vancouver, so I haven't seen the bit of scenery just south of here, which is supposed to be spectacular, apparently it's kind of a cliff along the water for a ways before you get to the Skagit Valley?
I have over 8000 miles right now and would love to see them pile up more with the Empire Builder in mind, so maybe when you think of putting the miles toward the EB or a sleeper it makes a lot more sense?
related issue: Am I nuts to think I can make this jaunt work out, taking the morning train out of Bellingham to Mount Vernon, then hopping on the northbound one ten minutes later LOL? I guess my logic is, the train is in Bellingham overnight and I can't think why it should leave late here or lose too much time in the half hour trip, then the northbound one is most likely at least ten minutes late into Mount Vernon, giving me a cushion?
I am laughing at myself but could it work? If I get stuck there I could take a Greyhound back, I guess. Or if it was during the week, a county bus.
Sorry my post turned into two questions!