I don't get the zones?

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inspiration100

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Aug 17, 2007
Messages
365
Location
Seattle, WA
Can someone just quickly explain the zone idea? I see the Amtrak map... However, what if I want to take the Coast Starlight down to Los Angeles from Seattle. How many zones is this? Is this just 1?

This may seem stupid, but I can't tell if a zone is each stop, or if a zone is each section of the map?

What if I also wanted to go to Las Vegas on the same trip. Would that be extra?

Thank you!
 
A one zone ride is basically anything within one map section. So a ride from Seattle to LA is a one zone award, be it a coach or sleeper award. Take the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago and you now cross one of those lines into a new section and would then need enough points for a 2 zone award.
 
Great! What a fantastic forum! Thank you. Now 2 more questions when anyone gets a shot...

What if I want to add on to go to Las Vegas? Is that more even though it's in the same zone yet a different train?

And also, does the price of a sleeper include 1 persons ticket on the train? I thought I read that in the last persons post.
 
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inspiration100 said:
What if I want to add on to go to Las Vegas? Is that more even though it's in the same zone yet a different train?
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As long as you make a next train out connection, the award level is the same for any 2 points. (It must also be offered as a choice on amtrak.com - if not, it can't be done as 1 award.) But if you want to say go SEA-LAX, stay in LA for 3 days and then go to LV, that would require 2 awards!

does the price of a sleeper include 1 persons ticket on the train? I thought I read that in the last persons post.
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The award for a sleeper includes the rail fare AND sleeper AND all meals for THE OCCUPANCY LISTED ON THE SLEEPER (UP TO THE STATED MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY)! If the award has 1 pax listed, it includes 1. If the award and room has 2 names listed, it includes 2! B)
 
inspiration100 said:
Wow. Not bad then. I can get to El Paso from Seattle with 1 zone! Thanks for the help guys.
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Yup--you could do SEA-ELP with three people in a bedroom for the same number of points as one person in a bedroom SEA-PDX. Make sure you know this so you know how to maximize the value of your points! (A SEA-PDX bedroom for one person would be an absolute waste on many, many levels...) Of course, it's not a terribly useful thing to book to ELP and get stranded there (I'm sure it's a nice town, but when I drove through many years ago, there wasn't much memorable except for the GIANT Mexican flag flying across the valley in Ciudad Juarez--biggest flag I've ever seen), which would sort of diminish the value of the points... :lol:

Now, time for Advanced AGR Routings 301 class (make sure you're ready): the zones are solely based on the originating and terminating stations, even if the train travels outside of the zone!

For example, Lincoln, NE and Fargo, ND are both in the midwest zone. So any booking between that city pair would only take a one-zone. However, the only booking option shown for that city pair is westbound on the California Zephyr to Sacramento, northbound on the Coast Starlight to Klamath Falls, then a bus connection to Pasco, and then the eastbound Empire Builder to Fargo. It's still a one-zone award, even though the train travels in two zones (midwest and west)!

The granddaddy "loophole" of them all is the famous (around here, anyway) Slidell, Louisiana trick, which basically allows you to cross the entire country but only paying for a two-zone award. If you were to book a trip from New Orleans to any point north or west, you'd have a more or less straight shot from NOL to your destination (or connecting train). Slidell is one stop east of New Orleans on the Crescent. But if you start a trip in Slidell and book to a destination west of New Orleans, the only connecting trains out of New Orleans leave the following morning after the Crescent arrives (i.e. they all leave before the Crescent arrives, so any connections would require you to overnight in NOL). Per Amtrak's policies, because Amtrak is forcing you to overnight in New Orleans, they'd have to pay for a hotel. They don't want to do that, so instead, they send you east to Washington, DC, where same-day connections to westbound trains to Chicago (and onward) are available. (This is the same reason why LNK-FAR sends you to Sacramento, since the connection between the California Zephyr and Empire Builder in Chicago would be a forced overnight.) Becaeuse SDL is in the midwest zone and LAX/SEA/etc. are in the western zone, you can book SDL-LAX or SDL-SEA and basically cover the entire country, from the south to the east coast to the midwest and the west coast for the cost of a two-zone award! Now that's a great deal! :)

OK, a break before Advanced AGR Routings 401. (I have to write the curriculum first!)
 
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That was excellent Jack.

Maybe you could write a users manual for guest rewards.

You might even make some money on it.
 
So do I understand correctly that I can't book a one-zone trip using AGR points if it would require an overnight layover? Say Minot-Houston? I could use points for the Minot-New Orleans part, but would have to buy separately the New Orleans-Houston leg?
 
Ispolkom said:
So do I understand correctly that I can't book a one-zone trip using AGR points if it would require an overnight layover? Say Minot-Houston? I could use points for the Minot-New Orleans part, but would have to buy separately the New Orleans-Houston leg?
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As long as you can put in a city pair into amtrak.com and get a result, it can be booked as an AGR award! (The AGR rep sees exactly the same screen that you do.)

In the example for Minot to Houston, it may (I didn't try it) route you on the TE out of CHI with a bus to Houston. Or it may not offer any choices at all!
 
the_traveler said:
As long as you can put in a city pair into amtrak.com and get a result, it can be booked as an AGR award! (The AGR rep sees exactly the same screen that you do.)
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consider spk-abq. one zone but if you enter it as a routing on the amtrak site it won't allow it. it can be done without an overnight stopover (spk-pdx-sac- stockton-bakersfield-la-abq). will agr book that as a one zone award? if the agr rep sees the same screen as i do it won't allow it as a city pair.
 
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the_traveler said:
In the example for Minot to Houston, it may (I didn't try it) route you on the TE out of CHI with a bus to Houston. Or it may not offer any choices at all!
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No, that's the problem. The city pair comes up with the red "No Service" warning. The Texas Eagle leaves Chicago 45 minutes before the Empire Builder's scheduled arrival. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for my second choice: go Minot-Chicago-Charlottesville-Slidell as a one-zone trip on the AGR points, then pay our own way Slidell-New Orleans-Houston. Now, if I can only convince my wife that we need to return via San Antonio and the Texas Eagle (I've never seen San Antonio, and would just as soon avoid the bus to Longview), or we could go Houston-New Orleans on the Sunset Limited and return on the City of New Orleans and Empire Builder. I imagine that I'll be sick even of the famous railroad French toast after this trip.
 

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