Maximizing the California 25% off promo

[Roadfool]

With the 25% off promo on California travel, I can get to Select for as little as $169. Unfortunately, that'll involve 25 round-trips to the exciting town of Hanford between now and March 31, which I'm not so thrilled about. (It'll actually be a few less than that because I'm going to take some other fun trips in there too, but that's close enough for this post.)

I plan to do a ton of traveling later in the year, including buying either a 30 or 45-day rail pass in the summer, so it seems like I really should try to get to Select or Select Plus as soon and as cheaply as possible to maximize my bonus points. I'd also be getting points at $0.0338 each during the promo, which isn't that much more than buying the points.

I don't really even know why I'm asking this. I think I'm looking for someone to talk some sense into me and tell me it's a waste of time, but I'm guessing I won't find that on this forum.

 

[Rumpled]

Maybe you can find a restaurant in Hanford that you REALLY like.

 

[the_traveler]

Living in the Wild, Wild West, one benefit of Select (upgrades on Acela) won't do you much good. But some of the other benefits may help you!

Probably the biggest is the 25% AGR point bonus until February 2012! Another is day passes to use the Club Acela and Metropolitan Lounges. If you arrive or depart via a sleeper, your entitled to use these lounges anyway, but if you're traveling coach or BC, with these you can also use the lounges. They may come in handy when you take your trip!

A few people on the wrong - er - west coast get Select. One particular got Select+ - and we exiled him to Phoenix! :lol:

 

[Ispolkom]

I'm not sure that taking extra trips to Hanford to reach Select status really makes sense for you, Roadfool.

As the Traveler mentions, the Acela upgrades won't do you much good, and while Metropolitan Lounges access is nice, the closest one to you is in Portland, Oregon.

The 25% bonus doesn't seem great either, especially if you are planning long-distance trips or buying a rail pass. In both cases, you'll be looking at 2 railpoints per dollar, rather than the 100 points per trip on your jaunts to Hanford.

Maybe my reasoning is off, but look at it this way:

Say you spend $150 extra getting to Select. You then spend $1000 on Amtrak travel. You get 500 extra rail points, a yield of 30 cents per point. Not very good. Even at $4000 of Amtrak spend, your $150 spend only gets you 1000 rail points, giving a yield of 7.5 cents per point.

Of course, if you're doing shorter trips, where the 100 rail point minimum comes into play, your yield would be better. Say, if you were making a daily $3 trip from LAX-GDL.

In my experience, status with AGR is least valuable for a passenger west of the Mississippi who takes long-distance trains, especially in sleepers. On the other hand, AGR awards are best for this very profile of passenger, so I can't complain. I rode Amtrak more than 10k miles last year, and finished the year with fewer than 3000 rail points.

On the other hand, if you like taking the train to Hanford, you might find Amtrak's regular double or triple points promos very lucrative. If that also gave you Select status, all the better.

 

[AlanB]

Just for the record, the free upgrades aren't just for Acela. Yes, one gets the biggest bang for the buck by using them on Acela, but the free upgrades will get one a Business Class seat when you buy just a coach ticket.

There are also a few other perks for Select, like special phone numbers that by pass Julie and get you directly to an agent. A special phone number that shortens the wait when calling AGR. Plus you can get Hertz Gold, a fast track challenge to get Hilton Honors Gold, and few other similar offers.

 

[Ispolkom]

You're right, of course. Wasn't there recently a Hyatt promotion that gave extra points to Select members?

 

[AlanB]

You're right, of course. Wasn't there recently a Hyatt promotion that gave extra points to Select members?

Not being a member of the Hyatt program, I honestly cannot say for sure. If there was a special, I would have just skipped right over it, since I'm not in their program. Sorry!

 

[Roadfool]

Thanks for all the good info here. Even though I'm about to be one of those annoying forum people who argues with all the advice they've been given, it did help me work through my thought process.

Of course, if you're doing shorter trips, where the 100 rail point minimum comes into play, your yield would be better. Say, if you were making a daily $3 trip from LAX-GDL.
In my experience, status with AGR is least valuable for a passenger west of the Mississippi who takes long-distance trains, especially in sleepers. On the other hand, AGR awards are best for this very profile of passenger, so I can't complain. I rode Amtrak more than 10k miles last year, and finished the year with fewer than 3000 rail points.

I should have gone into more detail about my planned travel habits because I think they actually match up pretty well with the way AGR works. If I do this right, all of my paid travel will be short California runs where I can get the max 100 points and I'll be using those AGR points for the long sleeper trips. While the travel itself in the Central Valley may suck, your calculations just made me realize how much easier it'll be to rack up AGR points here than anywhere else.

I mentioned in another thread that I want to explore California on a bunch of 1-2 day trips. With all the bus connections and short runs here, it shouldn't be too hard to hit the max 4 segments/400 points each day if I put some effort into it. I don't really mind killing time in train stations with a book or doing some work on my phone, so I can just hop off in one of the crappy little towns along the way and get on the next train. (I should mention too that I'm self-employed and can work from anywhere now that I bought one of those fancy new phones, so I have the luxury of unlimited travel time.)

All this California travel is just to build up points and keep me occupied between the big trips, so I should still have plenty of opportunities to use the lounge passes and BC/Acela upgrades. I know I'll be spending a few days in Baltimore on my summer rail pass/baseball trip, so I'm sure I can find an excuse to go check out the Acela.

Maybe you can find a restaurant in Hanford that you REALLY like.

That's what I'm hoping for. I figure it won't be all that much different than driving somewhere in Fresno to go eat.

A few people on the wrong - er - west coast get Select. One particular got Select+ - and we exiled him to Phoenix!

Yikes! I promise I'll behave! Please don't send me anywhere that gets hotter than where I already live.

There are also a few other perks for Select, like special phone numbers that by pass Julie and get you directly to an agent. A special phone number that shortens the wait when calling AGR. Plus you can get Hertz Gold, a fast track challenge to get Hilton Honors Gold, and few other similar offers.

The phone number sounds good, but the hotel benefits are probably the one thing I really won't use. I can sleep almost anywhere, so I usually stay in a hostel or a cheap Motel 6/Super 8 kind of place.