wayman
Engineer
This is all theoretical for now--I'll be at about 13k points at the end of 2007, but I should hit 20k easily by summer 2008, which is enough for a two-zone roomette. (Or perhaps 40k--two two-zone roomettes--as a target for summer 2009.)
LD routes I'd most love to take, in a sleeper to take full advantage of the perks: EB, CS, and CONL. The VIA Toronto-Vancouver route holds appeal (but obviously AGR doesn't get me that), and the SL is the other cross-country route I haven't taken (but it's definitely fourth after the EB, CS, and CONL). As I said, this is theoretical for now, but I'd like for my dreams to be as accurate as possible
I gather that a two-zone roomette allows me to take multiple trains to get from City A to City C via City B (provided I go directly from Train 1 to Train 2, without touring any in City B ). But how much flexibility does AGR/Amtrak give in selecting a route between City A and City C? For instance, if I say "I want to go from Seattle to New Orleans", there's no direct route--I'd have to take two trains no matter what. It's all within two zones, and I could do either Coast Starlight-to-Sunset Limited or Empire Builder-to-City of New Orleans. Would they let me choose either of those, and have a roomette the entire way for 20k points?
What about "Seattle to Houston", by EB-CONL-SL, all for 20k? Would they force me to take CS-SL (just two trains) for this itinerary? What if I say "I want to go from Chicago to Los Angeles", where the SWC is a direct route? Would they only allow me to take the SWC, or could I still choose EB-CS or CONL-SL instead? I'm guessing this is a "no", which simplifies my options.
And if I say "I want to go from Los Angeles to Seattle", where the CS is a direct (one-zone, even) route? Would they only allow me to take the direct CS, or could I choose the extremely circuitous (still two-zone) SL-CONL-EB? I'm almost certain this is a "no", but figured it's worth asking.
If I wanted to save up and collect 40k points to spend at once and "travel the square" in one vacation--take all four routes and wind up in the same city I started in--I'm sure they wouldn't let me do it all for 20k. But I'm assuming I could do it for 40k. For instance, start in Seattle, train EB-CONL to New Orleans (20k AGR), see New Orleans for a bit, train SL-CS back to Seattle (another 20k AGR) to take the other route? I'm guessing the answer is "yes", though I'm not sure. But I'm guessing I might not be able to start in Chicago, because they'd force me to take the diagonal SWC to LA?
Are there clear basic guidelines to AGR redemption that I can use for sketching out ideas involving efficient point usage?
Thanks!
LD routes I'd most love to take, in a sleeper to take full advantage of the perks: EB, CS, and CONL. The VIA Toronto-Vancouver route holds appeal (but obviously AGR doesn't get me that), and the SL is the other cross-country route I haven't taken (but it's definitely fourth after the EB, CS, and CONL). As I said, this is theoretical for now, but I'd like for my dreams to be as accurate as possible
I gather that a two-zone roomette allows me to take multiple trains to get from City A to City C via City B (provided I go directly from Train 1 to Train 2, without touring any in City B ). But how much flexibility does AGR/Amtrak give in selecting a route between City A and City C? For instance, if I say "I want to go from Seattle to New Orleans", there's no direct route--I'd have to take two trains no matter what. It's all within two zones, and I could do either Coast Starlight-to-Sunset Limited or Empire Builder-to-City of New Orleans. Would they let me choose either of those, and have a roomette the entire way for 20k points?
What about "Seattle to Houston", by EB-CONL-SL, all for 20k? Would they force me to take CS-SL (just two trains) for this itinerary? What if I say "I want to go from Chicago to Los Angeles", where the SWC is a direct route? Would they only allow me to take the SWC, or could I still choose EB-CS or CONL-SL instead? I'm guessing this is a "no", which simplifies my options.
And if I say "I want to go from Los Angeles to Seattle", where the CS is a direct (one-zone, even) route? Would they only allow me to take the direct CS, or could I choose the extremely circuitous (still two-zone) SL-CONL-EB? I'm almost certain this is a "no", but figured it's worth asking.
If I wanted to save up and collect 40k points to spend at once and "travel the square" in one vacation--take all four routes and wind up in the same city I started in--I'm sure they wouldn't let me do it all for 20k. But I'm assuming I could do it for 40k. For instance, start in Seattle, train EB-CONL to New Orleans (20k AGR), see New Orleans for a bit, train SL-CS back to Seattle (another 20k AGR) to take the other route? I'm guessing the answer is "yes", though I'm not sure. But I'm guessing I might not be able to start in Chicago, because they'd force me to take the diagonal SWC to LA?
Are there clear basic guidelines to AGR redemption that I can use for sketching out ideas involving efficient point usage?
Thanks!
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