Need Los Angeles to Montreal advice

[Davids]

I did some random booking from LAX to MTR, but nothing came up. The furthest I can go is to NYP then get on the Adirondack the next day. Is it still considered as a 3 zone reward redemption if I pay my own accommodation in NY a night before I board the Adirondack if they allow me, or do I have to end my AGR reward in NYP and pay the NYP-MTR portion with my own dime?

What is the best strategy for this itinerary?

Any inputs are appreciated.

Thanks

David

 

[zephyr17]

Register at Flyertalk, go to the AGR forum and ask AGR Insider. As I understand it, the only way to do it is to get the routing you are talking about added as a "published route" and AGR Insider can ask for that. The AGR agents can't do anything other than give you a "published route" which means if it doesn't show up as a routing on the website, you can't do it. See if it shows up on a shorter routing, such as CHI-MTR. If so, it is logical to be added to the longer one that is also over the shorter section. But it still has to be added as a "published route".

Other than that, go to NYP and pay for the Adirondack on your own dime. I did that, but was planning to stay in NY several days and so that would not have been eligible as part of a 3-zone reward in any case.

Edit-I assumed you did LAX-NYP then NYP-MTR using the multi-cities page and that was the only way you could do it.

 

[the_traveler]

If you have to overnight, I would do so in either SDY or ALB, then (if necessary) pay for the train to MTR from there.

 

[Davids]

Thank you to both of you!!! Staying in SDY or ALB surely is much cheaper than in NYP, but are the popular tourist attractions reachable by public transportation?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Thank you to both of you!!! Staying in SDY or ALB surely is much cheaper than in NYP, but are the popular tourist attractions reachable by public transportation?

There are No " popular tourist attractions" in either city unless you are interested in state capitols which is across the river in Albany! ( the train station is in Rennselear)
As for public transportation, ALB has buses of a sort but cabs are your best bet! SDY's downtown is small, everything is walking distance from the Amtrak Station.

I'd say just find a cheap, close to the station hotel ( Google up the travel sites) and spend the night. I thought SDY was more interesting than ALB as a layover spot!

 

[tomfuller]

Take the published route from LAX to Saratoga Springs New York. It has a famous horse track. You arrive between 7-8PM and leave for Montreal about noon the next day. Fare to Montreal from Saratoga is less than $50 usually.

 

[StriderGDM]

If you hunt for them, you can find decent (under $200/night with all taxes included) hotels close to Penn Station. I just did an overnight in NYC.

And from there you can walk to the Empire State Building etc.

For Albany, I think 1 or 2 hotels have shuttles, otherwise, there's NOTHING near the train station hotel-wise. So any "savings" you might have would be eaten up in cab fares.

 

[Anderson]

Based on the above, I'd suggest either a shuttle-equipped hotel in Albany (something within $10 of the station should be doable, since there are a few hotels downtown and not that far from the train station) or one in Schenectady. The problem with New York is that everything is expensive in Midtown.