New AGR Member Point Caculation

[sky12065]

I am planning on joining AGR in March and am having a problem trying to figure just how many points I will have in total following my first trip when milage points and bonus points have all been posted. Please advise if I have estimated the points correctly and if there are any that I have not anticipated. Here is the information that pertains to my process:

Enrolling: March 30, 2009 (Est. Points 500)

Applying for AGR Credit Card: Shortly thereafter (Est Points 5000)

Date of first travel: June 26th, 2009 (within 90 days of enrollment)

Amtrak fare: $1994.75 (Est Points 3989)

Total points estimated: 9489

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this!

 

[AlanB]

Your math looks right to me Joe, other than AGR will probably round off the railfare and you'll garner an extra point from that.

The only thing that might be missing from that equation would be, do you buy anything using the AGR card? And remember that you must make at least one purchase to get that 5,000 point bonus, once you get the credit card. But if you can charge other esentials that you would normally pay cash for, and then just pay off the AGR card, you'll garner more points.

 

[the_traveler]

Enrolling: March 30, 2009 (Est. Points 500)Applying for AGR Credit Card: Shortly thereafter (Est Points 5000)

Date of first travel: June 26th, 2009 (within 90 days of enrollment)

Amtrak fare: $1994.75 (Est Points 3989)

Total points estimated: 9489

You are almost right!

Although I'm not sure if that $.75 would be rounded down, that is only 1 point. BUT - you forgot to include 1 thing! You get 2 points/$ spent for your travel, but you also get 2 points/$ spent on Amtrak purchases made with your card! When the Conductor submits your ticket, you will get 2 points/$ for your travels. But if you use the AGR MasterCard, you will get 2 points/$ additional from Chase!

So you need to add 3,988 or 3,989 more to that total!

Also, depending on your route and how the tickets are valued, it may be even more. Example: If you are going to SFC, and your total fare is $800, you need to take an Ambus EMY-SFC. It is a separate ticket, and may only be "valued" as something like $2 or $3, but there is a 100 point minimum per segment. You will get 100 points!

 

[sky12065]

Enrolling: March 30, 2009 (Est. Points 500)Applying for AGR Credit Card: Shortly thereafter (Est Points 5000)

Date of first travel: June 26th, 2009 (within 90 days of enrollment)

Amtrak fare: $1994.75 (Est Points 3989)

Total points estimated: 9489

You are almost right!

Although I'm not sure if that $.75 would be rounded down, that is only 1 point. BUT - you forgot to include 1 thing! You get 2 points/$ spent for your travel, but you also get 2 points/$ spent on Amtrak purchases made with your card! When the Conductor submits your ticket, you will get 2 points/$ for your travels. But if you use the AGR MasterCard, you will get 2 points/$ additional from Chase!

So you need to add 3,988 or 3,989 more to that total!

Also, depending on your route and how the tickets are valued, it may be even more. Example: If you are going to SFC, and your total fare is $800, you need to take an Ambus EMY-SFC. It is a separate ticket, and may only be "valued" as something like $2 or $3, but there is a 100 point minimum per segment. You will get 100 points!

Thanks to both you and Alan for your reply. I knew about the bonus points for purchases and didn't include it in my question. Also, I won't be able to utilize the bonus points for payment by the CC for this trip (DANG!) because I have alread paid for my June tickets. I couldn't wait to pay because of the limitation of available H rooms and my lack of flexibility in travel dates. As I have previously indicated, if I can't get an H room, I can't travel. So advance planning is essential for me! In the future though, it's the CC for sure!

BTW Alan , I thought I was posting in the AGR section. I chose New Post from an AGR message page so I don't know what happened to make my message appear in the Amtrak Discussion page (???)!

 

[wayman]

Thanks to both you and Alan for your reply. I knew about the bonus points for purchases and didn't include it in my question. Also, I won't be able to utilize the bonus points for payment by the CC for this trip (DANG!) because I have alread paid for my June tickets. I couldn't wait to pay because of the limitation of available H rooms and my lack of flexibility in travel dates. As I have previously indicated, if I can't get an H room, I can't travel. So advance planning is essential for me! In the future though, it's the CC for sure!

Once you have your AGR MasterCard, call "Julie" and ask a CS agent if you can change your method of payment on tickets already purchased. I've been told this is "easy to do" by Amtrak CS phone agents and that it won't affect the bucket of your tickets (because the cancel/rebook will be nearly instantaneous), though I haven't done it myself. This is assuming your tickets are not yet printed, of course. You may have to make a couple calls to get an agent who is confident about doing this sort of transaction.

I was told to do much the same thing with my vouchers (well, unused tickets good for full face value in exchange) both by phone agents and 30th St ticket agents: book new travel online using a credit card, then come to the ticket window at 30th St and ask to change payment method from the credit card to "face value of trade-in tickets plus credit card for the remainder".

Given the likelihood that a few of your travel segments are under $50, I'd say you're looking at a smidgen over ~9,500 AGR, or a smidgen over ~13,500 if you can change your payment method over the phone! I don't know how much H-room rewards cost, but with only a few months of credit card use you'll be around 20k (the 2-zone roomette reward), a "rewarding" achievement

Also, if you use your AGR MasterCard for any dining car tips and alcohol purchases, or for anything from the lounge car, you get 2points/$ because that's an "Amtrak purchase".

 

[the_traveler]

I don't know how much H-room rewards cost, but with only a few months of credit card use you'll be around 20k (the 2-zone roomette reward), a "rewarding" achievement

An H room award costs the same as a roomette award, and a family room award costs the same as a bedroom award.

 

[sky12065]

Once you have your AGR MasterCard, call "Julie" and ask a CS agent if you can change your method of payment on tickets already purchased. I've been told this is "easy to do" by Amtrak CS phone agents and that it won't affect the bucket of your tickets (because the cancel/rebook will be nearly instantaneous), though I haven't done it myself. This is assuming your tickets are not yet printed, of course. You may have to make a couple calls to get an agent who is confident about doing this sort of transaction.

Can't do! I had a voucher and had to take the tickets. If I didn't have the voucher then I might be able to do what you suggest, but then again I prefer the $500 to the points.

Even still with 5 segments on my trip I don't think I would risk anything going wrong with an agent trying to make the change you suggest.

I was told to do much the same thing with my vouchers (well, unused tickets good for full face value in exchange) both by phone agents and 30th St ticket agents: book new travel online using a credit card, then come to the ticket window at 30th St and ask to change payment method from the credit card to "face value of trade-in tickets plus credit card for the remainder".

Also, if you use your AGR MasterCard for any dining car tips and alcohol purchases, or for anything from the lounge car, you get 2points/$ because that's an "Amtrak purchase".

We bring snacks with us since I can't move about the train and it's been rare that I've ever asked our attandant to get us something from the lounge or snack bar. Maybe I'll try a candy bar this trip and ask the SA to charge it for us! That would make what, 1 point and 19,999 candy bars to go until I had enough points to get me to Bubs Bunny's favorite place for a left turn! :lol:

 

[wayman]

That would make what, 1 point and 19,999 candy bars to go until I had enough points to get me to Bubs Bunny's favorite place for a left turn! :lol:

"I knew I shoulda been on the eastbound platform in Albuquerque!..."