New Select Executive Tier at AGR

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AlanB

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From AGR Insider at FlyerTalk:

Amtrak Guest Rewards will soon announce the launch of our newest and most rewarding tier: Select Executive. Starting on January 1, 2013, members who earned 20,000 or more Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) in 2012 will enjoy this new status.
Select Executive members will receive:

  • a 100% tier point bonus on Amtrak travel
  • no annual limit on point purchases
  • one-class upgrades (48-hour) and free companion coupons with the new member kit
  • an additional one-class upgrade for every 3,000 TQPs earned while a Select Executive member
  • an exclusive Select Executive customer service line
  • unlimited access to Amtrak ClubAcelas, Amtrak Metropolitan Lounges, Amtrak First class lounges, as well as all United Clubs worldwide
  • auto-registration for eligible promotions throughout the year
  • exclusive partner offers and promotions

Select Executive benefits will begin on January 1, 2013 for those who reach 20,000 TQPs in 2012. Member kits (including the new member card, upgrades, and companion coupons) will arrive by March. In the meantime, Select Executive members should continue to use their 2012 Select Plus cards for lounge access. In future years, status will be earned as soon as a member qualifies, for the remainder of that calendar year as well as the following program year (just like Select and Select Plus).
You can view the post here.
 
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Does the inclusion of access to United clubs imply that there is an Amtrak/United relationship - and might the one-for-one points transfer be reinstated?
 
Does the inclusion of access to United clubs imply that there is an Amtrak/United relationship - and might the one-for-one points transfer be reinstated?
I wouldn't think that any such conclusion could be drawn. Select Plus already gets one into the lounges and that wasn't enough to reinstate point transfers.
 
I have to work my ass off to get 10,000 points. I don't see getting the 20,0000 points as even remotely possible for me. But I do like that AGR credit card. Im siting on 38k points. And they gonna get used . . .
 
I assume AGR has done their research, and know roughly how many people will have that number of points by the end of the year. I imagine that the vast majority will be Acela commuters. It will be very difficult for anyone in the rest of the country to accumulate that number of points -- I won't even try, even though I've already made S+ for 2013. But note that once one reaches the new level, it will be relatively easy to stay there, thanks to the 100% bonus and the unlimited ability to purchase points.
 
I have to work my ass off to get 10,000 points. I don't see getting the 20,0000 points as even remotely possible for me. But I do like that AGR credit card. Im siting on 38k points. And they gonna get used . . .
We have someone at OTOL who is over 40,000 TQP for the year. He probably hit 20k before June 1. BTW, he lives in northern California.
 
I assume AGR has done their research, and know roughly how many people will have that number of points by the end of the year. I imagine that the vast majority will be Acela commuters. It will be very difficult for anyone in the rest of the country to accumulate that number of points -- I won't even try, even though I've already made S+ for 2013. But note that once one reaches the new level, it will be relatively easy to stay there, thanks to the 100% bonus and the unlimited ability to purchase points.
Bonus points and purchased points do not count as TQP's.
 
No, but it said a 100% tier bonus, not just a 100% bonus.

Damnit, I wish they'd announced this six months ago.
The "Tier Bonus" is the bonus you earn for your elite level. For Select, it is 25%. For Select+ it is 50%. For the new Exec level, it will be 100%. In all cases, Tier Bonus points are only redeemable points, not Tier Qualifying Points.
 
Looks to me like it is step one in the degradation of Select Plus level.

I would think that the lounge privileges and class upgrades will be

reduced for Select Plus members. There must be too many Select Plus

people with too rich program benefits. With the reward structure currently

in place, there is a bias towards Acela travel, which I believe offers the

best future to the Amtrak funding.
 
Will anything change for those of us that are a mere Select Plus?
 
It will take something in the vicinity of $5000 to $6000 spent per year on Amtrak to get there if done via Acela, For someone who has the time and energy it will take 200 $6 point runs, so at least theoretically you could get there for as low as $1200 or perhaps even less if you can find a cheaper point run. At least I am unlikely to have the time, money or energy to get there.

Now if this new level were the equivalent of 100,000 miles on airlines, If Amtrak were ever to create an equivalent of airline Platinum level (75,000 miles) which would presumably be 15,000 AGR points I could come within striking distance of that and be coerced into spending a few more bucks to get there. Until then I plan to ignore this whole development, just like I also ignore 100,000 for airlines.
 
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I think this is an over-reach by Amtrak. There isn't much that Amtrak can offer to encourage people to

go for Select Executive over the present Select Plus. In comparison to the airlines elite status, I think

the airlines can offer a greater variety of perks than can Amtrak. It is unlikely that I will ever reach

the Select Executive status but I hope the Select Plus status will continue to offer its present perks.
 
Will anything change for those of us that are a mere Select Plus?
I'm wondering if lounge access for S+ is going away. It seems interesting that they list lounge access as a perk of Exec since it is already a perk of S+, and then say that those who reach Exec can continue get lounge access using the S+ card until the new Exec card arrives next year. That kind of suggests that lounge access will not be a perk for S+ for the 2013 program year. I could at least see the United Club access limited to the new Exec level.

I see this as aimed at regular Acela users, many of whom are not traveling on their own dime. Two qualifying round trips a month would do the trick, with TQP's to spare. For them, the extra First Class upgrade coupons are a nice perk, particularly if Amtrak could find a way to make redeeming them less clunky.
 
If there is no lounge benefit for select plus, Im not pushing myself to get to select plus. I think allowing pre-boarding for select plus and the this other higher tier iin Chicago for coach passengers would be something that I would value. As a select plus there are not that many benefits at CUS other than the 50 percent bonus.

The other thing that displeases me about select plus is that 15 day cancel penalty for first class. I hate the idea of losing points if I have to cancel at the last minute. I would be ok with some kind of fee to get the points back. Right now I am pretty annoyed with AGR program changes.
 
Eliminating lounge access for S+ would be really frustrating for me. That is one of the big perks to me of that S+ level.

I know of at least one poster on this board who commutes NYP - PHL, and I assume would easily qualify for the new Select Executive level. I am sure he will enjoy those upgrade coupons if he decided to take a few commutes via acela instead of the regional! :)
 
If there is no lounge benefit for select plus, Im not pushing myself to get to select plus. I think allowing pre-boarding for select plus and the this other higher tier iin Chicago for coach passengers would be something that I would value. As a select plus there are not that many benefits at CUS other than the 50 percent bonus.

The other thing that displeases me about select plus is that 15 day cancel penalty for first class. I hate the idea of losing points if I have to cancel at the last minute. I would be ok with some kind of fee to get the points back. Right now I am pretty annoyed with AGR program changes.
The policy concerning AGR sleeper travel cancellations has been postponed until March 1 while they reconsider things. Note that the AGR website still says it goes into effect on January 1, but AGR Insider at Flyertalk assured the angry mob there that the original plan is at least on hold.

Thinking about my lounge access theory, that would be a pretty nasty thing to do for those who got to S+ in 2012 assuming they would have access through 2013. I doubt they would pull the Amtrak lounge access, but I do think the United Club access is in play. I could see wording in the Amtrak/UA agreement that permits United Club access for the "highest elite level" AGR members. If it were worded like that, then the UC access would go only to the Exec members. For those who travel United, the UC access is a HUGE perk. It costs about $400 a year to buy, and for domestic travel, not even the top Mileage Plus tiers get it. I doubt that UA would want to continue offering it to S+ when that becomes a mid-level AGR tier.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I have no insider info from AGR. No one has whispered anything to me. All I am posting is a suspicion, and I tend to be a glass half empty kind of guy, to take it for what it's worth. When I do get insider Amtrak info, it tends to be nerdy and much duller.
 
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Oddly enough, because of my circumstances I don't particularly worry about the lounge access as long as UC members continue to have access to Amtrak lounges. And even if they don't it is not the worst thing that could happen. Afterall there are so few Amtrak lounges that exist anyway.

But I think that removing UC access for Select+ would go against the general theory of attracting potential airline passengers to Acelas, at least until Acelas start providing 6 hour service to San Francisco for example. :) So I would surmise that this is unlikely to come to pass. But then again there is the countervailing theory that "Amtrak shall miss no opportunity to undermine itself". So who knows?

Actually, until Amtrak is able to provide pre-boarding for Selects, the value of these statuses on Amtrak is significantly diminished compared to equivalent airline status. But then the whole Amtrak boarding process is such a phenomenal Charlie Foxtrot that I do not expect any such thing to come to pass either. The Red Caps union will go beserk for one thing, :p
 
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The post by amamba about the end of year make S+ promo essentially confirms that Amtrak lounge access will remain a perk for Select+. United Club access in not mentioned for S+.
 
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The post by amamba about the end of year make S+ promo essentially confirms that Amtrak lounge access will remain a perk for Select+. United Club access in not mentioned for S+.
Good catch. So I suppose the "countervailing theory" mentioned by me above, might be the one ruling the day.
 
The policy concerning AGR sleeper travel cancellations has been postponed until March 1 while they reconsider things. Note that the AGR website still says it goes into effect on January 1, but AGR Insider at Flyertalk assured the angry mob there that the original plan is at least on hold.
The response to AGR's new 100% points penalty on Flyertalk was relatively calm and collected I felt. Maybe things have deteriorated since I last checked in, but at the time they announced the delay I felt the Flyertalk discussion was rather mild compared to some of the reactions I've seen elsewhere on the same site. If anyone here wants to have input on the new 100% penalty for changes two weeks out they had better get over to the Flyertalk thread and make their position known before AGR has solidified their policy.

[united Club access] costs about $400 a year to buy, and for domestic travel, not even the top Mileage Plus tiers get it.
I sort of figured that Global Services would have unpublished access, but I guess not?

Actually, until Amtrak is able to provide pre-boarding for Selects, the value of these statuses on Amtrak is significantly diminished compared to equivalent airline status. But then the whole Amtrak boarding process is such a phenomenal Charlie Foxtrot that I do not expect any such thing to come to pass either.
Agreed. I have priority access with AA, UA, and US and while it's not any sort of necessity its still a nice perk. For some reason Amtrak still can't seem to figure out how to offer this for their own elite members, which I find rather confusing.
 
Eliminating lounge access for S+ would be really frustrating for me. That is one of the big perks to me of that S+ level.

I know of at least one poster on this board who commutes NYP - PHL, and I assume would easily qualify for the new Select Executive level. I am sure he will enjoy those upgrade coupons if he decided to take a few commutes via acela instead of the regional! :)
Hey, that sounds like me! :)

I got the Select Executive email this morning letting me know that I would have the new status as of January 1. The 100% point bonus is nice and I'm definitely looking forward to earning an upgrade certificate every 3K TQP, since I'll rack up twelve or so of those next year. While I was hoping they would go with space-available upgrades (like many airlines offer), this is definitely an improvement over what I've been getting as S+.
 
I got the email too saying I am 50 points away... While on the Adirondack chasing the Via consists. (Northbound we have Amfleets, but I am pretty sure we will catch the VIA cars SB. )

So between that, and the nearly 1K points I have pending, and my sleeper trip coming up, I'm not too worried about making Select Executive... I hope the upgrades are more generous on time limits than Select Plus. While 48 hours is much better than 12, It still can make things hard to plan.
 
[united Club access] costs about $400 a year to buy, and for domestic travel, not even the top Mileage Plus tiers get it.
I sort of figured that Global Services would have unpublished access, but I guess not?
I don't think Global Services gets lounge access (based on a quick scan of the UA forum at FT), but I don't know for sure. My impression of GS is that it is 1K with some significant personal handling perks added like priority rebooking in irrops, upgrade priorities, and some ability to bend rules. Since I am nothing more than a frequent flyer wannabe, I will never come even remotely close to finding out.
 
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