Surfliner redemption

[Exiled in Express]

I will be taking the Surfliner in some form later this month and the 1,000 point AGR redemption looks very appealing. Is there a problem for this route redeeming for the earliest possible trip I would take and boarding a later train, either that day or the next (1/14 or 1/15)? Also I am not yet certain of my origin or destination can I just redeem for SBA-SAN and cover whatever I decide to do?

I know this strategy would not work for reserved trains or sleeping accommodations but the corridors seem to be "any ticket, any train" from my experiences.

 

[chuljin]

I will be taking the Surfliner in some form later this month and the 1,000 point AGR redemption looks very appealing. Is there a problem for this route redeeming for the earliest possible trip I would take and boarding a later train, either that day or the next (1/14 or 1/15)? Also I am not yet certain of my origin or destination can I just redeem for SBA-SAN and cover whatever I decide to do?

I know this strategy would not work for reserved trains or sleeping accommodations but the corridors seem to be "any ticket, any train" from my experiences.

Your strategy absolutely works. You could indeed even redeem for SLO-SAN (the full length of the route).

If coach (1000 points), you'll get an unreserved ticket with no mention of train number or date, good for a year. You can then just show up and go.

It *will*, however, have the few AGR blackout dates (q.v. elsewhere, somewhere here on AU or at AGR's own site) specifically printed and you'd obviously not be able to travel on those particular dates. Note that the Surfliners also have pecularities around Thanksgiving week, in which even coach is reserved and tickets are issued for particular trains, but I think that's well beyond the scope of your planning.

Additionally, note that the above advice does not apply to business class, which *are* reserved and tickets issued for a particular train number and date.

Enjoy your trip, and welcome to sunnyrainy Southern California!

 

[chuljin]

Annoyingly, though, you will still need to pick some arbitrary train when you redeem.

Another thing I just thought of, which has happened to me: before finalizing the redemption, carefully check how many points they're taking. There's some flaw in the website in that *sometimes*, Surfliner redemptions are considered 1-zone instead of special-route, costing 5 times as much. I *think*, but haven't confirmed, that this happens if the origin is north of LA. Go figure. In these cases, I just abandon the website session and call AGR.

 

[Exiled in Express]

Annoyingly, though, you will still need to pick some arbitrary train when you redeem.

Another thing I just thought of, which has happened to me: before finalizing the redemption, carefully check how many points they're taking. There's some flaw in the website in that *sometimes*, Surfliner redemptions are considered 1-zone instead of special-route, costing 5 times as much. I *think*, but haven't confirmed, that this happens if the origin is north of LA. Go figure. In these cases, I just abandon the website session and call AGR.

Thanks for the advise, just booked 768 #for 1/14, SBA-SAN at 1000 points. Most likely it will a LAX departure on 1/15, I have a Starlight reservation booked prior to the schedule change that I will likely cancel. The thought was to run up to SBA and get some beach time in, then I realized the fallacy that warmer does not mean more hours of sunlight.

With the new schedule do you think lunch on the CS would be possible for a coach passenger before SBA?