The title of this post only belabors the obvious but I did a cost comparison and want to share it with everyone.
10,000 AGR points cost $275.00 or .275 per point
add the 30% bonus offer a point is now worth .021 per point
at 50% bonus points a point is now worth .018 per point This represents roughly a 34% savings
So lets assume that the 50% bonus point offer will be repeated this year.
I believe that the maximum point buy is 10,000 per year plus bonus points.
Assuming you could purchase all the points needed for a trip at the best possible offer of 50% .018 per AGR point we do the math and get the following at the new points redemption rate:
For two at the new rates effective 4/1/12
15,000 point trip costs $270.00 1 zone roomette
20,000 point trip costs $360.00 2 zone roomette
25,000 point trip costs $450.00 1 zone bedroom
40,000 point trip costs $720.00 2 zone bedroom or Autotrain
If you look at the above numbers the deals are all over the place. It appears that only the AGR points for a Bedroom have increased. Perhaps the message is that Amtrak wants to save all the bedrooms for cash sale and not for AGR point redemptions.
On some routes, as on the Cardinal where the sleepers tend to be very expensive the AGR bonus points are a good deal. Roomettes in a one zone trip (ex from NYP to MIA) are still a pretty good deal. However, the cost of the trip in a sleeper for a two zone trip is where it can get expensive. WAS to CHI (CL) or NYP to CHI (LSL) or even well along the way at say PGH to CHI in a bedroom now costs $720 in points.
I did not do the math at the 30% bonus point level. In view of the above I have decided to wait for the 4th quarter points offer to see if the 50% bonus offer will be repeated. I am guessing that it will. Going forward I will try to buy points wisely.
10,000 AGR points cost $275.00 or .275 per point
add the 30% bonus offer a point is now worth .021 per point
at 50% bonus points a point is now worth .018 per point This represents roughly a 34% savings
So lets assume that the 50% bonus point offer will be repeated this year.
I believe that the maximum point buy is 10,000 per year plus bonus points.
Assuming you could purchase all the points needed for a trip at the best possible offer of 50% .018 per AGR point we do the math and get the following at the new points redemption rate:
For two at the new rates effective 4/1/12
15,000 point trip costs $270.00 1 zone roomette
20,000 point trip costs $360.00 2 zone roomette
25,000 point trip costs $450.00 1 zone bedroom
40,000 point trip costs $720.00 2 zone bedroom or Autotrain
If you look at the above numbers the deals are all over the place. It appears that only the AGR points for a Bedroom have increased. Perhaps the message is that Amtrak wants to save all the bedrooms for cash sale and not for AGR point redemptions.
On some routes, as on the Cardinal where the sleepers tend to be very expensive the AGR bonus points are a good deal. Roomettes in a one zone trip (ex from NYP to MIA) are still a pretty good deal. However, the cost of the trip in a sleeper for a two zone trip is where it can get expensive. WAS to CHI (CL) or NYP to CHI (LSL) or even well along the way at say PGH to CHI in a bedroom now costs $720 in points.
I did not do the math at the 30% bonus point level. In view of the above I have decided to wait for the 4th quarter points offer to see if the 50% bonus offer will be repeated. I am guessing that it will. Going forward I will try to buy points wisely.