Round trip from CHI to PVD for Necronomi-CON. Best return route?

[the_traveler]

No TSA presence on Amtrak. The closest is when the Border Patrol boards a train (they can if the train is within 100 miles of the border. Usually they ask something like "Are you an American?" And if you answer "Yes" they move on to the next passenger!

Once I was at PHL, and a table was set up for a "Security check". Of the 40-50 passengers in line to board the train, the "random check" was done on ONE person only! It involved swabbing her bags - that's it!

And the reason RTE was suggested is that from RTE-WAS earns 750 AGR points in Acela FC, from PVD-WAS you earn 2 AGR points per $ spent! And you can still board the Acela in PVD!

 

[CelticWhisper]

Okay, so my AGR points have finally posted and I'm getting ready to actually book travel.

(Apologies and thanks for bearing with me as I repeatedly necro-bump this thread...though I suppose it's fitting, given my destination =P)

CL + NER outbound is a no-brainer. As for boarding an RTE trip at PVD...are you certain that they won't object to that and refuse to let me on? You've probably figured out by now that I'm "by-the-book" to a fault, so I want to make sure there's no chance of me being stranded in Rhode Island when I need to get back to CHI for work. If it is okay, how much time should I allot between the train departing from RTE and arriving at PVD? (e.g. if it leaves RTE at 6:00 AM, it'll get to PVD...when?)

Also, any thoughts on how best to apply AGR points to this trip? I have 12,865 points so I should be able to get at least some free travel/upgrades. Advice?

 

[JoeBas]

As far as the AGR points, if you're going to be making a habit of going from CHI to the east coast, and want to beat the prices on the LSL roomettes (which are ALWAYS in high demand), I'd just save the points - with your current balance, plus what you'll make on this trip, you SHOULD be close to having enough for a one-way 2-zone Roomette on your next trip, which you could then turn around and use on the LSL rather than paying full freight there.