Select :-)

Well, the Online Mall points may be a bit of a struggle, but the train travel points post like clockwork... and travel from the 12th just posted taking me into Selectland!

Thanks for the tip about how to pick up the extra 2,500 points (on top of the 25 point automatic bonus)

You have FOUR DAYS to spend $2500 on rail travel to get Select Plus. YOU CAN DO IT!!

Doesn't have to be $2500. Three round-trip in Acela First Class (DC to NY, or NY to BOS), plus a business class one way between same, and you'll make it. That probably won't amount to $2500.

rmadisonwi said:

Doesn't have to be $2500. Three round-trip in Acela First Class (DC to NY, or NY to BOS), plus a business class one way between same, and you'll make it. That probably won't amount to $2500.

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I'm not trying to be difficult, but what is the incentive for an infrequent traveller to spend $1200 or more on Acela "points runs" to make Select Plus? The 50% points bonus? Lounge access? Luggage tags? If you travel a lot, as some NEC commuters do, then Select Plus would be meaningful. But a frequent Amtrak traveller would earn S+ anyway. If you travel just ten or twelve times a year, I do not see how the S or S+ benefits are worth spending any serious money just to obtain.
Compared to airline programs which offer elites generous upgrades, prefered coach seating, early boarding, and dedicated reservation lines, Amtrak's rather meager elite benefits simply do not seem worth the high cost of qualifying. If I was close to qualifying, then maybe I would take one nonsense trip just to hit the threshold. But, as a rail fan, I would prefer to take the $1200 I would have to spend riding up and down the corridor on Acela to go from Select to Select Plus and spend it instead on a long distance trip in a Sleeper. That would be worth more to me than S+.

That's my opinion. Others may be different.

PRR 60 said:

I'm not trying to be difficult, but what is the incentive for an infrequent traveller to spend $1200 or more on Acela "points runs" to make Select Plus? The 50% points bonus? Lounge access? Luggage tags? If you travel a lot, as some NEC commuters do, then Select Plus would be meaningful. But a frequent Amtrak traveller would earn S+ anyway. If you travel just ten or twelve times a year, I do not see how the S or S+ benefits are worth spending any serious money just to obtain.
Compared to airline programs which offer elites generous upgrades, prefered coach seating, early boarding, and dedicated reservation lines, Amtrak's rather meager elite benefits simply do not seem worth the high cost of qualifying. If I was close to qualifying, then maybe I would take one nonsense trip just to hit the threshold. But, as a rail fan, I would prefer to take the $1200 I would have to spend riding up and down the corridor on Acela to go from Select to Select Plus and spend it instead on a long distance trip in a Sleeper. That would be worth more to me than S+.

That's my opinion. Others may be different.

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I actually have to agree with you in many respects, as I personally don't see the significant plusses in S+ over Select, especially if a great deal of effort is needed to reach it.

I'll admit, I stretched my legs a few extra strides to make Select, but I had specific incentives for doing so: the Double Points promotion bonus points added to the 2500 point bonus for hitting Select should take me just shy of 20,000 points. I may have a conference in Tucson this Spring, and could use these points to come back for virtually free (paying only to get to El Paso) via the Texas Eagle and Cardinal if I so choose - a value of $1,118 (w/companion) at present.

The points i earned were often well better than the 2 pts/$1 ratio, typically 12-19 points per dollar once the double points were added in.

As to the "bennies" of Select: The luggage tags should be neat, and the 25% kick will be a plus this upcoming year. I hope the upgrade coupons will come in handy for me (particularly on my rare Acela jaunts), though I can't say that Lounge Access is of any great importance to me - it's nice when I have a Sleeper to look forward to (and if I have a sleeper ticket, I'd get access anyway), but could actually be a bit deflating if I'm about to take a long trip in coach.

Particularly for the last reason, Select Plus is of no big deal to me - the Companion vouchers are nice, but not worth spending extra moolah to get. The Bonus Points received are the same as those in Select from what I hear, and lounge access is not that great - particularly if I'm travelling with someone not so blessed.

OH, and CONGRATS to wayman! Glad that Bonus worked out for you - one very cool plus to see instantly after hitting that plateau.

VentureForth said:

You have FOUR DAYS to spend $2500 on rail travel to get Select Plus. YOU CAN DO IT!!

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:blink: :blink: ... but you know, the possibility had occurred to me, I have to admit.

I can definitely see using the companion coach fares from Select Plus, should I reach that for the following year, if they work as it sounds like they do. (I can go anywhere in coach and a companion travels free... regardless of distance of travel? Or is it just for a single leg? Regardless, this covers PHL-BOS or WAS-CHI, which is the route I'd be most likely to have friends happy to take me up on; and if it would cover all of PHL-CHI in a single companion fare, so much the better.)

I'm sure I'll enjoy taking advantage of the two first-class upgrades on Acela PHL-BOS myself! But as I understand it, if I make Select Plus, I (should) only get a total of three upgrades (for S+) and not five (S and then also S+)? But it sounds like some folks have gotten Select and Select Plus packets for a single year, which would (if it happened to me) give me five upgrades?

Part of why I took all the extra travel was just to get the first-class upgrades and the 25% bonus, but that was less than a third of the incentive; it was more "take advantage of the double-points promotion as much as possible, since I could really maximize it on these short trips" and "hey, by doing so, I'll get really close to that two-zone roomette" and "you know, this will actually save me a lot of driving mileage and gas purchases, since I really can do almost all of my regular shopping by Amtrak". I think I've bought gas twice since early November, instead of every ten days or so.

So the benefits from attaining S+ are probably worth taking weekly shopping trips over the course of 2008, in the end.

Several round-trips to Boston before New Years this year, um, well, NO! :lol:

I qualified for Select in September and decided I was also going to try for Select + for the heck of it.

I enjoy riding the rails for R&R and the Empire Builder is always on the Hot Deals page and discounted, so it works out for me. This December, I also took a trip to NYC and Boston so a couple of Acela rides made for a nice part of the vacation and allowed me to qualify for S+.

I was surprided in that I was able to get the Magazine offer as Select when I qualified and again as S+.

That was an extra 2500 (5,000 total) that I hadn't been counting on.

The luggage tags are OK but are on the cheap (plastic) side. Think of a grocery saver card that you might keep on your key chain but perhaps a bit heavier--still free is free and they can be useful.

The Companian vouchers are good for any length of trip---even a round trip, so conceivably if you were taking a cross country coach round trip, the companion coupon would be worth $300-$400 or more.

There is a flip side, however. Per the coupon, no AGR or Rail points are earned for the companion and for the person who paid for their trip. That means it doesn't do you any good if you need those points to qualify for status next year. Now it actually isn't terrible when you consider that a $300 trip would only mean forfeiting 600 or perhaps a few more railpoints for both you and your companion....the cost savings would outweigh that. However, it could be potentially more if they had a double or triple point promo running at the same time.

Now those coupons really hurt those on the NE Corridor who may use for Acela--since they would perhaps only save $100-$150 dollars but would lose a ton of AGR points for both them and their companion.

diesteldorf said:

...Now those coupons really hurt those on the NE Corridor who may use for Acela--since they would perhaps only save $100-$150 dollars but would lose a ton of AGR points for both them and their companion.

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The companion coupons are not valid for Acela travel. They are for "Coach" only and Acela only offers Business and First.

The Metropolitan said:

Particularly for the last reason, Select Plus is of no big deal to me - the Companion vouchers are nice, but not worth spending extra moolah to get. The Bonus Points received are the same as those in Select from what I hear, and lounge access is not that great - particularly if I'm travelling with someone not so blessed.

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Metro,

The bonus points for Select + are 50%, not 25% like they are for Select so there is a difference.

As for the lounge access, it's not terrible. I've used it many times for various reasons. And you are allowed to bring in all members of your immediate family, or one non-family guest with you.

PRR 60 said:

diesteldorf said:

...Now those coupons really hurt those on the NE Corridor who may use for Acela--since they would perhaps only save $100-$150 dollars but would lose a ton of AGR points for both them and their companion.

Click to expand...

The companion coupons are not valid for Acela travel. They are for "Coach" only and Acela only offers Business and First.

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I apologize if I was mistaken. However, I always thought the companion coupons were valid on Acela for Business Class----basically a fancy word for Coach on the Acela. Since AGR mainly caters to those in the NE Corridor, I would also think they would allow redemption on Acela. Regardless, the loss of the AGR points may make someone reconsider.

diesteldorf said:

I apologize if I was mistaken. However, I always thought the companion coupons were valid on Acela for Business Class----basically a fancy word for Coach on the Acela. Since AGR mainly caters to those in the NE Corridor, I would also think they would allow redemption on Acela. Regardless, the loss of the AGR points may make someone reconsider.

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For me, I believe the companion-coupon-decision will involve weighing "not getting a few hundred AGR" against "convincing a friend to travel with me, possibly taking the train for the first time, or at the very least accruing plenty of karma". The latter is definitely worth it for me.

I've had Select Plus the past 2 years... and love it. The main perk, in my eyes, (being a single guy... who travels without a companion most of the time... and lives close to Chicago) is the FREE Metropolitan Lounge access you get.

If I'm in downtown Chicago for whatever reason (even non-train related) --- knowing you have a place you can relax, get a snack or drink, and have a clean bathroom... is very nice.

I use the lounge even when I just take the Metra commuter train downtown to meet friends for lunch or whatever. If I have an hour to wait until the next Metra, I'd rather spend it in the lounge with free snacks and drinks than standing at the gate.

I also go on day train-trips out of Chicago 2 or 3 weekends a month. And with the lounge access, you get to board at the same time as the sleeping car passengers on the long-distance trains... which pretty much means you get your pick of coach seats most of time. No lines. You are almost always guaranteed a window seat if you want... which is a nice side-perk too of it.

Saying all that, I wouldn't spend $2,500 or $5,000 a year just to get select plus.

How do I manage 10,000 rail points? Well, I usually go on 2 week-long LD Amtrak trips a year in a sleeper. That there usually earns me about 3,000 points right there. Then my weekend day trips 2 times a month (with each RT costing me around $35, but earning 200 points because of the 100 point minimum) earns me another almost 5,000 points there. So, we're upto 8,000.

Then to make up the difference towards the end of the year, I will do small segment trips to get the other 2,000 or less I need.

Milwaukee Airport-Milwaukee-Milwaukee Airport (RT) is $14, but you get 200 points.

SO... to get 2,000 rail points... you'd only need to spend $140.

To me, $140 IS worth the perk of using the lounge for the whole year.