Best Way to Spend 20,000 points?

I was curious... what's the best way (route) to get the most "bang for your buck" when it comes to AGR points?? I have racked up about 117,000 AGR points in the past 3 years... never cashed them in yet... but am thinking about it soon.

I mean let's use 20,000 points as an example.

20,000 points will get you a roomette from CHI-WAS on the Capitol Limited... but you're on the train for less than 20 hours and only get 1 night aboard.

The same 20,000 points can also get you 3 nights and parts of 4 days on the train if you go CHI-LAX on 421... or if you go CHI-LAX on the Builder (to PDX) then on the Starlight.

Seems the later 2 examples are the best way to use 20,000 points.

Anyone have any other routes they are done that are even better than those I mentioned?

(Again, I'm trying to get the longest train trip possible for 20K points)

The all-time show stopper for getting the most bang out of your AGR points is to book a trip from Slidel LA to San Francisco. The trip will cost you two zones or, for a Roomette, 20,000 points. Because of the way the schedules work at New Orleans, a connection that way cannot be constructed. So, the computer routing will take you on the Crescent east to Washington DC (one night), then the Capitol Limited west to Chicago (second night), then on the California Zephyr west to San Francisco (third and fourth night). Four nights, five days, 15 or so meals, over 4500 miles, all in a Roomette for just 20,000 points. If you need to get from New Orleans to Slidel, a coach ticket costs $12.

i have to disagree. if you choose san jose as your destination, for example, you can take the empire builder to portland and down on the coast starlight, or the southwest chief to los angeles and up on the coast starlight. the former will net you five nights on the train -- and it'd probably be worth it to go for a bedroom over a roomette.

True.... The latter nets you 12 hours and 15 more minutes of train time. Up to 14 meals, included, too. I like the no overnight stays in a city, too.

Now to find a way back home...

You could do that 5 times!

I disagree with the previous 2 posts!

A better routing is from SDL to Los Angeles! You can chose a routing of SDL (on the Crescent) to WAS (on the CL) to CHI (on the EB) to PDX (on the CS) to LAX! And the total cost is only 20,000 points!

While not as walloped with action as the above itineraries, this one does have some promise, and may be more to someone's liking who has never caught some of these trains before.

El Paso to Chicago on the TE

Then

either Chicago to DC on the Capitol to the Silver Meteor to Miami, or...

Chicago to Charlottesville on the Cardinal, a 90 minute bus ride to Richmond, and then continuing on the Meteor to Miami.

4 days and three nights.

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

PRR 60 said:

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

Click to expand...

Well we just booked SDL to Emeryville via Charlottesville and the Cardinal, then the Zephyr, on points. A routing via DC and the Capitol would have worked too. If our destination had been San Jose, they might have wanted to route us via a Capitol connection, and other CA points via bus connections. But an LA routing, then Starlight might have worked.

The trip we booked is enough for my wife!

PRR 60 said:

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

Click to expand...

Does AGR make any attempt to force your travel to start on a different date (when, for instance, the existence of a Sunset or Cardinal might create a much shorter routing)? Or are they completely accepting of your chosen date to start travel?

wayman said:

PRR 60 said:

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

Click to expand...

Does AGR make any attempt to force your travel to start on a different date (when, for instance, the existence of a Sunset or Cardinal might create a much shorter routing)? Or are they completely accepting of your chosen date to start travel?

Click to expand...

Nope, never heard of them trying to force one to change their dates of travel to make things easier for AGR.

PRR 60 said:

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

Click to expand...

Maybe so, but when I earlier tried to book BHM-PDX via LAX, I was told that AGR will only book a routing that comes up on amtrak.com - and via LAX does not. So I had to book either via the EB or via SAC.

However if you check amtrak.com for SDL-LAX, it will give you a choice of (from CHI) a direct SWC routing or an EB (via PDX)/CS routing!

PRR 60 said:

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

Click to expand...

Just occurred to me... if several hundred... or thousand... people started spending 20k to travel from Slidell circuitously to LAX, I wonder if someone at Amtrak would get the idea that maybe restoring the Sunset east of New Orleans might be a money-saving move for Amtrak

wayman said:

PRR 60 said:

It has been reported on FlyerTalk that AGR has been refusing to book circuitous routings unless that is the only route available. That is why Slidel to the west will always route through DC, but Slidel to LAX may be forced onto the Chief and may not be allowed onto the Builder and Starlight.

Click to expand...

Just occurred to me... if several hundred... or thousand... people started spending 20k to travel from Slidell circuitously to LAX, I wonder if someone at Amtrak would get the idea that maybe restoring the Sunset east of New Orleans might be a money-saving move for Amtrak

Click to expand...

That's PRICELESS! Sad thing is, I can see it now:

"Amtrak is pleased to announce the extension of the Sunset Limited to Slidell, Louisiana!" (and no further)

Looking at the original post in a slightly different context of "bang for one's buck," another school of thought is booking a path of travel that puts one onto trains that one may not otherwise ride in Sleeper due to the price. This would lead one to favor trains like the Texas Eagle, Cardinal, and Lake Shore Limited since their accomodation rates tend to be higher than other LD trains.

I've travelled CHI to WAS three times on the Capitol in a Roomette and STILL paid less in accomodations charges TOTAL than what one trip on the Cardinal starts at. If I were to use my points to return from the West, I'd probably opt for the Cardinal just for the new experience.

So if you are routed into a 3rd zone -- like Slidell to LAX -- they won't charge your AGR account for 3 zones?

rtabern said:

So if you are routed into a 3rd zone -- like Slidell to LAX -- they won't charge your AGR account for 3 zones?

Click to expand...

No, you still pay just two zones.
The zones are set based on where you start and where you end. As long as you make the normal connections the fact that Amtrak has to route you back into a third zone and then out again does not change the zones charged for your trip. Now, if you decided to stay over for a night in Washington DC, then the whole game changes. You would have a two zone trip from Slidel to Washington and then a three zone trip from Washington to LAX. A Roomette would cost 55,000 points for that trip. But travel straight through with the normal connections and you get the whole trip from Slidel to DC to Chicago to the west coast for just a two zone award: 20,000 points. For someone who wants to spend a lot of time on a train, it's a pretty tough deal to beat.

wayman said:

Just occurred to me... if several hundred... or thousand... people started spending 20k to travel from Slidell circuitously to LAX, I wonder if someone at Amtrak would get the idea that maybe restoring the Sunset east of New Orleans might be a money-saving move for Amtrak

Click to expand...

It's not Amtrak that would save the money -- it's AGR.