Commentary for guests

If you are a guest, become a member. Before 2005, I had never traveled Amtrak. Since then, I have reached Amtrak Guest Rewards Select +. Train travel is special. I love LD trains when I have the time available.

2005-2011, even as a high mileage, high dollar LD train traveler, I always gained meaningful and cost-effective information from senior board members. Jim Hudson and PennyK are two such members. You can gain even more from the board if you attend the annual Gathering, as I did in Seattle last year.

Also, the referred to Gathering (get together), although not required to attend, is a great way to "put a face to the name". Each year it is held in a different region of the US. You must be a member to attend the Gatherings.

Another benefit of AU membership is that members can send other members PMs (Private Messages). Guests can not send or receive PMs!

I've gained many friends thorough AU.. I enjoy making a railbuff friend! I've also learned much and shared my knowledge.

jmbgeg said:

If you are a guest, become a member. Before 2005, I had never traveled Amtrak. Since then, I have reached Amtrak Guest Rewards Select +. Train travel is special. I love LD trains when I have the time available. 2005-2011, even as a high mileage, high dollar LD train traveler, I always gained meaningful and cost-effective information from senior board members. Jim Hudson and PennyK are two such members. You can gain even more from the board if you attend the annual Gathering, as I did in Seattle last year.

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While I agree that in many ways the official member experience is preferred over guest access I've also gained meaningful information from guest posters as well, some of whom may be contractually barred from officially joining or simply want to reduce the risk that a stray comment could come back to haunt them in the eyes of their employer. So long as the forum staff are willing and able to allow guest access I guess who am I to say it should be avoided? As for the gatherings I'm not really sure what the connection is. Unless I'm mistaken anyone can become a member and any member can attend a gathering. If that's the case then I'm not sure why being a guest automatically bars someone from attending. I doubt most guests are interested but even if they were I would think it's not that big of a deal to let them communicate with the organizers by email or something. In any case it's not my site, so even if it doesn't make sense to me it's not something I have to worry about.