What will 20,000 Guest Reward Points get us?

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Joined
Jan 20, 2016
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We’ve now accumulated 20,771 Guest Reward Points. Can anyone give us some idea of what we can obtain with this many points? How many points, for example, would it take for us to obtain a bedroom onboard the Southwest Chief for a Los Angeles to Chicago passage? How many points would it take for us to buy a round trip passage from Chicago to Toledo in a Reserved Seat Coach? Whatever information you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Eric & Pat
 
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Go to Amsnag, type in some stations you might want to travel between, specify a range of dates and how many travelers (1 or 2), then select what accommodations you'd like, and you'll see how pricing varies on different days. Click on one of those days to go to Amtrak.com and click on "points" to see what that trip would cost in points.
 
Points are now tied to the cash cost of the fare, so there's no set number of points for a specific segment. In general, each point is worth a touch under 2.9 cents, so every 2.9 cents of fare roughly costs 1 point. (In the examples I found, it was closer to 2.89855 cents/point, but it's easier to remember 2.9.
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Note, however, that the points redemption price will be based on the lowest non-saver fare without any discounts (so no NARP, senior, or disability discount.) During holiday periods, additional points may be required (typically it's twice the number of points required.) That said, amtrak.com should properly list the points required for a redemption when purchasing a specific itinerary for a specific day.
 
Go to amtrak.com and do some "what-if" reservations...select points instead of cash and check some possible trips. You don't have to complete a reservation to do this. You'll get an idea of how far you might be able to go.

As mentioned above, points are tied to the dollar value of the ticket which varies over time and demand.
 
Like everyone said...just go to amtrak.com and make a reservation...hit the "Points" button to see what it would be in points. You need to be specific on what day, direction, accommodation, etc. FYI - AutoTrain DC-to-Orlando was 98,000 for my trip.

I just now picked a random day (Aug 21) and it was 26,531 ($769) for one of the bedrooms plus 7,000 ($202) for the car all one-way.

So I guess that was 34.5 points per dollar. So you can "buy" approx. $600 worth with 20,000 points.
 
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On the Amtrak.com website, after you enter your request (from/to), you will see a list of options. On the top, there are 2 boxes, cash and points. Chose points and it will show how many points are needed for that option.

Note that the points needed for each option may or may not be identical. Likewise, an option leaving on the 5th may or may not be an identical amount of points as leaving on the 4th or 6th for the same option.
 
I understand that if I paid off my credit card bills on time, there is no extra to pay, but I never use credit cards at all for my usual purchases, just use my debit card.

Just as a matter of interest, (forgetting promotions, etc,) roughly how much $ would I need to spend via my AGR cards to gain 20,000 points?

Ed.
 
I understand that if I paid off my credit card bills on time, there is no extra to pay, but I never use credit cards at all for my usual purchases, just use my debit card.

Just as a matter of interest, (forgetting promotions, etc,) roughly how much $ would I need to spend via my AGR cards to gain 20,000 points?

Ed.
For the freebie credit card I have, it's 1 point per dollar charged. It takes a while but now I charge the bulk of what I spend on the card and can get about a free trip every couple of years.

Dan
 
For everyday purchases, it is 1 point per $. For Amtrak purchases, it is more.

So basically, 20,000 points would need $20,000 of spending. If you can do so without an extra fee, it is easy to do if you can charge your rent or mortgage payments to your card!
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I used to, before they started charging a fee.
 
You really need to go to: /www.amtrakguestrewards.com for a precise answer. I.e., Macy's gives 5 pts/dollar, Bed Bath & Beyond 4 pts/dollar. Then there's the TQPs. .Different answers if you are Select or Select Plus, etc. Now, I do 2 bdrms on the A/T about 8 times/year, plus generally charge $5,000/month (get 1,000 TQPs for every $5000 spent) on the AGR card, so I get a lot of free trips. But there are a lot of specifics involved...you need to read that site closely. In 2 weeks, using AGR points to pay for my 2 bdrms down and car r/t.
 
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I understand that if I paid off my credit card bills on time, there is no extra to pay, but I never use credit cards at all for my usual purchases, just use my debit card.

Just as a matter of interest, (forgetting promotions, etc,) roughly how much $ would I need to spend via my AGR cards to gain 20,000 points?

Ed.
I use the AGR credit card like I used to use my debit card, paying the balance in full every month. Like others have mentioned, I pay for nearly everything with it. It is surprising how fast the points add up!
 
I don't think overseas residents are supposed to be able to register for AGR, although it seems some folk manage it...
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It was just a question out of curiosity, it would take me a long time to accumulate many points with my small monthly disposable income, although I did spend $10 in Macy's one time.
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Cheers,

Ed.
 
On 07/01 I booked a trip leaving 05/21/2019 from Jackson, MS(JAN) → Havre, MT(HAV) with 2 nights in Bedroom.. cost in points was 58,306.

My return trip from HAV→JAN leaving 05/30/2019 again 2 Bedroom nights I paid $1216.

Not sure if either of these costs were influenced by Memorial Day on 05/27/2019 or not.
 
Unfortunately, it turns out Macy's doesn't actually sell paperclips, which is a shame, since I'm sure they would cost at least that much. But here's what they actually charge for binder clips! At Macy's a pack of six binder clips are on sale for $10. What a bargain!

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