10% Point Rebate on AGR Redemptions

[Sue in KY]

I just called (2 p.m. Eastern), and spoke with the NICEST young man -- this was on the AGR Select Customer Service line. He told me they'd only this noon received a memo from AGR and Chase saying that "from now on," the redemption was to be done only for future calls to redeem points. BUT that since they "hadn't been very clear about that in the customer e-mail," they were to honor calls made for recent redemption calls, although they must start over with each redemption "for account-auditing purposes."

(We had redeemed 60,000 points just last Tuesday for a pretty convoluted July '10 trip to the West Coast involving five trains, and on one of them we'd grabbed the very last bedroom, so I was on pins and needles while he put me on hold to complete the reservation -- but after about 5 minutes it was all accomplished, with no change in the reserved cars/bedrooms -- just a different reservation number in the e-mail he sent afterward.)

So YAY! for 6000 unexpected points!

 

[AAARGH!]

I just called (2 p.m. Eastern), and spoke with the NICEST young man -- this was on the AGR Select Customer Service line. He told me they'd only this noon received a memo from AGR and Chase saying that "from now on," the redemption was to be done only for future calls to redeem points. BUT that since they "hadn't been very clear about that in the customer e-mail," they were to honor calls made for recent redemption calls, although they must start over with each redemption "for account-auditing purposes."
(We had redeemed 60,000 points just last Tuesday for a pretty convoluted July '10 trip to the West Coast involving five trains, and on one of them we'd grabbed the very last bedroom, so I was on pins and needles while he put me on hold to complete the reservation -- but after about 5 minutes it was all accomplished, with no change in the reserved cars/bedrooms -- just a different reservation number in the e-mail he sent afterward.)

So YAY! for 6000 unexpected points!

I called back and got the nicest young woman. They must be siblings.

Anyway, as Sue said, they can only cancel/rebook to get the 10% back. So I have three rewards, two at 30K and one at 2K. The first 30K and 2K had plenty of availability, so no problems canceling / rebooking. 3,200 points EASY and I have all the same rooms, etc...

BUT the other 30K reward (Pacific Surfliner - Texas Eagle - Cardinal - Crescent) has NO availability for bedrooms for any of the three sleeper segments. I am not convinced I should risk it and try that too, so I held off.

Opinions needed... Is it worth 3,000 points to risk canceling and rebooking when no other rooms are available on all three trains? I'm leaning toward NO.

Yikes.

 

[ATXEagle]

I emailed AGR yesterday using the "contact us" form on their website. It looks like you must cancel and rebook and that the offer is only good through June 30th.

---

Thank you for contacting the Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center.

The 10% rebate offer went into effect on March 23, 2010. Redemption

reservations made prior to that date are not eligible for the redemption

rebate. The rebate offer expires on June 30, 2010.

For questions or concerns regarding your Amtrak Guest Rewards account,

please contact us at 1-800-307-5000, Monday-Friday 8am-8pm EST or visit

our website at www.amtrakguestrewards.com.

Regards,

Cindy

Amtrak Guest Rewards

--

 

[Bob Dylan]

I just called (2 p.m. Eastern), and spoke with the NICEST young man -- this was on the AGR Select Customer Service line. He told me they'd only this noon received a memo from AGR and Chase saying that "from now on," the redemption was to be done only for future calls to redeem points. BUT that since they "hadn't been very clear about that in the customer e-mail," they were to honor calls made for recent redemption calls, although they must start over with each redemption "for account-auditing purposes."
(We had redeemed 60,000 points just last Tuesday for a pretty convoluted July '10 trip to the West Coast involving five trains, and on one of them we'd grabbed the very last bedroom, so I was on pins and needles while he put me on hold to complete the reservation -- but after about 5 minutes it was all accomplished, with no change in the reserved cars/bedrooms -- just a different reservation number in the e-mail he sent afterward.)

So YAY! for 6000 unexpected points!

I called back and got the nicest young woman. They must be siblings.

Anyway, as Sue said, they can only cancel/rebook to get the 10% back. So I have three rewards, two at 30K and one at 2K. The first 30K and 2K had plenty of availability, so no problems canceling / rebooking. 3,200 points EASY and I have all the same rooms, etc...

BUT the other 30K reward (Pacific Surfliner - Texas Eagle - Cardinal - Crescent) has NO availability for bedrooms for any of the three sleeper segments. I am not convinced I should risk it and try that too, so I held off.

Opinions needed... Is it worth 3,000 points to risk canceling and rebooking when no other rooms are available on all three trains? I'm leaning toward NO.

Yikes.

Put me in the No way Jose catagory Jeff! You answered your own question already, the Cardinal is really tough and lately even the Eagles are running High Bucket and Full! I dont think the 3,000 points are worth risking a ride in coach over, you made out OK on the other two, as the song said "Dont worry, be happy!" Jim

 

[Sue in KY]

..

.

BUT the other 30K reward (Pacific Surfliner - Texas Eagle - Cardinal - Crescent) has NO availability for bedrooms for any of the three sleeper segments. I am not convinced I should risk it and try that too, so I held off.

Opinions needed... Is it worth 3,000 points to risk canceling and rebooking when no other rooms are available on all three trains? I'm leaning toward NO.

Yikes.

Jeff --

I don't know -- I'm inclined to agree with Jim and say, don't chance it. My ONE segment (SEA-CHI on the Empire Builder) with no other bedroom available except the one I was (temporarily) vacating was nail-biting enough to wait through while the Nice Young Man cancelled/rebooked it -- waiting while the Nice Young Woman handled THREE of 'em would put my nerves in such a twitter they'd still be a-jangle by the time of our July AGR trip!

 

[frugalist]

Over on the FlyerTalk forums, AGR Insider (an Amtrak Loyalty Marketing Senior Director) has posted the following additional information regarding the rebate promotion:

We apologize for any confusion surrounding the 10% point rebate on Amtrak travel. Here is some additional information surrounding the offer: The 10% rebate on Amtrak travel redemptions is available to all Amtrak Guest Rewards Chase MasterCard card holders. It is available for your next Amtrak travel redemption, as long as “first purchase” bonus points have been posted to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and your credit card is currently in open status. You must have the total amount of points required to complete the Amtrak travel redemption. The point rebate will automatically post to your AGR account following the completion of the redemption transaction, however should you cancel your reservation the rebate points will be removed from your account. Amtrak redemption reservations made prior to 3/23/2010 are not eligible for the redemption rebate. Amtrak cannot guarantee availability should you attempt to cancel an existing reservation and rebook to receive the redemption rebate. You are doing this at your own risk and must follow all standard cancellation rules. The 10% redemption rebate is a limited time promotional offer and subject to change.

His message is post #13 in the following thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtrak-gues...mc-holders.html

This sheds a bit more light on the details of the promotion.

 

[BeckysBarn]

I emailed AGR yesterday using the "contact us" form on their website. It looks like you must cancel and rebook and that the offer is only good through June 30th.
---

Thank you for contacting the Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center.

The 10% rebate offer went into effect on March 23, 2010. Redemption

reservations made prior to that date are not eligible for the redemption

rebate. The rebate offer expires on June 30, 2010.

For questions or concerns regarding your Amtrak Guest Rewards account,

please contact us at 1-800-307-5000, Monday-Friday 8am-8pm EST or visit

our website at www.amtrakguestrewards.com.

Regards,

Cindy

Amtrak Guest Rewards

--

Perhaps AGR should send a "correction" e-mail. It's nice that this forum can ferret out the answers, but AGR should make an official statement for all that received the e-mail. I, too, tried to find the terms & conditions on the web site, but to no avail.

Even on FlyerTalk, AGR Insider didn't mention an end date for the rebate.

 

[Sue in KY]

Over on the FlyerTalk forums, AGR Insider (an Amtrak Loyalty Marketing Senior Director) has posted the following additional information regarding the rebate promotion:

We apologize for any confusion surrounding the 10% point rebate on Amtrak travel. Here is some additional information surrounding the offer: The 10% rebate on Amtrak travel redemptions is available to all Amtrak Guest Rewards Chase MasterCard card holders. It is available for your next Amtrak travel redemption, as long as “first purchase” bonus points have been posted to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and your credit card is currently in open status. You must have the total amount of points required to complete the Amtrak travel redemption. The point rebate will automatically post to your AGR account following the completion of the redemption transaction, however should you cancel your reservation the rebate points will be removed from your account. Amtrak redemption reservations made prior to 3/23/2010 are not eligible for the redemption rebate. Amtrak cannot guarantee availability should you attempt to cancel an existing reservation and rebook to receive the redemption rebate. You are doing this at your own risk and must follow all standard cancellation rules. The 10% redemption rebate is a limited time promotional offer and subject to change.

His message is post #13 in the following thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtrak-gues...mc-holders.html

This sheds a bit more light on the details of the promotion.

Wow! Glad I called a couple of hours earlier -- AND that I didn't already have the tickets in hand!

Sounds like both AGR and Chase could've thought this one through a little more thoroughly before they made the initial offer ....

 

[RRrich]

So those of us who were able to get rebates on reserations that we made in Jan and Feb took advantage of AGR/Chase not haveing thought out what they were doing

 

[Sue in KY]

So those of us who were able to get rebates on reserations that we made in Jan and Feb took advantage of AGR/Chase not haveing thought out what they were doing

Even those of us who made the reservations just a few days ago!

Lucky ducks, weren't we?!

 

[PRR 60]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.

Now you have to cancel, and take your chances with a rebooking. Very nice. Of course, AGR and Amtrak could just lurk and get the same info, but this way they do it while appearing to be "helpful".

Loopholes: look out!

 

[Bigval109]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.
Now you have to cancel, and take your chances with a rebooking. Very nice. Of course, AGR and Amtrak could just lurk and get the same info, but this way they do it while appearing to be "helpful".

Loopholes: look out!

I was thinking the very same thing. That perhaps the rep was just here to spying on us for info :angry: . It is better to give than to take it back or cut it out all together. Some of us just need a break. We never had a issue of trust before <_< , but now it looks like we may have a trust issue among us on the herizon :angry: . Do we now have to be careful what we post for fear it might come back and bite us in the butt.

 

[frugalist]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.
Now you have to cancel, and take your chances with a rebooking. Very nice. Of course, AGR and Amtrak could just lurk and get the same info, but this way they do it while appearing to be "helpful".

Loopholes: look out!

I was thinking the very same thing. That perhaps the rep was just here to spying on us for info :angry: . It is better to give than to take it back or cut it out all together. Some of us just need a break. We never had a issue of trust before <_< , but now it looks like we may have a trust issue among us on the herizon :angry: . Do we now have to be careful what we post for fear it might come back and bite us in the butt.

This is just my opinion, and I have nothing to go on other than my gut feelings, but I don't think there's anything nefarious going on here with Amtrak or AGR reps reading the forums. I think in this case, it was nothing more than AGR and Chase not having all their ducks lined up when they sent out the emails. The email certainly could've been constructed better, giving us more info about the current rebate deal. Maybe I'm just being naive, but I really don't think there's anything more to this than that. And I'm usually one of the first ones to be paranoid.

[soapbox]

To me one of the greatest things about a forum like this is that we can all share ideas on how to get the most out of our AGR membership. If we have to start thinking twice about whether or not we should post something that comes to our attention, out of fear that Big Brother Is Watching, then I think the forum loses a great deal of its value. I hope it doesn't come to that.

[/soapbox]

 

[Bigval109]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.
Now you have to cancel, and take your chances with a rebooking. Very nice. Of course, AGR and Amtrak could just lurk and get the same info, but this way they do it while appearing to be "helpful".

Loopholes: look out!

I was thinking the very same thing. That perhaps the rep was just here to spying on us for info :angry: . It is better to give than to take it back or cut it out all together. Some of us just need a break. We never had a issue of trust before <_< , but now it looks like we may have a trust issue among us on the herizon :angry: . Do we now have to be careful what we post for fear it might come back and bite us in the butt.

Also why not do something in our favor . We provide valuable infor which saves their phones from being tied up for hours. Often we have more accurate information than the agents :unsure: on the phone and we reach more people for AGR and Amtrak at no cost to them. That's why I say raise the buy point limit and extend the 30% bonus on buy points into the month of may or June. Everything we do here makes the traveler's vacation and trip better and more enjoyable for them adding a more positive face to Amtrak. And we do it all at no cost to Amtrak. Why shoot your cheering squad in the foot when they work for free. Everything I have learned here has made my vacations and trips better without calling customer service. Even we have helped make things run smoothly by answering the questions others want info on. Once the CL was very late and everyone connecting to EB missed the train by mere minutes and was angry :angry: mainly because they told us that they might hold the train but they couldn't. I stopped a couple of fools from attacking the amtrak rep by reminding them that none of these people were out there making our train late. And one fool went off because he was not being helped fast enough and so in a very loud voice I offered him my place since I was next. I told him to either take my place or he should shut up :angry: as these ladies did nothing to him so he shut up and he still would not take my place after I offered again. I reminded him that the train was gone and none of us was going anywhere. Let the Ladies help us. They thanked me quietly.

 

[AAARGH!]

..

.

BUT the other 30K reward (Pacific Surfliner - Texas Eagle - Cardinal - Crescent) has NO availability for bedrooms for any of the three sleeper segments. I am not convinced I should risk it and try that too, so I held off.

Opinions needed... Is it worth 3,000 points to risk canceling and rebooking when no other rooms are available on all three trains? I'm leaning toward NO.

Yikes.

Jeff --

I don't know -- I'm inclined to agree with Jim and say, don't chance it. My ONE segment (SEA-CHI on the Empire Builder) with no other bedroom available except the one I was (temporarily) vacating was nail-biting enough to wait through while the Nice Young Man cancelled/rebooked it -- waiting while the Nice Young Woman handled THREE of 'em would put my nerves in such a twitter they'd still be a-jangle by the time of our July AGR trip!

After confering with my travel partner, it's not worth the equivalent of $82.50 (or $41.25 each) to chance messing up a really good itinerary. (I'm using 2.5 cents/mile as my cost basis.)

So I'm happy for getting 3,200 points back for my first two awards, and that is enough 'risk' for me.

 

[Bigval109]

..

.

BUT the other 30K reward (Pacific Surfliner - Texas Eagle - Cardinal - Crescent) has NO availability for bedrooms for any of the three sleeper segments. I am not convinced I should risk it and try that too, so I held off.

Opinions needed... Is it worth 3,000 points to risk canceling and rebooking when no other rooms are available on all three trains? I'm leaning toward NO.

Yikes.

Jeff --

I don't know -- I'm inclined to agree with Jim and say, don't chance it. My ONE segment (SEA-CHI on the Empire Builder) with no other bedroom available except the one I was (temporarily) vacating was nail-biting enough to wait through while the Nice Young Man cancelled/rebooked it -- waiting while the Nice Young Woman handled THREE of 'em would put my nerves in such a twitter they'd still be a-jangle by the time of our July AGR trip!

After confering with my travel partner, it's not worth the equivalent of $82.50 (or $41.25 each) to chance messing up a really good itinerary. (I'm using 2.5 cents/mile as my cost basis.)

So I'm happy for getting 3,200 points back for my first two awards, and that is enough 'risk' for me.

I told the AGR agent that I didn't want to rick losing what I already had and she told me that she would not touch my reservation but would take back my points that I used to redeem for the reward and recharge them and the rebate would be automatic . I would ask again. If you don't get the answer you want then :blink: I would just leave it as is. It's worth a try. The agent I had was so very nice and so very fast my rebated points were posted by the time I concluded my call. I checked. Are you talking a couple of thousand points?

 

[sechs]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.

Maybe it was the people calling in, and the points walking out the door.
In any case, when there's a good deal out there, it's usually a good idea to make sure that the offerer doesn't know it....

 

[AAARGH!]

I told the AGR agent that I didn't want to rick losing what I already had and she told me that she would not touch my reservation but would take back my points that I used to redeem for the reward and recharge them and the rebate would be automatic . I would ask again. If you don't get the answer you want then :blink: I would just leave it as is. It's worth a try. The agent I had was so very nice and so very fast my rebated points were posted by the time I concluded my call. I checked. Are you talking a couple of thousand points?

Unfortunately, this is what they stopped doing mid-day on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, they were doing this, but it got confusing for them (they didn't know whether they should be doing it that way). So an internal e-mail was sent out stating the only way to get this on existing reservations was the cancel / rebook method. I was 1 - 2 hours too late. :angry:

I tried three different people at AGR and got the same answer, so I think it is policy now.

For me it would have been 3,000 more points if i risked it on my third rezzy.

 

[C&O RR]

I have an East Coast to West Coast trip (all bedrooms) that is divided into 4 segments and only one of the segments has any bedrooms left. I have re-booked the one. I am worried about canceling the other 3 segments and re-booking them as I might lose the bedrooms.

Has anyone risked canceling and re-booking when the room count is 0?

If so, how did it turn out for you?

 

[Sue in KY]

I have an East Coast to West Coast trip (all bedrooms) that is divided into 4 segments and only one of the segments has any bedrooms left. I have re-booked the one. I am worried about canceling the other 3 segments and re-booking them as I might lose the bedrooms.
Has anyone risked canceling and re-booking when the room count is 0?

If so, how did it turn out for you?

One of mine (the Empire Builder) was -- I'd nabbed the very last (Bedroom A) of the bedrooms in the entire train. So the nice young man rebooked all the trains (Coast Starlight and Zephyr) that did still have bedrooms and then we both drew deep breaths and he ReallyReallyReallyQUICKLY did the Builder one.

It worked, but that was a very long couple of minutes on hold!

 

[Bigval109]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.

Maybe it was the people calling in, and the points walking out the door.
In any case, when there's a good deal out there, it's usually a good idea to make sure that the offerer doesn't know it....

I guess we now have to be careful :unsure: what we post if it is a good deal or it will be taken back or canceled? :angry: Maybe there is a 006 among us reporting to M

 

[jis]

Now I know what I was waiting for to get my reservations for the AU Gathering trip

 

[amamba]

This is an example of how having official AGR participation at the FlyerTalk site may not be as helpful as one might think. The FT participants stated how easy it was to convert an existing reservation and get the 10% points rebate. The Amtrak rep saw those postings and he pulled the plug on the practice. Maybe that was the plan all along and the AGR reps did not know any better. Yeah, maybe. Or, maybe not.
Now you have to cancel, and take your chances with a rebooking. Very nice. Of course, AGR and Amtrak could just lurk and get the same info, but this way they do it while appearing to be "helpful".

Loopholes: look out!

I completely agree with you.

 

[Ryan]

I guess that I should have thought about this working, but I called this week to cancel one segment of my upcoming trip, and had the points refunded, re-deducted and the bonus points added. I was booked CIN-CHI-PDX-ARI (Astoria, OR via a connecting bus) - I called to cancel the PDX-ARI bus ride, as we're just going to rent a car and take our time driving out to Astoria. Apparently the change to the reservation (the agent never said anything about canceling the whole thing and rebooking, and I'm in the same rooms as before) is enough to trigger the rebate.

So, if you've got a trip, maybe call in and see if you can move an endpoint by one stop and you can get a rebate.

 

[Bigval109]

Now I know what I was waiting for to get my reservations for the AU Gathering trip

What is the AU gathering trip?