Acela City pairs

[Steve4031]

My new years resolution is to get elite status in Guest rewards.

I think I can get a good start by getting three quick rides on the Acela on January 15 and 16.

On Sunday the 15, I would ride NYP to Washington.

On Monday, I would go from Washington to Providence and Providence back to Newark.

Would this work for getting 1500 pts in business and 2350 in first class?

Thanks

 

[AlanB]

Steve,

Here are the qualifying pairs:

The qualifying city pairs are: Boston - Stamford, Boston - New York, Boston - Newark, Boston - Metropark, Boston - Washington, Boston - Philadelphia, Boston Back Bay - Stamford, Boston Back Bay - New York, Boston Back Bay - Newark, Boston Back Bay - Metropark, Boston Back Bay - Washington, Boston Back Bay - Philadelphia, Route 128 - Stamford, Route 128 - New York, Route 128 - Newark, Route 128 - Metropark, Route 128 - Washington, Route 128 - Philadelphia, Stamford - Washington, New York - Washington, Newark - Washington, Metropark - Washington.

So your NYP to WAS trip would qualify. But going to PVD would not.

One other thing that you can do real easily to help get your point total up faster to qualify for Select status, take a round trip to MKE from CHI. But don't just book CHI to MKE and back. Book CHI to GLN, GLN to SVT, SVT to MKA, MKA to MKE. You can book that trip under the multiple cities page on the website. Reverse the order for your return.

You can book all four tickets on one reservation, on the same trains, and hand in the tickets to the conductor. It will cost you $20 just like it does without a discount if you booked one ticket CHI - MKE. Yet you'll get 400 points, thanks to the 100 point minimum per ticket. So one round trip for 40 bucks booked this way, would net you 800 points.

Make a few trips like that and you'll rack up the points real quick and for far less money than riding Acela. Granted it's not as sexy of a ride as Acela, but it is cheaper.

 

[Trogdor]

One other thing that you can do real easily to help get your point total up faster to qualify for Select status, take a round trip to MKE from CHI. But don't just book CHI to MKE and back. Book CHI to GLN, GLN to SVT, SVT to MKA, MKA to MKE. You can book that trip under the multiple cities page on the website. Reverse the order for your return.

Why didn't I ever think of that?

 

[AlanB]

One other thing that you can do real easily to help get your point total up faster to qualify for Select status, take a round trip to MKE from CHI.  But don't just book CHI to MKE and back.  Book CHI to GLN, GLN to SVT, SVT to MKA, MKA to MKE.  You can book that trip under the multiple cities page on the website.  Reverse the order for your return.

Why didn't I ever think of that?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I don't know. But know that you know, you too can benefit from this trick.

Yes the conductor may give you an odd stare when you hand him 4 tickets for your one way trip to CHI. But who cares?

 

[PRR 60]

On Monday, I would go from Washington to Providence and Providence back to Newark.

For the Washington (WAS) to Providence (PVD) trip, book back-to-back segments: one from WAS to Metropark (MET) and then a second from MET to PVD on the same train using the multi-city option on te booking page. You will receive 500 points for WAS-MET and 2x dollar points MET-PVD. The fare will be exactly the same as if you booked one ticket WAS-PVD.

One more idea: Instead of WAS-MET-PVD, book WAS-MET-Boston and get off in PVD. The fare difference to BOS is, tah dah, $1. Now you get TWO 500 point segments on one trip. If this junket is simply a trip for points, you can take the Regional back to Newark and save a couple of bucks or book the return BOS-NWK, get on in PVD, collect still another 500 points. So, 2000 points coach or buy-up to 3000 points First Class.

BTW: doesn't it sound dumb that WAS-MET gets a bonus and WAS-PVD does not? Why yes, it does.

 

[Steve4031]

These are intersting ideas. For this year, I need 2,452 for elite status. So three round trips to MilWaukee would just about do it. I would just need to get those last 52 points, which could be done on anohter trip.

So basically for 120 dollars I could achieve elite status this year, and then earn bonus points onmy Acela trips for next year.

I cant believe Amtrak really allows this to be done without closing the loophole.

 

[AlanB]

Well I just read about someone doing a similar thing out in California less than a month ago.

Don't know why they don't close the hole, but hey there are many holes in the system that have been there for years. Like the loophole on Acela when one upgrades from BC to FC.

 

[Trogdor]

Well I just read about someone doing a similar thing out in California less than a month ago.
Don't know why they don't close the hole, but hey there are many holes in the system that have been there for years.  Like the loophole on Acela when one upgrades from BC to FC.

What loophole would that be?

While this isn't much of a "loophole," I did get extra credit earlier this year when I rode the Three Rivers on its last weekend of existence.

I rode CHI-HAR in business class, then returned HAR-CHI. However, business class was full east of PGH, so I bought a separate, accommodation-only ticket for business class PGH-CHI. That ticket was (IIRC) around $30 or so. But since it was a separate ticket coupon, I got 100 points for it (whereas, had it been added onto my coach ticket, it would have just yielded 60 additional points).

 

[Steve4031]

To clarify, I need to complete all travel before december 31.

Thanks

 

[AlanB]

Like the loophole on Acela when one upgrades from BC to FC.

What loophole would that be?

The one where if you use a free upgrade from BC to FC, you get the normal points for FC that you would get if you had paid full fare. Assuming that you are traveling between the special city pairs.

 

[AlanB]

To clarify, I need to complete all travel before december 31.
Thanks

Not only do you need to complete the travel, you need to complete it early enough that the points post to your account before December 31st. AFAIK, if they post in the new year you won't get the status.

 

[Steve4031]

This is the exact wording from Amtrak's website.

2005 Select membership is automatically achieved by earning 5,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points on Amtrak® rail travel (excluding partner and bonus points) during a calendar year. 2005 Select Plus membership is automatically achieved by earning 10,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points on Amtrak rail travel (excluding partner and bonus points) during a calendar year.

I also saw that points are posted 4 to 6 weeks after travel. If you do recall correctly, I am out of the running almost immediately.

I will call Amtrak tomorrow.

 

[jccollins]

Well I just read about someone doing a similar thing out in California less than a month ago.

Yup, that was me. It works like a charm every time - just don't tell someone at Amtrak the real reason you are turning in multiple tickets or they will end up reporting it and probably close this loophole too. I always just act dumb and tell the conductor that is how the ticket agent must have booked it. If the tickets are issued in SAC they usually just nod their head and say they've seen worse from the SAC agents.

You can still qualify for 2006 Select or Select+ status by traveling NOW. As long as the actual travel is taken on or before December 31, 2005 it will still qualify you for Select or Select+ status for year 2006 even though the points will not post until early next year. The travel date is what actually counts.

 

[Guest_steve4031]

I called Amtrak today and was told the same thing. Now if I book these multiple segments on the computer, and use the ticket machines at Union station, I should be ok. I could always blame the machine or whatever.

What I will do is take three of these kinds of trips out of Chicago in the next couple of weeks. One will be to Milwaukee, one to Detroit, and one to St. Louis. That would give me 2400 points, and I would need one more trip to get that last 52 points.

Thanks again for the input and help.

 

[Steve4031]

Here is the latest on my saga.

I just did a test booking on Amtaks website. I can do the for segments on one train strategy for Chicago to Milwaukee. But I could not for Chicago to St. Louis, nor for Chicago to Detroit.

In those cases I could get at most two segments on the same train before being automatically placed on the following train. I selected the same train for each segment but was "forced" into the alternate plan. Even taking two different trains though, the fare was similar to a one way fare.

So I will play with this, and develop a plan to ride all three corridors and get my points.

 

[Trogdor]

Do you plan on doing your Milwaukee trip soon? Let me know how things work out. I'm temptingly close to select-plus status, and want to know if it's worth it to bug the conductors like that.

 

[Steve4031]

Do you plan on doing your Milwaukee trip soon? Let me know how things work out. I'm temptingly close to select-plus status, and want to know if it's worth it to bug the conductors like that.

I will be doing this at some point before the end of December. I will let you know how it works. To be honest, it ought to be funny to see the look on the guys face when I hand him a handful of ticket and play dumb.

I will be earning points also on the Texas Eagle. I decided to fly down to San Antonio on Southwest, and then ride 22 back to Chicago. This way I could leave Chicago on a friday night and return by Sunday and not miss any days of work. The fair was 372 for a one way in a roomette which is a nice fare, but unfortunatley not even 800 reward points.

 

[Superliner Diner]

My new years resolution is to get elite status in Guest rewards.
I think I can get a good start by getting three quick rides on the Acela on January 15 and 16.

On Sunday the 15, I would ride NYP to Washington.

On Monday, I would go from Washington to Providence and Providence back to Newark.

Would this work for getting 1500 pts in business and 2350 in first class?

Thanks

Steve,

The above would work nicely towards your 2007 elite status!

From Select Plus member.....

 

[Steve4031]

My new years resolution is to get elite status in Guest rewards.
I think I can get a good start by getting three quick rides on the Acela on January 15 and 16.

On Sunday the 15, I would ride NYP to Washington.

On Monday, I would go from Washington to Providence and Providence back to Newark.

Would this work for getting 1500 pts  in business and 2350 in first class?

Thanks

Steve,

The above would work nicely towards your 2007 elite status!

From Select Plus member.....

Right now, I am working on 06 status. On Friday, December 16, I will fly to San Antonio and take 22 back which will give me 600 points. Then I will try some of the tricks mentioned above by going to Milwaukee and back 2 or 3 times.

If this works, I will get bonus miles for that Acela trip, plus the other trips I take in 06.