Companion Voucher Questions

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T

The Metropolitan

OBS Chief
Joined
Apr 13, 2006
Messages
849
Location
Baltimore, MD
Having picked the Companion Vouchers as my "prize" of choice in the recent promotion, I began to think of where I might get the most use of them.

What I'm thinking of doing is taking a Baltimore-Carolina trip in late September with a friend using the Carolinian.

The initial plan is to take #79 down to Raleigh, stay the night there, catch #73 to Charlotte to stay two nights there, and then take #80 back to Baltimore on a Saturday.

I'd planned to use the vouchers on #79 and #80, with both of us getting paid tickets on #73 since it's the cheapest of the three trains.

Having never had these before, I really don't know if this will be possible, and what restrictions there are, so...

1 - Do you think the vouchers will arrive in enough time to be usable for a late September trip?

2 - Would they apply to an upgrade to BC, or only coach?

3 - Any blackouts or day restrictions on them? I was looking at 9/24-9/27 which I would expect to be wide open date wise, but wasn't sure if there were day of week restrictions.
 
1 - Don't know. I don't recall a time frame being noted on the special bonus coupon offer.

2 - The free companion vouchers exclude accommodation charges. However, you could get the extra rail fare for free, and just pay the accommodation charge.

3 - Can't use them September 1, November 25-26, November 29-30..., etc. September 24-27 should be okay.
 
They tend to be more useful to those who don't ride the train often enough to have status.

The big disadvantage of these coupons is that neither party earns AGR points and that could be a big deal if you are doing a round trip cross country or on the Acela and need points to maintain Select or Select + status. But, I can completely see why Amtrak doesn't want to give the whole farm away, considering that a Round Trip Acela ride from WAS to BOS or even a ride on one of the Long Distance trains can easily save $300 to $400 for a couple.

On the other hand, it's pretty cool to be able to upgrade to 1st on Acela using a free coupon and be able to get 750 points instead of the 500 that were actually paid for.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
diesteldorf said:
The big disadvantage of these coupons is that neither party earns AGR points and that could be a big deal if you are doing a round trip cross country or on the Acela and need points to maintain Select or Select + status.
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Thanks for this - I didn't know or expect that, but seeming as it is something of a reward trip, I guess it makes sense, and it definitely provides food for thought.

At this point just past the middle of the year, I'm 1878 points shy of making Select again. While that sounds good, I'm only this far along thanks to using the upgrade on my one Acela jaunt this year to get 750 pts followed by 2 sleeper trips that netted me about 1050 points total, and I've not a single reservation in store.

So now, I guess I need to examine if

a- I want to try for Select this year,

b - I can book enough trips to actually do so,

and c - if using the voucher would preclude me from making it, and if so, if there is enough cost benefit to simply using it and foregoing the status next year.

I'm sort of leaning towards using them on tickets that are about $45 to $55 in value so that they give me a decent benefit, while negating a point value that I could easily make up with a simple DC round trip at $14 a pop (a la the 100 point minimum in place of a 110 point transaction at the going rate)
 
Has anyone received any of the coupons that they picked from the special Select/Select Plus offer?

While I don't need the coupons just yet, the offer was a few weeks ago, and I'll need them in about four weeks. Still plenty of time, but I'm getting just a tad bit nervous about them showing up on time.
 
Although the certificate doesn't seem to indicate such, do you have to be Select or Select Plus to use one? Thanks in advance for your reply!
 
AlanB said:
SharonLPK said:
Although the certificate doesn't seem to indicate such, do you have to be Select or Select Plus to use one? Thanks in advance for your reply!
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Anyone can use them. You don't need to have status to use them, only to get them for free from Amtrak.
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Thanks, that's what I thought, there are quite a few available 'out there' now so I was double checking!
 
rmadisonwi said:
Has anyone received any of the coupons that they picked from the special Select/Select Plus offer?
While I don't need the coupons just yet, the offer was a few weeks ago, and I'll need them in about four weeks. Still plenty of time, but I'm getting just a tad bit nervous about them showing up on time.
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Unfortunately not. Leaves me pondering whether or not to cash in 3000 points for one of the possible plans I have for September.
 
To update, I received my Companion Vouchers today in the mail, and found a great way to put them to use.

Since economy was of the essence for me, I booked one direction of a daytrip (though the voucher is good for a round trip) from here to New York on a Regional, and cashed in 6000 points for the more expensive direction.

All told, the two of us got a round trip to New York for $64 total and 6000 points.

You can call me satisfied.
 
diesteldorf said:
The big disadvantage of these coupons is that neither party earns AGR points and that could be a big deal if you are doing a round trip cross country or on the Acela and need points to maintain Select or Select + status.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, ONLY the free companion ticket has any mention that there's anything special about it, noting "H104 AGR SELECT PLUS TIER FREE COMPANION COUPON." My own ticket, the paid one, looks just like your average ordinary ticket, even has my AGR Number on it.

With only the common reservation number to link the two tickets, I sort of wonder if they'd actually go through the trouble of linking my ticket to the unpaid one with the message.

I guess I'll find out within a couple of weeks. We roll on Monday.

604 points needed to make Select, and I look to knock that down another 200 this weekend. Another 128 would really get me within a stone's throw of Select again.
 
If they offer this again, would I be able to book a sleeper paying both the railfare (senior rate) and the accommodation charge for myself and get a free railfare for my companion (wifey) - As I see it she would ride (and sleep) in the sleeper for free as the accommodation charge has already been paid by me.

Too bad all the vouchers that I have seen expire Feb '09
 
RRrich said:
If they offer this again, would I be able to book a sleeper paying both the railfare (senior rate) and the accommodation charge for myself and get a free railfare for my companion (wifey) - As I see it she would ride (and sleep) in the sleeper for free as the accommodation charge has already been paid by me.
Too bad all the vouchers that I have seen expire Feb '09
Click to expand...
No, the coupons at least under the current rules are not valid in conjunction with a sleeper.

They are only valid when both passengers are in coach.
 

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