Four segments clarification

[wayman]

Over on the main forum, the_traveler replied to an AGR-related question of mine by pointing out the new AGR policy of

Except as provided in this Section, Members who provide their Membership Number at the time of ticket purchase will earn 2 Points for every $1 spent on Amtrak travel, a minimum of 100 Points for each trip. A maximum of two roundtrips or four one-way trips, per member, per day will be allowed to earn points under the 100 point minimum per trip rule. Any trips subsequent to the maximum of two roundtrips or four one-ways, per member, per day will receive 2 Points for every $1 if the trips point value exceeds 100 points.

So, I'm in the position (just like last year) of needing to rack up points quickly in December to make it to 5000 for 2008 to make AGR Select for 2009. Fortunately, living near Philadelphia I can spend $5.85 per trip between any city-pair of PHL, ARD, PAO December 2007, I was doing PHL-ARD-PHL every day, under the old rules that any further Keystone travel on the same day would not qualify for the "100 point minimum".

With the above new AGR policy, am I correct in understanding I could now ride something like ARD-PHL-PAO-ARD in a single day and pick up 300 points? Are there nuances to be concerned with, such as each segment having to be on a different train? That is, could I even ride the above itinerary but with tickets for ARD-PHL, PHL-ARD and ARD-PAO (staying on the same train), PAO-ARD, and pick up 400 points for three trains, or if I wanted four segments like that would I have to detrain at ARD and board the next train for PAO?

Sure, I'll consider the schedules and maybe branch out further than Paoli as time permits. I've still never been further (by train) on the Keystone, though I've visited the Lancaster station.

Basically, this is fantastic if it works since it'll save me a lot of time

 

[AlanB]

The bottom line here is that if you hand Amtrak more than 4 tickets on one day that don't meet the minimum $50 amount, you won't get the 100 AGR minimum for the fifth ticket or anything more than 5. What's unclear is whether you get any points at all, as in the normal 2 per $. Also unclear is what happens if you hand in two tickets worth less than $50 and three tickets that are worth more than $50.

And of course the old rule that stated you can't hand in more than one ticket per train still applies.

 

[wayman]

The bottom line here is that if you hand Amtrak more than 4 tickets on one day that don't meet the minimum $50 amount, you won't get the 100 AGR minimum for the fifth ticket or anything more than 5. What's unclear is whether you get any points at all, as in the normal 2 per $. Also unclear is what happens if you hand in two tickets worth less than $50 and three tickets that are worth more than $50.
And of course the old rule that stated you can't hand in more than one ticket per train still applies.

Ah, forgot about that final rule, obviously. But three (or even four) distinct Keystones ridden on a single day will now yield 300 (or 400) AGR now? This is excellent for me, since an hour of each "Keystone run" is traveling between home and the initial station (not earning any points): so more points per day equals more points per minute and less time in traffic, too

Time to go figure out where and when I'm riding tomorrow!