I'm quick to mock AGR for its generally shambolic relationship to business, but this is as classy a devaluation as I have seen. We have nearly three months to book travel, there are still no capacity controls, and we can book travel for eleven months ahead. Compare that to what British Airways and Hilton have done in the past couple of years. Really, while I'm not happy about the increase, I'm pleasantly impressed by how it was done.
That having been said, the first time I booked DEN-SAC-PDX-MSP in bedrooms it was a one-zone award for 20,000 points. Soon it will be a two-zone award for 40,000 points. It's still a great deal, but not what it was, and with the end of transfers through Continental I fear AGR points will be harder for me to acquire.
I'll admit that I initially thought that this was a joke, given that the changes take effect April Fools Day.
I'll second this sentiment. The other point I'll make is that you're
still getting a solid deal almost across the board. Taking the value of a point as being $.01 (what you'd get on an efficient gift card redemption, were you to do so), you get the following:
Code:
Acela First: $105.00 to $120.00
Business, NE: $65.00 to $75.00
Coach, NE: $30.00 to $40.00
Business, Spec: $15.00 to $20.00
Coach, Spec: $10.00 to $15.00
BR/One Zone: $200.00 to $250.00
BR/Two Zone: $300.00 to $400.00
BR/Three Zone: $500.00 to $600.00
Rule Buster 1: $185.00 to $190.00
Rule Buster 2: $115.00 to $130.00
Rule Buster 3: $55.00 to $70.00
In most of these cases, you're still looking at an impressive deal: A bedroom from WAS to LAX on the Cap and the Chief in the middle of the month (I picked Jan. 18) runs $1616; going from NYP-LAX on the LSL/SWC is $1787; NYP-SEA on the LSL/Builder is $1475. Even the cheapest coast-to-coast trip on that date (WAS-EMY on the Cap and the Zephry) runs $1158. By contrast, you can also book a MIA-NYP-CHI-LAX Meteor-LSL-SWC that "ought" to cost you $3134 for those rooms for that same price.
Do note that most of those special corridors are seeing major fare spikes this year, too (the Surfliner jumps to mind in particular, but it's pretty steady across the board), while that Acela First ticket still gets you a $306 fare WAS-BOS this weekend.
Is this deal "less good" than it was before? Yes. Is it still a very good deal? Absolutely, particularly if you use it right. And there is still (at least for the interim, and presumably for another year or two; I doubt we'd see a second set of increases this year) the roomette deal.