Points in Dollar Equivalents--Range

[Dr D Lo]

I am traveling from Benson AZ to San Antonio TX. An upgrade to a roomette cost about $179 . I upgraded with points and now having buyers remorse. It cost 20,000 points (2 zones) for the upgrade. That is about $114 per point. Is that a waste of points?

Don

 

[amamba]

Yes, IMO, that was a big waste of points. You can always get a points refund and then go ahead and buy the roomette! Your redemption ($179/20,000) comes out to $0.00895/point. That means a value of less than one penny per point.

Right now one can buy 10,000 points with a free 3,000 points bonus for $275. That is a value of $0.02/per point.

The best redemptions are in the range of $0.05-$0.10/point.

For example, I redeemed 30,000 points for a two zone bedroom from SEA - CHI this july. That same bedroom now costs $1878 for two people, including railfare (if you can even find one!), which means the value of each point was $0.0626.

Another example for an awards reservation I just did is from NYP - DFB (in Florida) on the Silver Meteor in November. Right now the railfare + roomette fee for two people is $716. I got that for 15,000 points which comes out to $0.0477/point.

 

[Dr D Lo]

Where does one go to find out what the cost in points is for a roomette? Does it vary depending on availability? I need to become more informed to keep from wasting points.

Don

Yes, IMO, that was a big waste of points. You can always get a points refund and then go ahead and buy the roomette! Your redemption ($179/20,000) comes out to $0.00895/point. That means a value of less than one penny per point.

Right now one can buy 10,000 points with a free 3,000 points bonus for $275. That is a value of $0.02/per point.

The best redemptions are in the range of $0.05-$0.10/point.

For example, I redeemed 30,000 points for a two zone bedroom from SEA - CHI this july. That same bedroom now costs $1878 for two people, including railfare (if you can even find one!), which means the value of each point was $0.0626.

Another example for an awards reservation I just did is from NYP - DFB (in Florida) on the Silver Meteor in November. Right now the railfare + roomette fee for two people is $716. I got that for 15,000 points which comes out to $0.0477/point.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Go to the AGR Site and Log in, you can check all the Redemption Rates here!(and the Rates are based on a Zone System, doesnt matter what the Price of the Rail Fare and Rooms are/same amount of Points! As to Fares. one of our Members, Paul M. developed Amsnag.net, you can look up Fares for up to 30 days on this site!

As to the use of Points, remember that when you use your Points it also includes the Rail Fare for 1/ 2/3 or 4 People depending on the Room Booked and all Meals in the Diner, so the $179 would have to be added to the Rail Fare, which currently is $202 for One, the current Rate for Roomettes is $345, so if you booked @ these Prices it would be a much better use of Points!

 

[gatelouse]

I am traveling from Benson AZ to San Antonio TX. An upgrade to a roomette cost about $179 . I upgraded with points and now having buyers remorse. It cost 20,000 points (2 zones) for the upgrade. That is about $114 per point. Is that a waste of points?

Don

AGR doesn't have upgrade awards. The 20,000 point award is a free ticket award covering both the rail fare plus upgrade charge. When you book a sleeper your rail fare drops to the lowest charged on the route, or $103 for your city pair, meaning that your 20,000 points got you $103+$179=$282 in value. About 1.4 cents per point, still quite a ways below my target.

 

[Ispolkom]

A proper AGR zone map is here. The one on the present AGR Web site lacks the names of the border cities.

Looking at the map, you can see that travel across zone borders costs much more than travel within zones. Benson to San Antonio is 822 miles and 2 zones. Albuquerque-Los Angeles-Portland-Wolf Point is 2817 miles and 1 zone. (Mileage estimated using Google maps.)

I never use AGR points unless the return is more than 3 cents per point.

If you haven't printed your AGR tickets and you can get a roomette at the low price you described, why not buy the ticket, then cancel the AGR reservation and get all your points back for another trip?

ETA: Remember what jimhudson wrote. An AGR sleeper award costs the same regardless of the number of passengers in the accommodation, so it's a better deal if you have a traveling companion.

 

[PJnVA]

I am new Amtrak traveler, 1st trip was in March 2012 and I LOVED it! I immediately came home and signed up for AGR and the Chase Rewards MC knowing I would plan another cross country trip soon. Well I booked that trip Thursday for travel in October this year and almost made a very costly mistake. I thought the 20,000 points for a 2 zone roomette was for an upgrade to the roomette, so I was going to purchase the rail pass for $429.00. (less a $200 Amtrak Customer relations credit) Trip cost for me alone would be $229.00 Very affordable Then I needed to add my Son to the whole itinerary. I knew he would travel in the Roomette at "no Charge" since the points paid for that up grade but I thought he would also have to pay for a rail pass at $429.00. Found out through this board and this thread what a costly Newbie mistake I was making ;-) After reading this tread I have corrected this mistake and I am nor paying $160.00 for two travelers on this trip instead of $229.00 for one traveler. My AGR reward of 40,000 points saved me a total of $2160.00. Thank you very much jimhudson. 2160/400

My Great train Adventure part 2 shakes out like this...

WAS 10/6 4:05pm - CHI 8:45am Capital Limited (lower Level)

CHI 10/7 1:45pm - LAX 5:35am Texas Eagle (AGR -Roomette)

LAX 10/10 6:15pm - CHI 3:15pm Southwest Chief (AGR -Roomette)

CHI 10/12 6:10pm - WAS 12:40pm Capital Limited (lower Level)

 

[Ryan]

Excellent, glad that you got things right and it sounds like a great award at over $0.05/point.