You gotta spend nearly $10,000 on Amtrak travel in a single year to qualify. OR - take a BUNCH of really short cheap trips. I guess that's only 200 trips under $50 - so if you commuted between Windsor Locks, CT and Springfield, MA for $5.50, you could "buy" Select Executive status for a mere $1100 and it would only take 100 round trip days.
Sigh. Maybe if I retire, I can take daily trips to Yemassee from Savannah for $28 per round trip and earn my Select Executive in the same 100 days, but pay $2800 for it. WAH!
Once you get Select E, do ALL your accrued points become TQP? So once you get it, then using your AGR MC could keep you on Select Executive for perpetuity?