Select Status

[David Fiorillo]

Hi,

I need 168 points to select status, unfortunately even after filling out a missing point request form, some of my points did not post. If they had, they would get me over the 5000 limit. Is it possible to call Amtrak to get this resolved?

Also, how big of a deal is it if I come up 168 points for select status? Do all the points really erase January 1?

Thanks for your help!

 

[AlanB]

First, yes, the points counter towards status really does reset on Jan 1st. You don't loose the points, they are still in your account for future use towards free trips or things in the store. But come Jan 1st, you'll have to start all over again to gain status for next year (2010).

As for your missing points, yes, by all means do call AGR to try and get it resolved. You may have to eventually mail in copies of your ticket stubs, don't mail the originals or you'll have no proof if they loose them. If you can get it cleared up before the end of the year then you'll automatically qualify for Select Status if those missing points are greater than the 168 you say you need.

If it doesn't get resolved until next year, the points will still show up in your account as having posted for this year, but the automatic status calculator will not notice that. So you'll have to get AGR to manually push through your status. So if you're still talking with AGR after Jan 1st, once they've agreed to post the points to your account, make sure to ask them to manually push through your Select status.

 

[wayman]

If it doesn't get resolved until next year, the points will still show up in your account as having posted for this year, but the automatic status calculator will not notice that. So you'll have to get AGR to manually push through your status. So if you're still talking with AGR after Jan 1st, once they've agreed to post the points to your account, make sure to ask them to manually push through your Select status.

Related to this, I will have achieved 5,000 points in 2008 without having to call AGR to make some of the points post ... but some of the travel is in mid-to-late December and will almost certainly not post until early-to-mid January. Should I call AGR once I've observed that all of those trips have posted, or will they still automatically trigger Select status since they will (eventually) have all automatically posted with travel dates in 2008?

 

[AlanB]

If it doesn't get resolved until next year, the points will still show up in your account as having posted for this year, but the automatic status calculator will not notice that. So you'll have to get AGR to manually push through your status. So if you're still talking with AGR after Jan 1st, once they've agreed to post the points to your account, make sure to ask them to manually push through your Select status.

Related to this, I will have achieved 5,000 points in 2008 without having to call AGR to make some of the points post ... but some of the travel is in mid-to-late December and will almost certainly not post until early-to-mid January. Should I call AGR once I've observed that all of those trips have posted, or will they still automatically trigger Select status since they will (eventually) have all automatically posted with travel dates in 2008?

You should be ok, since the trips will post with a December date and the system should pick that up and reflect it. But I would still stay on top of things and be prepared to call if for some reason it doesn't happen. And even though the counter won't show the change, your status will show on the site once things do click into place.

 

[the_traveler]

Since OP needs only 168 points, I would book a cheap RT. Even a $5 trip each way would give 200 points, and that would put OP in select status. (I would hate to try to get those other points to post, and then find out that I'm 168 points short - if they don't get posted for some reason! )

 

[Ryan]

I've got a related (but opposite) question - I traveled to Sanford on 53 on the 26th - presumably these points aren't going to post until after the first of the year. Does this mean that those points will count for 2009? Since I'm nowhere near 5,000 for 2008, and I'm returning on 52 after the first of the year, it'd be nice to have all the points start towards status in 2009. Any chances of that happening?

 

[RRrich]

As of "now" my AGR Point Balance is 7,389 of which 5,294 are Rail Points and I have Select Status (4,7066 rail points to Select Plus). All the points that I should have, I do have and I plan no trips until late January.

As of Jan 1, 2009, will I have a Point Balance is 7,389 and ZERO rail points? How many more rail points to Select Plus?

 

[AlanB]

Hokie,

You're in a mixed boat if you'll pardon the expression. The points for your ticket, and if you had a sleeper, the accomodation charges should show up automatically and they will be credited to 2008 automatically. They should also roll the counter for this year, even though you won't be able to see it happen since the counter will be reset for the 2009 year by then. But you should notice the change in your status when you login to your account, assuming that those points are enough to push you over.

Where you're going to run into trouble is on the points for the transport of your car. Unless they've fixed the problem created by the closing of the multiple tickets on the same train loophole from a few years ago, the system will reject the ticket for your car/SUV as an attempt to violate the multiple tickets rule and earn extra points. This rule is not supposed to apply to the AT, but no one seems to have told or figured out how to tell the computer that the AT is exempt from that rule.

Therefore it usually requires calling AGR to get the points awarded for your car. They'll still most likely post to last year, but the counter may not notice the manual posting. Therefore if you need those points for your vehicles transport to qualify, you may have to request that the agent manually bump you up to the correct status. And last I knew, the agents couldn't actually do that, they had to escalate that to a supervisor.

 

[AlanB]

As of "now" my AGR Point Balance is 7,389 of which 5,294 are Rail Points and I have Select Status (4,7066 rail points to Select Plus). All the points that I should have, I do have and I plan no trips until late January.
As of Jan 1, 2009, will I have a Point Balance is 7,389 and ZERO rail points? How many more rail points to Select Plus?

Rich,

I'm actually a bit confused by your question, so I hope that I'm giving you the answer you want.

Come January, your account balance will still be 7,389. The counter for status will reset to zero and you'll start earning points towards status for 2010. If you reach 5,000 rail points before the end of calendar 2009, you'll keep your Select Status through Feb 2011. If at any point you reach 10,000 rail points earned during 2009, then you will immediately get bumped to Select Plus for the remainder of 2009, as well as for all of 2010.

 

[Ryan]

Alan,

Thanks for clearing that up! Since I'm not close to status for this year, it sounds like the "glitch" will help me out, as what should be my 2008 points for the vehicle will be counted as 2009 points, since I'll have to call about them (thanks for the heads up on that!). So, when all is said and done, I'll have my rail fare, sleeper and 2x the vehicle charge all in the first week of 2009 - off to a great start!!!

 

[Trogdor]

Alan,
Thanks for clearing that up! Since I'm not close to status for this year, it sounds like the "glitch" will help me out, as what should be my 2008 points for the vehicle will be counted as 2009 points, since I'll have to call about them (thanks for the heads up on that!). So, when all is said and done, I'll have my rail fare, sleeper and 2x the vehicle charge all in the first week of 2009 - off to a great start!!!

If you traveled in December 2008, the points will count for 2008, not 2009. The "glitch" in this case won't help you out unless the agent somehow manages to credit those points to 2009 and they somehow get counted in the system as rail points, neither of which is likely.

I've had an agent manually give me points because it appeared as if I'd taken the same train twice (unreserved tickets purchased at the same time, but traveled on different days and they didn't post automatically, so I had to call...long story). When the agent gave me the manual points, they looked like bonus points, not rail points. In that case, not only did I not get the 50% Select Plus bonus, but it also didn't count properly towards the spring Hiawatha promotion where, had the points posted correctly, I'd have received 1,002 bonus points. So, in short, AGR owes me 1,052 points. I didn't think it was worth enough to push the issue any further than I already had, though, so they can keep the 1052 points.

 

[AlanB]

Hokie,

No you misread what I wrote, but as Robert explained everything should go into 2008. It just may not all go into 2008 automatically. It's very unlikely that anything will land in 2009. That's not to say that it absolutely can't happen, but it is unlikely.