Using AGR to purchase a ticket, but have kids...

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Eris

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
275
This is, perhaps, a somewhat specialized situation... but maybe someone here knows. I don't get along really well with the telephone but will call if I need to... if only I could trust what an agent tells me on the phone! ;)

So, I have 5660 AGR points, which is enough to buy a coach ticket from Seattle to Los Angeles (one zone for 5500 points), which is just the ride I need to take. Except, I travel with my two kids (who I failed to sign up for AGR when we first started riding, so their balances are around 1000 points). I can't book this trip online, because I can only buy one ticket with the points and then can't buy two children's tickets without an adult on the reservation, so my question is, can I book this if I call?

[As a side note, since points are accumulated per dollar spent, and since childrens tickets are half price, their accumulation is quite a bit slower than mine... wouldn't it be NICE if one could get a one zone coach ticket for a child for 2750 points... alas, they do not differentiate rewards tickets by adult/child. If they did, we'd be just about one last paid trip sea-lax away from a rewards trip for the three of us]
 
Have you considered Buying 10,000 Points though AGR? Right now they have a Targeted Promo offering 50% Bonus Points, you would get 15,000 (if not elgible you'd still have Enough with your 5,000+ Points= 15,000 ) Points for $275, then you could Book a Roomette for 15,000 Points from SEA-LAX which would include All Meals in the Diner, the use of the Pacific Parlor Car and the Room with use of the Shower and All Sleeper Amenities! This is a much Better use of Points since an AGR Sleeper Award includes Rail Fare and the Room for up to 3 persons in the Room (1 Adult/2 Children!) Check it out, its a great deal! And do you have the AGR Master Card, they are offering Bonus points to sign up and it's a Great way to Accumulate Points Fast! Check it out! ;)
 
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I did this same thing w/ one child earlier in the year, booked coach for me w/ AGR points and half priced fare for my son which was paid for in dollars. Just called AGR without a problem.

Dan
 
Buying the points is a good idea, but I second the comment about talking to the agent. You can combine a points trip and purchased tickets in the same phone call to AGR. I did that as well. They will do the points award, and then should ask "Is there anything else I can help you with?" So just jump right in and tell them up-front what you want to do! Should be no problem.
 
jimhudson said:
Have you considered Buying 10,000 Points though AGR? Right now they have a Targeted Promo offering 50% Bonus Points, you would get 15,000 (if not elgible you'd still have Enough with your 5,000+ Points= 15,000 ) Points for $275, then you could Book a Roomette for 15,000 Points from SEA-LAX which would include All Meals in the Diner, the use of the Pacific Parlor Car and the Room with use of the Shower and All Sleeper Amenities! This is a much Better use of Points since an AGR Sleeper Award includes Rail Fare and the Room for up to 3 persons in the Room (1 Adult/2 Children!) Check it out, its a great deal! And do you have the AGR Master Card, they are offering Bonus points to sign up and it's a Great way to Accumulate Points Fast! Check it out! ;)
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Except all roomette awards now only include 2 people, as do bedrooms.

You will have to pay the railfare to add additional passengers to the award.
 
Whoa, I had not considered buying points! That would bring the three of us up to around $325 (railfare for 1 child w/AAA discount should be around $50), which is about the same as a good deal on flying for the three of us- it's a lot more than $100 for the three of us to go coach this trip, but really pretty justifiable. I will totally consider doing that, thanks!

Unfortunately, I am not in a financial position to qualify for a new credit card.
 
Just write down exactly what you want and have it in front of you when you make your call. I mean - map out everything, from the routes to the names going on the tickets, and mark which are the kids with the paid fare. I'm pretty sure you know where you want to go and the names of your kids, but this can be really helpful - especially when they relay all the info to you before finalizing the reservation. I'd write down what the fare would be next to each kid's name.

If you want to purchase a child fare to go with an AGR award trip, over the phone is the only way. If there's any problem with it once you get your itenerary via email, you can call again to correct it. The most important thing would be to note your reservation numer. That will be what you need in case you have to correct something.

As for accumulation of points, my kid still gets the minimum 100 points (even with a AAA discount) per segment and got the full 500 point bonus for signing up. I got the full 500 points for the referral. Any points that get transferred count as full points. It works pretty well if you take short trips that cost less than $50.
 
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So, I went ahead and transferred the kids' points to me (they each had 1036, so $20 to consolidate 2000 points), so now I just need to buy 7500 points, for around $206. That's pretty much my travel budget for this leg, so I want to be, ah, reassured: they'll *really* let me book a roomette for me and one kid AND buy a kids-price ticket for the other kid? 'Cause if they don't, I'll have to book the whole thing over with new money, since the points purchase is non-refundable, so I'm a little edgy about it.
 
They are 8 and 11, and so either one qualifies for the child rate. I see a thread from last week where someone was trying to book three adults into a bedroom by using AGR points (limited to two people) + buying (or using more points) for the third ticket, and had some trouble with that...
 
Thank you for all the help!

I bought the needed 7500 points, call up AGR, she booked all three of us under the rewards travel. :)
 
And now we have made the trip, and the only problem I have now is... we're not going to want to travel coach any more. What a completely pleasant and relaxing ride from Seattle into Los Angeles.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank folks here for helping me out- I know that sometimes kids aren't the most popular with adult travelers, sometimes, so I especially appreciate the encouragement (and the information about buying points into a roomette). My kids (and I) love the train very much, and they've really become fantastic (and pleasant) long distance travel companions.
 
Eris said:
Anyway, I just wanted to thank folks here for helping me out- I know that sometimes kids aren't the most popular with adult travelers, sometimes, so I especially appreciate the encouragement (and the information about buying points into a roomette). My kids (and I) love the train very much, and they've really become fantastic (and pleasant) long distance travel companions.
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Speaking only for the two of us, Hubby and I just love to see kids having fun on a train! It isn't so nice when they are tired and cranky, or when they are doing unsafe things and the parents just aren't paying attention, but we realize that happens. The only time I'll comment is if safety is involved, or I think I can help the situation. Kids are kids, and you take the bad with as much grace as you can muster, and enjoy the heck out of the good times.
 
Eris said:
And now we have made the trip, and the only problem I have now is... we're not going to want to travel coach any more. What a completely pleasant and relaxing ride from Seattle into Los Angeles.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank folks here for helping me out- I know that sometimes kids aren't the most popular with adult travelers, sometimes, so I especially appreciate the encouragement (and the information about buying points into a roomette). My kids (and I) love the train very much, and they've really become fantastic (and pleasant) long distance travel companions.
Click to expand...
I took a trip a few weeks back and happened to be next to a family in a room and right away thought 'oh boy' but turned out I should not have thought that way as the kids were just great. Then on another leg there was a crying baby and when I started to think 'oh boy' I stopped myself and had empathy for the mother. She apologized to me as she passed by my roommette and I simply said 'no problem and he's the right age to be crying anyway'. There's so much train noise that I realized stuff like that isn't a bother. It's great news that your young children enjoy traveling with you!!!
 
Eris said:
[As a side note, since points are accumulated per dollar spent, and since childrens tickets are half price, their accumulation is quite a bit slower than mine... wouldn't it be NICE if one could get a one zone coach ticket for a child for 2750 points... alas, they do not differentiate rewards tickets by adult/child. If they did, we'd be just about one last paid trip sea-lax away from a rewards trip for the three of us]
Click to expand...
Depends on how you ride. There's a 100 point (max 4 per day) minimum per segment, and child fares still qualify for this minimum. So do all other discounts. I've managed to ride on segments parsed out as maybe $2.25 or $5 and still gotten 100 points. There are ways to get 400 points while spending less than $12.
 
Sleeper class definitely spoils coach a little bit. :) I love being able to shut my door. It keeps out quite a bit of noise. I was pleasantly surprised at just how much sound was deadened. We kept our door shut during the entire trip and only opened it when the LSA announced they were coming around to take dining car reservations.
 

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