Variable points-to-dollars ratio

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Bjartmarr

Service Attendant
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
130
I was given to understand that under the new system, points would be valued at 2.9 cents towards the regular bucket fare across the board.

This seems to be the case on several trips I have checked.

But LAX->PTC tomorrow (26 January) via bus-SJ-bus costs $65 or 2400 points, which is 2.7 cents per point.

What gives?
 
This thread was initially locked because it was thought that this was discussed elsewhere. A member has brought it to our attention that this particular point has not been specifically discussed and he would like to see a discussion of this matter.

I have unlocked this topic to encourage further discussion.
 
The point I wanted to make was that 2.7 vs. 2.9 discrepancy seemed to be entirely different from the much more drastic devaluations reported. FWIW the first case I looked at came in at 2.8 cents per point.

To quote the OP, what gives?
 
It seems obvious that what Amtrak stated were the new rules before the changeover are either not always true or Amtrak has a serious problem with their programming of prices.

I would suggest using points only if one is trying to use them up or when the deal is what they promised. Otherwise, I'd pay cash.

In my case, I will use them only for trips that are equal to the cash or I simply don't want to spend hard earned cash and would rather use the points I have "earned" like on trips I wouldn't take if I had to pay for it in cash. Since my BoA card gives me a "rebate", I can take that into account when using points to price points vs cash. I need to come up with a spreadsheet that compares cash prices with the senior discount vs points with rebate.
 
Certainly, originally for some trips, like LA-San Diego or LA-Ventura, using AGR 2.0 points might seem like a good deal, and better than AGR 1.0. But when you step back and consider AAA/NARP discounts and the points earned on the tickets themselves, not to mention the uncertainty, they aren't so good. I will be exhausting points but not trying to earn them through the AGR credit card, which will likely just sit in my drawer. I may buy Amtrak tickets via cash using the AGR card but for regular spending I'll continue to use my Fidelity Amex.
 
Gosh you guys really seem to have a lot of free time on hand :p Do you also incorporate the imputed value of the time spent in the decision making too? ;)
When you are retired and living on a limited income (and no company trips to supplement the travel points), you look for the best deal you can find. You only have so much time left before you can no longer take trips.

Thanks for the idea about the value of time spent. Considering how much time I have left, it is valuable. Considering what else I do while "Waiting for God", it is not worth much. I need to find the mathematical formula. Is Einstein still at Princeton? How much is a ticket to see him? Hmm! :help:
 
After some playing around, my guess is that I'm being charged a minimum of 800 points per segment. For a 3 segment trip, that comes out to 2400 points.

Was this pre-announced? I thought the minimum was supposed to be 800 points per trip.
 
Well, in the sense that they indicated the 800 point minimum it was pre-announced...in the typically clear manner surrounding this.
 
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