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As many of you know, a while back the Amtrak Guest Rewards system introduced the possibility of directly purchasing Guest Rewards points for dollars (through the website, with a credit card), up to a total of 10,000 points per calendar year. I was vaguely aware of this possibility, but I'd never paid any real attention to it, because I assumed that the points must be priced quite high, since people would mostly be buying them in small quantities just to "top off" their accounts for some intended trip or other expenditure.
I was surprised, therefore, to learn recently that they're priced astonishingly low--only $13.75 for 500 points, or 2.75 cents per point--and that moreover, from June 1st to July 15th of this year (2011), they're being offered with a 30% bonus, so that you can get 650 points for $13.75, or about 2.12 cents per point.
I'd strongly urge any of you who do any significant amount of Amtrak traveling, therefore, to buy your calendar-year maximum of 10,000 points, with the 30% bonus bringing it to 13,000 points, for $275.00, before the offer expires at 11:59 p.m. EDT (i.e., 8:59 p.m. PDT) tomorrow evening (Friday, June 15th, 2011). As an inspection of the Guest Rewards redemption table (https://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/redeem) will show, the travel those 13,000 points will get you would in most cases--particularly assuming a typical advance purchase time, not months in advance--have cost you significantly more than $275.00, even taking into account your 10% AAA or NARP or other discount, and even taking into account the fact that you'd be earning two or more Guest Rewards points per dollar on a ticket purchased with dollars.
To take advantage of this deal, log in to your Guest Rewards account, click on the "Earn" tab, and then click the "Buy Points" box on the left.
Posts: 86 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Presumably, using the Chase AGR Master Card would net an additional 2 points per dollar spent for an additional 550 points in the transaction.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I am unfamiliar with the AGR system. So how far can two people travel with 10,000 points? Say if my wife and I would take the Starlight north from LA or the Sunset Limited east?
Posts: 229 | From: Long Beach CA | Registered: Jan 2007
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Actually TODAY is the last day.....July 15, 2011. There probably will not be another such promotion until 2012. The way I see it, any 2-zone trip over $425 will be discounted even if you use only purchased points which is unlikely.
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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Cubzo, if you have 15K points you can both go anywhere in a single zone (in a sleeper) - San Diego to Seattle, for instance. If you have 20K you can both go anywhere in TWO zones - San Antonio to Seattle for example....5 days and 4 nights. If you would like a referral to join AGR please send me a private messaage here on the forum - that way we BOTH get extra points the first time you book rail travel. Thanks.
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