Amtrak Guest Rewards

As I'm sure you all know, the Guest Rewards program has changed it's policy for rewarding points by adding a minimum 100 point award for any trip, no matter the price. Previously, the point award was 2 points for each dollar spent, with occasional point premiums for certain trips, online ticket purchasing, etc.

I'm very happy about this change because I take a lot of short Amtrak trips - mostly to Philly and what I used to get 64 points for a RT ticket from LNC to PHL, I'll now get 200 points since points are awarded for each trip segment. In other words, I used to get 32 points each way for LNC-PHL, but will now get, I assume, 100 points each way.

I copied my Guest Rewards info into an Excel spreadsheet and figured that had this policy been in place in 2004, I would have earned more than 8,000 points vs. the slightly more than 4,000 I actually earned. That means I should have no problem getting "Select Tier" status during 2005, since just my monthly ticket purchases alone bring me a little more than 3,000 points in a year. I'll also rack up additional points beyond my current 10,500 at a much faster rate. I always thought 50,000 would take forever, but now it seems more likely that I'll get there in a few years. With any luck, Amtrak will still be around and I can take the whole family on a cross country trip for free (at least one way).

Does anyone know the genesis of this program change? It seems like it will be a boon to those of us who take a lot of short trips. Not that I'm complaining! Just curious.

I still find the wording of the new policy somewhat confusing. At first glance I thought I wouldn't get any points for any travel that is valued less than 100 points. In other words, I would have to exceed rail travel that awarded me 100 points in order to get any points whatsoever. If I traveled and my points calculated to be less than 100 points, then I would get 0 points.

So now, even if I travel between Trenton, NJ and New York City (roughly 32 points) - I'll automatically get 100 points? Nice deal - hope it is true.

I believe Mr. KeystoneRider is correct, but still not 100% sure.

I haven't gotten anything in my e-mailbox, but if it's true, then Pacific Surfliners, here I come!!!!

Oh wait.

I'll be coming as soon as the tracks are clear of mud and the bridges are rebuilt!

jp1822 wrote:I still find the wording of the new policy somewhat confusing. At first glance I thought I wouldn't get any points for any travel that is valued less than 100 points. In other words, I would have to exceed rail travel that awarded me 100 points in order to get any points whatsoever. If I traveled and my points calculated to be less than 100 points, then I would get 0 points.

So now, even if I travel between Trenton, NJ and New York City (roughly 32 points) - I'll automatically get 100 points? Nice deal - hope it is true.

I believe Mr. KeystoneRider is correct, but still not 100% sure.

It's true. I just checked my account online and I've been awarded two separate 100 point totals for a round trip between LNC and Philly on January 5th. I just had another RT LNC-PHL last week so I'll have racked up 400 points where before I would have only gotten 128.

A good deal indeed!

I don't know if the Guest Rewards website was updated after your first comment, but I just checked it now and it was pretty explicit in the policy that you'd get a minimum of 100 points for any Amtrak travel.

I also don't know the reason for the change, but maybe Amtrak wants to emphasize its usefulness for the shorter trips. They've been known to play with the Guest Rewards points to encourage certain trips before. For instance, for a while last year there was a promotion between certain Acela Express 'City Pairs'. I was annoyed that there was no promo for my typical BOS-BAL round trip. My annoyance caused me to look at the many pair possibilities -- they were either for nearly half length or full length trips (i.e. one of the boston stops (south, back bay, 128) to one of the new york stops (penn, newark) , philadelphia, or washington (union, new carrolton). Aren't too many folks taking the Acela from Baltimore to Washington, so I would guess that my BOS-BAL seat generally goes unused from BAL-WAS .....

I got a credit card offer from Amtrak Guest Rewards, where stuff you charge on the card gets you 1 Guest Reward point per dollar charged.
Right now, we use a card that gives 1% cash back on purchases.
I'm trying to figure out if guest rewards points amount to more than 1% of purchases, assuming they are redeemed for Amtrak travel. Can anyone help me with this? (I pay off the card every month, so the card's interest rate isn't a factor.)

You normally receive 1 point for each dollar charged to the account. An example of one of the awards is that it will cost you 5,000 points for a Home Depot $50 Gift Certificate. If you do the math, the value of this certificate is 1% of your spending. The rewards are very flexable. You can get the HD certificates I stated earlier and similar promotions from other national vendors. You do receive extra points for Amtrak travel, but I am not totally familar with this part of the program.

I have tried to figure this out too - also relative to promotions on another card. I figure that each AGR point is worth about .01 to .02 depending on the cost of the trip you redeem the points for. Does that make sense? A sleeper in one zone is 15000 points and that could easily be $300 for one person in a sleeper.

I don't think you can make a definitive points/dollars comparison. Points redeemed for travel have much more value than points redeemed for a gift card. 15,000 points will get you $150 worth of gift cards, or a Roomette for one zone (effectively one night), which costs well over $150 if purchased with money.

Add 5,000 points for a total of 20,000, and that Roomette can be upgraded to a full Bedroom, which normally costs about twice as much as a Roomette, and well in excess of the $200 you could redeem in gift cards.

Can you get it seperate from the Credit Card?

I highly recommend the Amtrak Rewards program, regardless of whether or not you get the card.

However, the card only makes it better.

Yes... the card amounts to about a 1% return. Strictly speaking, that's true if you redeem for anything other than Amtrak travel.

However, Amtrak travel can get tricky. Sometimes it's "cheaper" to buy your tickets, sometimes cheaper to redeem points.

For example, from ALB to NYP it would never be worthwhile for me to redeem points.

However, for my trip this week to Atlanta, I'm redeeming points.

Note also, redeeming points covers ALL travel in that zone. For example, even though I'm changing trains in NYP, I'm paying just one flat set of points.

I said that using the card made things even better. Generally you get "double points" for any rail-travel chanrged on the card. So that makes the deal even better.

And also when I happened to redeem my points for my travel, I received a 20% "bonus" so rather than costing X they cost me X-20%. So it was an even better deal!

For me the card is well worth it.

I have an Amtrak Guest Rewaards credit card issued by MBNA. Today I received a notice from MBNA (not Amtrak) indicating a new, and in my view abusive, policy.

Effective May 24, MBNA is now asserting the right to permanently increase your interest rate without notice, up to a maximum of 24.99%, if you are late with even one payment. This is in addition to any late fees. I called MBNA to confirm this. For the record, we have never had a late payment on this account, but sometimes mail gets delayed....

The MBNA notice, which is written in very small print, gives an address to write to to "reject" this change. But if you do reject it, MBNA reserves the right to cancel your account at any time. Nevertheless, as much as I like my Amtrak Guest Rewards, I am not particluarly inclined to let MBNA get away with this. I wrote the rejection letter, and will mail it tomorrow. If they cancel my account, so be it. I'm not willing to be subject to an abusive practice such as this. It won't affect my rewards point balance, only my ability to accumulate future points.

I also wrote to Amtrak Guest Rewards to express my concern.

A little research reveals that many MBNA customers have received the same notice, not just Amtrak Guest Rewards customers.

I would be less hasty. As long as you don't make a late payment, the change is moot. If you do have a late payment and they do raise the interest rate (retroactive to the beginning of the period for which the payment was late), you can call them and tell them that they are making a mistake by ripping off a long-term good customer. If they don't rescind the usurious interest rate, THEN cancel. In the meantime, continue racking up the points.

That's what I plan to do.

Bob

Mr. Toy, I unfortunately have to say I am suprised that this is the first time this has happened to you! I do not carry much "plastic", maybe two or three bank credit cards and a gasoline card; but if you have been carefully reading the almost illegible fine print "Important change in terms notice to your credit card account" brochures that arrive about every three to six months with your statements, you will be stunned...

They are all doing it. One day late, and it is a $39 late charge and your preferred interest rate goes through the roof. Several of the card companies go as far to state that your payment will be promptly credited only if it is received at the exact address on the remittance slip, enclosed in the exact return envelope that they send you, with only one remittance slip and one check enclosed. Anything else, and it can take up to 5 days to credit your payment. I am sure that by using your card after some previous date, that you have already given up the right to sue them in court or to join a class action suit against them. Any claim you may have must be settled by arbitration.

I have had a credit card account with a major, major bank for 27 years. I recently discarded a statement in error. I called to get a duplicate copy, and the only way they would send me one duplicate statement in 27 years was to charge me a $5 "duplicate statement fee"! I would have switched banks if they weren't one of the "better" ones! And this has been slowly happening for about 2 or 3 years now!

It's true that most credit card companies are sneaky, but in my experience MBNA is the most sneaky and dishonest. The reason I don't have an Amtrak guest rewards credit card is that I won't do business with MBNA.
I might add that I have excellent credit and never have paid MBNA or any other credit card late (I am very careful). They still messed with me, on two separate occasions, with 2 different cards.
If you decide a Guest Rewards card is worth it, I would suggest you not run a balance on it.