December 15, 2007
The Final Word on Amtrak to Choice Points Transfers
Randy Petersen puts the smack down and gets the straight story on Amtrak transfers to Choice Hotels.I recently reported that Amtrak reduced the value of transfers to Choice Hotels with no notice and then removed the option altogether.
From NotiFlyer
- [Members are] again be able to transfer points from Guest Rewards to their Choice Privileges account at a rate of 5,000 to 15,000 points, and transfers will be completed for members who were in the middle of a transfer when the closure occurred. According to Blakey, the exchange option will remain in effect through the end of 2007, at which time changes to the program will be instituted. As of Jan. 1, 2008, the Guest Rewards exchange program will only be available to elite members (Select and Select Plus) and members who hold an Amtrak co-branded MasterCard. Elite members will be able to transfer at a rate of 5,000 Guest Rewards points to 15,000 Choice Privileges points.
A few members have reported points being removed from their Choice Privileges accounts, points which had been transferred from Amtrak Guest Rewards. According to Blakey, the only members who have been impacted by these removals are those who opened more than one Amtrak Guest Rewards account, which violates the programs' terms and conditions. He told us that any points removed from Choice Privileges accounts will be returned back into the members' Guest Rewards account.
At least they're honoring redemptions already made, and coming clean on what they're planning.
It was too good a deal to last -- especially with a program that has such a bad reputation as Guest Rewards.
Posted by gleff at 5:43 AM | Comments (0)
December 8, 2007
Amtrak Transfers to Choice Hotels Over
First Amtrak reduces the value of points transfers to Choice Hotels with no notice whatsoever. Now the option to transfer to Choice is gone entirely, a matter of days later.This just piles on the history of customer unfriendly business practices for this program (limiting the number of points transferred out of the program in a year with no notice, dropping their partnership with United with no notice). The Carlson folks run the program like a true clown operation.
Posted by gleff at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2007
New Amtrak Guest Rewards Redemption Option
Just when I diss Amtrak Guest Rewards (and this doesn't help with my trust of the program or with their customer service issues), they introduce a new redemption option -- 5,000 Amtrak points convert to 25,000 Choice Privileges Points.The extreme value here is:
- 5,000 Amtrak points yield 25,000 Choice points which convert to 5,000 miles with Air Canada, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Mexicana, Northwest, United, and USAirways. Talk about flexibility!
- 10,000 Amtrak points yield 50,000 Choice points which convert to 20 Southwest Rapid Rewards credits, more than enough (16 required) for a free ticket.
50,000 Amtrak points yield 250,000 Choice points which convert to 100 Southwest Rapid Rewards credits, which earns you a companion pass and 6 roundtrip tickets (that can be used for you and your companion.
Don't park points in the Amtrak program -- they make program changes without much if any notice -- and don't park points in Choice Privileges, either, because those points expire. But this is a great new option.
By the way, don't transfer Choice Privileges points directly into Amtrak, the conversion there is 32,000 Choice points yield 5,000 Amtrak points. Instead, transfer 25,000 Choice points into 5,000 Continental into 5,000 Amtrak.
And finally, this means that Continental points now transfer 1:1 into all of the airlines that Choice points transfer to (up to 25,000 per year, the cap imposed by Amtrak for transfers out of its program).
Posted by gleff at 4:57 AM | Comments (1)
October 11, 2007
Hall of Shame: Amtrak Guest Rewards
So you have to ride the train, and at least they give you points for that. But that's more or less all you can say about Amtrak Guest Rewards.I used to like their 2500 point award, one-way in the Northeast Corridor for unreserved service. I'd keep some tickets on hand. Of course, Amtrak doesn't even have unreserved service anymore. And they upped the point requirements with just hree weeks' notice. And they both imposed maximum points transferred out of the program in a year and dropped United as a partner without any notice at all. These more or less made me not trust the Guest Rewards program.
But their problems go even farther. Amtrak Guest Rewards has just implemented online award booking. In other words, they've entered the '90s. But there's a glitch. In one of my tree trials, the system encountered an error, didn't complete the booking, but had already pulled the points from my account. (A reason perhaps to stay with telephone award booking for the moment, as much as I hate the phone and even though telephone hours are limited, a customer service problem in and of itself.)
I emailed Guest Rewards, even knowing that their email customer service is lacking. But the response I got was a new low. It wasn't a generic, random cut-and-paste reply. It was a non-reply. Here it is, in its entirety:
- Thank you for contacting the Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center.
Please call us at 800.307.5000 Monday - Friday from 8 am - 8 pm EST if you have further questions or concerns regarding your Amtrak Guest Rewards account.
Amtrak Guest Rewards - among the worst programs, up there with Radisson's Goldpoints, and only marginally better than GlobalPass.
Posted by gleff at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2007
Amtrak Small Business Program Signup Bonus
Amtrak's new small business program allows you to earn points in addition to the standard Guest Rewards program both for your travel and those that enter your small business program membership number.Accounts in this program earn 25% of the base points earned on Amtrak by each traveler.
Through December 31, 2007 enrollment code STR07 yields a 1500 point signup bonus.
(I got a copy of the offer and ignored it, so thanks to Samit for beating me over the head with it...)
Posted by gleff at 7:14 AM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2007
New Amtrak Guest Rewards Credit Card Debuts
The new Amtrak Visa is now up and running, offering 8000 bonus points with first purchase and no annual fee. Since it's a Chase card, it may be churnable (Thus far, only the United card seems to disallow signing up over and over to pocket multiple bonuses).Now, I still recommend the Starwood American Express as the best all-purpose credit card. And specific charges warrant some special-case cards.
But as far as truly no annual fee cards go, this one isn't bad... although I don't trust the underlying Amtrak Guest Rewards loyalty program, given its history of making changes without any notice whatsoever -- miles used to be transferrable to outside programs without a cap and United used to be a transfer partner, for instance. Both changes were made without notice. And an increase in Amtrak train travel redemption levels was also dropped out of the sky without warning.
Posted by gleff at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2007
New Amtrak Guest Rewards Credit Card Coming in the Fall
As mentioned back in January, the old MBNA-->Bank of America Amtrak Mastercard was discontinued. Now details of the new co-branded relationship have come out...This fall a new Amtrak Mastercard will be issued by Chase, with no fee and a 2500 point signup bonus.
If you pre-register (you'll need to log into your Amtrak account) with promo code 42507 you'll get an email when the card is available and an extra 2500 point signup bonus for a total of 5000 points.
- You will receive a total of 5,000 points with this Bonus Offer. 2,500 bonus points will post to your Chase credit card account and appear on your Chase statement and an additional 2,500 bonus points will post directly to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and appear on your Amtrak Guest Rewards statement. Amtrak is wholly liable for the 2,500 bonus points posted directly to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account. Please allow 6-8 weeks after your first purchase for bonus points to post to both your Chase credit card and Amtrak Guest Rewards accounts.
Posted by gleff at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2007
Buy 3, Ride Free
Taking a cue from recent airline promotions, Amtrak is offering Buy 3, Ride Free on Acela. 3 roundtrips or even 6 one-ways on the Acela Express by May 19 earns an Acela Business class or Regional Coach class roundtrip.Registration is required.
And in one of the more annoying clauses I've seen (for folks like me looking for every angle), they've pretty much ruled out the possibility of doing the promo cheaply or quickly:
- Minimum spend of $75 per qualifying trip one-way or $150 per roundtrip. Limit of one qualifying roundtrip or two one-ways per member per day.
Posted by gleff at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2007
Amtrak Mastercard Update
The Amtrak Mastercard is on hold -- no new applications are being accepted.Amtrak and Bank of America are ending their relationship. Only purchases that are posted prior to the closing date of the May 2007 statement will earn Amtrak points.
Presumably a new bank will partner with Amtrak over the next few months, but there's currently no new partner in place.
Posted by gleff at 6:29 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2006
Double Points on Amtrak
Amtrak is offering double points on train travel through December 16 (excluding November 21 - 28). Registration is required.Posted by gleff at 4:29 AM | Comments (0)
July 4, 2006
Sometimes Banner Ads Show You Something Useful
Amtrak is advertising over at Flyertalk.com, and a banner brings you to a signup bonus promotion -- enter promotion code NEC06 while opening an Amtrak Guest Rewards account and receive 3000 bonus points for your first train trip taken within 90 days of signing up instead of the usual 500 points.That's enough for a one-way Northeast corridor ticket, and almost enough to transfer points to Continental or Hilton.
Posted by gleff at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2006
Amtrak's Brilliant New Business Idea
Since they can't make running trains profitable, Amtrak is planning to build a hotel out of part of the Baltimore train station.The station is a terrible location for a hotel and the project has been unable to attract private financing or even a *brand* (like Sheraton, Marriott, etc) in the past.
The best the piece can find an analyst to say about the project is that the hotel might get business if all the other hotels in Baltimore are full...
... Though I suppose they could get business from Amtrak stranding passengers. Heh.
(Hat tip to Hotel Chatter.)
Posted by gleff at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)
March 7, 2006
Amtrak Transfer Bonus
Amtrak is offering 500 bonus points when you transfer 5000 or more points into your Guest Rewards account from one of their partners by March 31.While Amtrak hardly offers a great program, it's a reasonable place to move Continental miles for sure.
Log in to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and then register using promo code 30806.
Posted by gleff at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2006
Quik Trak Bonus
Amtrak is offering 250 Guest Rewards points for picking up a ticket at a QuikTrak machine by March 31.Log into your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and then register for the promo using code 11906.
Alas the bonus is limited to one per member.
Update: The promo didn't say anything about being targeted, but a reader emails a response that it's in invalid offer so it might just be targeted. You'd think that Guest Rewards would say that if it is, but the folks running this program are among the worst in the industry so nothing surprises me at all.
Posted by gleff at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2005
More Devaluation of Amtrak Guest Rewards
Amtrak has announced changes to its reward chart effective January 3, 2006.Business and first class redemptions on Acela Express and Metroliner trains go up 500 points apiece (to 8,000 and 10,500 each way respectively).
$50 gift cards go from 5000 points to 6000 points, a 20% increase. It used to be that Amtrak points were worth a penny apiece when redeemed for merchandise at this level. That penny-a-point parity threshold has now been breached.
However, if you want to retain that purchasing power you'll need to redeem 10,000 points for newly introduced $100 gift cards set to be on offer next month.
I got the news in my online statement which arrived by e-mail today. Three weeks notice isn't enough for these kinds of changes -- but it's better than the no-notice changes Amtrak is known for, such as shutting down transfers to United overnight and capping transfers out of the program at 25,000 points per calendar year without warning.
Posted by gleff at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
December 5, 2005
Hardly worth mentioning... Amtrak Online Shopping Promo
Amtrak's online mall is offering 100 points for spending $100 by the end of the year.Posted by gleff at 6:07 PM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2005
Amtrak tickets cost more at the last minute
For several years Amtrak has been using revenue management techniques in the midwest. Now they've introduced the concept to the Northeast Corridor.- Early last month, Amtrak began charging its Northeast Corridor passengers 15 percent to 25 percent more for tickets purchased close to departure than for the same tickets bought weeks in advance.
The new structure is based on the level of sales prior to departure. The more popular the route, such as the Northeast Corridor Metroliner or Acela on a Friday afternoon, the higher the last-minute rate.
"If a train is almost sold out, you may pay a higher fare if you book at the last minute," said Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell.
Furthermore, alas, most current Amtrak discounts require a 3-day advance purchase.
Posted by gleff at 6:09 AM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2005
Finally a new Amtrak 20% off link
Amtrak is offering 20% off on service to Philadelphia. In reality, the discount applies to all Northeast Corridor trains, though Metroliner and Acela Express are as usual excluded.Discount code V735 is valid on tickets purchased through April 22, 2006 for travel through April 25, 2006. Blackout dates are: November 22-29, 2005; Dec 16-Jan 2, 2006; Jan 13-16, 2006; Feb 17-20, 2006; April 13-17, 2006.
On itineraries where V735 is not available, try H542. It's a 15% discount that seems to work on most trips, including Metroliner and Acela Express. It's only valid through December 15.
Posted by gleff at 3:52 PM | Comments (0)
Amtrak Guest Rewards Registration Bonus
Earn 1000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points for signing up for the program with promo code MIDWS and taking a train trip by April 30. (This is an improvement over the standard 500 point offer.)(Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)
Posted by gleff at 6:07 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
Double Points on Amtrak
Register to earn double points on Metroliner and Acela Express trains through the end of the year.(Whenever there's a bonus that requires registration, register. You may not think you'll be getting on a train, or flying between two cities, but you may wind up surprised -- registering for the bonus gets you the miles you never expected.)
Posted by gleff at 4:43 AM
April 18, 2005
Amtrak 5th Year Anniversary Bonus Promotion, Including Free Points
Amtrak is offering three bonuses for its 5th anniversary.- 200 points for registering for the promotion.
- 2400 points for earning Amtrak Guest Rewards points with three partners by June 30.
- 2400 points for spending $3000 on the Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard between April 15 and June 30.
If you have the Amtrak credit card, $3000 in spending over two and a half months is easy to qualify for for most. I used to highly recommend the Amtrak credit card as indispensable because it has no annual fee, it charged only 1% on foreign currency transactions, and Amtrak points could be transferred 1:1 into United. However, Amtrak pulled the plug on United transferred and MBNA is increasing the foreign exchange transaction fee to 3%. I no longer recommend acquiring this card for most circumstances -- but if you have it anyway it's a good bonus.
Bonus points for partners are a bit more difficult since the number of Amtrak partners is small. If you're not a Starwood elite member but are likely to have a hotel stay, you can credit your stay to Amtrak. Then credit a Hertz car rental to Amtrak. Then earn Amtrak points on a Hilton stay and you've earned your bonus. You can also use RewardsMall as a partner. But going out of your way to sign up for Nextel or Earthlink just for this 2400 point bonus doesn't really seem worth it to me -- perhaps for a bigger bonus like Northwest's annual Fly Free Faster promotion.
(Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)
Posted by gleff at 4:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 12, 2005
Amtrak Eliminating Unreserved Service in the Northeast
Amtrak is moving to reserved service only across most Northeast trains effective April 25.Members holding award tickets for unreserved trains can call Amtrak Guest Rewards customer service at 1-800-307-5000 to exchange the award for a reserved ticket for no additional points.
Posted by gleff at 8:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 11, 2005
The travesty of Amtrak's program changes without warning
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) covered Amtrak's abrupt end to transferring Guest Rewards points into United Mileage Plus miles.- One of the best deals in the world of frequent-flier programs recently disappeared, a reminder to travelers that the good bargains in the world of loyalty don't last forever.
For several years, in the tight-knit community of frequent travelers, Amtrak's Guest Rewards program developed a cult-like following. Reason: The program could be used as a clearinghouse for unwanted frequent-flier miles from Continental Airlines, which has developed a reputation for being stingy with the free seats on its airplanes. Using a three-way swap that is rare among loyalty programs, Amtrak members would transfer Continental miles into Amtrak points -- then take the points and turn them into United miles. They did this because they believed it would be easier to redeem United Airlines miles for free tickets than cashing in their Continental miles. Continental officials declined to comment.
The program became popular with deal seekers looking to milk every last drop of value out of loyalty programs with generous terms.
All that ended Jan. 1, when, without warning and without posting a notice, Amtrak removed United from its list of partners on its Web site.
- Mark Beattie, an information technology manager in London, where there are no Amtrak trains, moved 300,000 miles from Continental into Amtrak's program a few years ago. Right after he did -- and before he turned the Amtrak points into United miles -- Amtrak imposed a 25,000-point annual cap on the number of miles or points that could be transferred out of the program. Amtrak made this change without warning, leaving Mr. Beattie with a massive Amtrak points balance that he couldn't use for train travel.
Of course, the vast majority of its members aren't active or don't yet have enough points to claim the rewards they want anyway, so using the total number of members that have ever signed up for the program is a poor basis for comparison. Besides, 1% of that figure is still 8600 and that's 8600 of the members with meaningful point balances.
Amtrak's response basically says that things of interest to less than 10,000 of their members aren't important enough to warrant basic courtesy of notice (a simple email) or advance warning.
Some programs can be trusted more than others, at least based on their past behavior. Amtrak's behavior indicates that it isn't to be trusted, and its public statements back up that judgment.
Posted by gleff at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2005
Another Amtrak bonus
Register to earn 500 bonus Amtrak Guest Rewards points on your next train trip by March 31.Posted by gleff at 5:10 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2005
Amtrak Buy Two Get One Free Plus Double Points
Amtrak is offering a free Acela Express or Metroliner roundtrip when you take two roundtrips between select cities through May 31.They're also offering double Amtrak Guest Rewards points for tickets purchased with a Mastercard.
Eligible city pairs are:
- Boston - Stamford, Boston - New York, Boston - Newark, Boston - Metropark, Boston - Washington, Boston - Philadelphia, Route 128 - Stamford, Route 128 - New York, Route 128 - Newark, Route 128 - Metropark, Route 128 - Washington, Route 128 - Philadelphia, Stamford - Washington, New York - Washington, Newark - Washington, Metropark - Washington.
Posted by gleff at 4:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2005
Amtrak bonus
Register to earn 500 bonus Amtrak points on your next train trip by March 31.
Posted by gleff at 5:02 AM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2004
An end to the Amtrak-United Partnership
The Amtrak/United partnership has ended, apparently effective immediately.
It used to be possible to transfer Amtrak points to United miles at a 1:1 ratio, up to 25,000 points per year (50,000 points for Amtrak elite members).
That option is apparently gone, removed sometime in the past 48 hours, with no notice whatsoever.
This is a real blow to the value of the Amtrak program for several reasons.
I used to recommend the Amtrak Mastercard as the best free points-earning credit card. It had several benefits:
- Obviously, it was free
- Points could be transferred to United, Midwest, Continental and Hilton
- It's issued by MBNA, so the foreign currency conversion charge is only 1% (rather than 3% for most issuers)
I can no longer recommend that all frequent flyers carry this card, although it is still likely appropriate for folks wanting to earn Amtrak points.
United was Amtrak's best partner. Midwest doesn't offer alot of coverage, and Continental miles are notoriously difficult to redeem for Continental flights (they're much more useful with partners) and the number of points required is often much higher than what United charges for awards.
Additionally, the ability to earn United miles no matter who you fly is gone as a result of this change.
Shame on ending partnerships without notice to members. And shame on the Amtrak program for simply deleting all references to United transfers from their website instead of announcing the change.
Posted by gleff at 4:16 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2004
New Amtrak Mastercard Offer
MBNA is offering the standard 500 Amtrak Guest Rewards points for signup plus a $50 Amtrak travel certificate. Offer appears to expire January 31, 2005.
Posted by gleff at 5:03 AM | Comments (0)