Amtrak Guest Rewards - Tier Qualifying Points

Rail Points under the Amtrak Guest Rewards Program have now been replaced by Tier Qualifying Points as of 2012.

I'm opening up this thread to generate discussion among riders. Are the TQP levels similar to the Rail Point levels that were in AGR or is it different now?

Any other thoughts/insights regarding TQP?

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Nothing has changed yet but the name. Previous chatter speculated that TQP is a marketing term that will be used to push other potential earning methods, such as Chase credit card spend on Amtrak.

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Seems counter-intuitive to do that at the same time the points see a huge devaluation.

We're well into Q2 and there still appears to be no consequence of TQP as a concept. Again, to start, it would be great to be able to accrue TQP for Amtrak spend on the Chase AGR card. This would also fit nicely with launching a 15K S++ tier.

I'm just curious as to what additional benefits they could possibly offer in a S++ tier?

a) More point bonuses
b) More BOGO, Upgrade, % Off Certs
c) ...?

100% bonus earning would be an obvious one, as would additional upgrade certs. Anyone earning that many TQP is probably riding Acela frequently, so the upgrades go very quickly. On-board drink chits would be nice, too.

For some of us, the holy grail would be the ability to convert upgrade certs for use as sleeper upgrades (at, say, a 2:1 ratio). But I'm sure the chances of that ever happening are very remote.

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I'm just curious as to what additional benefits they could possibly offer in a S++ tier?

a) More point bonuses
b) More BOGO, Upgrade, % Off Certs
c) ...?

I vote for complimentary, space-available upgrades that are processed automatically. This would align them with airline elite programs.

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I vote for complimentary, space-available upgrades that are processed automatically. This would align them with airline elite programs.

The only concern I can see from their end would be the loss of revenue since that move would cause people like me to never bother paying for J anymore. Granted, it would only be for the top tier customers who've already shelled out the big bucks. I dunno. On one hand, it builds the brand loyalty at low fixed cost (sodas are really it), but on the other hand the loss of revenues from your high-value customers may not be that good.

The thing is that for a daily Keystone commuter like me, I can easily rack up 45-50k rail/tier points in a year, while only shelling out ~3k for my annual travel expenses (It's 5.52 each way from PHL-PAO). Then again, I'm such a small minority in the system, that it probably doesn't matter.

Another benefit that would be amazing for S++ (our new mythical tier) - separate boarding line in places like PHL for tracks that don't have the ClubAcela elevators. This probably only affects tracks 7-9, if I remember correctly, but it would still give a nice benefit to people on those routes served by those particular tracks.