Amtrak Guest Rewards - Will AGR allow a stopover if there is no other option?

I want to travel from Tomah, WI to Austin, TX roudtrip in a deluxe bedroom.
It is all travel within the same zone and 1 zone travel in a bedroom would be 20,000 each way.

The only available route, unless I am mistaken, is to take the Empire Builder to Chicago and overnight in Chicago before catching the Texas Eagle. The same is true for the return trip.

Since AGR insists you must take the most direct route offered, does anyone think AGR would allow this?

I have a similiar question and then some more. I was thinking Phoenix to Philadelphia via Sunset Limited to NOL then the Crescent to Philadelphia. When you plug Phoenix to Philadelphia into AMTRAK's reservations it routes you Thruway bus to Flagstaff then SWC to CHI then various options to PHL. I have been on the SWC a number of times and wanted to do SL to Crescent as I have not been on either.
Now here's the questions:
1) From Maricopa AZ, just south of PHN, to NOL and then overnight in NOL and out on the Crescent the next morning to PHL is the first (and quickest I might add) that shows up as choices on AMTRAK's reservation system. Other choices but with no overnight are MRC to CHI then various options out of CHI to PHL. This happens as the Sunset Limited #2 and Texas Eagle #422 run as a single train to San Antonio TX then split with #2 continuing to NOL and #422 to CHI. Will AMTRAK let me do the MRC>NOL // NOL>PHL or will they force me to go via CHI on AGR points?

2) Why if AMTRAK is going to provide service from PHN via bus don't they bus to Maricopa which is much closer than Flagstaff to pick-up an eastbound LD no matter where your going east?

3) I am planning to purchase part of the trip from MRC to El Paso,TX, as ELP is the border line for the AGR point zone. I would rather buy a ticket from MRC>ELP than cough up another 15K points for the extra zone. Now here is my last question, why are the fare buckets so different between #2 SL and #422 TE from MRC to ELP when for all purposes it is the same train? MRC>ELP OW #2 $58 coach/$113 roomette vs MRC>ELP OW #422 $140 coach/$210 roomette. I know which one I would choose but I was still wondering why?

I want to travel from Tomah, WI to Austin, TX roudtrip in a deluxe bedroom.
It is all travel within the same zone and 1 zone travel in a bedroom would be 20,000 each way.

The only available route, unless I am mistaken, is to take the Empire Builder to Chicago and overnight in Chicago before catching the Texas Eagle. The same is true for the return trip.

Since AGR insists you must take the most direct route offered, does anyone think AGR would allow this?

I'm honestly not sure what will happen. The general rule is if you can't plan the trip using Amtrak's website as a paid trip, then you can't get an AGR award for that routing either. In this case you can't book such a trip in one shot, one has to use the multi-city option.

On the other hand, there are technically no rules that would prevent such an award and you aren't trying to take advantage of the program and prolong your trip.

Best advice, call and ask. If you don't like the answer, wait an hour or two and try again. I'd suggest trying three or four times before giving up, assuming that you don't get the answer you want.

1) From Maricopa AZ, just south of PHN, to NOL and then overnight in NOL and out on the Crescent the next morning to PHL is the first (and quickest I might add) that shows up as choices on AMTRAK's reservation system. Other choices but with no overnight are MRC to CHI then various options out of CHI to PHL. This happens as the Sunset Limited #2 and Texas Eagle #422 run as a single train to San Antonio TX then split with #2 continuing to NOL and #422 to CHI. Will AMTRAK let me do the MRC>NOL // NOL>PHL or will they force me to go via CHI on AGR points?

At one point the option would have been yours. I'm not sure now what they will do, but it would be in their best interests to let you have choice #1, since Amtrak would be spending less on meals. Call and ask is the best advice I can give.

2) Why if AMTRAK is going to provide service from PHN via bus don't they bus to Maricopa which is much closer than Flagstaff to pick-up an eastbound LD no matter where your going east?

Because the SW Chief is a far more reliable train, read on time, and the faster more direct route. The Chief also runs every day, not 3 days per week.

3) I am planning to purchase part of the trip from MRC to El Paso,TX, as ELP is the border line for the AGR point zone. I would rather buy a ticket from MRC>ELP than cough up another 15K points for the extra zone. Now here is my last question, why are the fare buckets so different between #2 SL and #422 TE from MRC to ELP when for all purposes it is the same train? MRC>ELP OW #2 $58 coach/$113 roomette vs MRC>ELP OW #422 $140 coach/$210 roomette. I know which one I would choose but I was still wondering why?

The pricing differences are caused by how Arrow (Amtrak's computer system) works. The only way that Amtrak can make sure that it is not overselling a section of the train, is to use two different train numbers, hence 2 and 422. If they considered every car on that train to be part of train #2, then the computer could easily sell more seats to Chicago, than actually run to Chicago because it wouldn't know how many seats are going to Chicago and how many are going to New Orleans. It would just know that it had X seats and would sell them to whatever destination you asked for.

So we get two trains numbers to keep things seperate. Now because of the demmand pricing system, as one train sells its seats/sleepers, the prices rise. However, if the other train number isn't selling, then its prices remain at a lower level. Heck depending on popularity, it's also possible that Amtrak priced the seats on 422 higher from the start, by comparison to #2.

2) Why if AMTRAK is going to provide service from PHN via bus don't they bus to Maricopa which is much closer than Flagstaff to pick-up an eastbound LD no matter where your going east?
I honestly do not know, besides that it would make too much sense. :D But I think that many people would rather take the SWC which is much more dependable (as far as ontime) than the SL!

One suggestion is (since there is no bus connection) is to request from Maracopa, not Phoenix. This way, it will not give you the "option" via Flagstaff.

3) I am planning to purchase part of the trip from MRC to El Paso,TX, as ELP is the border line for the AGR point zone. I would rather buy a ticket from MRC>ELP than cough up another 15K points for the extra zone. Now here is my last question, why are the fare buckets so different between #2 SL and #422 TE from MRC to ELP when for all purposes it is the same train? MRC>ELP OW #2 $58 coach/$113 roomette vs MRC>ELP OW #422 $140 coach/$210 roomette. I know which one I would choose but I was still wondering why?
The reason is each "train" sells their seats separately. It is possible that #422 sold out of "it's" lowest bucket fares and is now selling bucket 2 fare level tickets. Train #2 still has some seats on "it's" train availabe at the lowest bucket fare lebel.

The same possibility may (and many times) happens with the EB. Between Chicago and Spokane, the EB is sold as Trains #7/27 or #8/28. (From Spokane, one "train" goes to Portland and one "train" goes to Seattle. East of Spokane, it is combined to one train.) But if you check from say Mineapolis to Minot, you may find different fares listed for each "train"!

Another way to look at it is to think about code sharing. Even though flight ___ is on CO metal, it may be also sold as DL ___, NWW ___, AF ___, etc... Each airline may have different prices for "their" seat, but the are all selling seat 22-A on the same plane.

I'm honestly not sure what will happen. The general rule is if you can't plan the trip using Amtrak's website as a paid trip, then you can't get an AGR award for that routing either. In this case you can't book such a trip in one shot, one has to use the multi-city option.

On the other hand, there are technically no rules that would prevent such an award and you aren't trying to take advantage of the program and prolong your trip.

Best advice, call and ask. If you don't like the answer, wait an hour or two and try again. I'd suggest trying three or four times before giving up, assuming that you don't get the answer you want.

.....And now the conclusion.

It worked just as I was hoping it would. I told her I wanted to begin in Tomah and travel to Austin. I asked how many zones that was and she said ONE. I also told her I wanted the most direct route---since I know they strongly encourage or perhaps require their agents to book that route.....unfortunate when having to take an 11hour bus ride from Pasco, WA instead of the train.

Of course, the most direct route is to overnight in Chicago. I asked her if there were any other options and she said going to Chicago and overnighting wa the only way to get to Austin.

Long story short, I was able to book the entire trip under a single reward with both overnights in Chicago. The round trip was a total of 40,000 points.

I'm glad it all worked out for you. :)

And thanks for letting us know! :)