I searched for an answer to this question both on this forum and in the AGR T&Cs, but haven't yet found an answer: Do "pending points" from a Points for Shopping transaction prevent one's existing points from expiring? Of course, once the pending points are "approved," they will obviously count as a transaction that will prevent expiration (under the current T&Cs). But what happens if the existing points in the account expire before the transaction is approved? Do I have to contact AGR and beg for reinstatement of points?

ETA: I never got an answer to my own question (either here or from AGR), so to be safe I spent 1,000 points to offset 1,983 lbs. of carbon a few days before my points were scheduled to expire, and that did the trick, of course. I realize I could have purchased points to prevent expiration, but didn't consider it worthwhile as I only ride and/or redeem on Amtrak sporadically. Meanwhile, the Points for Shopping transaction is still "pending." It appears that it can take 3 months or even longer for these shopping transactions to be approved, so I should have done the purchase at least 4 months before points expiration. (And even then, it might never have been "approved." )

But at least you don't have to actually ride on Amtrak to prevent points from expiring (since the changes in AGR a few years ago), so there's that.