FlyerTalk Forums - value of a point

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)

- Amtrak | Guest Rewards (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtrak-guest-rewards-399/)

- - value of a point (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtrak-guest-rewards/1095984-value-point.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kspeed55 (Post 14152561)

My most recent trip would have cost over 7.5 cents per point. I try to never redeem AGR or airline miles for less than 5 cents.

Would you have taken the trip if you would have had to pay over $0.075?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ispolkom (Post 14152557)

I generally don't use AGR points unless I can get at least 3 points per cent at low-bucket fares, so I guess that I value them at price. I have paid more than $600 for a roomette from St. Paul to Washington for two people, so I'd certainly pay 20k points for a roomette from Minot to Washington.

In your case, you may get a higher value then others since you actually pay for sleeper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nerd (Post 14153159)

Exactly. ^

I sell one-of-a-kind pet rocks that are normally $95 each. However, jackal, you can have one for just 95 AGR points.

At a redemption value of 100 cents/point, how many dozen pet rocks would you like to buy?

Keep in mind I'm offering a redemption value not twice, not quadruple, but 10x better than an Amtrak sleeper award! ^

You can sell one of a kind pet rocks, however you can't (well at least as far as the TOS go) sell AGR points.

There are two ways you can value anything monetarily.
1. how much you would pay to replace it.
2. how much someone else will buy it from you for

With tangible goods, like a house or a pet rock, you can actually sell them.

When it comes to points or miles, option two does not exist so you can only value points at option one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nerd (Post 14153159)

My local Mercedes dealer will sell me an S65 AMG for 20,000 AGR points. But wait, that car can ONLY be worth $400 in your world, since AGR points are only worth about two cents per point, and you'd never actually PAY what Mercedes is asking for the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlemookie (Post 14151350)

A recent article in the WSJ discussing the new high speed trains was showing that the odds are against amtrak in being chosen as managing these new trains. That's a bit unusual considering Amtrak is similar to a quasi governement company (like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

Take anything the WSJ says about Amtrak with a big grain of salt -- they are, shall we say, not fans.

Not just "similar to" -- Amtrak is a quasi-government corporation, same as, for example, the U.S. Postal Service.

Don't confuse the editorial page with their news section.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trainman74 (Post 14156703)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackal (Post 14153626)

I will give you 30,000 points for the AMG Merc.

When deciding whether to use points on Amtrak, I value them at 2 cents each using the thinking that I would use 25,000 points for a $500 airline ticket which comes out to 2 cents a mile. I don't like to use points on a ticket worth much less than that. Therefore as long as I'm getting 2 cents or more of value on the amtrak ticket, I'm good with that. Obviously, if I had unlimited points like some people have, my thinking would be different.