CkCrunch

I have not travelled on Amtrak in a long time and I do not think I will travel on them again in the near future. I suspect my points are about to expire, and do not want it to go to waste. What are my best options? There does not appear to be many choices for only 4000 points, at least on the official website. Is there a charity option for AGR?

Exiled in Express

Closest to charity is a carbon offset. You can offset 20,000 pounds for your 4000 points. Buying up to a gift card redemption doesn't really make sense, spend $42 to get $50?

The best redemption is rail travel, you can book almost a year in advance if you are worried about expiration, although date changes could be an issue. If you are really sure you won't use them, I would say your best option would be to visit FT Coupon Connection and see what you can trade for them.

jackal

I do not know and have never heard if this would work, but you may consider buying a ticket (or combination of tickets--say, a few 1,000-point special route redemptions in CA) for a year out just to "hold" your AGR points. Then, when you someday find a use for them, you can cancel the tickets and redeposit the points and then use them for a trip you actually will take.

I would suspect the AGR computer system would not be sophisticated enough to realize these points should have been canceled and pull them out of your account.

Alternatively, since you do live in NYC, you could do a quick point run to Yonkers (YNY) for $15 (depending on dates and times, of course) plus return fare on MN ($6.50). Given that 3,000 points can be worth up to $186* (on a Northeast Zone coach redemption) and 1,000 points can be worth up to $115* (on a Special Routes coach redemption in California), I would definitely say that $21.50 to keep your point balance alive is a good deal.

As for telling when your points will expire, you can search all activity on the AGR website and count 3 years forward from your last activity. AGR's computers are not prompt about expiring points, though, so you may have a bit of a grace period.

*Price samples assume these redemptions include no limit on connecting trains, which I'm not sure is the case; my sample itineraries were booking next-day travel for VAB-POR for the Northeast Zone coach redemption and SAN-RDR for the California Special Routes redemption. Even if those are illegal redemptions, your 4,000 points are still worth much more than $21.50--WAS-BOS is definitely allowed for 3,000 points, and a next-day redemption could cost you $128. Even an advance-purchase NYP-WAS train runs $49.

jftino

Off topic abit, where is this coupon connection? i cant seem to find it anywhere?

paytonc

Coupon Connection is a FT forum only open to people who've posted ehm... 90? posts. I'd redeem for a Northeast Zone award that you might use -- it's easy to change Amtrak tickets.

jessej

Expiration date is based on you last AMTRAK activity - not just any activity

jackal

Yes, sorry--meant to make that clear.

Also, FWIW, it was recently announced by AGR Insider that AGR Chase MC cardholders are exempt from the expiration policy. I'm guessing that doesn't apply to the OP, though.

olwagner

You may want to reconsider your aversion to travelling by train.

Next time you fly out of Newark, why not take Amtrak - that would cost you $24 (as opposed to $15 with NJ Transit) and extend the validity of you AGR by 3 years.
You need to book the ticket well in advance (more than 2 weeks) to get it at $24 - but that's probably no biggie since you need to buy a plane ticket well in advance to get a decent price - so just book the Amtrak ticket just after your plane ticket.

duckyremix

I think you can also choose to share your points with other AGR members

jt23

You can also redeem 3000 points for 4 movie tickets. It depends on how much you believe your points are worth but if you are just going to lose them, perhaps four movie tickets are better than nothing.