AlanB

That online system works by matching the info you input, including your ticket number, to see if said ticket had its barcode scanned. The only way that the ticket's barcode can be scanned is for a conductor turn them in.

jackal

If the Q&A says that points expire three years after your last Amtrak purchase, them technically, you could read that to say that all you need to do is purchase a ticket--whether you plan to use it or not!

I know AGR tries very hard to keep the program from being a transfer house or exchange palace or anything, but other carriers' programs are profitable beasts in and of themselves (with credit cards and other partnerships). AGR should acknowledge that some of its profit does come from non-Amtrak-related uses (especially since it's managed by a separate company entirely) and should extend the expiration policy to cover any activity, not just train travel. I wouldn't mind the point expiration policy then...

NovaEngr

Or, simply buy the ticket, and two weeks after the reserved date of the train you did not ride, fax in the stub only for credit. This would be the same as if a person rode and did not get points. Since Amtrak's ticket handling is less than perfect, it should work like a charm. Even ethically, I have no problem. Amtrak got their revenue, the member gets the points and a clock reset. Win, win.

fairviewroad

To play it safe you could redeem for an award ticket to a station one short of your destination, then buy a separate ticket for the final leg. In most cases this would be a relatively small purchase...a small price to pay for the certainty of keeping your points active. (Not to mention you would get another 100 points in the process)

the_traveler

Who said that we were normal?

AlanB

This senario could actually backfire on you. Remember, Amtrak has a rule that you don't get points for multiple rides on the same train. Therefore, your award ticket could post first with zero points. At that point the computer would kick out the paid ticket as someone trying to beat the system and gain extra points, thereby stopping that second paid ticket from posting to your account.

Knowning Amtrak and the company handling AGR, I rather doubt that anyone bothered to program the computer for such an eventuality. Most likely they just told the computer to kick out subsequent tickets for the same person on the same train.

Now if the paid ticket hit the computer first, then maybe you'd be ok. But if it hit second, you could have a problem.

I suppose that you might be able to argue your way past that with an AGR rep, but 1) I can't promise that you'll win and 2) it would still be a major hassle. Easier to just take the short ride and forget about the award for a longer trip.

dougdd

TripRewards canceled not only my points, but my account after several years of inactivity.

Fortunately, I had just 2,600 points. I was looking for a way to earn more points, top the account up to 5k, then transfer to Amtrak.

This happened just as I was searching for a suitable TR hotel to stay in during my business trips.

Unfortunately, the TR properties are pretty run down in Fla. I couldn't find one that had a decent review in Tripadvisor.com. I don't want to stay at a hotel where there are many truckers, loud late night parties, beer cans everywhere, smoke smell, etc.

Looking at TR's terms, it does say points expire.

sdsearch

How does Amtrak tell if you ride or don't ride?

Is it because of something that happens on the train, or something that happens at the station?

It'd be no problem for me to buy a cheapo one-way ticket to ride one short stop at a local station. If the validation or whatever takes place before I get on the train, then it's no problem to not get on the train (or get on for one second and then get back off before it leaves it stations) and turn around to the parking lot. However, if the validation or whatever takes place after I get on the train and it leaves the station (but somehow yet within the few minutes before it reaches that next stop just a few miles down the road), then I have to waste hours (given the schedule) on a round trip or arrange some other way to get back to the first station where I parked, and neither is very practical for me.

(It's been years since I've ridden Amtrak, and I've never ridden it one short stop before at any rate. Except for LIRR [from JFK] and NJ Transit [from EWR], my recent train experiences have all been in Europe, where in many countries you're supposed to validate the ticket yourself in a machine before you board, and at any rate more than half the time on a short one-stop ride you'll never get around to seeing the conductor to punch it.)

jackal

Even worse than what you think: LONG after the train arrives at your destination.

On most trains, if not all of them, the conductor collects your ticket and places it in a bag along with all the other tickets collected on that train. At end of the train's run, the bag is couriered to a centralized processing center, where it is input into the computer database. Weeks might go by before this is done.

Therefore, if the conductor does not collect your ticket, Amtrak has nothing to go on and will not credit you any points. This is also why posting the points can take a long time.

As PHLviaUS indicated, though, Amtrak's ticket handling is, as any manual system is, less than perfect. Conductors might drop your ticket before they get it in the bag. Bags can get lost or mixed up, in which case your ticket may never be input into the database. So if you fill out the form online or call and claim that you rode but that your conductor must have lost the ticket or Amtrak otherwise messed it up, they may go ahead and credit you for the trip.

On some runs, conductors have been known to "lift" tickets for people not actually intending to ride the train but who need the points for activity or who just want the points. However, last I heard, Amtrak was cracking down on that practice, and conductors who are caught doing so might get in serious trouble. I would not count on a conductor doing this for you.

al613

My points have expired some time last year. I have emailed Amtrak to ask to reinstate them. They said, they can't do it right away, but if I travel within 90 days the points will be reinstated. Shortly after this email I made a transfer to Amtrak from Continental. Points reappeared in the account. I did not travel on the train at all.

soitgoes

Be careful...now there is the potential that all of your points will expire the next time they run their inactivity sweep.

al613

They are long ago gone to Choice

izzik

I'm sorry but I find this approach to be unethical.

Xyzzy

I transfer into Amtrak from my Continental account and use the points for NE Corridor tickets. I've traveled plenty, but almost never on paid (with money) tickets. Do I have to worry that Amtrak will cancel my account?

soitgoes

Yes, because it's AGR.
There haven't, as far as I know, been any reports of accounts expiring for those with Amtrak train redemption and travel activity in their account, but the terms specify "purchase" and given AGR's anti-customer policies, I wouldn't trust them.

You might be fine, as award travel posts as Amtrak travel with 0 earned points on your AGR account, but I wouldn't risk it.

If I were you, I would purchase a short, inexpensive segment on one of those NEC trips. BOS-PVD and WAS-NCT, for example, are each as low as $12 before discounts.