Anyone out there got a great plan to get 8000 points quickly? I was denied the cc.Transfer from some other loyalty plan? I have Amtrak but was unaware that an upper tier was needed to complete.Thanks.

You don't need the upper tier to transfer from Amtrak. The other option is $200 in Amtrak train purchases this calendar year on the Chase AGR credit card. I'm not clear on whether you have that AGR card or just have AGR points. (Unfortunately, the Chase AGR card is not taking applications right now, so if you don't already have it you can't get it at the moment.)

You can transfer from Diners Club and American Express Membership Rewards, but if you have neither that's not going to be quick. (But Diners Club is not even taking card applications at the moment, while Amex MR points take two statement cycles to post typically.)

I don't know of any other loyalty program you can transfer from into Choice, besides Amtrak, Diners Club, and Amex MR.

You can buy Choice points at the old site (not at the new site), at:

http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/GPBuyPoints

but it'll cost you $88 for 8000 points. Depending on the redemption you're doing that may or may not be worth it. (I at least once redeemed 8000 points per night at a Choice hotel in Europe when the cash room rate was well over $200 a night, so it's not impossible that $88 for 8000 points could be a decent value in some cases.)

I do have the Amtrak CC. When I spoke to Amtrak, they insisted my tier would not show up until the calender year was over(I would do the $200 spend on a refundable ticket).I was going to use the points for a great value in Rome also. I may just dump the points on some gift cards to avoid the hassle. Thanks though!

Two more thoughts:

1. Have you looked into:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/choic...-launched.html

?

2. If it's really a great value in Rome, then maybe two cheap USA stays with this promo:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/choic...nts-promo.html

would work? (If you can use any hotel stays, that is, and you can simply "shift" two of them to Choice.)

I mention that because I earn all my Choice points on cheap stays in the suburbs (or in small towns), during "stay twice and earn 8000 points" promos only, and use them for (what would be with cash) expensive stays overseas or in downtowns of big cities in the US.

Two Choice stays at $70/night to earn 8000 points is not bad if the 8000 points is paying for a $300/night room, especially if you needed to do those two stays somewhere anyway.

And, in case you didn't realize, European hotels go "on sale" for only 8000 points at times precisely to match those "stay twice earn 8000" promos.

Now, that's a really poor value. 8000 points gets you a $50 gift card, or a $100-$300 night in Europe. So you choose the gift card??? Choice points don't expire for 2.0 to 2.99 years from when you earn them, why in such a hurry to dump them if you can't use them this year for what you planned???

I'm guessing you already have some points and need 8,000 more to reach a certain total. I have 8,000 pts expiring end of year. If you just need 8K by itself, I'm happy to book it for you in exchange for something halfway decent.