Earn 1,000 Bonus Amtrak Guest Rewards Points on SPG Stays

Oct 6, 2016

Amtrak Guest Rewards has announced a “>promotion for their members to earn a 1,000 point bonus on a 2 or more night stay at participating SPG properties between now and January 31, 2017.

Members must change their earning preference and elect to earn Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR) points instead of SPG points through SPG’s Airline Direct Deposit (ADD) program. For more info and to sign up for ADD see “>spg.com/moremiles. Note that any Starpoints earned after this election will be converted to miles (or in this case AGR points) and deposited in the member’s preferred partner account.

You can access the promotion “>here.

Members enrolled in the ADD program will earn the same amount of airline miles or in this case Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR) points as they would have earned SPG points if they hadn’t participated in the ADD program (for most partners; there are a few exceptions noted in the ADD T&C). For example, on a $200 stay, base members would have earned 400 SPG points (2 points per dollar); if they have elected to earn airline miles or AGR points they would get 400 as well. Gold and Platinum Elite members will still earn bonus miles or AGR points just as they would have with SPG points.

Since January 2016, the Amtrak Guest Rewards Program offers a fixed point redemption rate on Amtrak trains of around 2.9 cents per point (for most trains; redemptions for the Acela service in the Northeast offer less value per point). So the value of the 1,000 bonus AGR points is about $29. Also, the T&C seem to indicate that you need to use a specific rate code (AIRPRO) to get the bonus miles. I checked availability at a sample hotel and found that there are lower rates available than this promo rate:

But interesting to note that the promo rate just states a generic “1000 bonus miles” (not specific to Amtrak) and the T&C of the rate simply says “Receive 1000 bonus miles!. Stay a minimum of 2 nights to earn 1000 bonus miles per stay. SPG Membership Required.”

Conclusion

Personally I wouldn’t change my earning preference just for this promotion, especially if I can get a lower rate than the rate code required for the bonus points, but the bonus might be worth it on a cheaper hotel stay. It is interesting that the promo code is more generic and just talks about 1000 bonus miles. Perhaps we will see more announcements of similar SPG promotions to earn bonus miles on their other airline partners during this same period.

Promotion Terms and Conditions

To receive Amtrak Guest Rewards points in lieu of Starpoints®, recipient must participate in the Airline Direct DepositSM portion of the Starwood Preferred Guest program. With Airline Direct Deposit, Starpoints earned from eligible hotel stays and select bonus offers will be converted automatically into AGR points, will be credited to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and may not be transferred back to your SPG account. If recipient does not participate in Airline Direct Deposit, Starpoints will be earned in the Starwood Preferred Guest program.

Minimum stay 2 nights stay required to earn bonus points.
Guest must be an SPG member to be awarded points.
Offer is valid at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in North and Latin America.
Offer is valid for stays completed by January 31, 2017.
Book online, call your travel professional, or call (877) 782-0108 and mention rate plan AIRPRO.
An eligible stay is defined as one or more consecutive nights paying a qualifying rate in the same hotel regardless of the number of check-in or check-outs that occur.
Rates are per room, per night, based on single/double occupancy and availability at time of reservation and do not include additional per room, per night charges that may be imposed or state/local taxes.
A limited number of rooms may be available at these rates.
Blackout dates and other restrictions may apply.
Offer not applicable to groups.
Not to be combined with other offers or promotions and subject to change.
Not responsible for omissions or typographical errors.
Void where prohibited by law.
Starwood reserves the right to discontinue this offer at any time.
Starpoints, SPG, Starwood Preferred Guest, Sheraton, Four Points, W, Aloft, Le Méridien, The Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, St. Regis and their respective logos are the trademarks of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., or its affiliates.