I couldn't stop laughing at Fred Frailey's current article about how to accumulate the most points for least amount of money in the Amtrak Guest Rewards program to reach the Select Executive level.
Like the movie "Up In The Air", I can imagine a train announcement being maid, and the Conductoer coming up to Fred to tell him his name will now be painted on the side of the engine.
It kind of took me back to the days when I flew all over the place on Delta racking up 600,000 Frequent Flyer miles, which of course, led me to fly even more place for free for a couple more years. Of course, that was back in the 90's when flying was tolerable, and empty seats were commonplace.
I was wondering if Amtrak has made any rule changes as a result of the article...or if there are other readers who are planning on using these techniques.
My train videos - http://www.youtube.com/user/karldotcom
I found Frailey's article on Amtrak's Guest Rewards Program to be interesting. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a Guest Rewards member and have used my rewards points for a trip from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington.
In FY12 Amtrak lost more than $1,2 billion. The loss was or is being made up by the taxpayers. The loss works out to an average system subsidy of $39.67 per passenger or approximately 18 cents per passenger mile.
I asked Amtrak's management this question in a snail mail letter: Do you have any hard data to show that the Guest Rewards program attracts customers who otherwise would not ride Amtrak or prevents the erosion of existing customers? I suspect that I will have to wait a long time for an answer. The other question is whether the incremental revenues generated because of the Guest Reward Program offsets the cost of the program. I did not ask this question; it just popped into my mind.
If the Guest Reward Program does not generate increment revenues that Amtrak would not otherwise realize, it is a give away from a taxpayer supported railway whose customers already enjoy a substantial subsidy. On the other hand, if the program generates revenues that would not otherwise be realized, that cover the cost of the program and reduce the annual losses, it is a prudent marketing strategy.
I think you asked Amtrak some very good questions which have also long bothered me about the strange directions Amtrak promotions seem to take. Lots of short trips on NEC trains would seem to do little to improve profitability of the national system and since much of the time the sleepers on long distance trains are sold out because of lack of equipment and/or management skill and flexibility, the whole rewards system appears to be a loser: for Amtrak and the taxpayer. You will probably have a long wait to hear from Boardman, it has been over two years and I still have not heard from anyone in his office in response to a very civil letter I wrote to him. I too have used Rewards Points for long distance travel but would happily give them up for more availability/frequency of long distance service.
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