Posted by Seth on January 8, 2010 under points | 
Amtrak is pretty good at keeping promos alive for their Guest Rewards program. They expire every few months but there is always another promo right behind it. This winter is no exception and there are two promos out there now for folks who ride in the northeast corridor (Washington, DC – Boston).
Promo number 1 is for Acela riders, a/k/a folks on expense accounts who don’t mind paying double to save minimal amounts of time. And, yes, I’ve done it, too. The promo is for one free round-trip Acela ride for three paid trips (or six paid one-ways). Not too terrible a deal as you also earn the regular AGR points on the rides. The freebie will be valid from June 1 – August 31, 2010 and is not valid for peak weekday trains. A minimum spend of $85 each way applies, a maximum of two one-ways can be credited per day and a maximum of 8 reward can be earned so there isn’t a huge arbitrage opportunity here, but for folks who are regularly riding on Acela the deal is pretty decent. Registration is here.
Promo number 2 is for non-Acela riders in the northeast corridor. The details are reasonably similar though the spend minimum is lower. Thanks to Gary for sharing the details on that one.
I do find it somewhat interesting that I got the Acela promo rather than the regional trains one. I guess they are mining their data pretty well to figure out who does what more often. I appreciate that.
Posted by Seth on August 25, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Forgetting for a minute that travel today was dictated by work (only the second time this year!) and that I was actually busy the entire day, it really was a great day to be out and about. Today’s trip was a quick one – a day trip from New York City to Washington, DC – but it was also two great travel experiences wrapped around a relatively normal work day.
The day started on the train out to JFK and a quick(-ish) flight down to Washington. Yeah, I flew out of JFK. LaGuardia has the shuttle flights, and I intended to fly US Airways to extend the expiration date on my miles there, but I put off booking the flights and by the time I got around to actually doing it the appropriately timed flights from LaGuardia were way too expensive. So I booked out of JFK instead. I was somewhat hoping to fly on American Airlines and catch a new airplane type, the ERJ-135 or –140, but again the fares were too expensive. So I booked on Delta and a CRJ-900 and accepted the relatively crappy seat 16-A that I was able to get during the booking and check-in process (one in the same since I was within 24 hours of the flight time).
The plane turned out to be pretty much empty – I think only one of the pairs of seats had two people in it – so I was able to self upgrade to the exit row seat 13-D. The seat is pretty much the same as the first class seats on that flight in terms of legroom, and I don’t really need the extra width, so as far as I’m concerned I got the good seat on the cheap. The in-flight “service” was questionable – the thought that a 40 minute flight is too short for beverage service is rather laughable considering that from LaGuardia I can have two drinks in that time and that half the plane was asleep – but I was (eventually) able to get a cup of water to enjoy with the yogurt that I liberated from the SkyClub at JFK so it wasn’t all bad, just mostly. But I was flying, and that makes up for a myriad of sins.
The flight was a first for me: my first JFK-DCA segment. Sure, it isn’t particularly exotic like the random flights to Korea and back that I’ll get next week, but it is still a new line of my version of a map of the world and that is always a good thing. Plus it meant getting to watch the climb-out from JFK which is one of my favorites.
And then, about 40 minutes later, I was on the ground at Washington National Airport. Another 20 minutes on the Metro and I was in the office putting out fires and smacking vendors around which is always a good time. Eight hours later and I was headed out of the office and over to Union Station to catch a train back up to NYC. Always a train in the evening. The actual time in transit when using public transportation to and from the stations is the same and the train back to NYC is WAY more reliable in terms of timing. Plus it means a few hours of open bar when sitting up front rather than racing to down two beers on the Shuttle flights. And I’ve done my best to ensure that I drink my fill. It is a bit annoying that the Amtrak lounges have no booze available – even if I wanted to pay for it – but such is life. The fact that the attendant just offered me a double so I’d stop asking for refills is a win in my book.
At the end of the day (which is rapidly approaching, as the sky grows dark outside the train windows) I’m reasonably convinced that pretty much everything went right today. I was out traveling, I wasn’t particularly delayed at either end of my trip and my total travel time round trip was about as good as it could be. Oh, and I had plenty of vodka on the ride home. All in all, a good day. These are the type of business travel days that I remember fondly when I think back to my days as a road warrior travel guy.
Posted by Seth on August 10, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Amtrak’s Guest Rewards program is sortof a “Little Engine that Could” in the loyalty marketplace. They certainly don’t need to have a program – most of their customers are not folks who have a choice in their train travel needs – but it is nice of them to offer it and it certainly helps them compete in the NE Corridor area from Washington, DC to Boston, the area where they are the closest to profitable. I actually was involved in a focus group many years ago to help them define and improve the program (some of the benefits discussed even made it into production!) so I have a special place in my heart for AGR.
It also happens to be a program with some very useful rewards to be had. Earning points is pretty straightforward and the redemption rates on train travel are pretty decent, other than the Acela trips. And they do run their fair share of promotions throughout the year, but the one I received notice of today was particularly intriguing. They are about to sign up their 2,000,000th member into the AGR program. And to celebrate they are giving away 2,000,000 points. Rather than a contest or a lottery or some other means, they are just giving them to all their members who ride a train next week. Every AGR member who rides a train on Thursday, August 20th will simply split the 2,000,000 points equally. Obviously that is a bad deal if everyone rides the train that day – one measly bonus point – but I think that the odds are significantly against such a likelihood. Amtrak only sees about 28MM riders annually – about 80,000 daily – and there is no way they are all members of AGR.
I don’t know just how many points each AGR member riding next week will earn on this promo, but I am strongly considering finding a cheap train out of NY Penn for a quick ride in the morning, just to find out. Registration is required in advance of the ride.
Posted by Seth on January 9, 2009 under TSA |
I’m just now getting back connected after my jetlag study trip (more on that to come over the weekend) and finally catching up on a few things. It seems that there have been some developments in the “security” space this past week that deserve a bit of attention.
First up is a story out of NYC where a photographer was arrested at Penn Station for taking photographs and refusing to delete them when an Amtrak officer illegally requested that they do so. I’m not in a position to evaluate whether the guy was trespassing or not, as there are some rules about being on the platforms, I believe, but either way the suggestion that the photographer must delete the photos or that someone taking photos today rather than just looking at the photos that have been taken over the rail beds during the past 90+ years that the tracks have been there must be a terrorist is outright ridiculous. I’ve been harassed taking photos at one of the Federal buildings downstairs though wholly within my rights. It certainly is frustrating that guards and officers continue to enforce rules that don’t actually exist and cite “security” as the basis when they are not providing anything of the sort.
The other story comes out of our good friends at the TSA, the department of the federal government most devoted to destroying any actual rights Americans have. Lacking any real threats or other reason to do anything useful, the TSA has decided that their version of “security” needs to be brought to general aviation. Apparently the TSA is convinced that the operators of these small private planes will need to check passengers against no-fly lists that don’t actually have the names of know terrorists on them, restrict what can be brought on the planes in a war against a state of matter that has no publically documented basis in science and generally try to put private operators out of business. The TSA won’t actually provide any of the screening required. They will require the private operators to pay someone else to perform that screening. So they’re creating more useless jobs and adding ridiculous costs that provide no value. But at least they are consistent in their efforts to continue to justify their existence in the absence of any legitimate need for them.
Posted by Seth on August 18, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Yup. That’s the line I just heard from one of the attendants in the cabin on the Amtrak Acela train from Washington, DC to New York City.
I’m a huge fan of the train on this route, particularly in the afternoons which is generally when I’m heading north. As La Guardia starts to back up with weather, ATC or other delays the afternoon flights start to get delayed, even for the Shuttle service from Delta and US Air, which are arguable the most profitable flights in the USA. My experience has been almost universally positive on the Amtrak ride. Sure, there was one trip where our train broke down and we had to transfer to another train across a bridge plate, but that is a fun story and I still made it where I was going at a reasonable time.
Today, however, it seems that the 4pm Acela Express train out of Washington broke down in Trenton. I don’t know the details, but we pulled in to Trenton on the 5pm train out of DC and picked up the passengers off the 4pm train. And wow were they a grumpy bunch. I don’t blame them, as the hour delay is certainly annoying. Plus they apparently weren’t really given any information about what happened or when our train was going to be passing through to pick them up.
So when the passengers all came across the platform and onto our train the attendant made the appropriate announcement that they were all in the first class compartment and that they needed a first class ticket. That evoked a less than pleasant response from one of the passengers about being an hour delayed. And that brought about the line that is the title of this post. I certainly chuckled a bit when he said it, and he has a point. Doesn’t mean that it was the best customer service moment in history, but it was definitely entertaining and true.
As for why I prefer the train over the planes on the afternoon north-bound flights, I managed to catch the 5pm train having left the office at 4:10 and stopping at another office on the way to say hi to another acquaintance. I had about 15 minutes to spare on making the train and I took the Metro in DC from the office in DuPont circle to Union Station. Given a similar departure time I would’ve taken the 5:30pm Delta Shuttle from Washington National airport. My train arrives at 7:45pm at Penn Station in NYC, while the Shuttle is scheduled to land at La Guardia at 6:44pm. But on a day that had clear skies and no weather issues at all throughout the NE Corridor the Shuttle flight was delayed, landing at 7:13pm, arriving 1:43 after departure on a flight that takes, at most, about 45 minutes. My train might be a couple minutes late thanks to the extra stop at Trenton, but I’ll still make it home within ~15 minutes of when I would have had I flown. And the train is way more consistent in its ability to arrive around when it is supposed to. Sure, the one train today was late, but there aren’t systemic delays that are affecting all trains, unlike the air traffic system in the NYC area.
Lower stress, bigger seats, a more reliable schedule, a much tamer ridiculous security theater and lower fares. All in exchange for about 15 extra minutes on the total travel time. And I still get my Continental OnePass miles for the trip or Amtrak Guest Rewards Points. What’s not to like about the train?
Posted by Seth on June 30, 2008 under Uncategorized |
I’ve been to Philadelphia a couple times for work, and I even spent the night once for pleasure, but I never really got out to see the city. This past weekend I set out to address that issue, planning a get-away with my other half to celebrate our anniversary. Part of the fun for me was that the trip was a complete surprise for her. I gave her almost no details, other than a departure time on Friday and some vague guidelines on events (including a MLB game on Saturday, but not which one). Heading down to Philadelphia on Amtrak was incredibly easy. I’ve often suggested that the train is better than flying for the North-East Corridor, and after this weekend’s trips I am more steadfast in that opinion.
So we got on the train, popped a split of Proseco and had some cheese and crackers and enjoyed the ride into town. We booked in to the Hilton Garden Inn ($55 on Priceline versus a list price of $159 on Hilton.com, and they gave me my HH Diamond benefits anyway, though I don’t think they were supposed to). Actually, the HGI was the highlight of the trip. We got a nice room upgrade, free drinks and free breakfast and everyone was incredibly nice. I actually filled out a comment card lauding some of them; it was that good.
That night we headed to Buddakan for dinner, an experience that we’d both been looking forward to for some time. And boy were we disappointed. The scene was what we expected – “hip & cool” – but the food was most certainly not up to par. The menu came loaded with options like “Zen-gria” and “dip sum” donuts. We were surprised to not find Moons over my Hammy™ on the menu (nod to the wife for that gem). We ordered five appetizers for our dinner. At most restaurants the apps are better than the entrees, with the chef willing to take a bit more risk on getting creative. And this was supposed to be a haven of new flavors, so we thought we made a good choice. Shrimp & Scallop Spring Rolls, King Crab Tempura, Tuna Carpaccio “Pizza,” Lobster Fried Rice and Hot Eel Dice were the choices. And here’s how they fared:
- Shrimp & Scallop Spring Rolls – Probably the best of the five, with decent chunks of the shellfish and a light wrapper. But that was it. No other flavors mixed in the stuffing. The dipping sauces were pretty good.
- King Crab Tempura – Overly soggy and lacking in flavor. We were spoiled by having the king crab app at Morimoto earlier in the week, but I was still expecting some crab flavor to seep through. I was denied.
- Tuna Carpaccio “Pizza” – I was hesitant to order it because it had “pizza” in the name. I should’ve trusted my gut. Without the sauce it was sliced tuna and avocado on a toasted pita. And neither the tuna nor the avocado were all that great. The sauce was a soy/wasabi blend, so that added some flavor to it and made it passable, but really just barely.
- Lobster Fried Rice – I’m still trying to figure out where the saffron got lost in the kitchen; it certainly never made it to our fried rice. The lobster chunks were overcooked and lacking that tenderness that correctly cooked lobster effuses.
- Hot Eel Dice – This is the only app without a description on the menu. We asked for one and it definitely didn’t match what was served. The “dice” is actually a couple pieces of hot eel sushi with a bit of avocado layered in. And unlike normal eel sushi it was lacking the tangy sauce that is normally served, meaning that this plate also was missing out on flavor. And it was full pieces. lending no credibility to the word “dice” in the name.
The dessert was OK (we had the chocolate/banana thing), but still not great and certainly not living up to the high expectations that we had. Maybe our expectations were too high, but it just wasn’t a great meal. Sad, but true.
Back to the hotel that night and then up and out the next morning to take in some of the historical sights downtown. That translates to the liberty bell and the old state house. We spent the typical 30 minutes going through the liberty bell pavilion, reading the signs and basking in the history. And I still have absolutely no idea why the Liberty Bell is relevant in American history. It pre-dates the revolution by 20-odd years. It was not used as a signal for anything in particular because it broke pretty soon after it went into service. Best as I can tell it actually did nothing, other than to become an icon for various civil rights groups throughout the past 200 years. It didn’t figure in the drive for independence nor in the revolutionary (or other) wars. I guess it is all that is left of Philly’s claim to revolutionary history so they keep pumping it up, but I cannot figure out what its relevance is. The other building was the old state house. We toured the grounds but did not wait in line to go inside. Maybe that part of the tour was better, but the grounds were nothing special, save for about a dozen Argenbright security guards posing for photos with the tourists. Oh, and a statue of Washington.
I’ll admit that we didn’t make it to the art museum nor to the Franklin Center, both of which I’ve heard good things about. But still, I was left wondering what all the fuss is about in Philadelphia. At least we saw this guy in the train station which was entertaining:
I’ll probably give Philly another try at some point, like in September when I have another 6am flight out, but until then I’ll be looking at other options, and will continue to try to figure out why the Liberty Bell has garnered the reputation it has as relevant.
Posted by Seth on April 5, 2008 under Uncategorized |
I’m pretty sick of writing about airlines going bankrupt this week. It turns out that five carriers (ATA, Aloha, Champion, Skyway and Skybus) announced they were shutting down operations in the USA, one of which I’ve never heard of (Skyway) and at least three that did so without any official advance warning to their passengers or employees. It is relatively unprecedented, and the carnage may not be over yet. Alitalia is on the brink of collapse, and the other majors in the US are not all that safe. Delta is showing desperation with their efforts to give away elite (Medallion) status to anyone with a pulse at this point (free unsolicited status for no apparent reason for many SkyMiles members this year, self included, 2x MQMs for the next 3 months on all flights booked this month, 1K EQMs for some hotel stays, etc.). Amtrak has a double points promo in the hopper right now as well. And there are still no guarantees that any airline is going to be operating next year or even next month. I had a conversation today with a former ALPA union attorney today who swears that the deregulation of the airline industry was nothing but bad in the long term. I don’t know that I’m ready to agree with that (too many benefits from mistakes that otherwise wouldn’t have happened with regulation in place) but I see his point. The deregulation created an environment where a single party could show up and dictate price to the rest of the players in the market, and that isn’t particularly good for the carriers, though passengers theoretically benefited from the lower prices, at the expense now of the companies collapsing.
Anyways, like I said, I’m sick of writing about that stuff, so I thought I’d switch gears and write about a few meals from this week.
First on my list, a visit to a local place that we go to once every couple months, Maroon’s. The food is still fantastic – a great combination of Southern and Jamaican cuisines, but I’m not entirely sure we’re going to go back. The prices continue to go up, which I suppose is natural, but they’ve added an interesting line to the back of the menu that really bothers me, “A gratuity of 15% will be added to all bills.” I’ve seen similar notes at some restaurants in more touristy areas where the patrons might not be familiar with the tipping practices in the US. But even then it is usually a note that gratuity isn’t included or suggesting a tip. And it isn’t for large parties -that surcharge is 20% – it is for everyone. In this case the bill came with the gratuity noted on the bill and then the credit card slip had the “Included Gratuity” and a space for “Additional Gratuity.” Between that and the fact that the service barely deserved the forced 15%, I just don’t know that I’ll be heading back there, in spite of the good food.
The second meal was at Cafe S.F.A. on the 8th floor of Saks Fifth Avenue. I went to Saks to get a shave and a haircut at the John Allen’s salon on the 7th floor. I have to say that compared to my regular Russian guy the haircut was quite a bit better, and the overall experience probably justifies the additional cost. But I was disappointed to discover that they only do shaves on weekdays, so I missed out on that. Anyways, following the haircut I went up to lunch at S.F.A with a couple of friends who introduced me to the salon. I have to say that if there were ever a prototypical “ladies who lunch” vision from my imagination of what the rest of NYC lives like, this is it. The crowd was distinctively New York, with a few visitors interspersed. And the crew was definitely a shopping and lunching crowd. The food was OK, too. The Bloody Mary was a bit blah, my sandwich was colder than I thought it should be for a Cuban (then again, WTF was I doing ordering a Cuban there?!?!?) and the Asian beef salad had tortilla strips in it. But it wasn’t a bad option and the atmosphere was quite nice. If you can get a seat by the windows looking out on NYC (we didn’t) then it is definitely a great stop on a shopping tour of NYC.
The third meal was dinner at an old standby. I eat here every couple of weeks, and it is good to have a “regular” spot to be. Dinner was delicious as always, even if the regular bartender was still on vacation. Anyways, after a couple recent misses, the comfort food was nice to have again.
Hopefully I’ll have more good dining reviews in the coming weeks as I head out on the road a bit. Hopefully…
Posted by Seth on March 27, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Following on AA’s need to ground and inspect their MD80s yesterday, Delta announced that they were performing a similar set of checks, and similarly taking a number of planes out of service in order to do so. The Delta action affects about 130 planes and there were a number of cancelled flights as a result. All these inspections are apparently to verify that the cable ties holding some wires in place are correctly spaced. Who knew that cable tie spacing was so important??
Particularly interesting to me are the Delta Shuttle flights between New York’s LaGuardia and Wasington’s National and Boston’s Logan airports. These flights are cash cows for Delta, with fares often higher than a dollar and a half per mile for a walk-up ticket. And these flights are operated with a dedicated sub-fleet of MD-88 airplanes, the type included in the grounding. Somewhat amazingly, Delta has managed to control the damage on this route, cancelling only a couple of the flights so far, while keeping the vast majority of them flying (2 cancelled to DCA and 3 to BOS, out of 16-18 for each city). Other routes are not so lucky, but at least Delta’s keeping the money route operating.
UPDATE (5:11pm EDT): Apparently Delta can’t even keep the money route going full speed – they cancelled four more DCA flights and three more BOS flights. Not a good day to be flying on Delta or AA, though Amtrak is probably doing brisk business on their Acela routes between NYC and Boston/Washington.
