The Amtrak Guest Rewards program is adding a new tier to its elite program. The new Select Executive status will be the highest status level in the program, requiring 20,000 tier points to qualify; the previous top tier of Select Plus was available at only 10,000 points.
The features of the Select Executive program are reasonably solid; here’s the list Amtrak is using in their promo materials:
- 100% tier point bonus on Amtrak® travel
- Select Executive Earned Upgrades
- Unlimited access to ClubAcela®, Amtrak Metropolitan LoungeSM, First class lounges and United Club locations for you and one guest, or your spouse and children under the age of 21
- Unlimited Buy and Share points
- No annual Transfer points limits
- Auto-registration for promotions
- A new priority customer service phone line for Select Executive members
Of these, priority customer service and the ClubAcela offers are also available to the Select Plus level members. And Select Plus gets a 50% bonus on Amtrak travel. The main benefits where Select Executive seem to be the upgrades – one per 3000 tier points which is 1 per 6 Acela segments – and the unlimited transferring out of points to other programs. The extra 50% bonus points doesn’t hurt either.
Getting to Select Executive status means spending $10,000 (ignoring the 100 point minimum per trip) or taking 40 rides on Acela. Not cheap at all but for regular commuters or folks with a decent Amtrak budget this is a pretty good deal. And the costs to add the few extra features don’t seem all that significant. Seems like a win all around.
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Does anyone know if Selects and Select Pluses get any upgrades in their welcome kit, or is Select Executive now the only way to earn upgrades these days? I made Select status back when the Guest Rewards program was still young and got a handful of ClubAcela passes and upgrades in my welcome kit. If Select Executive is now the only way to get upgrades, the program has certainly gotten a lot stingier.
Upgrades still come in the welcome kit at all levels. If you’ve followed the AGR forum on FlyerTalk there is at least one other perk – SE will be the first AGR tier where upgrades are available electronically and applied electronically rather than requiring a paper turn-in.
Not all routes on Acela get a 500 point fixed amount per trip. Some only get 2 points per $
Also, Select Plus and Select Executive members can redeem AGR points without having to abide by blackout dates which is huge.
I believe one can get this status with 20K in spending on the Amtrak/Chase cc. It gets you United Club Access and it could get you 2 $100 Hyatt GC’s. The card has no annual fee. Using VR’s that is easily accomplished ,more so with the 12K bonus…..
I think status is based on Tier Qualifying Points which are only Amtrak travel and not credit card spend.