Amtrak Train Gets Lost

Earlier this week, a train from Harrisburg, PA headed towards New York City got lost in the suburbs of Pennsylvania.

http://savvystews.com

According to the Huffington Post, an "Amtrak train carrying 130 people got lost last week after it traveled too far backward while turning around and ended up on local tracks in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The train . . . experienced a mechanical issue in the undercarriage of the front cab car, where the driver was."

Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz told The Huffington Post Wednesday over the phone, "In an attempt to complete its trip, the train had to turn around so that the locomotive in the back could be at the front."

My favorite part of the whole story is that the conductor of the train had to ask for directions to get back to Philly. "The lumbering Amtrak eventually reached the Bala Cynwyd, Pa., SEPTA station. It came to a stop and received directions to come back to Philadelphia, where passengers were put on a separate train to New York."

Conclusion of the story: Everyone Makes Mistakes!

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Earn United Miles by Riding Amtrak

Amtrak is a way of life in the Northeast. As a kid, I remember going to the beach and seeing the train hurdle past, as the tracks rain next to the beach. The train was a thing of beauty. It wasn't until I was a teen that I actually took my first train ride. A quick trip to NYC to see the holiday displays and a show at Radio City Music Hall. Now as an adult, I almost never take the train (too expensive). Kind of sad ;(

For those who do take the train, Amtrak and United have a partnership allowing you to earn United miles on a very limited number of tickets. Unfortunately, the earn opportunities are only available for those traveling in the Northeast. 

There are two ways two earn miles via Amtrak, which can be found on this United webpage.

First, involves flying into and out of Newark airport and take the train to/from the airport. The rules read:

Earn award miles on qualifying Coach or Business class fares per segment on Amtrak when you fly United and make a connection at Newark Liberty International Airport to or from any of the following Amtrak destinations: New Haven Rail Station, CT; Stamford Rail Station, CT; Philadelphia 30th Street Station, PA; Wilmington Rail Station, DE. See the chart below for eligible United fare classes and award mileage accrual information

The other option involves taking Acela from Washington, DC to NYC or Boston to NYC. Unfortunately,  only business and first class tickets earn miles. No connecting flight required. The rules read as followed:

Earn 500 award miles per Business class segment or 750 award miles per First class segment on Acela Express trains (no connecting flight required) between New York's Penn Station and the following train stations: Boston's South Station, MA; Boston's Back Bay Station, MA; Boston's Route 128 Station, MA; Washington D.C.

With both options, you need to call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL and provide the with your MileagePlus credit card number. The other option is to book your rail ticket with your United Ticket. For instance, I booked a ticket from New Haven Rail Station to Washington, DC all on United and here is what I got:

United uses the following codes for the rail stations earning miles connecting through Newark's airport:

New Haven: ZVE
Stamford: ZTP
Philadelphia 30th: ZVP
Wilmington, DE: ZWI

Amtrak has its own frequent traveler program known as Guest Rewards, which can earn you free train rides with as little as 1,500 points.

Not an amazing way to bank United miles, but if you travel Amtrak on the East coast, a possible way to pad your balance.

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Why I Joined Best Buy's Reward Zone

Yesterday, I signed up for a new loyalty program: Best Buy's Reward Zone.

I have never had a Reward Zone account, weird because I shop at Best Buy often. I think that the reason why I never got an account was that it once had a cost to be part of it. I don't know when they stopped charging for Reward Zone, but ever since the program has had a bad taste.

Something changed yesterday. I don't what, but I now have a loyalty program that I am earning points for.

The main point of the Reward Zone program is to give rewards for loyal customers. For every 250 points, one earns a $5 gift certificate to use at Best Buy. One earns 1 point for $1 spent at Best Buy or BestBuy.com.

To join, go here.

Now one can earn points by completing activities or answering polls on the Reward Zone Facebook page. In addition, one can earn Reward Zone points by answering Audience Reward questions. Weekly, one can earn 12 points by answering 6 questions right (2pts per correct answer).

What really got me to sign-up is their current offer, spent $10 or more in-store or online, earn 500 points: enough for a $10 reward coupon. All one has to do is to complete a purchase over $10 (after discounts), by March 23, in store or online and provide your Reward Zone Number. 500 Reward Zone points will be deposited into your account shortly thereafter. Of course, one should use this promotion online and go through a shopping portal to earn extra points.

Why am I writing about Reward Zone on a travel points blog, first free money is free money and simple free money is a no brainer. Second, Reward Zone points can be transferred into airline points through Points.com.

1,000 Reward Zone Points (as of 3/16/13) can be traded into:

170 Areoplan Miles
131 AAdvantage Miles
255 Asia Miles
139 Frontier Miles
255 Priority Club Points
131 United Mileage Plus Miles
237 US Airway Miles
124 Alaskan Airways Miles
200 Amtrak Miles
107 Virgin Atlantic Miles

While transferring Reward Zone points into miles won't earn you a ton of miles directly. Many times airlines have promotions that give you bonus miles when you complete partner activities ie US Airways GrandSlam RIP, Delta's New Member Bonus, or United's 25% Bonus.

Since Best Buy's Reward Zone is free, it can't hurt to sign up. Worst case, I transfer all the miles to an airline through Points.com.





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