UPDATE, December 4, 2007: None of this is valid anymore. Amtrak, in its infinite wisdom, has reneged on this redemption rates. See update below.
Great news for those with Continental OnePass balances too small to redeem for meaningful awards, but large enough to care about: Amtrak has recently partnered with the Choice Hotels Choice Privileges program, which lets you convert your points — with no loss in value — to a host of other programs. Gary Leff has the scoop.
The way it works: You transfer your points from Continental to Amtrak, which is possible at a 1:1 ratio. (You’ll need to call Continental to initiate the transfer, which must be in increments of 5,000, with a 25,000 mile cap.) You then transfer those Amtrak points to Choice Rewards. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for transferring miles again, since Choice Rewards can be converted to miles — again, with no net loss of value — on Air Canada, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Mexicana, Northwest, United, or USAirways. The options for transferring to Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program are perhaps even more attractive. See Gary’s post. UPDATE: Amtrak now devalues your points by 40% when you transfer to Choice. The transfer is no longer worth doing, in my view. Too much lost value.
Moving miles from one airline to another is a frequent flyer holy grail of sorts, so this is a welcome policy. There are other options for moving miles (see here for the lowdown) but it’s extremely rare to see a 1:1 transfer.
Amtrak’s policies have the habit of going “poof!” and disappearing overnight. Use this transfer option while you can.
Related:
- Reader mail: Can I transfer points from one airline to another?
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October 21st, 2007 at 3:24 am
Thanks for this!!! I’ve been looking for a way to get some orphan CO miles over to UA.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Amtrak no longer partners with United Airlines. Do you have any other suggestions?
November 14th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
See the post above. Amtrak –> Choice Hotels –> United.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Sorry – I was confused. The Choice Hotels program is now referred to as Choice Privileges on the Amtrak website. In any event, it looks like this will work. Thanks so much for the tip!
November 20th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
It worked! took about a month from start to finish
November 20th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Excellent! Glad to hear it!
December 4th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
UPDATE: Amtrak has changed the terms of this offer. 5000 Amtrak points NOW –> 15000 Choice points. That’s 10000 points less, or a 40% devaluation.
This is no longer an offer I recommend.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
[...] Amtrak’s Guest Rewards program Six weeks ago, I sang the praises of Amtrak’s loyalty program, for the ability to transfer miles between programs with no loss [...]
December 6th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I talked to Amtrak, thinking I might try to convince them to give me the transfer to ChoicePoints at the old rate, but didn’t even manage to get the new one:
As of Dec. 5th, Amtrak no longer transfers points to Choice Points. Period.
That sound you hear? It’s the muffled sound of their customers being beaten in the back room by a burly guy named “Steve.” Steve doesn’t like you. And he doesn’t like it when you try to use your Amtrak points.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Hi,
I tried to look for points conversion from Choice privilages to American on choicehotels website could not find any link.
Can some one guide me where can i do so.