Yesterday was the official start to the Amtrak Spring line promotion, and there may be some opportunities for you and your family to fill up your Guest Rewards balance. The promotion officially runs March 4 – May 12, 2012, which happens to also correspond with National Train Day. The promotion looks to award bonus points for travel during the above period, but also works with transactions through various partners.

Guests will earn the following bonus Guest Reward points:

– Double points for travel through May 12
– Triple points for travel during May 6-12
– 500 bonus points for 5 trips within the promotion period

Partner opportunities include:

– Double points with Audience Rewards (through May 12); Teleflora (through May 12); HHonors (April 1 – June 30); Budget (through May 31); 1-800-Flowers (through May 31); and Wyndham Rewards (March 29 – July 8 )

– Triple points with Hertz (through June 30); Enterprise (through May 31); and LaQuinta (through May 31)

So the question is, will you maximize this promotion to increase your returns on spring/early summer travel?

Unfortunately, right off the start, I notice in the terms there is a $35 minimum spend on segments to count towards the 5 trip/500 point bonus.

Qualifying trips for the Take 5 bonus points are one-way direct segments, with a minimum spend of $35.

While it makes sense for Amtrak, it will discourage us from taking part in the promotion for the purposes of earning rewards. The reason being is that we can easily hop on a 30 minute ride between Cleveland and Elyria, OH for $6.75/person. The only downside…the ride is during the middle of the night. Normally one would earn 2 Guest Rewards points per dollar; however, with this promotion it would be 4 points per dollar with the potential for 6 points per dollar during the final week of the promotion. So worst case scenario, would there not be a $35 minimum spend, would be (($6.75 * 2 points) * 5 trips) + 500 points = 567 points for a total cost of $33.75 (or $0.06/point).

To reaffirm how this promotion will not work for the purpose of doing a Rail Run for the sole purpose of earning points, right now everyone can buy points directly from Amtrak with a 30% bonus. So the minimum of 500 points + 150 bonus is $13.75, and is cheaper than the alternative of riding the train during the middle of the night. As they say on Shark Tank, I’m Out!