u/bzbsteve

I'm a regular rider on the Northeast Corridor. I entered the Lounge the other day at Union Station in DC for my Acela and the Lounge staff member glanced at my suitcase and immediately said "that bag is oversized, you must pay $20." I was puzzled because I've brought that bag on dozens of trains. He didn't measure it. Since my train was leaving soon, I just paid it. But when I got home, out of curiosity, I measured my bag. It was far less than 50 pounds and the dimensions were smaller than the 28 x 22 x 14 inches max listed on the Amtrak website.

Has the baggage policy changed? Or did I just encounter an overzealous employee? Anybody else have this happen? I'm wondering if I should bother asking for a refund of my baggage fee!

Yesterday, I got a fare alert saying that my Alaska Air flight was now $169 lower. But when I called Alaska, they said it was only down by $8. Then today I got another alert saying the price went down by $276. Again, I called Alaska and they said it went down by only $10.

Is this common? I get that fares change often. But does anyone ever get the full refund that TripIt alerts you about?

So I just reached Select Status today! As I understand it, if I am able to earn another 5000 TQPs during 2026 I'll reach Select Plus. But to be honest, I think that is unlikely (I've already hit my 4000 cap for bonus TQPs on the credit card.)

My Select Status will also be in place in 2027. Does this mean that during 2027 I only need to earn another 5000 to jump from Select to Select Plus? Or do I have to earn 10,000 TQPs during 2027 to reach Select Plus?