AGR credit card questions

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Barciur said:
Well, FWIW, they denied my application due to lack of credit history. So I guess I gotta get that before I get some points!
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Same thing happened to me a while back. I was then able to get a credit card from Bank of America (my 1st) with my dad as the co-signer. Waited a year, paid all my bills on time (and more than the monthly payment....no interest payments from me), then applied for the AGR card. Was approved with a surprisingly high limit (I've had a Chase checking account for a while, so maybe that helped?).

I think Bank of America and Wells Fargo offer secured credit cards (you give them a $300 deposit, and they give you a $300 line of credit). Unfortunately, secured credit cards normally charge an annual fee. You might be able to find a better deal at a local credit union. But keep your utilization low (try not to use more than 20% of your credit...ex: don't carry a balance greater than $60 on credit card with a $300 line of credit.), and always pay your bill on time.

And don't try to spam credit applications. Each time you apply it results in a hard inquiry that goes on your credit report (and can drop your credit score). Too many hard inquiries and creditors will be less likely to approve you, or give you a good rate/credit limit.
 
jtoddander said:
To be a bit more precise the enrollment bonus depends upon spending $500 during first 3 months with the card to get the 12k bonus. To get the 18k bonus you need to spend $1000 during the first three months. It is not a mater of just using the card once in order to qualify.
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Well for me, my first transaction easily met the $500 spend requirement. So in that case it was using the card once to qualify. :giggle:
 
Wait...

I got my 12K points for getting the card and spending $500. If I spend another $1000 I'll get another 6K points?

I signed up in September - so by the end of December I should find out?
 
George K said:
Wait...

I got my 12K points for getting the card and spending $500. If I spend another $1000 I'll get another 6K points?

I signed up in September - so by the end of December I should find out?
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No, the 18K was a targeted offering. You only get what you were offered when you signed up. In your case (and mine) 12K
 
Each offer is different. I think the "current" offer is now 12K, but some targeted offers may have been for 18K. When I got mine, I only received 5K, but when my BIL got his a few years ago, the offer was for 32K! :) So it all depends.
 
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I've been receiving emails offering 18K w/ 1K of spend since Summer. It was tempting, but seems a bit redundant as I already have a Chase Sapphire Preferred.
 
the_traveler said:
Maybe it is redundant but it's 18K free points, no annual fee - and a 5% rebate on any award redemptions! You don't even have to use the card - beyond spending the first $1,000!
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Just wanted to reiterate the bold -- and also note that holding the card means that your AGR points will not expire (if you don't have the card, you need to take a paid Amtrak trip every 36 months to keep your points).
 
George K said:
I have several cards though Chase - a few of which I never, ever use.

One of the unused cards had a $35K line of credit. When I applied for the Amtrak MasterCard, I spoke to a representative and told her that I will be using that card as my primary card in the future. She suggested that we decrease the line of credit on the unused card and apply that to the Amtrak Card. I now have $15K on each card.
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Yup, Chase seems to have an idea of how much I'm good for, and will approve a new card -- then offer to redistribute credit limits between new and old cards. Chase seems to be pretty good about their cards in general, and their unsolicited offer to redistribute my overall credit limit with them between my AGR, CSP, and Slate -- each has good and bad points --

BUT - Chase offered me a choice in how to split my limit between cards that get points and cards with low interest.

Thanks, Chase.

BUT -- the other half of my credit-card limit is USB and NFCU. (Rock-bottom interest rates (8%/year -- 16 times or more what the bank is paying for deposits) with no "points".)

BUT -- again -- I trained as an economist -- BUBBL BUBBLE BUBBLE -- again.

I worry that my total credit-card limit is over twice my yearly after-tax income. I worry that people with no self-restraint might do for these useful credit cards what sleazeball bankers did to the mortgage market twice now in my life (Reagan and Bush times)

Meanwhile -- I take the points but I don't hoard them -- cause I fear it's like the "free toaster oven" deal back in the late 70's --

There's gotta be a catch.
 
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It looks like credit is about as easy to get as it was back in 2008 when I loaded up on credit lines for an App-O-Rama, which surprisingly have not been cut since (although I have been paying all my bills on time as always). I always try to have a plan on how I would use points, rather than keeping them speculatively. Buying/manufacturing points speculatively is not a good idea due to devaluations.
 
Now that I have an iPhone 6, I discovered that the AGR MasterCard does not yet work with Apple Pay.

Oh, well, given that I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred for just about anything (and it does work with Apple Pay), it's not particularly relevant until Amtrak gets Apple Pay-compatible payment terminals.
 
Yep, my position exactly. My USAA and AmEx work with it as well.

I still find it silly that I have to sign the pad using ApplePay some places - it's not like there's even a signature for the clerk to not look at.
 

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