AGR Mastercard

I was perusing the AGR website and I noticed there is nothing mentioned anymore about earning points through Mastercard. Is Amtrak dropping this? My account still calls it a guest rewards card, but I am concerned the rug is about to be pulled.

Anybody have any information about this??

Dan

There has been considerable discussion about this over at Flyertalk.

So far the consensus seems to be that Amtrak is looking for a new company to partner with. Therefore no new cards are being issued. Points for the moment are still being awarded, although many people have reported problems with getting the points from the existing company. It seems that they don't do a very good job at processing things, even worse on following up when something does go wrong.

But nothing is official.

That's interesting that there have been problems with Bank of America vs. MBNA. I personally found that my points posted within a day or two of my billing cycle versus several weeks for MBNA. But I have also ready about problems as well. Hopefully this is resolved soon.

Dan

I've never had a problem with points being credited on time. I just yesterday got my latest month worth of points. It's always been automatic and error free for me, as recent as yesterday.

I had some issues (in fact, many people did) last summer, but that was still with MBNA.

As posted elsewhere on the net:

The Amtrak Guest Rewards Credit Card Will Be Issued By A New04 Bank Beginning April, 2007. Your Stations Have A Supply Of

05 Credit Card Applications From Our Current Bank Which Is

06 Bank Of America (previously Mbna). We Need For You To Remove

07 And Destroy A L L The Existing Credit Card Applications

08 Currently On Display In Your Station Or In Storage. This

09 Needs To Be Done Immediately.

10

11 It Is Very Important That All Remaining Materials Be Removed

12 And Destroyed So That Amtrak Customers Will Not Be Misled

13 Or Inconvenienced Since Bank Of America Has Ceased Accepting

14 New Applications For This Credit Card.

15

16 You Will Receive Updates On The New Credit Card As We Move

17 Forward And Appreciate Your Help And Support During This

18 Transition.

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Ps. This looks like someone cut and pasted it right from Arrow.

What's weird about this paste is that the original poster, "Reindeerflame" on Flyertalk (right?), pasted this one in title case and the Alaska Airlines discontinuation notice in all caps. Arrow doesn't spit text out in title case... at least, I've never seen anyone paste something in title case before.

Anthony said:

What's weird about this paste is that the original poster, "Reindeerflame" on Flyertalk (right?), pasted this one in title case and the Alaska Airlines discontinuation notice in all caps.

Click to expand...

Correct.

Sounds like a unilateral decision by Bank of America to drop Amtrak. There must be a story.

PRR 60 said:

Sounds like a unilateral decision by Bank of America to drop Amtrak. There must be a story.

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So what happens to those of us who already have the original card? Will we still accuma;ate points after april?

Bigval109 said:

PRR 60 said:

Sounds like a unilateral decision by Bank of America to drop Amtrak. There must be a story.

Click to expand...

So what happens to those of us who already have the original card? Will we still accuma;ate points after april?

Click to expand...

My guess is that all current BofA Amtrak cardholders will be solicited for the new card. After some buffer time (several months), the BofA card will cease to provide Amtrak points and will revert to a common card.

I called both AGR and NationsBank. The AGR representative had no information regarding the MasterCard situation and the NationsBank CSR had no information other than to tell me that, upon looking up my account, that I was no longer earning points.

I thought that AGR points came from BOFA. So if I want to continue to earn points after the closure I will have to get the new card and close the older on. On Yesterday I saw applications for the BOFA guest rewards card at the train station here in Richmond.

I am totally confused by this. I just recently, in December, got a renewal card from Bank of America for AGR. From what I've seen, am I not getting points for it's use this last month?

I am going to book a trip in the next day or two.....should I not use it?

Help

it would be nice if amtrak or bank of america did let us know. shows how much they really care. why don't we fix them and start our own passenger rail line and bank.

They are not accepting new applications for the card. However, current cardholders should continue to receive points until further notice. Since "further notice" hasn't occurred yet, why should Amtrak (or Bank of America) tell you anything, at this point in time?

It has been stated that the card will be issued by a new bank starting in April. I'm sure that we'll hear all about it by then, with the typical deluge of credit card applications sent in every form imaginable, along with all the necessary legalese from AGR and Bank of America regarding the status of existing accounts, and the time frame during which members will have to switch.

I really don't understand the need to jump all over Amtrak ("shows how much they really care") for failing to make an announcement when there's nothing to announce.

fine, if we continue to recieve the points as promised and then are infromed of a program change i have no problem. earlier posters on this thread seemed very uncertain if they would recieve points for boa mastercard purchased amtrak miles and some said they had had trouble getting the points due them. it seems to me like there is something to announce and amtrak should post it on the agr website.

rmadisonwi said:

I really don't understand the need to jump all over Amtrak ("shows how much they really care") for failing to make an announcement when there's nothing to announce.

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I do think that Amtrak has an obligation to communicate the AGR credit card situation. Virtually everything that is known is coming from internet gossip. The AGR web site has a page for program news. All they would have to say was that no new applications are being accepted, current card holders will continue to receive points for the immediate future (does anyone actually know this for a fact), and watch for further announcements. Saying nothing simply adds to the speculation and gossip. Saying nothing is, sadly, the typical Amtrak MO.

Upon calling Bank of America, I was told that my account was not earning points.

Guest said:

Upon calling Bank of America, I was told that my account was not earning points.

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This is a perfect example of why Amtrak has an obligation to tell its customers what is going on. I have heard this also, and I have also heard that the card is still earning points. If the point accrual actually stopped, that is a pretty big deal. If not, then Amtrak should put to rest the fears to the contrary.
Hello Amtrak. Are you out there?

(and I do not even have the card).

Guest said:

Upon calling Bank of America, I was told that my account was not earning points.

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Actually, BA does not gives out points, just by a reward company in Minneapolis (if my memory is right). Few months ago, I had to called several times between BA and reward company during the transition from MBNA to BA to report the missing points.

I called BA to ask about another issue today and the automated person's voice sounded a lot like Julie. I'm sure she is many other systems other than Amtrak, but found it rather interesting...

gswager said:

...Actually, BA does not gives out points, just by a reward company in Minneapolis (if my memory is right). Few months ago, I had to called several times between BA and reward company during the transition from MBNA to BA to report the missing points.

Click to expand...

It is, in fact, the bank that awards the points. The way affinity cards work, the bank purchases a large block of points or miles from the frequent traveler program for an agreed upon price (usually something like 3/4 cent per mile or point). They then hand those purchased points out to the card holders based on the specified formula, usually 1 mile or point per dollar spent. This is done once a month. With each billing statement the bank advises the frequent traveller program of who to credit and how many points or miles should be credited. Then program then credits the miles or points up to the number of points purchased by the bank (this data transfer is usually where the crediting of points get fouled up). In a perfect world, the bank always has enough points purchased to cover the required crediting.
In this case, if BofA has dropped Amtrak and does not have and will not purchase any Guest Rewards points, then there will be no points for credit card use. I have no information that has occurred, but Amtrak and AGR has no control except to the extent that a contract between BofA and Amtrak may have existed requiring the points be purchased. Amtrak will most likely not issue any points unless BofA purchases them.

This is a pretty unique issue for a frequent traveller program. The affinity credit card is one of the more popular partner earning opportunities. I am not aware of any other case where a bank has walked away from a program without another bank immediately taking over.

I called Bank of America again today and again was told that I was not earning any points. I then asked the CSR if she was sure, she put me on hold and came back with a detailed script which said that I will be earning AGR points through my March 2007 statement at which point the card will be transferred to another program. They will be mailing out information regarding this in a few weeks.

Evidently, Amtrak and a new bank are in the process of implementing a new card to be announced later this spring.

At what point are the AGR points awarded? For example, if I purchase a ticket online tonight for a trip in early April using my card, when will the points show up?