Barclays points

[Pooh2]

Has anyone bought Amtrak points with their barclays card then used their travel credits to pay for the points? Was wondering if the credits could only be used for actual travel or if it would be okay for any purchase showing up as "Amtrak".

 

[the_traveler]

I don't know, but I doubt it. The buy points aren't bought from Amtrak or AGR, they are bought from Points.com. Thus they would not register as being from Àmtrak!

 

[Guest]

Ahhh.. thanks for the reply.

 

[amamba]

Hi. I actually have a Barclay Arrivals card and have just started using that instead of my AGR mastercard.

I haven't bought AGR points but I don't think that buying points will qualify as travel that you can use for the statement credit, because you buy the points from points.com and NOT from amtrak. Amtrak is not actually the vendor.

I did purchase a cheap regional ticket on my barclay's card and that DID come up as travel that qualified for the statement credit.

I got 40,000 points by spending $3,000 in three months on the card. I like that it has a lot more flexibility than then just AGR points (I am unlikely to do an LD trip for a while). While you get a much better value if you redeem your points for statement credit for purchases that fall under the "travel" category, you can also just get a statement credit for any of your purchases (but it takes twice as many points as it does for travel).

A huge benefit of the card is that it is an actual chip/pin card for international travel and there are no fees for international charges or charges in a foreign currency.

 

[frugalist]

Just a reminder, the charge must be at least $25 to be eligible for the purchase eraser. So, an Amtrak ticket (or any travel-related) purchase of less than $25 charged to the Barclaycard Arrival will not be reimbursed at the higher redemption rate. These qualified travel-related redemptions also come with a 10% points rebate. So, if you erase a $100 charge with a 10,000 point redemtion, you immediately get 1,000 points back in your account.

In addition to the benefits amamba mentioned, I like this card because ALL charges earn 2 points per $ with no limitations. Travel-related charges of at least $25 can be offset by a statement credit at the rate of a penny a point (1:1). All other charges can be offset by a statement credit at the rate 1:2.