New Amtrak Guest Rewards Master Card - Fall 2015

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On which I'll add, if you don't use the AGR credit card, you'll get whatever reward the card that you do use gives you. I frequently use my Chase Sapphire Preferred. The important thing is that you go through the AGR portal to get to Walmart (or Overstock, Petco, Drugstore.com).
 
In my experience the AGR portal is probably the weakest link in the entire program. if you want AGR points from the official AGR portal you'll need to document and babysit the entire process from cradle to grave with lots of nagging just to receive what you're promised. There is no way I'd simply buy something and then assume it was credited by AGR's points portal without babysitting it. Actually I probably wouldn't bother with AGR's points portal in the first place and find some other way to credit points without having to babysit anything.
 
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This was posted by AGR Insider at Flyertalk this morning:

The partnership between Amtrak Guest Rewards® and Chase will end as of September 30, 2015. If you have the Amtrak Guest Rewards MasterCard® credit card from Chase, you can continue to use your card and will continue to earn Amtrak Guest Rewards points until September 30, 2015. After September 30, your account will be replaced with a Chase Freedom card and you will begin to earn points on your Chase Freedom Account. If you have an eligible Chase Card with Ultimate Rewards, you can continue to transfer points to Amtrak Guest Rewards until further notice.
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Flyertalk
 
So far there is a mention of a $79 annual fee card in the rumor mill. I wonder if there will be a new no AF card at all. It is confirmed in the rumor mill that it will be BofA.
 
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I'm suddenly thinking of, years ago, when VIA also had a portal (their e-Boutique). The result was that I'd book a Holiday Inn through their portal using my AGR card and get points on all three companies (VIA's being the most valuable of the bunch from what I could tell). Anyhow...

I was informed by Chase that purchases made through 9/30 will get AGR points. After that it's Chase Sleazedom points, but I'll be able to see about a conversion to a Sapphire or other UR-linked card. Of note, a UR-linked card wouldn't be the end of the world for me from the standpoint of being able to earn points that I can dump to Virgin Atlantic (among others). If I can't do that, then I'll basically deactivate the card as a prelude to killing the account.
 
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Hmmmm- I have the AGR World MC from Chase that is Paid in Full each Month.

I also have the Chase Ultimate Rewards Card/No Annual Fee with a Debt Consolidation Balance ( Medical Bills) that I'm paying off over time with a fairly good Interest Rate. . And I have a VISA Card from my Credit Union with No Annual Fee and an 8% APR Rate that I pay off Monthly.

So I guess my Chase AGR MC will suddenly be obsolete Oct. 1st even though all my Recurring Monthly Bills are done as Autopay on this card?

30 Days notice sure isn't much notice! And just in time for the Gathering in WAS so we don't get the AGR Amtrak points from the Chase AGR Card!

Poor timing and Not Good Customer Service!! Why aren't we getting the same lead time as the current AGR program is giving us?? ( ie to Jan. 2016)

Guess the Bean Counters are running AGR too! Sad!
 
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jimhudson said:
Hmmmm- I have the AGR World MC from Chase that is Paid in Full each Month.

I also have the Chase Ultimate Rewards Card/No Annual Fee with a Debt Consolidation Balance ( Medical Bills) that I'm paying off over time with a fairly good Interest Rate. . And I have a VISA Card from my Credit Union with No Annual Fee and an 8% APR Rate that I pay off Monthly.

So I guess my Chase AGR MC will suddenly be obsolete Oct. 1st even though all my Recurring Monthly Bills are done as Autopay on this card?

30 Days notice sure isn't much notice Anthony! Not Good Customer Service!!!

Guess the Bean Counters are running AGR too! Sad!
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My autopay to card accounts will need to be changed to my Marriott Rewards card. No problem, since AGR points have really been devalued for me, living in Texas.
 
jimhudson said:
Hmmmm- I have the AGR World MC from Chase that is Paid in Full each Month.

I also have the Chase Ultimate Rewards Card/No Annual Fee with a Debt Consolidation Balance ( Medical Bills) that I'm paying off over time with a fairly good Interest Rate. . And I have a VISA Card from my Credit Union with No Annual Fee and an 8% APR Rate that I pay off Monthly.

So I guess my Chase AGR MC will suddenly be obsolete Oct. 1st even though all my Recurring Monthly Bills are done as Autopay on this card?

30 Days notice sure isn't much notice Anthony! And just in time for the Gathering in WAS so we don't get the AGR Amtrak points from the Chase Card!

Poor timing and Not Good Customer Service! Anthony!! Why aren't we getting the same lead time as the current AGR program is giving us?? ( ie to Jan. 2016)

Guess the Bean Counters are running AGR too! Sad!
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Actually, looks like it's going to be LESS than 30 days notice, since we don't yet know the terms, nor are applications being accepted yet, for whatever card(s) will replace the current Chase AGR Mastercard.
 
Just received a letter stating that my card coverts to a Freedom card September 30th. Lame. Already have the Freedom cards and I haven't used it since the sign up bonus. I'll probably go ahead and cancel both Freedom cards after I get a hold of the new Amtrak card.

Hopefully the new bank is BoA. They were my first credit card, and the oldest account I have, so getting a decent limit should be easy.
 
Excellent points! Who wants TWO Chase Freedom Cards?

And this almost certainly will cause a Hit on peoples Cedit Rating with the inquiries, cancellations and flim flammery that this Bean Counter induced clusterflub will cause! Not sad, stupid and needless!
 
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Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a Freedom Card? A regular credit card, and that's just its name? Or something different?

Even more important, should I call hotels I have reservations at after September and am holding with my Amtrak card and have them hold the reservations with another card? Or would the replacement card still have the same card number?

Thanks to all for your always excellent advice....
 
Everydaymatters said:
I just called Chase to ask about the regular monthly payments charged auctomatically each month for insurance. The lady was clueless and had no idea the AGR card was being elminated.
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As far as Chase is concerned, the card is not being eliminated I suppose. It is just that the affiliation is going away. If you do nothing you'll still continue to have the card. It will get a slightly different branding and will start earning some kind of Chase points instead of Amtrak ones. Any payments that were being automatically charged to the card will continue working as before.

The B of A AGR Card will be a new card that hopefully AGR will somehow arrange for all previous AGR members to get. This is how I landed up with my Amex Platinum card as a residue from the Continental affiliate Amex Card when Continental switched to Chase. It is just that Amex service was just so much better than anything that Chase could conjure up, I just happened to retain the card even though it costs a pretty penny.

Mystic River Dragon said:
Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a Freedom Card? A regular credit card, and that's just its name? Or something different?

Even more important, should I call hotels I have reservations at after September and am holding with my Amtrak card and have them hold the reservations with another card? Or would the replacement card still have the same card number?

Thanks to all for your always excellent advice....
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The replacement card will almost certainly not have the same umber since it will have a B of A bin number (the first 5 digits) and not a Chase one..
 
Mystic River Dragon said:
I'm sorry, jis, I wasn't clear. I meant would the replacement card that Chase sends have the same number, not the new AGR card.
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I suspect it would, but one can never tell for sure until it happens. you could ask them. When Continental changed from Amex to Chase, Amex did not change my card number. Of course since then it has changed twice due to fraud related replacement.
 
All excellent questions and answers, and more reasons for extending the use of the Current AGR/Chase MC.

Two weeks is not sufficient time for thousands, if not tens of thoussnds of AGR members, to make all the arrangements and decisions necessary for the new Card(s).

Like Betty, I called Chase today and the agent didn't have a clue about any of this!!! ( maybe because we both had trouble speaking English? LOL)

It's not Rocket Surgery guys!!
 
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Yeah, I got the letter today too - dated 8/27. It says new Freedom card will have a new number, exp date etc. It will have 1% cash back on all purchases + 5% on certain categories which will rotate, like gas, restaurants etc. The letter says NO ANNUAL FEE. We continue to get AGR points until 9/30. I hope that means I will get the 5% rebate until then if I can make up my mind where to take another trip and make a reservation.

So with Chase/AGR we were getting 1 point/dollar on all purchases except Amtrak where it was 2/$. Sounds like a wash, or close to it.

It's not 2 weeks, fer heavens sake! It says we can continue to use current card until new one arrives - 6-8 weeks after 9/30.
 
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I guess for me the remaining relevant question is whether the new Freedom Card will work with ApplePay. At present every other Visa and Amex that I have works with ApplePay. Only the AT&T Universal Mastercard (Citi) and the AGR Matercard (Chase) don't.

I still keep the AT&T Universal MC just as a souvenir almost, since it costs me nothing has an enormous line of credit (very minuscule amount of which is ever used) and I was a Charter Member from back when AT&T introduced it first.
 
The Freedom is unlikely to have the same number as the Amtrak card. Chase is currently only issuing Visa cards for their own branded cards like Freedom or Sapphire. Visa cards all begin with a 4 not a 5 like a Master Card.

Stan
 
City of Miami confirmed that two posts up.

Since its in a locked announcement thread, this seems like a logical place to reply to PRR 60's works on these changes and Anthony. If you haven't read that post, go read it and take heed. It's amazing how quickly will throw someone under the bus just because they don't agree with a decision that their employer made.

Yes, these changes will be a great devaluation for a great many people. Yes, having to make credit card decisions and change automatic payments is a minor inconveienence. But some of the complaining and hyperbole is getting more than a little bit old at this point.
 
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Heh! It turns out that I had to change those last week anyway because of a fraud related AGR card replacement, and very cleverly I changed them over to a non-AGR card. So at least I am off the hook as far as that goes for the moment. .... until the next fraud related change I suppose. ;)
 
You're right Ryan!

I read Bills post, which is excellent, and have had conversations with several members about all of this.

I am one of the biggest offenders on this subject and want to apologize to the of the AU Curia and the Members for my rants!

Most of all I apologize to Anthony who has a thankless job as the face of this fiasco of a roll out, and as such, has been getting flack from many sides on various forums, mine included!

Could it have been communicated better,more fair to those not on corridors, and with a longer transition time? Most assuredly!!

Will it balance out in the long run, probably,!

Should we still be upset and vent in the Rail forums, Oh Hell Yes,!

But as Bill said, the blame goes to others @ Amtrak, not Anthony!

Namaste!
 
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I have an insurance payment that I set up to withdraw monthly from my bank account long before I ever had a credit card account. The bank has changed hands five times in that time. Five times I've had to change routing numbers on that insurance payment. For me, if anything, my credit score will benefit. I certainly plan on getting the new AGR card, and the one thing that keeps my credit score from receiving excellent scores in every category is the fact I don't have many accounts. Strangely, one of the credit reporting agencies gives me a higher amount of total accounts. And one new account will push that agency's score from poor to good. So I should benefit. My score is in the 99th percentile so I'm not concerned about any radical loss of points on my score.
 

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