# AGR MasterCard



## Blackwolf (Jan 26, 2012)

I'm pondering contacting Chase to see if they will approve this, but want to ask around from others here on AU before adding a credit inquiry on my credit report that may be futile. 

So, I've had my Chase AGR MasterCard for two years now. I was approved for a Platinum card when I applied, and since then Chase has extended my credit line twice from what was originally authorized. I am very frugal user of credit, and I _always_ pay my balance off each month. As a result, I have an enviable credit score (above 760) compared to most my age, and it's higher now than it was when I first applied for the card by several dozen points. The AGR card is my primary card when using credit, and my other cards tend to stay in the wallet unless I am spreading out my monthly debt or utilizing a feature the AGR card does not have.

But I've been eying the World card with increased desire as of late. It has two things I desire that the current Platinum card lacks: a lower APR (yes, I pay my card off but I dislike having the 17% APR looming if I were ever to keep a balance) and no international transaction fee. The later of the two is more of what I'm after. I have a Visa with no international fee, so I have an avenue around getting dinged while abroad, but I cannot get AGR points using that card! :help: I'm in Canada frequently, and do travel further abroad from time to time, so having a second card where I don't get slapped silly with an international transaction fee is important to me!

Is this a smart move to make, contacting Chase and asking them to upgrade me? Or should I just sit tight and be a little more patient for Chase to do something like this automatically through an upgrade offer? And, beside the two additional perks listed above, is the World card even worth it?

Thanks! :hi:


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## manderson (Jan 26, 2012)

Blackwolf said:


> It has two things I desire that the current Platinum card lacks: a lower APR (yes, I pay my card off but I dislike having the 17% APR looming if I were ever to keep a balance) and no international transaction fee. The later of the two is more of what I'm after. I have a Visa with no international fee, so I have an avenue around getting dinged while abroad, but I cannot get AGR points using that card! :help: I'm in Canada frequently, and do travel further abroad from time to time, so having a second card where I don't get slapped silly with an international transaction fee is important to me!


Have you considered getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for your secondary card? You'd still get points that transfer to AGR 1:1, and I understand it has no foreign transaction fee.


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## Ispolkom (Jan 26, 2012)

Why do you think the Chase World AGR Mastercard has no international transaction fee? If memory serves me correctly, the only Chase cards that don't have one are the British Airways, the Sapphire Preferred, and one hotel card (Priority Club?). Each has an annual fee, which the AGR card doesn't.


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## PRR 60 (Jan 27, 2012)

Ispolkom said:


> Why do you think the Chase World AGR Mastercard has no international transaction fee? If memory serves me correctly, the only Chase cards that don't have one are the British Airways, the Sapphire Preferred, and one hotel card (Priority Club?). Each has an annual fee, which the AGR card doesn't.


I can confirm that the Chase AGR World card has an international transaction fee - 3% of the purchase amount.

The Chase cards that do not have international transaction fees are:

- Continental Presidential Plus

- British Airways (with chip & pin)

- Marriott Rewards

- Hyatt

- IHG Priority Club

- Sapphire Preferred

- J P Morgan Select (with chip & pin)

- Ritz Carlton


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## Blackwolf (Jan 27, 2012)

Ispolkom said:


> Why do you think the Chase World AGR Mastercard has no international transaction fee? If memory serves me correctly, the only Chase cards that don't have one are the British Airways, the Sapphire Preferred, and one hotel card (Priority Club?). Each has an annual fee, which the AGR card doesn't.


Seems that would be my oversight; I seriously remember seeing a 'No International Transaction Fee' in the Terms and Conditions for World MasterCard (as in, all World MasterCard cards, regardless of the bank doing the Third-Party issuing.) Now that I stand corrected, the upgrade to World is hugely less appetizing. Enough so, that I'll not bother with asking for an upgrade. It may seem trivial to some, but that is a large consideration for me.

I'll be entertaining a Sapphire Preffered card instead. Per Chase, I'm already pre-approved (and can take advantage of the 50,000 point bouns!)

Thanks for the input! :lol:


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## frugalist (Feb 1, 2012)

I think the Sapphire Preferred Visa is on of the best credit cards out there right now for general spending:

-- As noted earlier, it does not charge a foreign transaction fee.

-- In addition, the points you accumulate on the card (Chase's Ultimate Rewards points) can be transferred for free on a 1:1 basis to AGR and a number of other travel loyalty programs (generally, most of the other loyalty programs that have a Chase credit card connection). Transfers are made in 1,000 point increments, and are reflected in your accounts virtually instantaneously.

-- The 50K-point signup bonus is awesome (you have to charge $3000 on the card in the first 3 months).

-- You receive a 7% points bonus every year based on the points credited to your account the previous year, and the 50K signup bonus points earn that 7% points bonus, so you really end up with 53.5K signup bonus points.

-- All dining and travel charges earn double points.

-- The Ultimate Rewards shopping portal provides dozens of opportunities to earn extra UR points for your online shopping. It is very user-friendly, unlike the AGR shopping portal. And points earned from shopping there post faster than any other shopping portal I've used.

You will need excellent credit to be approved for the Sapphire Preferred card since the minimum credit line for this card is $5,000, but you indicate you have an excellent credit score, so it sounds like you have a good chance of getting it. If you're not approved for the Sapphire Preferred card, Chase may approve your application for the basic Sapphire card, which is not as desirable since the Ultimate Rewards points earned on that card are NOT transferrable to other travel loyalty programs, including AGR.

Keep in mind, the Sapphire Preferred Visa carries a $95 annual fee, which is waived for the first year. Depending on the amount you charge per year, and the value you place on the card's benefits, you may want to hold on to the card even after the first year.


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## Ispolkom (Feb 1, 2012)

frugalist said:


> -- The Ultimate Rewards shopping portal provides dozens of opportunities to earn extra UR points for your online shopping. It is very user-friendly, unlike the AGR shopping portal. And points earned from shopping there post faster than any other shopping portal I've used.


It's amazing! You actually receive an e-mail telling you that you've earned points, rather than having to wait for them to possibly appear weeks later in your AGR account.


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## Cho Cho Charlie (Feb 1, 2012)

frugalist said:


> Keep in mind, the Sapphire Preferred Visa carries a $95 annual fee, which is waived for the first year.


The $95/year fee is what stops me cold from getting a Sapphire card.


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## frugalist (Feb 1, 2012)

Cho Cho Charlie said:


> frugalist said:
> 
> 
> > Keep in mind, the Sapphire Preferred Visa carries a $95 annual fee, which is waived for the first year.
> ...


But you don't have to pay that fee until the second year. Meanwhile, you've gotten 50,000 signup points if you can charge $3000 in 3 months, plus all the other points you get for your regular spend, plus the 7% point dividend, which is credited to your account in January or February. You can avoid paying the $95 by cancelling the card before you've had it for a year. Before you cancel the card, be sure to transfer all of your Ultimate Rewards points to AGR or any of the other loyalty programs available, or otherwise redeem them. Why not grab all those points when you can have the card annual fee-free for a year?


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## Cho Cho Charlie (Feb 1, 2012)

frugalist said:


> But you don't have to pay that fee until the second year. Meanwhile, you've gotten 50,000 signup points if you can charge $3000 in 3 months,...


One year free and then paying for the rest of my life, isn't all that attractive of a deal for me. I just don't pay for credit cards; not even for my platinum AmEx card. Never.

Plus, I doubt I would be charging $1,000 per month each month for the next three months on that one card.

Getting points from the AGR Mastercard seems to be enough for me.


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## sechs (Feb 2, 2012)

My AmEx card pretty much pays for itself each year in extended warranty claims. Is Chase offering any such benefits on its cards?


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## Ispolkom (Feb 3, 2012)

sechs said:


> My AmEx card pretty much pays for itself each year in extended warranty claims. Is Chase offering any such benefits on its cards?


Yes, plus the Sapphire preferred doesn't have AmEx's 2.7% foreign transaction fee.


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## Blackwolf (Feb 3, 2012)

My new Chase Sapphire Preferred card arrived today. Chase does not lie about the customer service with this card; I dialed the number to activate it and you can imagine my surprise that in less than two seconds I was talking to a Real Live Person!!!  Great, cheery and helpful, the card was authenticated and activated quickly and then the agent worked on tailoring the features and functions to my personal tastes. She even put a note on my account that I'm a frequent Rail traveler and confirmed that _any_ purchase made in conjunction with Amtrak (trip reservations/on-board) get the 2X points.

I'll be putting aside my AGR card for a little while so that I get those 50,000 bonus points. I'm actually a little excited about this thing (and it's a very striking card too; sleek and modern with only my name on the front.)


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## sechs (Feb 3, 2012)

Ispolkom said:


> sechs said:
> 
> 
> > My AmEx card pretty much pays for itself each year in extended warranty claims. Is Chase offering any such benefits on its cards?
> ...


Have you used it? What are the terms?


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## Ispolkom (Feb 4, 2012)

sechs said:


> Ispolkom said:
> 
> 
> > sechs said:
> ...


No, I've been pretty lucky in my purchases. The 0% foreign transaction fee, though, saved me a lot of money in Europe last fall.


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## trainman74 (Feb 4, 2012)

sechs said:


> What are the terms?


Since _I_ just recently got the Sapphire Preferred and still have the benefit guide sitting here: the benefit statement is that the "free repair period" under the manufacturer's warranty will be doubled up to 1 additional year, and that they will repair or replace at their option. Maximum benefit is $10,000 per item, "$50,000 per cardholder" (presumably lifetime?). Major exclusions are vehicles, "real estate and items which are intended to become part of real estate," and computer software.


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## Devil's Advocate (Feb 6, 2012)

My first experience with international credit/debit transactions was with a *Wells Fargo* account. I never picked Wells Fargo intentionally. My medium sized bank got bought out by a big bank that was itself bought by a massive conglomerate. This was before I knew much about international travel. I cluelessly assumed my account hadn't changed much while Wells Fargo dinged me for everything you can imagine. Foreign transaction fee, other bank fee, out of network fee, currency conversion fee, random indecipherable service fee, etc. Over and over and over again. Page after page of financial penalties. Considering the maximum transaction amount it was a complete and total disaster. You name it I got hit by it and many of the charges didn't show up until *after* I had returned home. I tried contesting some of it, but they just wouldn't budge. It was pretty clear that they didn't care if I stayed or left.

So I moved to a new bank that didn't charge any annual fees or transaction fees of their own and reimbursed local fees charged by other banks. That worked out a lot better but I still got dinged for a 1% foreign network fee. To my knowledge there was virtually no way around the international network fee back then and there still isn't to this day. What you do have are cards that will pay the foreign network transaction fee out of a flat rate annual charge instead of on a transactional basis.

If you use those cards enough those savings will eventually begin to recover and perhaps even surpass the annual fee, but it could take quite a while if you don't do much international spending. I mean, we're talking nearly _ten thousand dollars_ in raw recovery spending compared to a 1% foreign transaction fee card with no annual fee. If that 1% card is already a 1% or better cash back card then you're essentially never going to beat the raw transaction rate. At that point you're back to depending on miles/points to make the value play.

I can see why the Chase Preferred Sapphire has developed a following. It's a useful general purpose card if you travel internationally and/or use services and providers that are part of the Chase network and don't want to deal with a long list of individually branded cards and divided point banks. After you've cleared the $3,000 minimum spend for the 50,000 UR points you can either wait a few months and cancel the card before the first annual fee kicks in or make it into a general travel card and/or international purchase card. You'll still get the 2x earn on travel, the annual 7% bonus, and the 20% points reimbursement on those transactions. Securing nearly 60,000 points on a $3,000 _travel_ spend with 1:1 transfers into United, Korean, British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, & Amtrak is nothing to sneeze at.

Marrying a card like the Chase Preferred Sapphire to a Starwood American Express (3x earn on flights 2x on gas & groceries) might be a good way to get good earn rates on many potential uses without having to create a wallet full of slightly better earn but much more limited burn.


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## sechs (Feb 12, 2012)

trainman74 said:


> the benefit statement is that the "free repair period" under the manufacturer's warranty will be doubled up to 1 additional year, and that they will repair or replace at their option. Maximum benefit is $10,000 per item, "$50,000 per cardholder" (presumably lifetime?).


Doesn't sound quite as good as AmEx. 
The most I've claimed is a couple hundred dollars, but it has always come back as a statement credit. This allows me to decide if and what to get as a replacement -- and allows me to get the extended warranty benefit on that.


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