# AGR Credit card: Any news? Rumors even?



## DennisInGeorgia (Jun 18, 2015)

My daughter tried to apply for a card both at AGR and Chase. Stone wall. Not accepting card applications and don't know when they will know when. Does anyone on here have an inside track on how soon they'll announce something?


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## Acela150 (Jun 18, 2015)

Go over to flyer talk and ask AGR Insider. That's where to find the best info.


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## Ryan (Jun 18, 2015)

Lots of rumors here:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/63412-amtrak-mastercard-on-chase-site-seemed-to-disappear/

No news.


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## crescent2 (Jun 19, 2015)

No news, but I phoned AGR about another matter, and asked the rep if there was an AGR credit card that new members could apply for. She said no, but that they were "working on" getting a different one sometime soon. FWIW


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## chrsjrcj (Jun 20, 2015)

A couple days ago, I received an email from chase asking me to rate my AGR card.


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## oregon pioneer (Jun 20, 2015)

chrsjrcj said:


> A couple days ago, I received an email from chase asking me to rate my AGR card.


Haven't got that email yet... but if I do, I will rate it very highly!

FYI, because I'll be traveling in August, I checked on foreign transaction fees... the Chase AGR card has the same fee as the Barcay's LL Bean card (3%), but neither is as good as the card from my local credit union (max. 1% Visa fee, no bank fee). However, I do get the points with the Chase AGR card... so that makes the CU and Chase cards just about a "wash", and the Barclay's card OK for backup.

I am happy to keep the Chase card as long as they have the AGR agreement, but if they drop it, I'll most likely be canceling the card and going with the new partner.


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## jis (Jun 20, 2015)

Since I have two other cards (one Chase and one Amex) that have no forex transaction fee I tend not to use the AGR card abroad. 3% is actually a pretty steep fee if you use it for anything non-trivial, like say an intercity train ticket.


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## the_traveler (Jun 20, 2015)

jis said:


> ...anything non-trivial, like say an intercity train ticket.


Non-trivial and train ticket - *DOES NOT COMPUTE*!!!!


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## me_little_me (Jun 21, 2015)

oregon pioneer said:


> FYI, because I'll be traveling in August, I checked on foreign transaction fees... the Chase AGR card has the same fee as the Barcay's LL Bean card (3%), but neither is as good as the card from my local credit union (max. 1% Visa fee, no bank fee). However, I do get the points with the Chase AGR card... so that makes the CU and Chase cards just about a "wash", and the Barclay's card OK for backup.


Does Chase give you points on the Fee? Assuming they do,

The 2% extra fee may be a small bargain. If you spent $2K internationally, you get 2K points + $40 fee which gets you 40 more. So that $2K got you 2040 points. That would have cost you $77 (without a bonus) if you bought points. Looks pretty good.

However, if you had another card that paid you 1% cash and a 1% FT fee (like my USAA card), you would have gotten $20 back for your $2K. That means your net savings vs buying those points is about $17.


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## Ryan (Jun 21, 2015)

You don't get 2040 points for spending $2k, you get 2040 points for spending $2040 and only get $2k work of goods or services to show for it.

Not a good deal at all.


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## me_little_me (Jun 22, 2015)

Ryan said:


> You don't get 2040 points for spending $2k, you get 2040 points for spending $2040 and only get $2k work of goods or services to show for it.
> 
> Not a good deal at all.


Let me clarify and correct it.

If you used another card with a 1% fee, you would have spent $2020 in cash. No points. With a 1% cashback, you would have gotten your $20 back so you would have spent $2000 and got no points. With the AGR, you spend $2060 ($2K plus $60 at 3%). For that extra $60, you get 2060 points. Those points would cost you $77 to buy. Therefore, you are ahead.

So with the other card, you spend $2020 and get back $20 but you spend $77 to buy 2060 points. Total cost $2077.

With AGR, you spend $2060 and get those same 2060 points. Total cost $2060.

With AGR, you save $17 getting 2060 points.


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## Ryan (Jun 22, 2015)

You're still ignoring the value of whatever it is you're buying for $2k.

You're not getting those 2060 points for $60. You're getting 2,000 points for buying something that's worth $2,000 (hopefully!), and then you're paying a $60 fee for which you get nothing of value except the 60 points - essentially paying a dollar a point. That's a significantly worse deal than paying 3 cents a point.

Yes, it would be an even worse deal if you were to use a card that charged a fee but didn't give you points. That just makes the deal with the Amtrak card "less bad", but nowhere near "good".


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## fairviewroad (Jun 23, 2015)

me_little_me said:


> Does Chase give you points on the Fee?


No. Here's the relevant footnote from the Chase website. I bolded the relevant parts.



> 1You will earn 2 points for each $1 of Net Purchases made through Amtrak. You will earn 1 point for each $1 of all other Net Purchases. (“*Net Purchases*” are purchases of goods and services made by you or any authorized user on your account minus any returns or refunds, and *do not include* balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or* fees of any kind*, including an annual fee, if applicable.) There is no maximum number of points that you can accumulate in the program. See Rewards Program Rules and Regulations for details.


FWIW, this a fairly standard policy among rewards cards.


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## me_little_me (Jun 25, 2015)

Ryan said:


> You're still ignoring the value of whatever it is you're buying for $2k.
> 
> You're not getting those 2060 points for $60. You're getting 2,000 points for buying something that's worth $2,000 (hopefully!), and then you're paying a $60 fee for which you get nothing of value except the 60 points - essentially paying a dollar a point. That's a significantly worse deal than paying 3 cents a point.
> 
> Yes, it would be an even worse deal if you were to use a card that charged a fee but didn't give you points. That just makes the deal with the Amtrak card "less bad", but nowhere near "good".


Hello? If you DON'T USE the AGR CARD, you get ZERO points. ZERO POINTS! If you DO, you pay $60 more ($40 more but no 1% rebate on the aforementioned cashback card) but you get 2000 POINTS (or 2060 if they give you points on the fee).

So, YES, for the extra $60, you get 2000 POINTS. In BOTH CASES, you get $2000 worth of goods but by using a card that gets you points, you pay $60 but get 2000 POINTS instead of ZERO POINTS!

The ONLY question is how many points you end up with if the $60 you saved by not using the AGR card is used to buy points.


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## oregon pioneer (Jun 25, 2015)

me_little_me said:


> The ONLY question is how many points you end up with if the $60 you saved by not using the AGR card is used to buy points.


I agree. My math was based on using the $60 as part of a maximum point purchase, including a 30% bonus. That's mostly the only way I buy them, though I just bought 5,000 more (plus 20% bonus) because I had already bought this year's 10,000 point limit, and then they increased the maximum to 15,000 points.

I did not mean to derail the thread. I guess we've only been talking about this because there are not even rumors about what is happening with the AGR credit card partnership, and we all want to know! Here's what I know right now (somebody correct me if I am wrong on any of these points):


For now, it is not possible to apply for a new AGR partner card (though some other cards exists that award points which can be converted to AGR points. I heard Chase Sapphire Preferred is one, maybe you can still apply if you use that type of card).
For now, the Chase AGR card is still awarding points to those that are lucky enough to already have it (thankful I am one of those). We don't know how long that will last.
AGR is "in talks" with potential partners (perhaps even including Chase) to determine which credit card provider will be awarded their partnership for the next go-round. Nobody even knows what banks/card issuers they are talking with.
No one knows what kind of a card might be offered (if any), or what terms will be offered, or when.
I would love to know if anyone has anything to add to the above.


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## Ryan (Jun 25, 2015)

me_little_me said:


> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> > You're still ignoring the value of whatever it is you're buying for $2k.
> ...


Your innovative use of ALL CAPS!!!! and EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! provided a convincing argument.

(not convincing that you're correct, but convincing of something, I'm just not sure what)


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## me_little_me (Jun 25, 2015)

Ryan said:


> Your innovative use of ALL CAPS!!!! and EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! provided a convincing argument.
> 
> (not convincing that you're correct, but convincing of something, I'm just not sure what)


Touché!

Hey, if you can't convince 'em, then outyell 'em. I yelled louder at you.


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