# CO Card/One Pass Miles



## Rail Freak (Dec 10, 2010)

Got an e-mail today stating as of April 1, 2011 the CO Debit card will no longer entitle the holder for free checked bag. I hope this isnt a clue of what's to come!!!!


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## MrEd (Dec 10, 2010)

stick with the train


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## the_traveler (Dec 10, 2010)

Fly = -0- checked bags free (except on Southwest)

Amtrak = 3 checked bags free, plus "2" carry-ons!

Which would you chose?


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## Rail Freak (Dec 10, 2010)

In the past, I got my 1st bag free. I'm flying to the train both in Feb (Denver) & June (ABQ) from Tampa!!!


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2010)

With the CO debit card you could get free bags for as low as $25 annual fee per year. After a single one way trip the fee is recouped and everything after that is gravy. Basically a free checked bags club for $25 a year doesn't make good financial sense for them.


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## Ispolkom (Dec 10, 2010)

Guest said:


> With the CO debit card you could get free bags for as low as $25 annual fee per year. After a single one way trip the fee is recouped and everything after that is gravy. Basically a free checked bags club for $25 a year doesn't make good financial sense for them.


Plus, Chase isn't offering any debit reward card after February 2011. Why encourage customers to keep them?


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## Rail Freak (Dec 10, 2010)

Ispolkom said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > With the CO debit card you could get free bags for as low as $25 annual fee per year. After a single one way trip the fee is recouped and everything after that is gravy. Basically a free checked bags club for $25 a year doesn't make good financial sense for them.
> ...


What will that mean to those of us who have them????

RF


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## sechs (Dec 10, 2010)

As I read it, Chase is totally getting out of the reward debit card business, since new government rules don't make it profitable enough.

Who knows what their sunset plan is, but I would suspect that, at the end of your currently-paid year, your card would just convert into a regular, non-reward debit card.


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## Rail Freak (Dec 11, 2010)

Are there other debit cards out there that could earn miles that are transferrable to Amtrak?


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## the_traveler (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't believe so. Why not just get an AGR MasterCard - no annual fee?


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## sechs (Dec 11, 2010)

With the new limits, I think that reward debit cards of any serious value are on their way out. Both the United and Continental cards have annual fees, but Chase still isn't seeing enough profit to make it worthwhile.

If you're looking for AGR points, then the AGR MasteCard is obviously the better choice for earning on purchases.


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## Rail Freak (Dec 14, 2010)

Just got off the phone with my local Chase Bank & the Rep there said they are not offering new reward cards but the ones that are currently issued will not be affected & I'll be able to renew this year.


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## Ispolkom (Dec 14, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> I don't believe so. Why not just get an AGR MasterCard - no annual fee?


In general I'd agree that the AGR Mastercard is the way to go, but Chase did (and perhaps still does) offer a deal with their Continental-branded debit card. You could open a checking account, pay $25 for the Continental debit card that earns 1 mile per $2 spent, then use said card 6 times a month for six months. Bonus earned: 25,000 OnePass miles. The nice thing about this was that you could open a new checking account year after year (well, at least in 2009 and 2010) and earn the bonus each time. With the AGR Mastercard, on the other hand, the bonus is only for first-time applicants. You could (and I did) even open said checking account while on a layover in Chicago -- the nearest Chase branch is only a couple of blocks from Union Station.

Unlike Rail Freak, though, I closed my Chase checking accounts as soon as I could, and only used them for the minimum activity needed to avoid monthly fees. I'd never do any serious banking with a huge bank like Chase. My local credit union offers much better customer service.


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## frugalist (Dec 14, 2010)

Rail Freak said:


> Got an e-mail today stating as of April 1, 2011 the CO Debit card will no longer entitle the holder for free checked bag. I hope this isnt a clue of what's to come!!!!


This is disturbing news. In January 2010 my wife and I both opened Chase personal checking accounts with the CO OnePass debit card attached. I also opened a Chase business checking account. Received a total of 75K OnePass miles which were transferred to our AGR accounts. We are hoping that Chase will continue its practice of extending the deal into 2011 with the same T&C that limits the bonus miles to one offer per account type per person per calendar year. Unfortunately, Rail Freak's information may spell the demise of this great offer.

However, all is not lost for Rail Freak. Chase still offers a CO co-branded credit card. I hold their Continental OnePass Plus Visa, which allows you and those flying with you to each check one free bag per flight. You do not have to have paid for the flight with this card. Just be a holder. And right now, there is a very nice offer out there for 25K bonus miles after your first spend, plus a 5K bonus for adding an authorized user to the card. And the first year's fee is waived. That's a quick 30K OnePass miles that you can transfer to your AGR account. Once you've got the CO Visa, you can consider getting the AGR MasterCard, which comes with its own first-use bonus. And it has no annual fee at all.

So, there's a way to still get your first bag free on CO, while grabbing some sweet bonus points for your AGR account.


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## sechs (Dec 15, 2010)

Churning credit cards for bonus points is not good for your financial health. In the past, Chase in particular has not taken a liking to such behavior.


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## Ispolkom (Dec 15, 2010)

Chase has so far not had any problem as long as you do not apply for the same credit card twice.


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## sechs (Dec 16, 2010)

That's not a true statement. Chase has caused problems when people have churned multiple cards, without reference to whether they are "the same card" or not.

Irrelevant of Chase's opinion, other financial institutions do care about this kind of behavior.


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## Ispolkom (Dec 16, 2010)

sechs said:


> That's not a true statement. Chase has caused problems when people have churned multiple cards, without reference to whether they are "the same card" or not.
> 
> Irrelevant of Chase's opinion, other financial institutions do care about this kind of behavior.


Let me restate that: Chase has so far not had any trouble *with me or Mrs. Ispolkom* as long as you *we* do not apply for the same card twice. You certainly may be correct that other financial institutions may care about this sort of behavior. That has not been my personal experience, though. YMMV.


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