# Guest Rewards /Amtrak Chase Card



## nitzotz (Jan 29, 2009)

Am a new long-distance Amtrak traveler. Plan to schedule CHI-LAX trip for mid-September, and want to do so in the next month to take advantage of low bucket prices for sleepers.

Guest Rewards sign ups receive 5,000 points, with apparent restriction that travel must begin within 21 to 90 days depending on where you find your information.

Also want to sign up for the Amtrak Chase Card which carries with it 5,000 points. On using the card, Guest Rewards is automatically opened to deposit the points, which makes it too early (4-6 months) for the travel time restriction to receive the 5,000 points for Guest Rewards.

It seems that I would not be able to receive points for both Guest Rewards and Amtrak Chase Card.

Do I understand this correctly? Need advice.


----------



## Long Train Runnin' (Jan 29, 2009)

nitzotz said:


> Am a new long-distance Amtrak traveler. Plan to schedule CHI-LAX trip for mid-September, and want to do so in the next month to take advantage of low bucket prices for sleepers.
> Guest Rewards sign ups receive 5,000 points, with apparent restriction that travel must begin within 21 to 90 days depending on where you find your information.
> 
> Also want to sign up for the Amtrak Chase Card which carries with it 5,000 points. On using the card, Guest Rewards is automatically opened to deposit the points, which makes it too early (4-6 months) for the travel time restriction to receive the 5,000 points for Guest Rewards.
> ...



Well I just wanted to say signing up online and then traveling within 90 days of your online sign up will only give *500* points not 5,000.

The card will give you the 5,000 points when you make your first purchase.

Yes, if you do these things you will get *5,500* points although I wouldn't wait until 90 days out to join. Since your credit card may not come before the the trip so I don't know what you are planning to use it on. However, its only a 500 point reward not 5,000 so you can weigh your choices on that.


----------



## Ryan (Jan 29, 2009)

1. Sign up for AGR and the card now.

2. Buy long distance tickets with AGR card.

3. Within 90 days, book the shortest, cheapest round trip you can get (not sure where you are, I assume LAX or CHI?). Yes, it'll cost a little more time and money, but the afternoon/day would be worth it to get the rail points, the points for paying with your AGR card and the 500 bonus points.


----------



## nitzotz (Jan 29, 2009)

HokieNav said:


> 1. Sign up for AGR and the card now.2. Buy long distance tickets with AGR card.
> 
> 3. Within 90 days, book the shortest, cheapest round trip you can get (not sure where you are, I assume LAX or CHI?). Yes, it'll cost a little more time and money, but the afternoon/day would be worth it to get the rail points, the points for paying with your AGR card and the 500 bonus points.



Thanks so much for the input and the correction on the points for AGR.

nitzotz


----------



## sky12065 (Jan 29, 2009)

nitzotz said:


> HokieNav said:
> 
> 
> > 1. Sign up for AGR and the card now.2. Buy long distance tickets with AGR card.
> ...


Caution - If you're not going to take the advise HokieNav gave in advise #3, make sure not to sign up for AGR until you are within 90 days of traveling. I am in a similar situation as you are and I cannot apply for AGR until late March if I want the 500 points. I was also advised that I can contact Amtrak after I join AGR and have my AGR # added to the paid reservations that I already have.

Yours in confusion... Joe 

Edit Reason: Spelling will eventually be my Waterloo... :blush:


----------



## the_traveler (Jan 29, 2009)

As HokieNav said, book *and take* the shortest trip possible - within 90 days of signing up for AGR to get the 500 point bonus. If you are in LA, a short one way trip from LAX to GDL will cost only a few $ (I believe <$5), but it will meet the requirements, earn you 100 AGR points, give you the 500 point bonus and if you want, you could even take Metrolink back! B)

And Joe - You do not need to really wait until late March to sign up for AGR. As stated above, even a short trip such as ALB-SDY, ALB-HUD or SDY-SAR would qualify you for the bonus points!


----------



## sky12065 (Jan 29, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> And Joe - You do not need to really wait until late March to sign up for AGR. As stated above, even a short trip such as ALB-SDY, ALB-HUD or SDY-SAR would qualify you for the bonus points!


I thought of that but I would still need an H room for even that short a distance, and that raised the price to where it's not worth even thinking about it. I can wait! Besides, Amtrak would not tow my vehicle behind the train for me! :lol:


----------



## AlanB (Jan 29, 2009)

sky12065 said:


> nitzotz said:
> 
> 
> > HokieNav said:
> ...


Joe,

The problem here is that Nitzotz wants to apply for the AGR credit card right now, so as to be able to use it to buy the tickets and get those points. As soon as one applies for the credit card, one's AGR account is created automatically. Therefore Nitzotz can't delay joining AGR until later.

Ps. Nitzotz, your user ID here is now active. Sorry for the delay in getting it approved.


----------



## sky12065 (Jan 29, 2009)

AlanB said:


> sky12065 said:
> 
> 
> > nitzotz said:
> ...


Thanks, I missed that point!


----------



## RRrich (Jan 29, 2009)

sky12065 said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > And Joe - You do not need to really wait until late March to sign up for AGR. As stated above, even a short trip such as ALB-SDY, ALB-HUD or SDY-SAR would qualify you for the bonus points!
> ...


Being a person of questionable moral character, if I needed an H-room for even a short hop, I would buy a cheap one way coach ticket and have a friend use it - you pick him up at the other end and buy him a drink or two (after all, YOU are the one who is driving  )


----------



## the_traveler (Jan 29, 2009)

RRrich said:


> sky12065 said:
> 
> 
> > the_traveler said:
> ...


So would I! (I have very little morals! :lol: )

While it is true that they do "random" ID checks, I have never been ID'ed. What I would do is buy 2 tickets (1 for Joe and the other for whoever is traveling). Give Joe's ticket to the Conductor, and if you're asked for ID, say "Sorry, I gave you the wrong ticket. Joe couldn't make it. Here's mine." (And then refund the other ticket.) Besides, if they throw you off at the next station, who cares? (You planned to get off at the next station anyway.)

Just make sure your friend is the right sex as you. (Mark, Bob or Frank could pass for Joe - and may not be questioned. However, they may question someone using Joe's ticket if it is presented by Sue, Sally or Martha - although "Joe" could also be "Josephine", but not if the ticket is for "Mr Joe ____".)


----------



## sky12065 (Jan 29, 2009)

Well I've looked a little closer at the AGR and credit card application process and again I seem to be finding that things are not exactly what they appear to be.

First, all indications are that I would get 5000 AGR points after first purchase for applying for the credit card, but when I read the fine print it indicated that only 2,500 points would be added to the AGR account. The other 2,500 points would be Chase points. Can someone explain how the Chase points could be used for Amtrak travel? Prior responses on this tread even seemed to say that 5000 points would be AGR which is contrary to what is stated in the application for the credit card pages.

The other question that arises is how the process claims that for every $1 spent on Amtrak purchases, you would get 2 bonus points. Is that in addition to the 2 rail points you'd get as an AGR member totalling 4 points per dollar (2 rail & 2 bonus) or... is it the same 2 point you would get anyway if you did not have the credit card!

This would not be the first potentially misleading information I've discovered so I'm kinda courious and/or concerned if I'm getting the correct understanding on how things work! :huh:


----------



## AlanB (Jan 29, 2009)

sky12065 said:


> First, all indications are that I would get 5000 AGR points after first purchase for applying for the credit card, but when I read the fine print it indicated that only 2,500 points would be added to the AGR account. The other 2,500 points would be Chase points. Can someone explain how the Chase points could be used for Amtrak travel? Prior responses on this tread even seemed to say that 5000 points would be AGR which is contrary to what is stated in the application for the credit card pages.


Chase points just means that the points come from Chase. Put another way, Amtrak will pay you half the bonus or 2,500 AGR points the first time they see points reported from the Chase Credit card. Chase will send over 2,500 AGR points to your account the first time you use the AGR Chase Credit card. Of course they'll also send over the points earned for that first purchase. Note: Chase sends over points to AGR once a month, so depending on just when you get the card coupled with your billing cycle and the date of the first purchase, it could take longer than a month to see the points hit your AGR account.



sky12065 said:


> The other question that arises is how the process claims that for every $1 spent on Amtrak purchases, you would get 2 bonus points. Is that in addition to the 2 rail points you'd get as an AGR member totalling 4 points per dollar (2 rail & 2 bonus) or... is it the same 2 point you would get anyway if you did not have the credit card!


You get 1 point from Chase for every dollar spent on any non-Amtrak charge. You get two points from Chase for every purchase where Amtrak shows up in the name of the company initiating the charge. So if you charge drinks in the dining car, you get two points per dollar spent. This has nothing to do with the normal two points per dollar that Amtrak will award you when you hand the conductor your tickets. So the next time that you do travel on Amtrak, if you use the Chase card you'll actually get 4 points per dollar spent. Two points per dollar at the time of purchase, two points per dollar when you actually travel.


----------



## the_traveler (Jan 29, 2009)

The way it works is that 2,500 points are added to your AGR account, directly from AGR, and another 2,500 points are added to your credit card account. Then after the statement closing date, they are transferred to your AGR account.

Example: If your credit card had $550 of "regular" (non Amtrak) spending for the 1st month, you would get 550 points. Those 550 points would be combined with the 2,500 sign-up bonus points. So Chase would transfer 3,050 points to your AGR account. And usually, these points will be in your AGR account within a few days of the statement closing date. (If your statement closes on the 3rd of the month, the points are usually in your AGR account on the 5th of the month.)


----------



## sky12065 (Jan 29, 2009)

AlanB said:


> sky12065 said:
> 
> 
> > First, all indications are that I would get 5000 AGR points after first purchase for applying for the credit card, but when I read the fine print it indicated that only 2,500 points would be added to the AGR account. The other 2,500 points would be Chase points. Can someone explain how the Chase points could be used for Amtrak travel? Prior responses on this tread even seemed to say that 5000 points would be AGR which is contrary to what is stated in the application for the credit card pages.
> ...


Thanks for the response Alan! Still a little confused here though; are you saying that all 5000 points for the credit card application will eventually be available for usage in purchasing future travel?


----------



## the_traveler (Jan 29, 2009)

Yes, it will. It won't be available "right now" but will be next month (or so).


----------



## nitzotz (Jan 30, 2009)

sky12065 said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > sky12065 said:
> ...


You have all been so helpful and I have learned more than I even asked! This is a wonderful service.

nitzotz


----------



## sky12065 (Jan 30, 2009)

nitzotz said:


> You have all been so helpful and I have learned more than I even asked! This is a wonderful service.nitzotz


Now nitzotz, you've gone and made people blush.

Here's a picture of one of them: :blush:


----------

