# Why bother with the Amtrak MasterCard?



## George K (Mar 21, 2015)

Seems that the Chase Sapphire Visa has

1) Better sign on bonus

2) Slightly better rewards through their portal

3) More shopping "partners" than AGR

4) 2X points for travel

It has an annual fee, waived for the 1st year. Points are transferrable to AGR

AGR Mastercard offers

1) 2X points for Amtrak Travel (other than double days

And....

?


----------



## TinCan782 (Mar 21, 2015)

-5% points rebate when you book travel using points (been discussed here).

-Points don't expire due to not taking trips (been discussed here).


----------



## the_traveler (Mar 21, 2015)

Just by holding it, your points never expire - even without traveling! (A friend discovered he had 60K+ even though he hasn't traveled on Amtrak in over 5 years!) Plus, you get a 5% rebate on award travel.


----------



## George K (Mar 21, 2015)

Ah! Rebate! Yes, I had forgotten (and I even posted about it yesterday - what a maroon...).

The non-expiration of points. Potentially a big deal if you don't travel often.


----------



## TinCan782 (Mar 21, 2015)

George K said:


> Ah! Rebate! Yes, I had forgotten (and I even posted about it yesterday - what a maroon...).
> 
> The non-expiration of points. Potentially a big deal if you don't travel often.


George...I don't think you are a "maroon"! :giggle:


----------



## reppin_the_847 (Mar 21, 2015)

One other potential criteria worth considering could be that the Chase Sapphire may also be more difficult to qualify for credit-wise than the Chase Amtrak card.


----------



## amamba (Mar 22, 2015)

No fee.


----------



## Eris (Mar 22, 2015)

Yah, the Sapphire has a significant fee and a MUCH higher spend requirement to get those sign-on bonus points ($4000 in three months). Both of those things make it a non-starter for me.


----------



## printman2000 (Mar 22, 2015)

I have both and use the Sapphire for everything I can. I have the agr card for the benefits people listed here.


----------



## OlympianHiawatha (Mar 22, 2015)

With as many No Fee cards that are available, there should be no reason at all to want to sign up for a Fee card. And the ones that trap you in with a Fee Waiver for the first year are just that-a trap. If you forget to cancel (and many folks do) you are hung. And you will be put through an Interrogation with a rubber hose and bright light when you do go to cancel.


----------



## printman2000 (Mar 22, 2015)

OlympianHiawatha said:


> With as many No Fee cards that are available, there should be no reason at all to want to sign up for a Fee card. And the ones that trap you in with a Fee Waiver for the first year are just that-a trap. If you forget to cancel (and many folks do) you are hung. And you will be put through an Interrogation with a rubber hose and bright light when you do go to cancel.


With the direct transfer of points into AGR and many other systems (airlines, hotels, etc). the Sapphire is well worth the fee to me.

So that is a reason to have a fee card.


----------



## amamba (Mar 22, 2015)

In regards to few cards, one just has to do the math in their spending. If you make more in points than the fee, then you are ahead. The points are often more generous than non-fee cards. Right now I'm digging my fee based Barclay Arrival Plus card. I use it more than the AGR MasterCard.


----------



## George K (Mar 22, 2015)

The Barclay Card, it appears, also has a 40K signup bonus, but only a $3000 spending requirement in the 1st 90 days, and it appears that points are transferrable to AGR.

Is this just another card through Chase?


----------



## AmtrakBlue (Mar 22, 2015)

George K said:


> The Barclay Card, it appears, also has a 40K signup bonus, but only a $3000 spending requirement in the 1st 90 days, and it appears that points are transferrable to AGR.
> 
> Is this just another card through Chase?


I would guess the Barclay card is thru BarclayCard - a different bank.


----------



## the_traveler (Mar 22, 2015)

Unless Barclay merged with Chase (I can't keep up with all the mergers :wacko: ), Barclay is a different bank.


----------



## AmtrakBlue (Mar 22, 2015)

the_traveler said:


> Unless Barclay merged with Chase (I can't keep up with all the mergers :wacko: ), Barclay is a different bank.


Seeing that I may have temp job interviews with both, fingers crossed, I'd say they have not merged.


----------



## George K (Mar 22, 2015)

the_traveler said:


> Unless Barclay merged with Chase (I can't keep up with all the mergers :wacko: ), Barclay is a different bank.


That's very, VERY tempting...

When I signed up for (and got my Sapphire Visa), we moved credit lines around on my various cards (and closed one) so that I could use the Sapphire more often. If they're different companies, I won't have to bother with that.


----------



## Ryan (Mar 22, 2015)

printman2000 said:


> I have both and use the Sapphire for everything I can. I have the agr card for the benefits people listed here.


My situation exactly.



OlympianHiawatha said:


> With as many No Fee cards that are available, there should be no reason at all to want to sign up for a Fee card.


The problem with making blanket statements like that is that everyone has a different situation. Personally, my travel needs vary enough that having the flexibility to move my earned points into multiple different programs is absolutely worth the $95/year fee. Earning Ultimate Rewards points has worked out very nicely for me, as I have transferred them into Amtrak, Southwest, United, Marriott and Hyatt in the past ~18 months. Obviously, some people's travel habits vary, and earning/using points in other ways works very well for them.



OlympianHiawatha said:


> And the ones that trap you in with a Fee Waiver for the first year are just that-a trap. If you forget to cancel (and many folks do) you are hung. And you will be put through an Interrogation with a rubber hose and bright light when you do go to cancel.


That's not been my experience - between my personal experience and the experience of family, it can range the gamut of fees being waved, the card being converted to a non-fee card, or a simple cancellation. While I don't doubt that others have had the "rubber hose and bright light" experience, that is certainly not the only way things can shake out.


----------



## Anderson (Mar 22, 2015)

I actually don't agree on the "never get a fee card" point. For example, I got the Hyatt card. It comes with a $79 fee, yes, but it also comes with a free night at a hotel up to Category 4 each year...which as I figured out yesterday can get me a $240 room at the Orlando Airport Hyatt (probably more like $260, actually, after taxes...I got caught in a spring break overlap and there were basically no cheap hotels in central FL last night that weren't pretty far down the quality line) for nothing. Granted, I do not use that card much...but being able to pull a free night out of thin air at a time like this is worth that.

The other fee card I got was Virgin America's...and that came about because there were scads of tied-in bonuses (extra points, a big pile of status points with annual spend, status point carry-forward, etc.) and there was, as far as I could tell, no non-fee alternative.

IMHO, the point is that an absolute bar on getting a fee card isn't a horrid rule, but it's also not a hard-and-fast situation. It is _quite_ possible to think of a situation where a fee card would make sense in some cases. To offer an example for Amtrak, if you got an extra five-pack of upgrade cards and you live in the Northeast? That's $500+ in value on the Acela or $200+ on the Regional if used properly. An extra pair of companion cards would also fall under this umbrella.


----------



## amamba (Mar 22, 2015)

George K said:


> The Barclay Card, it appears, also has a 40K signup bonus, but only a $3000 spending requirement in the 1st 90 days, and it appears that points are transferrable to AGR.
> 
> Is this just another card through Chase?


Nope it's from Barclay bank. 
The arrival plus card gives 2 points per dollar spent. The points are then redeemed as statement credits. This is important. They are not points that you then transfer to AGR or an airline or Starwood etc.

You redeem for a statement credit for anything that is "travel related" you can get better ratios of points to dollars. Plus there is a rebate.

So it's totally different than ultimate rewards points through chase. Right now I'm liking this card because I can redeem little points amounts here and there like for a $79 Amtrak ticket or a$200 hotel stay.

It's not for everyone but I like it right now and I've been using it instead of my AGR MasterCard. Plus I have a chip and pin card!!


----------



## George K (Mar 22, 2015)

Hmmm. I guess I was wrong. Still, redeeming the points for Hotel, etc is probably worth it.

What other cards *do* allow a direct transfer to AGR other than the Sapphire and Ink cards?


----------



## PRR 60 (Mar 22, 2015)

George K said:


> Hmmm. I guess I was wrong. Still, redeeming the points for Hotel, etc is probably worth it.
> 
> What other cards *do* allow a direct transfer to AGR other than the Sapphire and Ink cards?


The is seriously old-school, but the Diners Club card (now affiliated with Mastercard) has 1:1 transfers to AGR. For several years it was closed to new applications, but has recently reopened. Also a $95 annual fee.


----------



## George K (Mar 22, 2015)

I had a chat with a nice lady from Citi who told me that they do not allow transfers to AGR.


----------



## VentureForth (Mar 23, 2015)

So keep the Amtrak AGR MC for rebates, travel points and no expiration. Get whatever card suits you to get the most points, lowest rates and fees, and best flexibility for your needs.


----------



## neutralist (Mar 23, 2015)

George K said:


> Hmmm. I guess I was wrong. Still, redeeming the points for Hotel, etc is probably worth it.
> 
> What other cards *do* allow a direct transfer to AGR other than the Sapphire and Ink cards?


AMEX SPG


----------



## alben (Apr 5, 2015)

Everyone's situation is different. I do the travel hacking / points game. I am perfectly happy paying for an annual fee if I feel that the rewards from the card are worth more than the fee. Many times the fee is waived the first year. When the annual fee posts to your account, you have up to 60 days to cancel your card and the fee will be credited back to your account. The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is pretty decent because it has a good shopping portal and the UR points can be transferred to many programs. The UR program was an excellent way for me to get Amtrak travel that required 160K points.


----------



## NW cannonball (Apr 5, 2015)

Like everybody says here -- It Depends -

I keep and use my -- uh - Amtrak GR card for most everyday spending. (Because I want and use AGR points ++ )

Cards with fees -- got one - maybe not worth it ?? Gotta do the math (but worth it for me, shot-term anyhow)

My No-fee card (USB) paid the $2800 deer-strike rentacar damage 3 years ago - that's a benefit - but also a crapshoot.

I get offers for so many "cash-back 1%" cards

The banks have their quants.

I just try to get a better deal.

Sometimes it pays, sometimes not.

Break even -- good.

Further advice here -- welcome -- "Make a bundle quick with "points" " -- Naah

I remember "Green Stamps" (still worth something on Ebay"

-- The AGR card does NOT cover rentacar damage -- I always use my USB card or CSP card for car rentals. -

(I don't own a car and have no auto insurance -- but USB paid my rental car damage 2800 -- just another detail to think about) - read the fine print always.


----------



## neutralist (Apr 6, 2015)

George K said:


> I had a chat with a nice lady from Citi who told me that they do not allow transfers to AGR.


Citi TY -> Hilton HHonors -> AGR


----------



## NW cannonball (Apr 7, 2015)

neutralist said:


> George K said:
> 
> 
> > I had a chat with a nice lady from Citi who told me that they do not allow transfers to AGR.
> ...


This week. Thx.

I think that "green stamps" are still worth a bit - compare name-your-fave points.com

same old -- like the "insurance scam" -- kinda. Pay up front - we pay you per T&C - maybe later, maybe never Read the fine print. Sheesh.


----------

