# Will I get 32000 points or 12000?



## Texan Eagle (Feb 12, 2012)

I had applied for AGR MasterCard using the 32,000 points bonus offer page on my AGR account page, and then I left for a three week trip to India (some interesting train journeys done, trip reports soon), and today when I returned home I see my credit card packet has arrived, and it has lots of papers describing the usual stuff that comes with all credit cards, no mention anywhere that I will or will not be eligible for 32000 bonus points or not. Now I see that offer is gone and the AGR page has only the 12000 points offer, so will I still get 32,000 bonus points after first purchase? Should I trust everything will be well and go ahead make a purchase, or first call up Amtrak/Chase and ask them if I am going to get 32,000 points or not?


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## Bradley Bitzer (Feb 12, 2012)

Where do you see the 12,000 point offer? When I went though the Guest Rewards site, it only shows the 32,000 point offer for doing the Mastercard.


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## The Davy Crockett (Feb 12, 2012)

If you have not activated your card yet, ask when you do. If you have activated it, call the toll free number on the card and ask. If you did it through the 32,000 point offer it should be that amount. I saw the 12,000 offer somewhere on the AGR site - or on the Amtrak site - too, so it is lurking h34r: somewhere out in cyberspace...


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## Texan Eagle (Feb 12, 2012)

Ok, so before making the first purchase, I did the following-

1) Called up the 1800 number on the *front* of the card that's used to activate the card and the lady there said after my first purchase I will get *16,000 bonus points* but call up Amtrak AGR to know exactly which offer has been given to my card (where did *THIS* figure come from?!)

2) Called up AGR Customer Care where a guy very rudely said that he has no idea how many points I can get and told me to "go call up Chase and ask". When I told him this is not the way to talk to customers and asked for his details to lodge a complaint, he countered "why do you want to complain against me? I have not done anything wrong" but still refused to listen to my question or provide any useful information, so I hung up on him

3) Called the Chase Customer Care number on the back of the card and the guy answering the call said I am "absolutely" registered for *30,000 bonus points *after first purchase. (Again, where did *THIS *figure come up from?!!)

Seems I will have to keep fingers crossed and make one purchase and see what I get! So much confusion!


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## The Davy Crockett (Feb 12, 2012)

Geeze. I got my card Friday and when I called to activate it the helpful woman I spoke to *volunteered *the information that I would get 16,000 from Chase and 16,000 from AGR...


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## alben (Feb 12, 2012)

Bradley Bitzer said:


> Where do you see the 12,000 point offer? When I went though the Guest Rewards site, it only shows the 32,000 point offer for doing the Mastercard.


Actually, I am curious as to why yours says 32,000 points? Whenever I log into the Guest Rewards site, it is always showing me the 12,000 points offer? I would sign up for the card if I was offered 32,000 points, but I am not given that offer. So it looks like I will wait some more...


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## Shortline (Feb 13, 2012)

alben said:


> 1329103217[/url]' post='346890']
> 
> 
> Bradley Bitzer said:
> ...


I think the 32000 points offer is targeted. That said, all that ever showed up on my page was the 12,000 offer, but had someone shoot me the link for the 32000 point offer page, and I signed up. Got all 32,000 points, 16000 from chase, 16000 from AGR. (don't know why that's important, all 32000 show on my AGR account at the same time) my points showed up a few days after the billing cycle date. You do need to use the card to get the points, at least once.


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## Shortline (Feb 13, 2012)

Texan Eagle said:


> 1329093220[/url]' post='346854']Ok, so before making the first purchase, I did the following-
> 
> 1) Called up the 1800 number on the *front* of the card that's used to activate the card and the lady there said after my first purchase I will get *16,000 bonus points* but call up Amtrak AGR to know exactly which offer has been given to my card (where did *THIS* figure come from?!)
> 
> ...


Dude, relax! An AGR agent has no clue how many points you're going to get from a credit card company. If I were him I too would have said "no idea" call chase too, how would he know, until something posts, what you signed up for? Cut him some slack. Be patient, your points will show, when they say they will. Nothing confusing about it, really, if you signed up for the card from the 32,000 point link, 16k from Chase, and 16k from Amtrak. Only wild card, is if you were targeted for the 12k bonus, but used someone else's link for 32k, would you get the 32K? Just have to wait and see. In my case, I got em all. Good luck, I expect you'll see all 32k about 2 or 3 days after your first billing cycle.


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## the_traveler (Feb 13, 2012)

My BIL was targeted for the 32.000 point offer. However by the time he applied, his AGR page only mentioned the 12,000 point offer. Still he applied, and when the points posted he received ............... 32,000 points!




(16,000 from Chase and 16,000 from AGR!)

AGR matches what Chase awards. If Chase awards 3,000 points, AGR will only give you 3,000 more points! If Chase Awards 10,000 points, then AGR will give you 10,000 more. Etc... So the issue should be with Chase, not AGR!


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## Devil's Advocate (Feb 13, 2012)

I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred has a better over-all offer. 50,000 points after $3,000 spend in the first three months with 2x earning for travel related expenses (flights, rail, taxi, car rental, hotel, restaurants) and a 7% annual points bonus. Or sign up for both and have 85,000 miles in the span of three months.


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## benjibear (Feb 13, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred has a better over-all offer. 50,000 points after $3,000 spend in the first three months with 2x earning for travel related expenses (flights, rail, taxi, car rental, hotel, restaurants) and a 7% annual points bonus. Or sign up for both and have 85,000 miles in the span of three months.


At first I thought I would never get to $3000 in the first 3 months but now after almost a month, I think I could do it.


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## The Davy Crockett (Feb 13, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred has a better over-all offer. 50,000 points after $3,000 spend in the first three months with 2x earning for travel related expenses (flights, rail, taxi, car rental, hotel, restaurants) and a 7% annual points bonus. Or sign up for both and have 85,000 miles in the span of three months.


A good idea, but some of us are allergic to annual fees for CCs, no matter what the perk.


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## Devil's Advocate (Feb 13, 2012)

benjibear said:


> At first I thought I would never get to $3000 in the first 3 months but now after almost a month, I think I could do it.


Not as hard as it first seems, especially if you can put your rent or mortgage payment on it.



The Davy Crockett said:


> A good idea, but some of us are allergic to annual fees for CCs, no matter what the perk.


No fee for the first year. Cancel around the tenth month without penalty. You may even get the fee waived a second time as a retention bonus. Or you can simply apply for another Chase card with the annual fee waived and use the credit awarded from the first card to augment the second if you happen to be declined and need a reconsideration. Then after you have your new card cancel the first one before twelve months is over and you're all good. Don't worry, I have no intention of giving any advice that substantially helps any credit card company, in fact I hate these guys. But we live in a unique era and location where you can still get out more than you put in if you just spend a little time thinking it through.


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## boxcar479 (Feb 13, 2012)

alben said:


> Bradley Bitzer said:
> 
> 
> > Where do you see the 12,000 point offer? When I went though the Guest Rewards site, it only shows the 32,000 point offer for doing the Mastercard.
> ...


Right now I am getting the 32,000 point offer on my AGR portal, while my wife is only getting the 12,000 point offer. OTOH my my 4 yr. old grandaughter is getting the 32,000 point offer also. :lol:


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## the_traveler (Feb 13, 2012)

boxcar817 said:


> Right now I am getting the 32,000 point offer on my AGR portal, while my wife is only getting the 12,000 point offer. OTOH my my 4 yr. old grandaughter is getting the 32,000 point offer also. :lol:


It's because your grandaughter is less of a credit risk then your wife! :lol: :giggle: :lol:


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## The Davy Crockett (Feb 13, 2012)

the_traveler said:


> boxcar817 said:
> 
> 
> > Right now I am getting the 32,000 point offer on my AGR portal, while my wife is only getting the 12,000 point offer. OTOH my my 4 yr. old grandaughter is getting the 32,000 point offer also. :lol:
> ...


Some people might say, h34r: NOT ME h34r: , mind you, "Wait a few years." hboy: hboy: hboy:

Only someone with a delete button could say such a thing....


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## AlanB (Feb 13, 2012)

the_traveler said:


> My BIL was targeted for the 32.000 point offer. However by the time he applied, his AGR page only mentioned the 12,000 point offer. Still he applied, and when the points posted he received ............... 32,000 points!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


While in general you are correct, Amtrak matches what Chase posts, that's not always the case.

I have seen cases where Chase paid one amount because the customer argued for the higher amount and Amtrak realized that the person wasn't targeted for the higher offer. So Amtrak paid the correct amount of points from the actual offer to that member, and not the higher amount offered to a different member. There are even one or two cases that I know of where Amtrak actually got Chase to reverse what they originally awarded and to match the correct amount.

There are also plenty of cases where AGR never caught on. But I sure would never want to guarantee anyone that they will get the higher offer if they were not specifically targeted for it.


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## boxcar479 (Feb 13, 2012)

the_traveler said:


> boxcar817 said:
> 
> 
> > Right now I am getting the 32,000 point offer on my AGR portal, while my wife is only getting the 12,000 point offer. OTOH my my 4 yr. old grandaughter is getting the 32,000 point offer also. :lol:
> ...


You know my wife? :unsure: like the saying goes; take my wife,.... please :lol:


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## Opiatephoto (Feb 18, 2012)

I noticed that too. I got my card when it said 12,000 points, which is ok. But they also said they'd be sending a companion pass along, but the expiration date will pass before they send it out. Hope they'll send me one that's valid.


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## Shortline (Feb 20, 2012)

Opiatephoto said:


> I noticed that too. I got my card when it said 12,000 points, which is ok. But they also said they'd be sending a companion pass along, but the expiration date will pass before they send it out. Hope they'll send me one that's valid.


If somene wants a link to the 32,000 point offer, shoot me a PM and I'll send you the link. Worked for me, YMMV.


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## the_traveler (Feb 20, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> The Davy Crockett said:
> 
> 
> > A good idea, but some of us are allergic to annual fees for CCs, no matter what the perk.
> ...


I personally do not want a mark (or 2 or 3 or 4 or...) just for churning credit cards with annual fees and then canceling before the year is up, just to get the sign-up bonus. Every time you get a credit card and then cancel it, your credit score goes down. I myself would rather keep mine about 800, bonus points or not!


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## Devil's Advocate (Feb 20, 2012)

the_traveler said:


> Texas Sunset said:
> 
> 
> > The Davy Crockett said:
> ...


Yes, just randomly opening and closing cards would be harmful to your credit score. However, the cancellation hit can be mitigated by being careful to retain/add unused credit before/during the closing process. One way to do this would be to open another card and/or transfer unused credit to a new card with the same financial institution. Another way to mitigate this hit would be to request a second year's waiver/reduction of the annual fee. As for maintaining the highest possible credit rating, that's a great goal. However, as I understand it, unless you're planning to make a large purchase on credit (house, car, boat, etc.) in the near future it's unlikely to have a much impact on your day-to-day financial liability if you add another points card or two over the course of the year. Most of the time I don't bother with this stuff, but I caught the long haul travel bug again and thought I'd give this rat race another try to cut down on the expenses.


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## Ispolkom (Feb 20, 2012)

the_traveler said:


> I personally do not want a mark (or 2 or 3 or 4 or...) just for churning credit cards with annual fees and then canceling before the year is up, just to get the sign-up bonus. Every time you get a credit card and then cancel it, your credit score goes down. I myself would rather keep mine about 800, bonus points or not!


That may well be, though who knows? The method used to assign a FICO score is the only thing more mysterious than AGR long-distance redemption rules. I personally think that paying your credit cards on time is a much more important metric than opening and closing accounts.

One data point: After Mrs. Ispolkom and I opened and closed a half dozen credit card accounts to get initial bonuses, we had no problem refinancing our home mortgage. YMMV, of course.


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## benjibear (Feb 21, 2012)

I just got my 32,000 bonus


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## alben (Feb 21, 2012)

benjibear said:


> I just got my 32,000 bonus


Were you specifically targeted for 32,000? I can find plenty of 32,000 URLs, but not sure if it would work.


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## benjibear (Feb 22, 2012)

alben said:


> benjibear said:
> 
> 
> > I just got my 32,000 bonus
> ...



No, not that I know of. My AGR page had 12,000 points plus a free companion fair (that I beleive needed to be used by the end of this month). I did a search or followed a link posted here.


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## Texan Eagle (Feb 29, 2012)

Update: My first statement for the AGR Credit Card came out today and woohoo! I got 32,000 points!







Now gotta decide the best way to make use of them.. since these are my first, and probably only, earned AGR points!


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## Opiatephoto (Mar 2, 2012)

My update hit today, and I got the 32,000 as well, even though the link I signed up with was for 12,000. It's nice to get the upgrade without asking. I'm thinking about a trip to EMY with my girlfriend for her first LD train trip, now.


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## BOS-T-Time (Mar 3, 2012)

Hello,

I just received my bill from Chase which reflected 16,000 additional bonus sign-on points/first time user, I then logged onto guest rewards and low-and-behold I had 32,000 points added along with all my 1 for 1 points for my charges. No questions asked and I am a happy traveler.

ps. I should add that when I signed up there was a promotion for 32k points when I was on the guest rewards site.


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## benjibear (Mar 3, 2012)

BOS-T-Time said:


> Hello,
> 
> I just received my bill from Chase which reflected 16,000 additional bonus sign-on points/first time user, I then logged onto guest rewards and low-and-behold I had 32,000 points added along with all my 1 for 1 points for my charges. No questions asked and I am a happy traveler.
> 
> ps. I should add that when I signed up there was a promotion for 32k points when I was on the guest rewards site.



16,000 points come from Chase and the other 16,000 come from Amtrak.


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## Amy Levin (May 1, 2012)

http://www.mychasecreditcards.com/amtrak/smt32/?CELL=6F7M


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## Amy Levin (May 1, 2012)

That is a falacy. According to creditkarma.com your credit does not go down from having too many cards. It's for having cards a short amount of time. So instead of cancelling right away, wait until the annual fee hits. You have a 60 days grace period to cancel the card. Keeping some of you credit cards open for many years (I do the no annual fee ones) actuall. improves your credit.


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