AGR Credit Card change (October 2022)

[Trollopian]

I just got my first (and probably last) paper bill from BOA. What's interesting is that my billing cycle starts at the 19th of the month, so I would think that I would get one more bill from BOA, as the new card doesn't come online until October 23. Maybe I will get one more paper bill. The due date on my bills is around the 15th of the month, so what's finalized on October 19 isn't due until November 15. Not sure how that's going to be handled. I hope they don't make things confusing so I "accidentally" have a balance subject to interest charges. I don't mind paying the annual fee, but the last thing I want to do is carry a balance on which interest is charged, esepcially given the recent moves by the Fed, raising interest rates.

Same here. I'm enrolled in "paperless" billing but got a dead-tree bill and will probably get one more. The bill also made no mention that I'm set up for auto-pay in full on the due date. I wonder if that'll go through as usual. Like you I'll be plenty p***ed if I get slapped with a finance charge. I mean, I know I'll have to re-enroll in paperless billing and auto-pay at FNBO, but my current arrangements at BofA oughta continue till then.

 

[zephyr17]

My card cycles early in the month, and I don't carry a balance on it. My plan is to completely clear the whole balance, both from the early October statement and later October charges, shortly before BOA shuts it down and make the transition with a zero or absolutely minimal balance from late posting charges.

 

[joelkfla]

The page is not fully functional yet. Examine the URL in the link.
zh.amtrak dot com/sdaemtest/apply

Has anyone else opened the Amtrak site and gotten in it Chinese? When I opened the home page, a box on the screen had some Chinese writing on it, then the home page refreshed in Chinese. The url also started with "zh", so I'm thinking that opening that "test" page may have messed up some cookies. From what I remember of my brief attempt to learn Mandarin, Zhongguo is the Mandarin word for China.

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

Has anyone else opened the Amtrak site and gotten in it Chinese? When I opened the home page, a box on the screen had some Chinese writing on it, then the home page refreshed in Chinese. The url also started with "zh", so I'm thinking that opening that "test" page may have messed up some cookies. From what I remember of my brief attempt to learn Mandarin, Zhongguo is the Mandarin word for China.

I have the freebie/limited versions of a couple of VPNs, and when one of them is running, I get foreign-language banner ads in my email. Haven't yet tried opening the Amtrak website (either the regular way or via the test link for FNBO AGR credit cards) while a VPN was running, though.

 

[TinCan782]

Amtrak's website opens the same old way for me (no VPN here). The FNBO application also opens ok for me (except that the link to "application" doesn't go anywhere). No foreign language noted.

 

[user 31494]

Believed the hype but did not test! Clicked on Apply and returned to page over again. When it becomes active I will post again. Yes Amtrak opens in Chinese and Google shows two Amtrak shortcuts one in Chinese. Trieds several ways but cannot get Amtrack web site in English anymore. Any suggestions? Firefox for my browser. Works ok with Google. Will re-install Firefox next.

 

[joelkfla]

Believed the hype but did not test! Clicked on Apply and returned to page over again. When it becomes active I will post again. Yes Amtrak opens in Chinese and Google shows two Amtrak shortcuts one in Chinese. Trieds several ways but cannot get Amtrack web site in English anymore. Any suggestions? Firefox for my browser. Works ok with Google. Will re-install Firefox next.

No need to reinstall; just delete cookies.

On Firefox, click on the "hamburger menu" in top right corner, then Settings, then Privacy & Security on left of screen. Scroll down to Cookies & Site Data. Clicking Clear Data will delete data for all sites, which may include login info or preferences, and will trigger some sites (like banks) to send you a verification code when logging on. Or you can try clicking Manage Data and select just Amtrak.com; that should work but I just used Clear Data.

 

[GAT]

I talked to BOA yesterday and canceled the AGR card. They are adding my credit limit on the AGR to another card I have with them. I will probably apply for the new card when it opens up depending on the offer.

Will I lose my AGR points if I cancel the card? I don't have any outstanding unposted points. i.e. BofA doesn't owe me any points.

Also, Is FNBO restricting former BofA AGR cardholders from earning the 30K bonus if they cancel BofA before the transfer and then apply for the new FMBO card?

 

[user 31494]

I did re-install Firefox and that seemed to fix the problem.

 

[NorthShore]

Has anyone else opened the Amtrak site and gotten in it Chinese? When I opened the home page, a box on the screen had some Chinese writing on it, then the home page refreshed in Chinese. The url also started with "zh", so I'm thinking that opening that "test" page may have messed up some cookies. From what I remember of my brief attempt to learn Mandarin, Zhongguo is the Mandarin word for China.

Maybe this bodes well for high speed rail.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Will I lose my AGR points if I cancel the card? I don't have any outstanding unposted points. i.e. BofA doesn't owe me any points.

Also, Is FNBO restricting former BofA AGR cardholders from earning the 30K bonus if they cancel BofA before the transfer and then apply for the new FMBO card?

You won’t lose the points. But you will return to the “must have activity” within 24 months (from now) to keep the points you have.

 

[MARC Rider]

Has anyone else opened the Amtrak site and gotten in it Chinese? When I opened the home page, a box on the screen had some Chinese writing on it, then the home page refreshed in Chinese. The url also started with "zh", so I'm thinking that opening that "test" page may have messed up some cookies. From what I remember of my brief attempt to learn Mandarin, Zhongguo is the Mandarin word for China.

This obviously mean that the Chinese have contracted with Amtrak to run all of their passenger rail services in China! Why shouldn't the Chinese people have the advantage of enjoying all of our fast, extensive, and punctual trains with stellar consistent onboard service.

 

[MARC Rider]

I have the freebie/limited versions of a couple of VPNs, and when one of them is running, I get foreign-language banner ads in my email. Haven't yet tried opening the Amtrak website (either the regular way or via the test link for FNBO AGR credit cards) while a VPN was running, though.

I have a full paid VPN, and when I'm connected via Canada, I get Canadian ads when I watch DownieLive You Tube videos. Considering that he's Canadian, that makes the experience more authentic I guess.

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

I have a full paid VPN, and when I'm connected via Canada, I get Canadian ads when I watch DownieLive You Tube videos. Considering that he's Canadian, that makes the experience more authentic I guess.

The ads in Brazilian Portuguese I can kinda understand (close enough to the Spanish I studied in high school & college), but the ads in (presumably) Vietnamese are a bit beyond me.

 

[UserNameRequired]

This obviously mean that the Chinese have contracted with Amtrak to run all of their passenger rail services in China! Why shouldn't the Chinese people have the advantage of enjoying all of our fast, extensive, and punctual trains with stellar consistent onboard service.

Ha I was thinking the opposite, obviously Amtrak IT outsourced to China

 

[jis]

MODERATOR'S NOTE: We appear to have pretty much covered the Chinese contract and foreign ads space adequately at this point, so let us please get back to and focus back on Credit Card change. We might do some cleanup of this thread to remove off topic posts at some point.

Thank you for you understanding, cooperation and participation.

 

[lstone19]

I just got my first (and probably last) paper bill from BOA. What's interesting is that my billing cycle starts at the 19th of the month, so I would think that I would get one more bill from BOA, as the new card doesn't come online until October 23. Maybe I will get one more paper bill. The due date on my bills is around the 15th of the month, so what's finalized on October 19 isn't due until November 15. Not sure how that's going to be handled. I hope they don't make things confusing so I "accidentally" have a balance subject to interest charges. I don't mind paying the annual fee, but the last thing I want to do is carry a balance on which interest is charged, esepcially given the recent moves by the Fed, raising interest rates.

Same here. I'm enrolled in "paperless" billing but got a dead-tree bill and will probably get one more. The bill also made no mention that I'm set up for auto-pay in full on the due date. I wonder if that'll go through as usual. Like you I'll be plenty p***ed if I get slapped with a finance charge. I mean, I know I'll have to re-enroll in paperless billing and auto-pay at FNBO, but my current arrangements at BofA oughta continue till then.

I'm also on a 19th of the month billing cycle. No notification of a new statement by email and I have not yet seen a paper statement but Informed Delivery is saying something was arriving from BofA yesterday but I won't be able to get it until tomorrow. But I just checked online and the 9/19 statement was available online and mine still says "Auto Pay Active" at the bottom of the "Account Summary" section. But my recollection from setting it up years ago is that there are multiple ways to set up Auto Pay with BofA credit cards with none of them being straight-forward or obvious. So you may have set it up differently.

 

[jcastallack]

Interesting thing: my points are now being processed as I purchase, rather than one big dump at the end of the billing cycle. Odd to see things like a $10 purchase show up as its own separate line item under My Transactions.

Based on the 30k bonus, I'm toying with the idea of cancelling the card and reapplying. My only issue is that I have my credit frozen because of a previous identity theft and unfreezing/refreezing it is a bit of a pain. As well, switching my recurring bills twice (once to another of my cards, a second time once I get the FNBO card) would be annoying.

 

[joelkfla]

Based on the 30k bonus, I'm toying with the idea of cancelling the card and reapplying. My only issue is that I have my credit frozen because of a previous identity theft and unfreezing/refreezing it is a bit of a pain. As well, switching my recurring bills twice (once to another of my cards, a second time once I get the FNBO card) would be annoying.

The new card has not been announced to the public yet. The link that was posted here was just a test. We don't know what the exact terms of any bonus will be. It's possible that previous cardholders will be excluded for some period of time.

Also, it's not clear (at least to me) when the annual fee will be assessed on new cardholders. OTOH, if you allow the transfer to go thru, it appears that you will not be charged an annual fee until one year after your last BofA annual fee.

Obviously, if you wait until after the transfer, and then try to cancel and reapply you wouldn't be considered a new applicant. It's up to you whether you want to risk paying another annual fee by canceling now for the possibility of getting the bonus points.

 

[Trollopian]

[...]But my recollection from setting it up years ago is that there are multiple ways to set up Auto Pay with BofA credit cards with none of them being straight-forward or obvious. So you may have set it up differently.

That's for darn sure. Of the formerly three (!) credit cards I own (now two, since Citibank cancelled one for "inactivity," the nerve), autopay was by far the hardest to set up at Bank of America. Even despite having a small checking account there, a convenience account opened because it happens to be the ATM closest to me. Which I see I have visited just three times since March 2020. I'm an extreme case of the shift away from cash to other payment methods since the pandemic's start: see 2022 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice – Cash.

Hoping this'll be easy to set up at FNBO, where I have zero intention of opening a checking account.

 

[jcastallack]

The new card has not been announced to the public yet. The link that was posted here was just a test. We don't know what the exact terms of any bonus will be. It's possible that previous cardholders will be excluded for some period of time.

Also, it's not clear (at least to me) when the annual fee will be assessed on new cardholders. OTOH, if you allow the transfer to go thru, it appears that you will not be charged an annual fee until one year after your last BofA annual fee.

Obviously, if you wait until after the transfer, and then try to cancel and reapply you wouldn't be considered a new applicant. It's up to you whether you want to risk paying another annual fee by canceling now for the possibility of getting the bonus points.

These are good points. My BoA annual fee will charge in October so there is no savings there as I could cancel today and not be charged it. If the test page is correct it would be the same and if not, $20 extra which is fine as the price of getting the points.

30k would not be Amtrak's best or worst offer so I would bet it will be this or close to it. 20k points would be acceptable to me but any lower maybe not.

As for the exclusion period, that's the wild card, but I recently paid for all my trips though June of next year and so it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if I had to wait a few months. I'm still undecided, though.... the hassle factor is not insignificant.

 

[TinCan782]

BofA changed AGR points posting procedure?
Today 9/25 I logged on to my AGR account as I always do after my statement closing date (23 of the month) to update my spreadsheet. Apparently, BofA is now posting points to AGR each time a charge appears on the card. Comparing that to my BofA statement online, the postings appear the day after I used the card and the number of points match the transaction
So instead of a single entry "AMTRAK - Base 1x Retail Spend" on the closing date for the month, there are now a series of postings. I noticed the same with my wife's account (her closing is on the 8th).
I guess BofA is doing this to be able to facilitate the transistion to FNBO on the 23rd.

EDIT/ADDED: On my account there was also an entry dated today, 9/25 for dinner purchased Friday evening 9/23.

 

[jcastallack]

BofA changed AGR points posting procedure?
Today 9/25 I logged on to my AGR account as I always do after my statement closing date (23 of the month) to update my spreadsheet. Apparently, BofA is now posting points to AGR each time a charge appears on the card. Comparing that to my BofA statement online, the postings appear the day after I used the card and the number of points match the transaction
So instead of a single entry "AMTRAK - Base 1x Retail Spend" on the closing date for the month, there are now a series of postings. I noticed the same with my wife's account (her closing is on the 8th).
I guess BofA is doing this to be able to facilitate the transistion to FNBO on the 23rd.

EDIT/ADDED: On my account there was also an entry dated today, 9/25 for dinner purchased Friday evening 9/23.

I mentioned this in my post above. My guess is also that BoA wants everything cleaned up before their books are closed on 10/22.

 

[lstone19]

I'm also on a 19th of the month billing cycle. No notification of a new statement by email and I have not yet seen a paper statement but Informed Delivery is saying something was arriving from BofA yesterday but I won't be able to get it until tomorrow. But I just checked online and the 9/19 statement was available online and mine still says "Auto Pay Active" at the bottom of the "Account Summary" section. But my recollection from setting it up years ago is that there are multiple ways to set up Auto Pay with BofA credit cards with none of them being straight-forward or obvious. So you may have set it up differently.

Following up my own post: I did get the mailed statement today and it also has "Auto Pay Active" on it so for Trollopian whose post the above was replying to, since your statement did not say that, I'd assume they turned it off for some reason.

 

[PaulM]

I received a postcard like mailing from

Amtrak Guest Rewards
PO Box 3955
Omaha, NE 68103-0955

It said my new card is arriving soon, and then a few instructions. It also invited me to visit our welcome center at card.fnbo.com/amtrakguestrewards/faq. This took me to a website that looked like a barebones, third party sales pitches for credit cards, some from fnbo, some not. More interesting was the offer at the top highlighted in green to sell me the fnbo.com website. I thought here we go again. Amtrak programmers strike again.

But several days later the link took me to a page that answered just about every possible question about the change in a straight forward way.