Excellent offer for Amtrak Mastercard

[Bob Dylan]

Can the one-class upgrade coupon be applied to saver fares?

Yes, but you have to call AGR and have an agent do it!

 

[fhussain44]

I see mention of any $100 statement credit?

 

[20th Century Rider]

But those hotel gift cards are giving you just 0.83 cents/point, which is just 1/3 of the value I came up with on a couple of test bookings on sleepers. So better to use the points for Amtrak, if you have tickets to buy.

Exactly... Amtrak's affinity card gives best values to all things Amtrak!

 

[20th Century Rider]

Wow, they're really pushing it now -- shows up in 3 places on the Amtrak home page after logging in.

Unfortunately, as more take advantage of this... the law of 'inverse proportions' may kick in... as in tightening of benefits... because of the larger numbers pursuing reward travel, upgrade coupons, and etc. with limited availability.

 

[Exvalley]

But those hotel gift cards are giving you just 0.83 cents/point, which is just 1/3 of the value I came up with on a couple of test bookings on sleepers.

Except you earn two points for every dollar spent on every day purchases with the hotel cards. The Amtrak card is still a better deal, but the difference isn't quite as stark.

That said, you have to work to make hotel points worth 0.83 cents. When rates plummeted during Covid it was pretty much impossible to get that sort of value from hotel points. Amtrak charges points based on the underlying fare. Marriott's point requirements are based on the hotel's category - not what the actual rate is.

 

[Exvalley]

Before I start reading a bunch of fine print...

1) Can my wife open a card and get the same offer - or is it one per household?
2) If my wife gets 50,000 points, is there a way to transfer those points to my AGR account?

 

[Exvalley]

Before I start reading a bunch of fine print...

1) Can my wife open a card and get the same offer - or is it one per household?

I could not find anything in the fine print that prohibits this. So I think we will have my wife open an account right before the September 30th deadline. That will spread out the time for spending $2,500 per card.

There was one part of the fine print that doesn't apply to me, but I thought was pretty shady:
You also understand that if you have existing credit card accounts with Bank of America, we may use the available credit on the existing account(s) to approve your new credit card which could include moving credit from an account with a lower annual percentage rate and/or fee structure to a higher annual percentage rate and/or fee structure without increasing your overall credit limit.

 

[Exvalley]

2) If my wife gets 50,000 points, is there a way to transfer those points to my AGR account?

I looked up the answer to this question. Yes, the 50,000 points can be transferred, but it will cost $500 to transfer them. It makes more sense for my wife to keep her points. We can transfer some if we need to top off one of our accounts in order to book a trip.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I looked up the answer to this question. Yes, the 50,000 points can be transferred, but it will cost $500 to transfer them. It makes more sense for my wife to keep her points. We can transfer some if we need to top off one of our accounts in order to book a trip.

You don't have to transfer points! She can book a trip for you or both of yall using her account.

 

[Exvalley]

You don't have to transfer points! She can book a trip for you or both of yall using her account.

Understood. I was just picturing a situation in which we needed more points than either of us have in our own accounts.

 

[bratkinson]

There was one part of the fine print that doesn't apply to me, but I thought was pretty shady:
You also understand that if you have existing credit card accounts with Bank of America, we may use the available credit on the existing account(s) to approve your new credit card which could include moving credit from an account with a lower annual percentage rate and/or fee structure to a higher annual percentage rate and/or fee structure without increasing your overall credit limit.

Not shady at all. It's a way to not increase their 'exposure' (how much money they stand to lose) in case one can't keep up with timely payments and as a means to increase their potential future interest income. 30+ years ago, I wrote a group of programs for a 4-state regional bank for managing their 'exposure' (that's the term they used) across each their loan categories. Exposure quickly became a consideration for making new loans thereafter.

FWIW, when BoA advertised their 2nd Amtrak card 3-4 years ago with a 20K bonus (or was it 30k?), I took them up on it. It wasn't until I got the card that the included letter said they reduced the limit on my 'big' card with them by $7,000 and that was my limit on the new one. That gave me 4 of their cards altogether, 2 Amtrak cards and 2 from credit card companies they had bought out in the past 20+ years. They've since raised the limits on their cards so I now have more credit power with them than when I got the 2nd Amtrak card.

 

[jis]

FWIW, when BoA advertised their 2nd Amtrak card 3-4 years ago with a 20K bonus (or was it 30k?), I took them up on it. It wasn't until I got the card that the included letter said they reduced the limit on my 'big' card with them by $7,000 and that was my limit on the new one. That gave me 4 of their cards altogether, 2 Amtrak cards and 2 from credit card companies they had bought out in the past 20+ years. They've since raised the limits on their cards so I now have more credit power with them than when I got the 2nd Amtrak card.

Yup. Similar thing has happened to me at Chase. Though unlike BofA they actually called me to let me know what they were going to do and inquired if I still wanted the additional card, instead of serving me with a fait accompli. The total size of business that I bring to them may have had something to do with the good behavior on their part though.

 

[Eric S]

Marriott hotels have yet to ask me to show them a credit card if they have a working one on file. I also check in and check out electronically, and if the hotel does not have an electronic key then the only face to face interaction is to lick up the key. They usually check Id before handing out keys unless it is at a hotel that I frequent and the desk clerk knows me.

That's some pretty serious face interaction, though!

 

[Pooh2]

Can I get the bonus if I previously held and closed the card?
Closed it about 3 years ago.

 

[erinch13]

My husband and I both have separate Amtrak guest rewards cards. Got a number of years ago when the reward was 25K points. Our daughter just got married, and we ran most of the expenses through his card. Plus groceries and other expenses like dining out. Due to the wedding, he made select plus, and enough points for a bedroom on the auto train in the spring at high bucket going north.

 

[TheVig]

Can I get the bonus if I previously held and closed the card?
Closed it about 3 years ago.

You should be fine.

 

[Law638]

I received my new Amtrak card a few days before this offered was published. Should I contact Amtrak rewards to try & get this deal or am I better off with the offer I have?

 

[chrsjrcj]

I received my new Amtrak card a few days before this offered was published. Should I contact Amtrak rewards to try & get this deal or am I better off with the offer I have?

I think you should contact Bank of America. Worse they can say is no.

 

[20th Century Rider]

I received my new Amtrak card a few days before this offered was published. Should I contact Amtrak rewards to try & get this deal or am I better off with the offer I have?

Call Amtrak customer service... and call BOA... and indicate your expectation that this present deal needs to be applied to your card since you received it and will start using it during this promotional time... especially if you enrolled on the Amtrak site as they indicated.

Demand, expect, and verify!

 

[deBASHmode]

I have opened a couple of hotel and airline cards that gave generous sign up bonuses after a minimum spend and have never been taxed on those.

The only reason that I am hesitating is because I am not sure what the impact will be on my credit rating if I open a new card account. I would only get the card for the bonus. My main card is a hotel affiliated card.

If you haven't applied for anything in at least 6 months, there might be a small, temporary (2-3 months?) dip in your credit score due to the inquiry that happens. Having a larger mix of cards is actually beneficial in many cases. The credit limit on the new card increases your overall credit limit across all cards and can lower your overall utilization percentage. Keeping your utilization for all cards under 30% and paying on time are the two best moves you can make for your score. So, used responsibly, a new card will often boost your score in the longer term.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This is what I've learned from being a content designer at Credit Karma for 3.5 years, where I communicate these kinds of strategies to our members. I've also done it myself a few times (including the Amtrak card) and have seen a nice 100+ point rise in my score over the last 2 years.

 

[PaTrainFan]

FYI, I already have both Amtrak cards. I called B of A and was told that I could have a duplicate World Card and get the 50,000 bonus points, so I did this. Easy peasy. I will simply shift my spending to the new card, probably cancel the first card so I don't have to pay the annual fee on that one and after three months I will make the purchase threshhold (I do not carry a balance) and get the points which puts me in an excellent position on top of the 67,000 points I currenty have.

 

[joelkfla]

Just got my new FICO score by Experian. I dropped 17 points after staying constant over the past 2 months. The hard inquiry for the new card was the only relevant event this month, although the sum of my balances (paid off every month) may be a few hundred dollars higher than last month, which I think might contribute up to 5 points or so. I'm still well within the "Excellent" range, though. so no worries.

 

[C&O RR]

I also already have both Amtrak cards. BOA just gave me my second World Card and the 50,000 bonus points.

 

[joelkfla]

I gue

I also already have both Amtrak cards. BOA just gave me my second World Card and the 50,000 bonus points.

I guess BoA is happy to take another $79 from you, as Amtrak absorbs the cost of the bonus points.

 

[deBASHmode]

Just got my new FICO score by Experian. I dropped 17 points after staying constant over the past 2 months. The hard inquiry for the new card was the only relevant event this month, although the sum of my balances (paid off every month) may be a few hundred dollars higher than last month, which I think might contribute up to 5 points or so. I'm still well within the "Excellent" range, though. so no worries.

You'll head back up by the end of the year with those habits.

Trick: Find out when your card issuers report to the bureaus and try pay off or pay down before that date rather than your billing date. That way they report lower or no balance sooner and that will help your score recover the dip.