AGR Credit Card change (October 2022)

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No mention of 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5K spent, up to $20K. Is this still a feature?

Also, the bank (which most people have never heard of) seems minimally involved. I didn’t see a single bank logo on the card or any of the paperwork. I wonder what their customer service is like if a charge goes wrong…etc.
 
No mention of 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5K spent, up to $20K. Is this still a feature?

Also, the bank (which most people have never heard of) seems minimally involved. I didn’t see a single bank logo on the card or any of the paperwork. I wonder what their customer service is like if a charge goes wrong…etc.
Logo is small, lower left corner of the back of the card.20221017_112320.jpg
 
No mention of 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5K spent, up to $20K. Is this still a feature?

Also, the bank (which most people have never heard of) seems minimally involved. I didn’t see a single bank logo on the card or any of the paperwork. I wonder what their customer service is like if a charge goes wrong…etc.
In one of the earlier mailings from FNBO: "Earn 1,000 TQPs" "Each time you make $5,000 in qualifying purchases on your card."
The MasterCard logo is probably more important than a bank logo.
 
Received 2 new FNBO cards for 2 accounts that were closed by me with BOA about a month ago. I closed them so I could open a new account(s) if there was an offer from FNBO for bonus points when getting a new card(s). I think I have a couple of choices: (1) don't activate them, or (2) I could call FNBO after the 23rd and close the accounts. However, I'm not sure how that will affect me getting new cards if I close the 2 accounts.
 
Yeah, somebody posted the same thing a while back. Seems like the site is not quite alive yet.
If you read the material that’s included it states clearly on October 23, 2022 at 12:00pm CDT or after you can log onto the site or app. Nothing is going live until that date and time.

Received my Preferred card on Saturday and will activate next week. Same credit line as before. Like the art work on the card. We shall see if FNBO works as well as the BOA and Chase cards in the past. Not much paperwork explaining the ins and outs of the benefits of the card. Would like a better definition of what "travel" means and specific point assignments for various purchases. Have not looked at their website to see if that information is listed there/
Travel is just that, travel. What do you mean specific point assignments for various purchases? I think they are pretty clear…
 
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Travel is just that, travel. What do you mean specific point assignments for various purchases? I think they are pretty clear…

The actual MCCs covered by travel vary wildly by credit card issuer, and sometimes even vary between different cards from the same issuer.

As a few examples, Chase defines travel as:
Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages. Some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, RV and boat rentals, merchants within hotels and airports, public campgrounds and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. Purchases from gift card merchants or merchants that sell points or miles will not qualify in the travel category.

Bank of America's Customized Cash Rewards card defines travel as
Travel includes your everyday travel purchases, like parking, public transit, taxis/ride share, as well as the special getaways you plan all year like that trip to visit family or to explore a new destination. From traditional travel such as airfare to hotels to tourist attractions, campgrounds and boat rentals watch the cash back add up.

Qualifying merchant categories*
The Travel category includes purchases in a wide variety of merchant categories* including:

Airlines, Air Carriers, Airports, Airport Terminals, Flying Fields | Amusement Parks, Carnivals, Circuses, Fortune Tellers | Aquariums, Dolphinariums, Zoos and Seaquariums | Art Dealers and Galleries | Boat Leases and Boat Rentals | Bus Lines | Campgrounds and Trailer Parks | Car Rental Agencies | Cruise Lines | Direct Marketing — Travel-Related Arrangements Services | Hotels, Motels, Resorts | Motor Home and Recreational Vehicle Rental | Package Tour Operators (for use in Germany only) | Parking Lots and Garages | Real Estate Agents and Managers (Rentals) | Recreation Services (not elsewhere classified) | Suburban and Local Commuter Passenger Travel, including Ferries | Taxicabs and Limousines | Timeshares | Truck and Trailer Utility Rentals | Passenger Railways | Toll and Bridge Fees | Tourist Attractions and Exhibits | Transportation Services (not elsewhere classified) | Travel Agencies and Tour Operators

Bilt Rewards defines travel as (click on the little 1 next to 2x points on travel to get the list)
Travel: 2 rewards points (1 base point plus 1 bonus point) are earned per $1 spent on qualifying net purchases made directly at retailers whose Merchant Code for MasterCard is classified as airlines, hotels, motels, resorts, cruise lines, and car rental agencies (bus lines, passenger railways/ trains, taxicabs and limousines, rideshares, ferries, timeshares, travel agencies, online travel sites, real estate agents, vacation rental platforms (e.g. VRBO, Airbnb), campgrounds, boat lease/rental, motor home/recreational vehicle rental, toll bridges and highways, parking lots, and garages are not considered travel).

Citi has multiple definitions depending on the card you're looking at. Their Costco card defines travel as
3% cash back on [...] eligible travel purchases worldwide, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, cruise lines and Costco Travel.
Certain Non-Qualifying Purchases. [...] you will only earn 1%, not 3%, for purchases made at timeshares, campgrounds, bed & breakfasts and for purchases of train and commuter travel.
But on the Custom Cash, "select travel" is defined as
Includes airline, hotel, cruise line and travel agency purchases. Excludes timeshares, boat leases and rentals, campgrounds and trailer parks, and real estate agencies.

All this is to say that "travel" is defined quite differently depending on which card you're looking at. For example, booking an Amtrak ticket would code as travel with Bank of America and Chase, but not Bilt Rewards or either Citi definition of travel. If I'm doing a car rental, Citi will code it as "select transit" with the Custom Cash, but "travel" on the Costco card, and the other issuers would also count it as "travel."

The exact definition of what FNBO sees as travel matters a lot - if I'm buying a ticket on Flixbus, BoA and Chase will probably count it as travel, I have no idea if Citi will count it as travel, and Bilt Rewards explicitly will not count it as travel. Who knows what FNBO will count it as!
 
No mention of 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5K spent, up to $20K. Is this still a feature?

Also, the bank (which most people have never heard of) seems minimally involved. I didn’t see a single bank logo on the card or any of the paperwork. I wonder what their customer service is like if a charge goes wrong…etc.
You should research the bank. Its not some small time bank in Omaha. Might be the right size to provide some good customer service if needed.
 
I will add that what infuriates me is there is absolutely no mention I can find anywhere about what happens to the BofA card. The expiration date on mine is in 2024.
Both BOA and FNBO have been crystal clear in the communications they sent me that the BOA Amtrak card will be cancelled effective 12 pm CT 10/23.

It does not matter what the expiration date is if the issuing bank cancels it, which BOA is going to. It will no longer work.

I was with Chase, too, and the banks and AGR did that one entirely differently. Chase changed the card type and maintained the account. Nothing was transferred, the BOA AGR card required a brand new card application from scratch.

This is not being done the same way and is not a parallel situation.

Personally, if they were going to change banks, I prefer the account transfer methodology they're using this time, rather than starting from scratch. For one thing, I'll be earning points with no break.
 
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Just received my new FNBO card the other day, has anyone else had issues setting the new card up? I went to the site that was in the letter and entered all correct information in, but the site is coming back saying the information cannot be verified.
The material I got said the website listed would not be active until October 23rd. The only thing active was the activation phone line.

It’s funny that FNBO is acting like 2x points for transit is something new but BofA classified transit as travel and gave you 2x for it.
I know I didn't get two points for VIA purchases. The new policy seems like I will.
 
No mention of 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5K spent, up to $20K. Is this still a feature?

Also, the bank (which most people have never heard of) seems minimally involved. I didn’t see a single bank logo on the card or any of the paperwork. I wonder what their customer service is like if a charge goes wrong…etc.
Most people have never heard of them because the bulk of their credit business is issuing and servicing cards for smaller banks and credit unions, under the name First Bankcard.
 
No mention of 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5K spent, up to $20K. Is this still a feature?

Also, the bank (which most people have never heard of) seems minimally involved. I didn’t see a single bank logo on the card or any of the paperwork. I wonder what their customer service is like if a charge goes wrong…etc.
Most people have never heard of them because the bulk of their credit business is issuing and servicing cards for smaller banks and credit unions, under the name First Bankcard.
The initial welcome packet received a few weeks ago mentioned the 1K TQPs for every $5K spend. One difference I noticed is FNBO didn't state a limit, which would be very nice if there wasn't one.

Well, BofA's logo isn't exactly prominent on their AGR card either (although you could mistake Amtrak's "falling flag" logo for BofA's, they are very, very similar). There is a smallish BofA logo on the back. On the new card there is a small FNBO logo on the back, a "1" in a circle followed by the lower case letters "fnbo". In any case, what is the big deal about the issuing bank's logo on an affinity card? Nobody really cares and the affinity group is far more prominent than the issuing bank, as it should be with a sponsored card. On my non-affinity cards, the bank's logo is much more prominent than on my affinity ones.

I am glad to hear that FNBO has a big card servicing presence, that makes me more confident, although nothing they have done so far has made me doubt them. They delivered the card when they said they would, they have been quite clear in their communications, and I understand the procedure going forward. Until I am actually their customer, I could not ask for much more thus far. The proof will be in glitch-free processing and their customer service once the card goes live, not how big their logo is or whether we've heard of them before. I have to say I am anxious to see their website, BofA's was kind of kludgy looking although it works fine, so it isn't like FNBO has a huge bar to clear to be an improvement. Chase and Citi's website UIs both seem much better designed and slicker than BofA's, IMHO.

After actually experiencing FNBO's service, then maybe we can measure logos.
 
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I just contacted BofA. The rep didn't have any specific information about their AGR card, but said to expect correspondence from them about a replacement card and that the CC side of account would not be summarily terminated.

Apparently this whole transition is being handled very clumsily. I just figure by now that Amtrak administrators must wear bulletproof shoes given they seem to be in the business of constantly shooting themselves in the foot. Geez louise.
I was notified about the transition by BofA in a separate letter addressing that specific issue. Again, I have no idea what is happening to anyone else.

In my experience general BofA Agents appear to not know much about this transition. I have never gotten any dependable information from them on this subject. They have given generic information which often does not apply to this case.
I was notified by a similar letter, and also a prominent pop-up notice with the information whenever I log onto BofA's website. I have found the communication about the BofA account termination and lack of access to statements to have been quite clear. About the only thing lacking in my view was an email in addition to the snail mail. Oh, and no personal phone call with effusive thanks and apologies.
 
The materials seem to cover all the needed information, with redundancy, which I don't mind at all. Here's the activation number, here's the customer service number, here's what to do and here's what will happen. Beyond that I will be curious to see how easy to navigate the FNBO website is. I appreciated the ease of the BoA site and having my checking account and CC account on the same site.
Because I get attached to irrelevant inanimate things... going to miss the old card design. The new one is like a coloring book version of a novel.
 
My billing cycle ends on the 19th of the month, and I just got an email from BOA saying that my bill is ready to be paid. Normally I have until about the 15th of the next month until it's due, so I usually wait until after the first of the month when I get my paycheck. I'm not sure what's going to happen this month, though, because my BOA online account will go away this Sunday. They're going to transfer my account over to FNBO, does that mean I'll still have until the 15th to pay may bill without interest? Actually, I'm not going to find out, I think, I'm going to pay my bill today and also download the last statement from BOA.
 
Last time I logged into my BOA account I received a message about the upcoming bank change. Today when I logged in, I got a message asking for updated income for future credit limit increases. That's funny. In 3 days, I will not have any BOA cards.
 
My billing cycle ends on the 19th of the month, and I just got an email from BOA saying that my bill is ready to be paid. Normally I have until about the 15th of the next month until it's due, so I usually wait until after the first of the month when I get my paycheck. I'm not sure what's going to happen this month, though, because my BOA online account will go away this Sunday. They're going to transfer my account over to FNBO, does that mean I'll still have until the 15th to pay may bill without interest? Actually, I'm not going to find out, I think, I'm going to pay my bill today and also download the last statement from BOA.
Ditto!( I'm gonna set up Autopay for the New Card, and have to also set it up with a few other Accounts I have with the BOA Card)
 
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I have not gotten my new card yet. Do I contact BOA? FNBO? Amtrak? (that's a joke!), USPS (That's a bigger joke!!)

I had an auto renewal on 10/18 that was charged to the BOA card. I just tried to make payment on the BOA site and it would not let me make the payment.
 
I have not gotten my new card yet. Do I contact BOA? FNBO? Amtrak? (that's a joke!), USPS (That's a bigger joke!!)

I had an auto renewal on 10/18 that was charged to the BOA card. I just tried to make payment on the BOA site and it would not let me make the payment.
Did you get the other mailings via USPS from FNBO? If not then your US mail address in your personal info with BoA may be pointing off to somewhere else.

You balance will transfer to FNBO, so it can be paid there after you have figured out what happened to your card I suppose. Alternatively, if you call BoA today you may be able to pay the balance due via phone at least.

For that BoA would be a good place to start today, and then move over to FNBO next week I suppose. I doubt Amtrak will know anything.
 
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