Can you negotiate bonus points for the AGR Chase Master Card?

[MJL]

I realize Chase & AGR give bonus points for signup based on some secret algorithm :lol:

I applied last fall for the AGR MC when my bonus offer was 18K, but was turned down because I had received a different Chase card within 6 months.

Now, the offer I have on my AGR page is only 12K. Is there a way for me to call and negotiate a higher signon bonus? How would you approach this?

 

[amamba]

The details of the bonus points awarded is through AGR, not through Chase. You can call Chase and they can promise you 20,000 points, but sadly all that AGR will post to your account is what AGR has as "your offer" through their math/algorithm/formula. I don't know if anyone has had success negotiating with AGR before signing up for the card?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I thought Chase could put as many points as they were willing to buy into your account? I would talk to both Chase and AGR and see who is willing to give you the best offer.

 

[the_traveler]

The "bonus" offers are targeted, and whatever you're targeted to receive is what you'll get.

You can try to call Chase and try to get a higher signup bonus - but who do you talk to?

I highly doubt that a call center rep in (who knows where) making $10 a hour or less will offer to purchase for $250+ another 10,000 points just for you to get a higher sign-up bonus!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

You can try to call Chase and try to get a higher signup bonus - but who do you talk to? I highly doubt that a call center rep in (who knows where) making $10 a hour or less will offer to purchase for $250+ another 10,000 points just for you to get a higher sign-up bonus!

According to what I've read they do sometimes budge if you can find the right number to call and the right way to ask for it. I'm kind of surprised how convinced the AGR crowd is that there is zero leeway in points. Just because it's not an automatic offer doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible to score a better deal. After all, what's the worst that can happen -- they say no? I'm also quite sure that whatever Chase pays for AGR points is far less than what we'd be expected to pay. ^_^

 

[AlanB]

I thought Chase could put as many points as they were willing to buy into your account? I would talk to both Chase and AGR and see who is willing to give you the best offer.

It's not a matter of either or. Chase and Amtrak split the amount of points that you get. So if you get a 16,000 point offer, 8,000 is coming from Chase and 8,000 is coming from Amtrak. There are no offers where only one or the other pays the bonus points. AGR matches what Chase pays in points when you meet the requirements.

Now that said, if you can find the correct link/URL it is sometimes possible to trick Chase into thinking that you got a better offer than AGR actually sent you. However, once Chase sends over their half of the points, AGR will refuse to match it if you didn't actually get that offer.

Now I've heard of one case where Chase decided that they would be nice and they ended up giving the customer all the points that the customer was claiming. However, I've heard of many more cases where AGR got Chase to take back the overpaid points because the person did not qualify for that offer.

But again, you can't play them against one another, since it is a joint operation.

 

[amamba]

I thought Chase could put as many points as they were willing to buy into your account? I would talk to both Chase and AGR and see who is willing to give you the best offer.

It's not a matter of either or. Chase and Amtrak split the amount of points that you get. So if you get a 16,000 point offer, 8,000 is coming from Chase and 8,000 is coming from Amtrak. There are no offers where only one or the other pays the bonus points. AGR matches what Chase pays in points when you meet the requirements.

Now that said, if you can find the correct link/URL it is sometimes possible to trick Chase into thinking that you got a better offer than AGR actually sent you. However, once Chase sends over their half of the points, AGR will refuse to match it if you didn't actually get that offer.

Now I've heard of one case where Chase decided that they would be nice and they ended up giving the customer all the points that the customer was claiming. However, I've heard of many more cases where AGR got Chase to take back the overpaid points because the person did not qualify for that offer.

But again, you can't play them against one another, since it is a joint operation.

So what Alan is talking about is what happened to my H when he opened up the AGR card last year. I got a targeted offer with a link for 20,000 points (or whatever it was, something good). You can probably search for my old thread on this board. H clicked on the link in my email to the offer and filled out the online application.

He had a screenshot when he filled out the offer that showed it was for 20,000 points. On his first statement, it said "bonus offer from chase signup" and had 10,000 points on it, the chase portion of the bonus points. However, when the points transferred to AGR, he only got 3,000 points from Chase and 3,000 points from AGR. :angry2: He called AGR and they basically said that he never qualified for the 20,000 bonus points, and that even though he had a statement from Chase showing that Chase was willing to pay for 10,000 points, that AGR was under no obligation to give them to him because he never qualified for that offer to begin with.

So like I said, you can try.....but good luck. Let me know if you are successful, because in my opinion, AGR owes me 14,000 points.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, my offer might have been for 16,000 points. But at the end of the day I know he only got 6,000 total (3,000 from Chase, 3,000 from AGR), which is what AGR said he qualified for.

 

[anir dendroica]

After getting about 15 of those offers in the mail I finally looked into it and, with the promise of 12,000 instant AGR points and no annual fee, decided to apply. Ended up with a Platinum card and only 6,000 points, but I'm not complaining. The annoying part is that the next week I got yet another offer, with the incentive raised to 30,000 points. So if I had waited I would have had another free trip home for the holidays