Now I'm confussed.

[JoeUrda]

I need to get something straight. I have a Master Card that I have had for years. Can I use this card towards my AGR or do I have to subscribe to a new Amtrak Master Card.

I just used my present Master Card towards my daughter's return trip to Atlanta this past weekend in a roomette. My wife and I stayed at a Hilton Hotel in the Philadelphia. I see now that I could have received points towards my AGR for the hotel. How about my daughter's ticket? Did I need an Amtrak Master Card?

Help!!

Joe

 

[the_traveler]

Only the AGR MasterCard will earn Points directly into AGR.

Looking at it another way, United Airlines and American Airlines both offer a Visa card. But if you have the American Airlines card, you do not earn miles on United Airlines. Delta Airlines and Hilton Honors both offer an American Express card. But if you have the Delta card, you do not earn HHonors points. Continental Airlines and AGR both offer a MasterCard. But if you have the Continental card, you do not earn AGR points. (Of course, you could later transfer them to AGR, but you do not earn AGR points directly.) Other companies (such as Capital One) have cards that earn "miles", but they are their own "currency" and can not be combined with your own miles in US Air or Northwest or ... - "I'll buy this from you, but I'm not going to pay dollars, I'll give you widgets or thingamabobs only. I don't care that you can't spend them at Sears or Best Buy - that's all I'll give you!"

 

[PRR 60]

I think there is confusion between AGR program points and the points earned by using the AGR Mastercard.

You do not have to have the AGR Mastercard to earn points traveling on Amtrak using AGR partners such as Hilton. All you have to do is provide your AGR number when you make your reservation or when you check into the hotel, and you will get your points. You can use whatever credit card you want. You will still get points.

The AGR Mastercard is simply another partner program. You earn one AGR point for every dollar spent using the MC regardless of what you buy. If you buy Amtrak travel, you get two points per dollar. But the points earned are not your base points. They are bonus points simply for using the card.

 

[PRR 60]

Looking at it another way, United Airlines and American Airlines both offer a Visa card. But if you have the American Airlines card, you do not earn miles on United Airlines. Delta Airlines and Hilton Honors both offer an American Express card. But if you have the Delta card, you do not earn HHonors points. Continental Airlines and AGR both offer a MasterCard. But if you have the Continental card, you do not earn AGR points.

Technically, that is not correct. I have the United Mileage Plus card. If I book travel on Delta and pay for it with my United card, I get United miles for using the card and Delta miles for the trip. Earning miles or points is not dependent on what credit card you use.

 

[the_traveler]

Looking at it another way, United Airlines and American Airlines both offer a Visa card. But if you have the American Airlines card, you do not earn miles on United Airlines. Delta Airlines and Hilton Honors both offer an American Express card. But if you have the Delta card, you do not earn HHonors points. Continental Airlines and AGR both offer a MasterCard. But if you have the Continental card, you do not earn AGR points.

Technically, that is not correct. I have the United Mileage Plus card. If I book travel on Delta and pay for it with my United card, I get United miles for using the card and Delta miles for the trip. Earning miles or points is not dependent on what credit card you use.

Technically, you are correct, but I was only referring to the points or miles for using the credit card. Technically, I can earn AGR points at the Post Office or HHonors points by filling my tank too!

 

[RRrich]

At present there is an AGR bonus period going on "the Fall Promotion". Let us get into our time machine go to January 09 and use our Chase M/C AGR card and book a ticket that costs $150 for travel in March. We pay the M/C off in Feb and ride the train in March.

How many points do we get and when do we (assuming everything goes according to Hoyle) do we get them???

 

[Trogdor]

At present there is an AGR bonus period going on "the Fall Promotion". Let us get into our time machine go to January 09 and use our Chase M/C AGR card and book a ticket that costs $150 for travel in March. We pay the M/C off in Feb and ride the train in March.
How many points do we get and when do we (assuming everything goes according to Hoyle) do we get them???

For your hypothetical purchase:

You purchase a $150 Amtrak ticket with your AGR MasterCard. Since all Amtrak purchases with that card get 2 points per dollar, you would get 300 AGR points from Chase at the end of the statement period covering the day you bought the ticket (it doesn't matter when you pay off the credit card bill, as the points are based on when you spend the money, not when you pay it off).

In March, you board the train, and hand the conductor your $150 ticket. When that ticket gets processed, you will earn 300 rail points, which qualify for Select or SelectPlus status.

So, at the end of your trip, you will have earned 600 points, 300 of which qualify for Select or SelectPlus status.

 

[the_traveler]

At present there is an AGR bonus period going on "the Fall Promotion". Let us get into our time machine go to January 09 and use our Chase M/C AGR card and book a ticket that costs $150 for travel in March.

Also just to clarify, even though there is currently the fall promotion, the double points is good only for trips completed by (IIRC) December 15, 2008. It doesn't matter when the tickets are purchased - only when the travel is made! (In fact, you could have purchased the tickets for your November 5, 2008 trip in April of 2008 - and it would earn double points!)

There is a possibility that when you travel next March that Amtrak will be offering a double or triple point bonus - and you would qualify for that!