Passenger Trains > Amtrak Guest Rewards credit cards

Excerpted from a discussion today about Amtrak Guest Rewards credit cards:

"On Oct 22 or 23, Amtrak converted from the Bank of America to the First Nat’l Bank of Omaha. Instead of running both concurrently for transition they shut the BofA down at midnight instantly opening up the FNB Omaha card..."

A Guest Rewards member then reported:

"FNBO tripled my minimum due and charged a late fee without sending me a bill. My balance is going back to B of A..."

Obviously this Guest Rewards member does not think the Amtrak benefits are worth doing business with FBNO...and he and his wife use Amtrak multiple times a year including annual roundtrips on AutoTrain to Florida for the winter. Can anyone else report similar issues with First National Bank of Omaha?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/22 19:34 by GenePoon.

No. Other than the abrupt nature of the transfer, I haven't experienced an issue like that.
I'm still working on changing all of the auto-bills, etc which is a bit annoying.

Posted from Android

Good to hear.  It might be due to the particular accountholder's credit as adjudged by FNBO. 

I have NO airline or Amtrak affiliated credit cards, thus have no input or opinion.

I had no problems at all with the switch over to FNBO.  And I applied for the "fee" card and was accepted with a promised 30,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points after spending $1,000.  

I had an Amtrak Rewards card years ago but lost it when they switched banks. I continue to get Guest Rewards emails from Amtrak.

I'm thinking of getting a card again. I've looked at the website and it's not totally clear to me how you can redeem the points and for what services etc. Can you guys maybe share your experience with the program?

Our cross over did not go well but it turned out well.  The problem was we never got  a bill from the B of A card and it carried over to the new bank.  So I got a notice of $25 late fee. I called them and they  took the late fee off and we paid the total amount through our bank.  Changes are almost problematic, but patience pays off.  Is there a fee like B of A?  If so, I have not found it listed.  

I found the transition to FNBO to be pretty seamless. There was a little administrative work in setting up a new login and updating automatic payments made with the card but it was not difficult. The terms of the account seem to be similar to those of the old B of A cards.

As for redeeming AGR points, My experience over several years and multiple redemptions is that it is pretty smooth on both the Amtrak website and app. Just flip the Use Points toggle when searching. It will be available if you're logged in to your AGR account. AGR points are worth around three cents each if you factor in the five percent points rebate the credit card brings. In the world of loyalty program points and miles, that is a very high redemption value.

Years ago I had an Amtrak CC. and did not use the card for a few years and the 80K points I had were taken away needless to say I never got the new CC from Amslac.

I believe the fee-version card carries a $99 annual fee as opposed to the equivalent BOA card. My first statement apparently does not yet include this charge.
With regard to the transition I was a bit suspicious how the billing part was going to work so as it became close to Oct 23 I stopped any new charges, had them calculated myself and verified via phone call to BOA and then remitted that payment to BOA before 10/23. That way I was able to enter FNBO with a clean balance. 

So far so good with FNBO and personally I'm happy to be away from BOA, not that I'd experienced any particular issues with them. I'm just not happy with some of the political stuff that these big banks often entangle themselves in.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/22 07:52 by PRSL-recall.

I never had a problem with the switchover to FNBO.  Out of an abundance of caution, I "took the old card out of service" (paid it off and stopped using it about 5-6 days before the new one was "pressed into service" to use some railroad jargon).  The new card worked perfectly from day one and I've already made payments on it.  Only issue with FNBO is that its system doesn't keep a running tally of your balance with each transaction like B of A did so it makes reconciling it in Quicken a little more tricky but it'll live with it, the points earned from this card are what have made a lot of trips possible.

Thanks for the additional info. Another correspondent to the original discussion reported being charged a late fee while never having received a bill. His problem was also solved quickly with a phone call.

No problems here on the switch over, but just got my first bills from FNBO on the two accounts we have. On one, there were zero AGR points credited for the purchases made, and on the other, only half the points earned are recorded. Haven't had time to call them and see what's up yet. Maybe it will get evened up with the next billing cycle. Anyone else have these issues?

There is a $99 annual fee for the FNBO card. They did sweeten the deal over B of A a bit by offering two points per dollar spent on dining and transit. The two points per dollar rate remains in effect for other travel (hotels, rental cars, etc.). Amtrak spend still brings three points per dollar. This is roughly equivalent to nine percent back on Amtrak travel. Points do not expire as long as the FNBO account is open. In general, assuming the points are redeemed for Amtrak travel, I think AGR and its associated credit card are among the most valuable of travel reward programs.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/22 08:55 by ccn511.

I use this card for everything and had no problems with the transfer. For me being someone that eats out a lot the new double points for dining is a big benefit. I earned a bunch more points this month than I would previous due to the new double points for dining.

I have had the problem with no points received for balances transferred over to FNBO.  Soon after the transfer, I spoke with FNBO and then Amtrak Guest Rewards.  Amtrak Guest Rewards told me to wait. I still have not gotten the points. I guess I will follow up when I have a couple of hours to give as I feel it will be that long to try to straighten it out. Not sure where to start this time.  Any guess who is really the party to fix? And which department?

ccn511 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is a $99 annual fee for the FNBO card. They
> did sweeten the deal over B of A a bit by offering
> two points per dollar spent on dining and transit.
> The two points per dollar rate remains in effect
> for other travel (hotels, rental cars, etc.).
> Amtrak spend still brings three points per dollar.
> This is roughly equivalent to nine percent back on
> Amtrak travel. Points do not expire as long as the
> FNBO account is open. In general, assuming the
> points are redeemed for Amtrak travel, I think AGR
> and its associated credit card are among the most
> valuable of travel reward programs.

There are 2 versions if the card: 1 has an annual fee and the other doesn't.

As to the earning of points, I haven't thought to check that yet, but will follow up after a statement or two to ensure I do get my AGR points

Posted from Android

The Bank of America to FNBO transition was as smooth as any I have experienced. BoA info transferred without issues, all forms of use (card chip, card tap, Apple Pay, web) worked, first points from FNBO credited to Amtrak on the day after the end of the billing cycle, on-line payment promptly credited. There are lots of things to complain about with Amtrak. This is not one of them.

I see that for those AGR Preferred cardholder members, they can earn 1,000 TQP for every $5,000 in qualifying purchases. If I'm understanding correctly, does that mean that even if I get $5,000 in purchases like Uber, transit, groceries, I can still earn 1,000 TQPs toward either Select or Select Plus status. Right now, I'm on my way to earning Select status. I have a roundtrip planned from NWK to Baltimore and back on 12/17 on the Acela-found this as a good way to earn the Select Status.

You are correct Passfanatic: 1,000 tier qualifying points every time your spending totals $5,000. The max per year is 4,000 tier points.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/22 15:50 by ccn511.

ccn511, that's great to hear. At the end of 2023, I hope to achieve Select Plus Status. I will be using my credit card a lot on purchases, including Amtrak tickets. I use Uber and Lyft on a regular basis and public transportation almost daily. I don't want to have to spend extra on making those Acela roundtrips every other month to obtain 10,000 points. I do plan to use Acela multiple times in 2023. I have a roundtrip planned to Providence, RI from either NWK or NYP. I'll have an Acela trip to DC from NWK and then back to NWK at some point in Spring of 2023. I'll be taking the westbound Maple Leaf on 2/14/22 from NYP-Toronto in Business Class.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/22 17:28 by Passfanatic.