Amtrak Guest Rewards - Caution - Chase AGR Card + Amtrak iPhone app

In March I purchased a good deal of Amtrak travel and canceled a couple of trips using the convenient iPhone app. All trips were bought on the Chase AGR credit card. Once my Chase statement came in, I discovered a most unpleasant surprise.

Tickets purchased from the app earned just 1 point per dollar, not 2, and posted as "Mobile App".

Tickets canceled and refunded from the app posted as "Amtrak.com" and caused a deduction of 2 points per dollar refunded.

So be warned: until Chase and/or the app developers get their act together, you won't earn the full 2 points per dollar on Amtrak spend when using your AGR MasterCard. Worse yet, should you cancel a ticket purchased this way, you'll be charged 2 points per dollar, resulting in an outright loss of points.

Beware!

P.S. Not an issue for the Sapphire Preferred, though trips bought using the iPhone app show up in the Transit category vs. Travel. Both categories earn 2 points per dollar.

AGR Insider: this has got to be fixed!

Tickets purchased from the app earned just 1 point per dollar, not 2, and posted as "Mobile App".

Tickets canceled and refunded from the app posted as "Amtrak.com" and caused a deduction of 2 points per dollar refunded.
:eek: Thanks very much for alerting us to this. I'm not sure I've bought tickets through the app yet, but I use my Chase AGR card for all of my Amtrak purchases and do a lot of cancellations/re-bookings, so I'd be very peeved to get hit with this.

Bump...and thanks for the warning. I haven't bought anything through the iPhone app yet (although I live near the Keystone corridor and likely would have in the near future), and I won't until I receive word that this is fixed.

I wonder why the credit card processor is different when using the mobile app than the website. Wouldn't it all go through the same back end in ARROW? :confused:

Eagerly awaiting a reply from AGR Insider...

Is there anything the Iphone app does that you can't do on the mobile site?

Is there anything the Iphone app does that you can't do on the mobile site?
There is the "passport" feature on the mobile app, it is sort of like a game. You can check in to various stations to get your passport "stamped" and you can collect additional stamps by performing various other functions with the app like buying tickets, riding different routes, etc.

Hi All,

We are aware of the problem and have discovered the cause of the issue. We have fixed the issue and all purchase made going forward should award points properly. However, we are currently in the process of identifying accounts and purchases that have been affected by the issue over the past few weeks and we will retroactively award the appropriate points. This may take several weeks, so please be patient.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best,

Becky Parks
Senior Marketing Officer, Amtrak Guest Rewards

Hi All,

We are aware of the problem and have discovered the cause of the issue. We have fixed the issue and all purchase made going forward should award points properly. However, we are currently in the process of identifying accounts and purchases that have been affected by the issue over the past few weeks and we will retroactively award the appropriate points. This may take several weeks, so please be patient.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best,

Becky Parks
Senior Marketing Officer, Amtrak Guest Rewards

Glad to hear it!

I'll have to test out my next purchase on the iPhone app--and add a "stamp" to my "passport"! (I just recently discovered that function in the iPhone app thanks to amamba's post above--too bad I didn't know about it earlier or that I can't retroactively check into stations I've already been to in years past!)

So glad this is now fixed.Thanks AGR Insider!