Originally Posted by
AlanB
Forget ethical, I'm not sure that the OP's plan will even work at all. AFAIK AGR can't actually see the credit card bill; all they see is a point’s transfer from Chase each month.
I strongly suspect that AGR only sees the $200 in rail travel once the used ticket posts to the member's account. Cancelled tickets don't post to a member's account. Therefore this entire plan may not work at all.
Even if AGR somehow does see the $200 charge for tickets and decides to unlock the OP's account for transfers; that still doesn't guarantee that the transfer will be successful. Remember that those who violated the rules last years by opening multiple accounts so as to transfer maximum points into Choice Privileges had those transfers revoked. In some cases some people just ended up with points in the AGR accounts again that they didn't want in AGR. But other people actually lost their points permanently.
So be careful!
Doesn't the AGR MasterCard give double points on Amtrak purchases? If so, I believe these would be reported separately. On my Chase United card, I seem to remember usually seeing any United ticket purchases showing separately on my United Mileage Plus statement with the 2-miles-per-dollar bonus. I haven't looked that carefully at my AGR statement, but I would assume the same is done there.
(Then again, maybe my Chase United one doesn't...it's been so long since I've bought a United ticket that maybe I'm confusing it with my Alaska Airlines BofA card...)