Greetings from Amtrak! My train was delayed as per usual, but I decided to take a break from airline credit cards for a bit to look at the Amtrak credit cards. It’s an interesting concept for a government-owned entity to have co-branded credit cards, but Amtrak is intended to be run as a profit-seeking entity. Amtrak offers two credit cards: a no annual fee option and a $99 option. I’ve covered the free version, so now it’s time for the paid card! The Amtrak cards are also interesting because they’re actually issued by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), which is a much less commonly-found lender among travel credit cards.
I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card. The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.
Welcome Offer
At the time of posting, the Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Mastercard has a welcome offer of 30 000 bonus points after you spend $1 000 in the first 3 months of account opening. Amtrak points are generally worth 2.8 ¢/point when booking non-high speed tickets or 2.5 ¢/point on Acela fares. The welcome bonus is, therefore, worth around $840. They are also offering an additional bonus of 2x round-trip companion coupons, 2x one-class upgrades (e.g. Coach to Business), and 2x station lounge passes.
Earnings
The Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Mastercard has a commonly-seen 3/2/1 earnings structure: Amtrak travel earns 3x points/$, dining and general travel earn 2x points/$, and everything else earns 1x point/$. Given the high value of Amtrak points when redeemed for train trips, that represents a 8.4% return on Amtrak (which is massive), a 5.6% return on dining and travel (which is great) and a 2.8% return on everything else, which is also strong.
Benefits
This card offers a large number of benefits over the no annual fee version. First, it offers an enhanced 20% rebate on onboard food and beverage purchase as well as the came 5% point rebate on Amtrak travel. With that 5% point rebate, Amtrak points are actually worth 2.9 ¢/point.
In addition, the card offers a round-trip companion coupon, a one-class upgrade voucher, and a station lounge pass upon each card anniversary. Finally, the card offers a way to help you earn Amtrak status more easily, offering 1 000 Tier Qualifying Points each time you make $5 000 in qualifying purchases.
How to use the points
The main use for Amtrak points is to use them for trains. Amtrak award tickets can’t be used to book saver Coach fares, so sometimes a saver fare can represent much better value compared to a points fare if flexibility is not required. However, this also means that sometimes a Business Class ticket can be cheaper with points than a Coach ticket because (as is my understanding) any Business Class ticket can be purchased with points.
Examples of using the card
These examples assume you spend all your general travel budget on Amtrak.
| Example A | Example B | Example C | Example D | |||||
| Groceries (1x) | $300 | 300 | $200 | 200 | $600 | 600 | $400 | 400 |
| Gas (1x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 100 | $200 | 200 | $100 | 100 |
| Airfare (2x) | $700 | 1 400 | $200 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 800 |
| Hotels (2x) | $1 000 | 2 000 | $200 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 600 |
| Gen Travel (3x) | $400 | 1 200 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 900 | $100 | 300 |
| Dining (2x) | $600 | 1 200 | $300 | 600 | $300 | 600 | $0 | 0 |
| General (1x) | $1 000 | 1 000 | $500 | 500 | $500 | 500 | $400 | 400 |
| Total | $4 000 | 7 100 | $1 500 | 2 200 | $1 700 | 2 800 | $1 700 | 2 600 |
| Average points/$ | 1.78 | 1.47 | 1.65 | 1.53 |
The 3/2/1 earning structure means that this card could generate strong points earnings, but the high value of Amtrak points means that this is somewhat less necessary. Specifically, in these examples, the average points/$ ranges from 1.47 – 1.78 points/$, which is worth 4.12 – 4.98 ¢/$. That’s an insanely high value and competitive with other mainstream cards, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
I think that’s actually the highest return on spend of any card I’ve covered on here and is definitely the highest of any co-branded card. This card definitely punches above its weight class in terms of return on spend, especially for a co-branded card with only a $99 annual fee.
Specific examples
These examples include the bonus points earned from getting IHG Elite Platinum status from the card.
| Card | World Traveller ($750) (% return) | Marriott Hotel night ($230/night) | Points values (WT/Hotel) |
| No rewards card | 2 728 (4.9%) | 2 200 MP (7.3%) | $35.46 / $11.00 |
| General 2% cashback card ($0) | 2 728 + $15.00 (6.9%) | 2 200 MP + $4.60 (9.3%) | $50.46 / $15.60 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95) | 2 728 Avios + 1 500 UR (7.9%) | 2 200 MP + 460 UR (10.3%) | $57.96 / $17.90 |
| Amex Green Card ($150) | 2 728 Avios + 2 250 MR (9.1%) | 2 200 MP + 690 MR (11.5%) | $66.96 / $21.35 |
| Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Card ($99) | 2 728 Avios + 1 500 GR (10.5%) | 2 200 MP + 460 GR (12.9%) | $77.46 / $23.88 |
Is this credit card right for you?
If you travel with Amtrak and can make use of these points, I actually think this card is a no-brainer. Its earnings potentials and perks are incredibly valuable as long as you can actually use the points, which may not be the case for many people. I definitely recommend the Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Mastercard.
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