Update: The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.
The Amtrak Guest Rewards® World Mastercard® offers tons of value to travelers who live in or near a city that is served by Amtrak. Now that value proposition is even better thanks to the card’s increased welcome bonus!
Amtrak Guest Rewards Card Details
Welcome Bonus: Get 50,000 bonus points after spending at least $2,500 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening.
With the card, you’ll earn 3x points per $1 spent on Amtrak travel, 2x points per $1 on other travel purchases, and 1x point per $1 on all other purchases.
While the card does have a $79 annual fee, it comes with some excellent benefits like:
- Annual Companion Coupon (worth up to $300 in Amtrak travel)
- Annual Upgrade Coupon
- 5% point rebate when you use your points to book a ticket
- 20% rebate on your food and beverage purchases on board when you use your card
- Complimentary Station Lounge Pass (1-time use)
- Earn 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) towards status each time you spend $5,000 in a calendar year (up to 4,000 TQPs per year)
- No foreign transaction fees
Hot Tip: While the Amtrak Guest Rewards card helps you earn elite status, you might be wondering, is Amtrak elite status worth it? Our ultimate guide answers just that!
How Much Are Amtrak Points Worth?
In a world where travel rewards points can vary greatly in their value, you might be surprised to learn that Amtrak Rewards points are actually quite valuable — making the increased welcome bonus even more compelling!
Image Credit: AmtrakTaking the above example, a direct trip from Chicago to New York City, where we can see that a coach ticket would cost $90, while a sleeper room would cost between $394 and $740, depending on the train you select.
Image Credit: AmtrakMeanwhile, the point cost of these tickets would be just 3,976 points for coach and 13,987 to 26,270 points for one of the sleeper cars. If you run the numbers, you’ll find that the coach ticket offers you 2.2 cents per point in value, while the sleeper car ticket offers you 2.8 cents per point in value!
As far as travel rewards points go, this is pretty exceptional value for those who enjoy taking Amtrak trains. Depending on how you choose to redeem your points, the 50,000-point welcome bonus would be worth between $1,100 and $1,400 in Amtrak tickets!
Final Thoughts
As you can see, the Amtrak Guest Rewards card can actually provide quite a lot of value to cardholders. While it might not feel as exciting as earning with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or with The Platinum Card® from American Express, the welcome bonus for the card can still offer well over $1,000 in value for those who use Amtrak for their travels!
The information regarding the Amtrak Guest Rewards® World Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Featured Image Credit:
Amtrak
