Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Mastercard

The Preferred is the card for frequent Amtrak riders, earning 3x points on Amtrak purchases and 2x on dining, other travel, and other transit and rideshare. The $99 annual fee comes with yearly coupons that only make sense if you ride often: a round-trip companion coupon, a one-class upgrade coupon, and a single-day station lounge pass, all issued at account opening and on each anniversary. You also get 20% back on onboard food and drinks, 5% of points back on Amtrak redemptions, and 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points toward Amtrak status for every $5,000 in purchases. The welcome offer recently dropped from 30,000 to 25,000 points after $1,500 in spend over three billing cycles, plus 5,000 points for adding an authorized user. Outside of Amtrak the 1x base rate is ordinary, so if you take only one or two trips a year, the no-fee version is the safer choice.