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While I’ve been out vacationing and pursuing Marriott Platinum status, Frequent Miler Laboratory experiments have continued without out me, thanks to a number of industrious readers.
Below are the latest results…
Groupon Double Dip: SUCCESS
A reader named Gabriel went through TopCashBack to Groupon and bought a Groupon gift card. He then went through TopCashBack again to Groupon to use the gift card. He was credited for both transactions! Gabriel earned a total of 10% back (5% for each “dip”). If anyone has a Discover card and wants to try this, the Discover portal currently offers 15% cash back. I’d love to hear whether you can earn a combined 30% back!
PacSun Double Dip: SUCCESS
Chris L went through the Ultimate Rewards Mall (4X) to Pacific Sunwear (PacSun) and bought a $40 e-gift card. He then went through the mall a second time and used the e-gift card and a credit card to buy a $42 item. Chris received full 4X points for both transactions for a total of 8X.
Only Natural Pet Store Double Dip: SUCCESS
Frequent Flyer Collector went through TopCashBack to Only Natural Pet Store where he bought an e-gift card. He then went through TopCashBack again to use the gift card. One day later, his TopCashBack account showed both purchases as pending 8% cash back, giving him a total of 16% cash back!
Visit the Laboratory
The Frequent Miler Laboratory can be found in the Resources menu of any Frequent Miler page. Or, browse to: https://frequentmiler.com/laboratory/
The Laboratory page lists proposed experiments, in-progress experiments, and completed experiments. The completed experiments are listed in an easily searchable table. A picture of the table is shown below. It’s just a picture though, the real table allows searching, sorting, and paging. On the real table, use the search feature to find specific merchants or key words. For example, type “Sears” (without quotes) to find all Sears related experiments. Or, type “UpgradeGC” (without quotes) to find all of the experiments involving using gift cards to buy other gift cards. Use the sort feature to view the results of the most recent experiments. One click will sort oldest to newest. Click a second time to sort newest to oldest.
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Experiment:
Buy ebay egiftcard on Staples.com
Use Discover Portal currently (5% Cashback at Staples.com)
Pay with Chase Freedom
Success -> Earned Cashback from Discover
still waiting to know->if I also Earned Cashback from Chase Freedom for the Purchase
Thanks. Added to Lab table
I’m paying for my stepson and fiancee’s cruise honeymoon. I was thinking about buying OD $200 gift cards for 5x then using them on UR web site to book the cruise for an additional 1x. Anyone have a better suggestion?
[…] been just slightly over a month since I last posted a Frequent Miler Laboratory update (see “The Latest Laboratory News”), but there are a few interesting new nuggets I want to […]
Discover/Groupon Double Dip Attempt = Failure
Attempt #1: purchased $25 Groupon GC through Discover portal, and then went back in through the Discover portal to purchase $25 restaurant groupon with the GC. Result was 15% rebate ($3.75) for the GC purchase and nothing for the GC use.
Attempt #2: purchased $25 Groupon GC through Discover portal, and then went back in through the Discover portal to purchase $28 restaurant groupon, using the $25 CG and then putting the remaining $3 on the Discover card. Result was 15% rebate for the GC purchase ($3.75), plus 15% rebate on the $3 card charge $.45) and nothing for the GC use.
Frequent Grouponer: Thanks for the detailed experiment results! Since one person reported success in using Groupon gift cards through TopCashBack, it would be interesting for someone to buy gift cards through Discover, but then use them through TopCashBack.
Where did you buy the Groupon GC?
Continuing to have success burning through Sears cards at Kmart for a “10% discount” on BP (assuming I use the 10x as a credit in place of miles). I found this site months ago because I got “stuck” with Sears cards after a failed tire order…and have since ordered about $600 on top of the $500 I already have. Not to mention, have caught the miles-collecting bug…!! Who knew…
IrishTiger: Great!
Thanks for the shout out! 🙂
Noooooo, not right now. I’m looking for some groupon deals for my trip to Honolulu in March, but all the offers currently up expire in February, so I haven’t booked anything yet. The Chase UR Mall TOC say no points for gift cards, but that’s not always true.
[…] Frequent Miler has an update to his Laboratory, where he and his readers test double dipping scenarios, with several more […]
[…] and updates found elsewhere on the interweb: Frequent Miler reports several successes this morning going through a shopping portal to buy e-gift cards, earning a rebate, and then going through the […]
Groupon thru UR Mall:
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Earn 4 extra pts at Groupon.
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Check out with your Chase card and your extra points will automatically appear on your statement. Extra points typically appear on your statement within 3-5 business days but in some instances may take up to 45 days to appear.
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– Groupon Terms & Conditions
Not eligible on gift cards, gift certificates or any other similar cash equivalents. Not eligible on orders using Groupon bucks or rewards or Epic Deals through Grouponicus.
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This might only be a single dip, but could be a great experiment to try…
Grant: Yep, are you volunteering?
I bought the Sears E gift cards via email confirmation. no problem in NJ for buying BP gas cards in K mart store. At a Virgnia K mart #4483, $50 denominated BP cards and $100 SOuthwest gift cards can NOT be checked out with e-gift cards per the “store manager” only doable if with REAL sears gift cards.
I’m too lazy to look right now but is groupon in UR mall?
Can also report a success with ShoeBuy.com gift card purchase/gift card redemption through UR Freedom portal. The GC redemption posted automatically within 2 days.. However, the GC purchase using a BA Chase card required a secure message and 4 days of Chase research in order to obtain points.
Regarding non-Chase cards in general, my last two UR Portal merchandise purchases (not gift cards) using AMEX SPG at checkout have failed. No recourse when using non-Chase cards. Perhaps lab rats can include within the notes column which card type is used at checkout.