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In my post “Ultimate Rewards Mall September Edition” I noted that this month Sony is offering 10 points per dollar to Chase Ink cardholders for shopping through the Ultimate Rewards Mall. In that post, I stated the following:
Note that past experiments have shown that it is possible to double-dip here to get a total of 20X…
Larry’s Question
This morning, a reader named Larry posted the following comment:
The ur link to sony.com now says gift cards are excluded. Is this new and does it signal the end of double dip?
Uh oh
I checked the Ultimate Rewards Mall and found that Larry is right. There is a new statement in the T&C that was not there when I tested the double dip back in May. It now says “Not eligible on gift cards, gift certificates or any other similar cash equivalents.”
By itself, that wouldn’t be too troubling. A couple of months ago, Staples added similar wording, but they continue to pay points for gift card purchases. What troubles me even more is that Sony used to show up in the Ultimate Rewards Mall under “Gift Cards,” but it doesn’t anymore. Still, that doesn’t prove that they won’t give points for gift card purchases, but it doesn’t look good.
Reader experiences
Has anyone tried the double dip recently? Please let us know if/when you see points from your efforts.
As a reminder, when I tested the double dip in May 2012, I found that only the purchase of physical gift cards gave points and that purchases of clearance items did not give points (see “Sony 30X success”).
What has your recent experience been?
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Used the gift cards on 9/22 and points posted on 9/28.
Loaded my AmEx prepaid at Office Depot: $850 x 5=4250
Went thru UR to buy $850 in gift cards: $850 x10=8500
Went thru UR to buy tv for $900: $900 x10=9000
I earned 21,750 UR points for the purchase.
I purchased 2 physical gift cards on 9/5 and points posted on 9/14.
Nancy and NerdTraveler: That’s great that you got points for buying the gift cards. I hope you get points for using them too!
fwiw, The Sony (physical) GC restriction has always had restrictions against certain uses such as in their online outlet & parts departments.
So that factor alone should not impact any potential double dip.
That said, the new Chase T&CS are never a good sign. Good luck to the next folks who try the DD!
I purchased a physical gift card on 9/3 and my points posted on the 14th. I purchased a laptop with the card and the points have not posted yet but I am expecting them to post soon.
totally bummed. I was having dreams of a double dip laptop.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Given that in your prior sony experiments you did not earn points on restricted items, this is a concern. I still think I am goiing to give it a try. Worst case, I pocket the gift card until the next 10x and grab something for 10x.
Larry: I’m really glad you shared the news. The sooner people can be warned of the risk, the better.