For the month of September, Chase Sapphire cardholders can get 10 points per dollar for shopping at Bloomingdale’s as long as they start in the Ultimate Rewards Mall. In the post “September experiments in progress,” I described how I launched an experiment testing whether it was possible to earn 20 points per dollar through a double-dip: go through the mall to buy a gift card (for 10X) and then go through the mall a second time to use the gift card (for 10X again).
On September 2, I went through the Ultimate Rewards Mall and bought a $10 e-gift card from Bloomingdale’s. Once I received the e-gift card, I went through the mall a second time to use it to buy merchandise. I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to pay the balance. My hope was that I would get points both for buying the gift card and for using the gift card.
Results are in
About a week ago, points posted for my merchandise purchase, but I have not received any points for buying the e-gift card. This means that you can get the full 10X points for using gift cards at Bloomingdale’s, but not for buying them. It is still possible that points would be awarded for buying physical gift cards (rather than e-gift cards), but I haven’t had a chance to test that theory.
Leveraging the deal
10 points per dollar is, in itself, a great deal so if you want any Bloomingdale’s stuff, now’s the time to get it. You could save a bit more by buying Bloomingdale’s gift cards on the resale market (search GiftCardGranny.com). Once you get the gift cards, go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall to Bloomingdale’s to make your purchase using the gift cards.
Caution
Some merchants award points for purchases made with gift cards only if at least a small part of the purchase is made with a credit card. I don’t know if this is true with Bloomingdale’s, but if you can work it out to pay a small part of the total with a credit card that might be safer.
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It has been 10 days. I do not know what is going on. Because I use other not chase credit card to pay, I have no evidence for these points. And I also did not get the points
steven: Have you looked under “Ultimate Rewards Mall & Travel Earnings”? See https://frequentmiler.com/2012/09/14/ultimate-rewards-mall-when-and-where-do-points-post/
Anyway, as we saw with Sears, large purchases have been taking a long time to post so that might be the issue you’re having.
it has been 10 days.
I followed your advice to buy usd 1000 buy.com marriott travel card. I did not get any points till now.
Wow. Krogers pretty awesome.
No love in S Cali grocery.
Everyone signed up for freedom yet?
Re Fliesalot’s question Kroger sells many varieties of gift cards. If you are a member of their loyalty program you get one point for each dollar spent at Kroger. Frequently you get 2 points per dollar on gift cards and during certain frequent specials you get 4 x dollar. Each 100 points is ten cents off a gallon. Buy a few 25, 50 or 100 dollar gift cards, and the points mount up fast. Use your cc with extra points for grocery purchases when you buy your groceries and rack up those points too. Then when you fill up take your fuel discount and also use your cc that earns extra points at gas stations. It is a pretty sweet deal. If your Kroger has a pharmacy, you get 50 points for each prescription filled there too.
Where does it say that the purchase must be paid for with CSP? why not Chase Freedom?
P.S. I told him about your blog.
Hey FM, what can you tell me about Kroger’s rewards? Guy at the Kroger gas station was filling up for $1.97/gallon! I was excited at my 10 cents off $3.87 price. He says he buys everything at Kroger in gift cards. He owns rental properties and if he buys an appliance, he goes to Kroger and buys Home Depot gift cards, then goes and uses them to buy the appliance.
Have you ever looked into this as a way to save big on gas purchases?
Miler,
Which card did you use to purchase the e-GC? CSP?
fauxblogger: I used the Sapphire Preferred
Peggy: If you log into the Ultimate Rewards Mall with a Sapphire card, you will be offered 10X points. With the Freedom card you will be offered only 6X points
Travelpye: Thanks for answering the Kroger question!
If you actually like shopping at bloomingdales their friends and family starts on September 30th so you can get a 20% discount, free shipping and points!
Thx FM for the research. Bloomingdales gift cards are being offer at 6.5% discount thru cardpool (http://www.giftcardgranny.com/store/bloomingdales/)