Bet You Didn’t Know: Updates on Walmart kiosks, digital Priority Pass, and more

By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate…

Now that summer is officially underway, we can start planning our outdoor activities — barbecues, trips to the beach, and of course a visit to the Yukon Sign Post Forest. Wait… what do you mean “what the heck is the Yukon Sign Post Forest?” You know, the Sign Post Forest at Watson Lake in the Yukon. It’s one of Canada’s greatest tourist attractions, now boasting over 77,000 individual road signs. No, I’m not kidding.

But summer also brings another tradition… the semi-annual update to the “Bet You Didn’t Know” archives. Because information changes so often in the points and miles world, I think it’s important to occasionally revisit posts and share the most current info.

The death of the Walmart MoneyCenter Express?

Back in February I wrote about how to use the MoneyPass ATM locator to find Walmart locations that have kiosks which can be used to load surviving Bluebirds and Serves with Visa and Mastercard gift cards, thereby avoiding the dreaded “Walmart cashier interaction.”

While several commenters noted the map isn’t 100% accurate and nowadays kiosks seem to be getting removed or replaced every week, the locator has generally served as a decent if not perfectly precise guide to not spending your entire life driving fruitlessly from Walmart to Walmart.

Unfortunately, recent reports from Flyertalk and Reddit (and covered last week by our friends over at Doctor of Credit) note that these kiosks, affectionately known as “Kate” (or perhaps not so affectionately), are no longer accepting gift cards for loading or purchasing money orders. While the data points on this aren’t 100% consistent and it’s not entirely clear if this is a temporary or permanent ban, there’s enough evidence to conclude that the days of loading your Bluebird or Serve with Kate have either already gone or are nearing the end.

The good news is that in many cases it is still possible to load gift cards with an actual Walmart cashier… as long as you can withstand their icy stare of death.

Accessing Priority Pass lounges with a digital card

A popular post from just a month ago was about getting into Priority Pass lounges when you’ve left your card at home by loading a digital card onto your smartphone.

A few readers correctly noted that while this will work at most Priority Pass lounges, there are a few that aren’t yet equipped to read the digital cards. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to determine whether a specific lounge allows digital card access. If you go into the Priority Pass app on your phone, click on a specific lounge, and then scroll down to the “Facilities” section, you’ll find an icon indicating whether the digital card is accepted.

Of course, it never hurts to have your physical Priority Pass card with you, since it’s always possible the digital reader might be broken or an uninformed agent simply won’t know how to handle digital cards. But if you happen to find yourself in the airport without your Priority Pass card, the digital version can be a lifesaver.

Chase Application Status Online?

I’ve created several guides that I’m updating on an ongoing basis, such as the list of 24 Hour Cancellation Policies For Award Tickets, How to Setup Credit Fraud Alerts by Text or E-mail, and finding your Online Credit Card Application Status For All Banks.

So when Daniel, Esther, and Michael over at ‘dem flyers (a blog on my own must-read list which has been doing some great work) posted in March that Chase had added a link to their website offering a way to check your application status, it seemed it might be time to update our related guide.

Unfortunately, when Greg the Frequent Miler himself gave it a try, he found the link didn’t report any of his recent Chase credit card applications. As Greg said, apparently it only works “when you don’t have any applications to check. It’s like a broken clock that is correct twice each day.”

While it would be intriguing if Chase had rolled out a purposely broken feature simply to mess with us (they could call it the “5/24 feature”), after further review it appears the Chase link only offers status updates on non-credit card applications, such as auto loans, home equity loans, and mortgages.

I have no idea why Chase still isn’t offering the ability to check credit card applications online considering that almost every other bank has it, but it appears our guide will have to stay as-is for the moment.

And the others…

As always, if there’s any new info we should know about other recent “Bet You Didn’t Know” posts, such as the ones listed below or others from the past, please let us know in the comments below.  Thanks to everyone for reading and keeping us informed on the latest!

“3 Methods To Transfer Avios Between Iberia and British Airways”
(80% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“A Little Noticed Improvement to Google Flights”
(74% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“A Repeatable Companion Airfare Discount with the CNB Crystal Visa Infinite”
(83% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“A New and Improved Staples Rebate Option?”
(37% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“Retrieving Online Itemized Receipts For Rental Car Tolls”
(96% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“Unlimited Ticket Changes on Virgin America For $25”
(84% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“New(ish) Rules on Hyatt Free Night Certificates”
(83% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“How To Change Credit Card Due Dates Online at Each Bank”
(73% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“Enhancements to Amex’s Plenti Rewards Program?”
(52% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

“American Airlines Still Offers Free 24 Hour Holds”
(59% of poll respondents learned a new tip)

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.