Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
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Staples will be offering fee-free $200 Visa Gift Cards starting tomorrow – Sunday, September 2nd, 2018 through Saturday, September 8, 2018. The add states one per customer – YMMV as to whether or not a cashier will allow more than one purchase.
The Deal
- Staples will waive the $6.95 activation fee when you buy a $200 Visa Gift Card from 9/2/18 to 9/8/18
- Direct link to ad (see page 5)
Key Terms
- Limit 1 per customer (really per transaction, YMMV on whether or not your store will allow separate transactions)
- In-store only
Quick Thoughts
While obviously not as nice as past promotions for negative-cost Visa Gift Cards, this can nonetheless be an easy point-generator for Ink Cash or Ink Plus cardholders (note the Ink Plus is no longer available to new applicants). Note that the terms only allow for 1 per customer. In my case, my wife is an AU on my Ink Plus card, so I know we could at least pick up 2 per store, earning 2K Ultimate Rewards in the process. That would make this an attractive enough deal if we were passing a couple of stores.
Those with the Amex Offer for 10% back at Staples on business cards should be sure not to use that offer for more than $1K in cumulative Staples purchases across all of your cards as Amex is clawing back statement credits (See: Ouch: Amex clawing back Amex Offers credits). I know that many readers have likely already felt the pain on that, but thought it was worth mentioning here for anyone who missed that post and may have intended to use that offer with this deal.
H/T: Doctor of Credit
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Won’t these “purchases” be considered Cash Advances? If No, which card can one use?
No – gift cards are not cash advances. A cash advance is when you go to an ATM with your credit card and put in your PIN and get cash off of your line of credit. Buying a gift card definitely isn’t that. You can use any credit card you want, but your best option is the Chase Ink Cash (or Ink Plus, but that card hasn’t been available for new applications for a long time now). The Ink Cash earns 5x at office supply stores. See other options here:
https://frequentmiler.com/best-card-category-bonuses/#Office
[…] with gift card purchases or other deals. For example, if you could stack with this week’s fee-free $200 Visa Gift Cards at Staples, you would come out nicely ahead. You could also mitigate the fee at other places that sell gift […]
Multiple discounts, single transaction works! Cha-ching.
Last time, Staples allowed purchase of 10 X $200 VGCs in one transaction, with all fees waived. Limit was $2K per day. Any idea whether it will be the same or different this time?
Wow, in one transaction? How’s that work, meaning is the credit/discount of $6.95 was applied for each $200 card scan or ALL at the end ($6.95×10)? Was there any odd look or question from the cashier?
Yes in one transaction. Each VGC rang up at 200.00. More recently for the MCGC offer I bought 9 X 201 95. Didn’t do 10 cards cuz this would go over the 2000/day limit.
Thx! That’s great info! Will try it out!
Caution on large purchases like that… it depends on the cc you are using and whether you want to risk that getting shutdown. Careful out their folks.
I haven’t been following for a while, but what’s the liquidation strategy nowadays? I believe USPS got shutdown, or is that for Vanilla only? Walmart still accepting these? Vanilla definitely doesn’t work there anymore.
Wal works
Answer is YMMV depend on your locale. For me (CHS), Walmart shut down VGC liquidation almost 6 months ago, but local grocery stores (e.g., Publix) still work.
do you buy money order at Publix? or just debit for cashback?
Money order. I use the gift cards as debit cards, using the pins provided. I take care to not volunteer them to the cashier as gift cards (but I don’t misrepresent, if asked), and I only do two swipes ($400) at a time. If the cashier (rarely) notes that I have gift cards and they are not accepted for this purpose, I politely thank them and move on, returning at a later time when a different cashier is at the desk – or move on to a different store. My success rate is 90% success the first time, and 100% by the second attempt.
No offense, but now that you revealed the name of that chain, as others also do, it will likely get more and more attention until you’ll be able to say it doesn’t work there anymore either. Everyone is just trying to help and that is understandable, but as we see this much widespread death of this hobby, it’s time to go silent on liquidation and we all just need to say generally YMMV … check your local area.
Besides, we’ve seen Staples go from true discounts, decent rebates, and now down to no fee. Way too much work for what it is worth, especially for those in areas that are having difficulty using these cards via hobby liquidation. It’s not easy even using these small denomination cards for buying higher priced items to resell. Resell is one way some hobbiest have gone to in order to not only make some cc points but also try to come out ahead for all the time spent.
No offense taken, but there is a fundamental philosophical issue to discuss here. There’s nothing in my post that has not already been posted elsewhere. While I sympathize with your argument (witness the death of CIP 3x pts on plastiq), there is a natural evolution to these opportunities. Did Chase kill it after 1-2 years of use because of blogger posts, or because Chase is on a general crusade to staunch a bloodletting in the fall of their credit card operation’s profitability? (Hint: it’s the latter). Greg elsewhere has explained how these techniques are shared across all blogs and how past attempts to limit info simply does not work. Better in my view (as Greg advises) to help others while the technique still works than to try to hoard knowledge in the vain hope that it won’t change. Of course, judgement is needed in not only when/how to share info, as well as in how not to abuse the use of the technique, itself. Besides, these companies collect and analyze their data constantly. They know about almost all of these techniques already. It’s just a matter of when they decide to crack down. In the end, the race/game is not “won” by the hoarder who tries to swiftly use a technique before it dies. It’s “won” by those with stamina, who proceed deliberately, who are generous with their knowledge, and (most importantly) who adapt as successful techniques evolve and die.
Can I use the mileage plus X app to buy the gift cards to double dip?
No