AAA fee-free Visa gift cards at some locations

AAA is offering fee-free Visa Gift Cards at some locations. Unfortunately we don’t have a list of participating regions.

The Deal

• Fee-free Visa Gift Cards at some AAA locations

Key Terms

• Some clubs limit you to a single gift card
• AAA sells $500 Visa Gift Cards
• Must be a AAA member to purchase
• There have been reports of shut downs for buying more than $1K per day even when they are charging the activation fee (the cards are registered to your name and address, so Metabank will block you from purchasing from AAA in the future if shut down)

Possible In-Store Cash Back?

As noted by a Doctor of Credit reader, Rakuten is offering 5% back (or 5X Membership Rewards) with AAA “in-store” at select branches in Louisiana, Missouri, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Texas, New Mexico, Hawaii, Southern California and East Central territory.

Quick Thoughts on AAA Visa Gift Cards

This one requires some home-work because we don’t know which AAA locations participate. Usually, it’s the Mid-Atlantic AAA that runs these fee-free promotions. Keep in mind that AAA network names don’t really correspond with what you would geographically expect. For example, if you go to the Mid-Atlantic AAA site (you’ll need to enter a Mid-Atlantic zip code — I used 21201), it says that their clubs service the following regions:

• Blue Grass Region
• Connecticut/Greater Hartford Area
• Delaware: Entire State; all counties
• Kansas
• Maryland: Entire State; all counties
• New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren Counties
• Ohio/Cincinnati Tri-State Area
• Ohio/Greater Dayton Area
• Ohio/Northwest Region
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania: Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Columbia, Delaware, Luzerne, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Schuylkill Counties
• Virginia (parts)
• South Dakota
• Southern West Virginia
• Washington D.C.: Entire Region

Delaware sounds pretty mid-Atlantic to me. South Dakota doesn’t. The moral of the story is that it might be worth calling your local AAA office to see if they sell Visa Gift Cards and whether they’re running this promotion. You’ll next need to decide how much your time is worth as it is hit-or-miss as to whether or not the clerk you get will be versed in ringing up the cards (and AAA will register the card to your name and address, so there is some data entry time required). I think it’s equally likely that clerks may not know whether or not their location is participating. It’s worth calling to ask, but I wouldn’t be confident in the answer unless it’s a “yes”.

H/T: Doctor of Credit

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