Drawing the line

My husband will not use a credit card to pay for lunch if he is eating at a small, independent restaurant. The merchants pay by the swipe.

FM,
So you say that you describe the line as “…break no rules”. So how about buying VRs from CVS? Does CVS have a corporate policy not to allow customers to load VRs with a credit card? And if so, wouldn’t finding a CVS that let’s you load them with a CC encourage a CVS employee to break the rules, thereby you’d be indirectly breaking the rules? I’m not trying to corner you, I’m honestly trying to decide whether I should continue buying them to hit my Chase BA Visa minimum spend.

Integrity can go a long way these days. It is hard to keep posting about getting more and more miles but at the end of the day, it is good that you drew the line.

The high road always provides a better view. Integrity means doing the right thing whether anyone is watching or not. High regards for being brutally honest.

Nice trick keep it to yourself and delete this article if you want it to continue working. You wonder why great deals disappear.

Benjamin Franklin realized modesty can only be achieved by not becoming noticed for ones modest characters.

We all want to be fawned over but all you did is piss a bunch of people off who deserve to be pissed.

A wise man once told me, No one can take away your integrity. Only You can lose it.

Good mantra by which to measure your actions

Deep thoughts, and I think it’s great to bringing up the subject.

btw–I think the TSA puppets have caught onto that “scheme’ to get into shorter lines—on our way to FTU LAX, my friend flashed his TAM FF card, and he got thru…but this time around, when he tried, he was turned away.

If you booked a Delta flight and had your boarding pass texted to you, the link would always show a boarding pass with “Sky Priority” access on it.

I used that to my advantage many times. Unfortunately, Delta redesigned their mobile site and that perk is gone.

Thoughtful stuff, FM.

I deleted MMS from my Blogroll for that one. In my mind, it made the shift from clever to dishonest.

Slippery slopes are real, and points-lust can make us all walk a bit too far.

I am here trying to find one post, just one post to get FM to my notorious “Not so best of” category! I think I found it! Getting a Club Carlson account for dog goes way over the line, you are busted:-)

Ok, good post. Being around this hobby it is amazing to what extent people will go through to score some miles/points. There are some people that I would never want to be associated with in real life. I must say that my line is way in the low levels. First and foremost, do no harm & NEVER break the law. And moderation too as it does not take much to get blacklisted by a bank and get FR’ed!

For the record, I have never done more than 3 Vanillas at a time (it is usually just one)! Also for the record, I am for murder if it is Osama bin Laden & defend myself from a lunatic trying to kill me.

Just posted a comment about this on MMS’s post yesterday regarding giving a fake Brazilian address to get a fuel surcharge discount. Most of what MMS posts is acceptable by me.

I absolutely got sickened by the idea of returning things to Costco and elsewhere to get miles. Seems like several bloggers have posted that horrible technique in the past.

I overpaid my utility bill 20k in order to make a minimum spend and then cancelled the account to get a refund check. I will probably not employ this tactic again. At the time I likened it to using a 100 bill to buy a pack of gum but on a larger scale. However my wife was not happy having 3 months income floating around in the mail.

The problem my wife is she returns things I buy for her, in some cases after the points aren’t taken back. That’s just one of the reasons I love her. 🙂

I now will have to think twice about returning things. Last week, I went to Bath & Body Works just to swap out a shower gel. As the clerk was doing the exchange for me, she wrote all over the one I returned and threw it straight into the trash. I immediately told her that it wasn’t used & I just didn’t like it as much (my husband picked it out). She then told me that any product that left the store will not be resold & had to be thrown away. I was shocked & insisted to take back the item I returned. It really made me wonder how many of the unopened items I returned went straight to the trash can. Lesson learned: think, think & think before making a purchase!

Wow, great input everyone! Just to reply to a few of the comments above: I too am against murder and hostage taking. I’ll admit to bending rules in other places mentioned: Amex Platinum gift cards (guilty of something very similar), applying for business cards without a real business (guilty, but not anymore thanks to the blogging business!), and using business cards for personal stuff (guilty). Oh gee, now I feel bad…

Not to be soft but reading the above comments makes feel better about all of us.

I’ve been struggling with this lately, so this is a timely post.

A couple of things I’ve done recently that I probably don’t feel quite right about. One, was getting a business card without a business. I read one too many “get a business card – even if you’re just thinking about a business someday”. I didn’t lie on my application really, even though by just applying for a business card without a business you’re lying. At a minimum, it was unethical.

The other thing I’ve done is the same thing just about every other person in this game have done. I bought a few gift cards at OD basically turning business expenses into personal expenses – which clearly violates the T&C of the credit card. Again, in my opinion, it was unethical.

I think I’m going to re-think my hobby and maybe “redraw” some of my ethical lines. But, it’s such a fun game to play! My wife already thinks I’m nuts – especially when I change out her credit card weekly depending on which points I’m after.

So, one my “lines” going forward will be whether or not the action clearly is against the T&C of the card. Hey, one less person buying those $500 gift cards at OD! It should help keep that option available for the rest of you! At least for another month or two.

PatMike – I forgot to mention that caveat, alas we don’t live in a CP state.

I think people should define the bar as follows: If you would not be willing to explain what you did to somebody whose spiritual guidance or opinion you respect, then you shouldn’t be doing it.

Here’s the line a CEO uses in his code of ethics for his employees:

“…I want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper – to be read by their spouses, children and friends – with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.”

I won’t do anything that involves killing another person. I also don’t feel right about holding someone against their will. For me, that is crossing the line.

Great post Miler 🙂

Good post. I have to fess up that in years gone by I have gotten a debit card for my dog. Actually both my dogs. On reflection, think that was too far. Of course if you end up breaking the law then that is the wrong side of the line and some people do that and end up in jail: http://www.fbi.gov/seattle/press-releases/2012/brothers-who-defrauded-nordstrom-with-online-reward-scheme-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison-for-wire-fraud. Amusingly on release one of those guys was back on SlickDeals trying to work out more tricks

I also worry about crossing the “imaginary” line with Chase or AMEX. I don’t want a financial review or to have my accounts closed. I stay within what I think is reasonable not how far I could push it. If I loose my accounts the fun is over. I really enjoy your blog I am very much a numbers guy so I relate to your thinking. Keep up the good work!

Morality like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I don’t feel bad about getting over on any companies that are “big box” type of stores. Small businesses are my line I suppose since I understand it is more likely to be taken out of someones personal expense.But if a company has made it possible for me to take advantage of them and there is no legal penalty I don’t feel a reason to be guilty just because I figured out something the MAJORITY of people don’t know. But to be honest if I had gotten over on a small business but didn’t realize it till later I wouldn’t feel bad. I dont have the time haha. In many contexts this holds true: “If your not playing the game, your loosing it.”

LOL @ “Our Lhasa Apso has a Club Carlson account, but has never booked a stay. I don’t know how he feels about missing out on 50,000 points. He doesn’t talk about it.”