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It has been reported in other places today that Gift of College gift cards are currently available in some Barnes & Noble stores. While that might sound like exciting news on the surface, Barnes & Noble only intends to carry the $200 denominations, which are not a good deal in most scenarios.
A reader made us aware of this update on the Gift of College site early last month (H/T: Reader Seth). We then reached out to our Gift of College representative, who told us that the cards are currently only in Barnes & Noble “flagship” stores (46 stores at the moment). She further told us that Barnes & Noble would only be carrying these cards in a denomination up to $200. That’s not very exciting because the $200 cards carry the same $5.95 activation fee as the cards that can be loaded with up to $500.
On a $500 card, the fee represents a cost of about 1.2% — a figure that can easily be outpaced by rewards cards that earn anywhere from 2-3% back (or potentially more depending on how you use the rewards).
On the other hand, a $5.95 fee on the $200 cards represents a fee of about 3%, which would only make these cards interesting if you were buying them with a strong category bonus, which makes them unattractive unless you hold the Barnes & Noble credit card.
Still, if you’re looking to meet a minimum spending requirement on a card with a large welcome bonus and you’re also looking to save for college, the cost might be worth it, though you can probably find lower-cost means of spending.
Our Gift of College rep assured us that the moment there was an announcement to make that would interest our readership, they would reach out. That’s not to suggest that such an announcement is forthcoming — just that if they do make headway on getting those $500 cards back in stores, they will let us know.
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[…] The Happy Teen cards might be of particular interest to anyone wanting to buy Gift of College gift cards. That’s because one of the retailers you can use the card at is Barnes & Noble. A number of Barnes & Noble stores recently started selling Gift of College gift cards, although this doesn’t normally represent a good deal due to the fees. […]
Where are they available? I checked near by stores .. none of them are aware of it
I’m not sure what the “flagship” stores are, but I’d assume something like a location on/near 5th Ave in NY, a location on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, etc. There are only 46 of them — I’m guessing the 46 biggest stores, wherever those are.
Here is the list of stores: https://imgur.com/a/PXLqA3T
Thanks for posting the list, I found the $200 GoC cards at the store near me. They had other 3rd party GCs, including $500 VGCs.
The manager checked me out, so I asked why their store had these and she thought it was a trial based on high volume BN GC sales in the area.
Where do I find a list of Barnes & Nobles “flagship” stores?
Any thoughts about whether these are safe for meeting minimum spend on Amex cards?
They historically have been.
The Million-Dollar-Question then becomes whether or not B&N will allow you to purchase these using B&N Gift Cards as the funding source. Does anybody know?
B&N GC T&Cs say “We reserve the right to prohibit the purchase of Gift Cards with other Gift Cards.”
So they’re saying there’s a chance?
YMMV, but the register wasn’t hard-coded against buying GoC with BN GCs. I did multiple separate transactions with “Happy” cards and one cashier let me use the BN GC, which went through. A subsequent cashier checked with someone over her headset and they said no so she wouldn’t try it. I don’t mind since my child goes to a college with a BN college bookstore, so I’ll be spending lots there on books and apparel frequently.
That was my same question because Staples sells B&N gift cards for no fee and 5x with an Ink Cash. That is an even better deal than buying a $500 GoC card.
Or, even better, buy B&N gift cards for 10 to 11% off (use GiftCardWiki to find the best rates)