GiftCards.com is currently offering $200 Gift of College savings gift cards without an activation fee (H/T to GC Galore). This is a great deal for anyone saving for college or paying off student loans as there are some ways to stack this and come out a little bit ahead while saving for the future. There is also a Citi Merchant offer that could get you an extra 4% back (up to $32 back).
The Deal
- GiftCards.com is offering $200 Gift of College gift cards with no activation fee
- Direct link to this deal (our affiliate link, but alternatively go through a shopping portal to stack more rewards)
Key Terms
- Note that the card Terms and Conditions list a $5.95 activation fee, but GiftCards.com is not currently charging this
Quick Thoughts
We have a Miles for College guide showing how to use these cards to fund a 529 College Savings plan. I believe that you should also be able to pay student loans from a 529 plan, which means that you could potentially take advantage of this even if you’re beyond your college savings years and into your college repayment years.
Until now, the best option for buying Gift of College gift cards has been to find one of the limited grocery or gas station chains offering $500 physical gift cards. Those gift cards come with a $5.95 activation fee, which represents about 1.19% of the value of the card. Given the best category bonuses for grocery and gas, one could easily come out ahead of the fee if you have a nearby gas or grocery chain with these cards. Unfortunately, the options for buying $500 cards have been highly geographically limited.
While there have always been options for buying $200 eGift cards online, the purchase fee long made purchasing a $200 eGift card unattractive. However, GiftCards.com is offering these cards without an activation fee. While GiftCards.com probably won’t trigger a category bonus on most cards, there are some potential stacking opportunities.
For starters, if you join the GiftCards.com rewards program, you’ll get 2% back in rewards from them. Stacking on top of that, some Citi cardholders currently have an offer for an extra 4% back at GiftCards.com up to $32 back, which could sweeten the pot a bit more yet. Furthermore, GiftCards.com appears on shopping portals. Current best rates at the time of writing including 2 points/miles per dollar in some programs or as much as 4% back. We’ve seen targeted Capital One Shopping offers for 12-20% back recently — if you’ve got one of those, that could make these a fantastic deal.
It’s worth noting that we don’t know how long this will last. The card terms and conditions still note a $5.95 activation fee, but that isn’t currently being charged. Also keep in mind that most portals say that you will earn rewards on a maximum of $2,000 in orders per month. In my experience, some portals will allow rewards for multiple orders, but only up to a maximum of $2,000 in purchases per order. GiftCards.com will also likely limit you to no more than $2K in gift cards per rolling 48 hours.
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Has anyone successfully redeemed these digital cards at giftofcollege.com? I purchased cards from giftcards.com but when I attempt to redeem them at giftofcollege.com it keeps telling there is an issue with the card. I called but they gave me the excuse that I need to wait and try and again later. I’ve done giftofcollege.com redemptions several times before and never had an issue, although those were physical cards from grocery stores.
Had to wait overnight for my cards to become redeemable, but was able to load them into my account.
Showing as out of stock already
Gift of College looks like it’s out of stock 🙁
Does Chase shopping portal have the $2000/mo limit? I could not find the monthly language. Only the $2000 per order limit.
Tried to order just now, shows as “Out of Stock”
If one goes over $2k in the 48 hr period do the orders get put on hold and process later, or get declined / canceled? Thank you!
The $2k limit is only for portal cashback. GiftCards.com will still gladly take more than $2k of your money; you just won’t earn portal commission.
Nick’s post says ‘GiftCards.com will also likely limit you to no more than $2K in gift cards per rolling 48 hours.’ Was going to try ordering more, but the cards are OOS.
Is Amex going to get mad if I buy these on one of their cards?
Also stacks with PayPal and chase freedom / freedom flex 5x
Does anyone have experience with buying these and then adding them to a vanguard 529 account? Or is that not possible?
It is possible, that’s how I am doing it.
Thanks! How are you able to do that? on my 529 account I only see contribute by bank transfer or check
It has to be programmed on the gift for college website. Just put in yourself as the giftee.
I would do this before buying any gift cards.
Thank you!! I don’t live near a store that sells the $500 GofC gift cards, so this is great. P2 and I contribute to our great-nieces’ 529s every year. 2.5% from Rakuten portal + 5X Chase Freedom Flex/Paypal beats transferring cash.
Just bought some Giftcards, through the Chase shopping portal (2x). I used my CFU (1.5x) , which has the first year double points promotion. So I’m thinking I’ll get 7x? CFU non-category (1.5x times 2) +Shopping portal (2x times 2).
Will Amex allow these purchases towards SUBs if paid via PayPal?
FYI re “ I believe that you should also be able to pay student loans from a 529 plan” – true, but may also not even be necessary in this case, as you can also directly redeem Gift of College cards to make student loan payments! (i.e. in addition to contributing to 529 accounts)
Confirmed, I’ve done this exact method in the past.
You can also (theoretically) double-dip and pay student loans with a MC via Plastiq and then reimburse yourself from your 529.
Highly state-specific and consult with a tax/accounting professional.
You can often do even better than this and pay the loan with VGC or MCGC fee free and then reimburse yourself. Depends on your loan servicer, but this works with Nelnet if you’re willing to call in for a debit card payment.
Also 529 distributions towards loans are capped at $10,000 over the lifetime of the borrower