January 14th, 2013
Meeting A Spend Threshold In One Night.
Update #2, 01/17: Reports from commenters today are that the $100 transactions are now ringing up at $99.90 instead of $89.90.
It’s still a great deal though with an Ink card, even if not trying to hit a spend threshold. You get gift cards that can be used anywhere with no fees and you earn 5 points per dollar on all the spending!
————————————————–
Update, 01/15: Picked up a couple dozen more cards from another Office Max tonight 
Earning a whopping 5 points per dollar spent on top of a $10.10 profit per transaction? Priceless!
————————————————–
Related posts:
-Want To Boost Your Credit Score? Spend On Business Cards Instead Of Consumer Cards.
-A Rundown Of The Chase Ultimate Rewards Program And Ultimate Rewards Cards
-Updated Chase Ink Offers
-Is Bluebird The Next Dollar Coin Churn?
-Another Flavor Of Vanilla: My Vanilla Debit Card
-Need To Meet A Spending Threshold Deadline? Send And Receive $1,000/Month With No Fees Using Amazon Payments!
-My Current Credit Card Lineup
-Today’s Escapades
-Top Credit Card Offers
———————————————————————————-
The goal: Meet a $5,000 spend threshold on a Chase Ink Plus card in 1 night. Because 3 months is for sissies who don’t know how to churn and move onto the next card 
Total spend in 25 minutes of “work”: $5,020.50
Total amount that will be liquidated: $5,100
Total points and cash earned: 58,977 points (worth at least $1,120 at my personal “value” of at least 1.9 cents each) and a $79.50 cash profit.
The points are transferable and are roughly enough for:
-13 one-way short haul flights on American via BA or a round-trip flight to Israel on Air Berlin via BA,
-3 round trip coach flights to Alaska, or 2 round-trip coach flights to Hawaii, or 1 first class flight to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines booked via Korean
-4 nights at the fantastic Park Hyatt Melbourne, Andaz West Hollywood, Park Hyatt Aviara (CA), or Park Hyatt Toronto
-A one-way business class ticket to Israel or a round-trip coach ticket to Europe (with up to 12 stopovers and connections if you’re crazy enough) on any Star Alliance carrier via United.
Stop 1: Office Max.
What I bought: 22 prepaid Mastercards of $50 each in 11 transactions.
Why: This week only you can save $10 off each card instantly, up to 2 cards per transaction. Earn miles while turning a profit!
Total cost per transaction: 2 x $50 prepaid Mastercards = $100 – $20 instant rebate + $9.90 in prepaid debit card fees=$89.90
Total cost of all transactions: $988.90
Total points earned from spending: 4,945, due to 5 points per dollar earned on Ink cards at office supply stores.
Actual value of the prepaid cards: $1,100
How I’ll liquidate them: Amazon payments. When adding prepaid debit cards to Amazon Payments just put an incorrect expiration date so that they don’t put a hold on your funds. Then when you send money to a friend fix the expiration date.
Liquidation fees: None.
Stop 2: Walgreens
What I tried buying: 1 Vanilla Reload card of $500
Total cost: $0. Walgreens has gotten smart and now when you swipe your card it only lets you pay the $3.95 fee with your credit card. You may be able to get a manager to override that, but in a city with dozens of VR stocked CVS stores I didn’t bother.
The upshot: Nothing works forever. Churners used to have dollar coins, money orders, and travelers checks. Now we have Amazon Payments, Vanilla Reloads, Vanilla Debit cards, and Bluebird. Those won’t last forever but I’ll use them while I can and find something else once they’re gone.
Stop 3: CVS
What I bought: 8 Vanilla Reload card of $500 each in 4 transactions.
Why: Earn points on the cheap, even if you’re not gunning for signup bonuses. Limit of $1,000 of prepaid cards per transaction.
Total cost per transaction: 2 x $500 Vanilla Reloads = $1,000 + $7.90 in prepaid card fees=$1,007.90
Total cost of all transactions: $4,031.60
Total points earned from spending: 4,032
Actual value of the prepaid cards: $4,000
How I’ll liquidate them: Transfer to my Bluebird card and then write a check from there to pay any bill to any company or friend or just pay off the card directly from there.
Liquidation fees: None
Good ole’ Office Max Store #1. Ctown copycats…you may want to avoid Store #1
The bounty.
HT: Stu M.
1
January 14th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
“HT: Stu” ???
2
January 14th, 2013 at 9:58 pm
Ur the king Dan!!
3
January 14th, 2013 at 9:59 pm
Can you buy the MC cards on OfficeMax.com?
4
January 14th, 2013 at 10:04 pm
Careful Dan. Amex put me under finacial review for buying gidt cards a CVS. This caused closing of several cards and the warning that if I bought one more “cash advance” I would ble closed for good. Thousands of dollars in a drug store riases a big red flag!
5
January 14th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Dan I applied on last day of Decemebr for 2 more business cards 2bm I called to see whats the process so they asked me questions and she came back saying that I was only approoved for 1 card the plus but not for the Cash card since I got too many cards in the last few months, I tried asking if I can shift credit around to get approoved she said no, should I let it go or call reconsideration dept? I have good credit with chase
6
January 14th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Did they give you any issue at office max with the 11 transactions? did you have to go around and wait in line again type of thing?
7
January 14th, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Why didn’t you just get 100 cards @ OfficeMax? is there a limit of 22?!!
8
January 14th, 2013 at 10:14 pm
Did VR tonight. Tried on my new Amex and it didn’t go through. Bought 5 cards with $500 each using 2 different Chase cards (Freedom for $1500 at a drugstore to maximize the 5x rewards) and it went through. When I got home, Amex called to confirm and apologized for blocking the purchase, Chase called to confirm the purchases that went through. Back to CVS tomorrow with the now approved Amex!
9
January 14th, 2013 at 10:17 pm
How do you get the ten dollar discount off prepaid mastercards?
10
January 14th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
@ Reader, how much did you put on your amex and did it come close to your credit limit?
11
January 14th, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Greetings,
So sorry but I am new at this and trying to figure out what this is all about, Why are you purchasing Gift Cards? Whats the point of it? Just to earn points? but isnt it costing you lots of money?
Thanks
12
January 14th, 2013 at 10:23 pm
I don’t get it if u get 10 off 50 @ office max why not spend $5000 there? You will end up paying about 4850 for $5000 plus u get 25k points?!
13
January 14th, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Yeah why not spend all on the visas it’s free money
14
January 14th, 2013 at 10:24 pm
@hunch:
That’s who shared the deal with me.
@Scojax:
No.
@Reader:
I didn’t use an AMEX.
@chase cards:
Call back and try again. And again.
Be willing to shift credit lines or close older cards and move over those lines.
@mordy:
No, the agent was awesome.
He even memorized my maxperks phone number (will I earn anything from that as well?) and I joked that he had better not prank call me at 3am
@bb:
That’s all there was on the shelf
@Ddawg:
They’re on sale.
@anynm:
Read the post again.
15
January 14th, 2013 at 10:25 pm
@LB
In the post Dan wrote that he used his chase card.
@anynm
Read the post!!
Dan, any deals on reading glasses?!
16
January 14th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
@hunch:
Lol…
17
January 14th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
i was just in an office max today and dont recall seeing prepaid mastercards. also i didnt see anything about ten dollars off. how do we know if they have it
18
January 14th, 2013 at 10:30 pm
@chani:
It’s a nationwide sale in this week’s flyer.
Did you expect a billboard for it?
19
January 14th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
I don’t understand why we don’t just buy $1500 shoes or luggage from Zappos and return 6 weeks later after point applied and moved?? What can be the downside if not doing it too aften
20
January 14th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Dan can’t really close other cards just got some two months ago, is it bad if they don’t approove one card will it show on credit report? both are business cards.
21
January 14th, 2013 at 10:41 pm
When you say: worth at least $1,120 at my personal “value” of at least 1.9 cents each it is not real cash value you cannot get that amount in cash only miles to fly or hotels etc right?
22
January 14th, 2013 at 10:47 pm
@Dan: so you think chase is more laid back about it than Amex?
23
January 14th, 2013 at 10:49 pm
Dan -
did you call Chase beforehand to notify them of the forthcoming unusual purchase activity? I always get a fraud freeze when I do something like this with a new card.
24
January 14th, 2013 at 10:53 pm
I hope you don’t rock the chase boat, 5k in one night is asking for trouble.
25
January 14th, 2013 at 10:58 pm
Can I use Citi credit cards to buy those prepaid mastercards at Office Max? Would they be counted as cash advance? Would the purchase trigger Citi’s fraud dept?
26
January 14th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
how do you transfer money from Vanilla Reloads to Blue Bird?
27
January 14th, 2013 at 11:09 pm
just go into a office max a buy a mastercard gift card and it will ring up $10 off ? or do i need a coupon ?
28
January 14th, 2013 at 11:14 pm
these day there making u use cash,in alot of cvses and walgreens they caught up to this hanky panky!
29
January 14th, 2013 at 11:15 pm
Dan. Your so cooool!!!! I wish I can marry you. ..
30
January 14th, 2013 at 11:16 pm
amazon payments is the best simplest way!
31
January 14th, 2013 at 11:19 pm
Has anyone with more than one Amazon account in their name given them the same SS# yet? I have a er… few accounts and have only been using one that has my SS#. Don’t want to get shut down.
32
January 14th, 2013 at 11:23 pm
I don’t get it…in the ad it says save $10 when you purchase 2 $50 cards; limit 1 rebate per household.
33
January 14th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
Dan, VR wont work with AMEX? Got to dump $5k SPG..
34
January 14th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
@Abe: Also why only 1 VR @ wallgreens, specific reason?
35
January 15th, 2013 at 12:05 am
I’m not sure why this is not considered something the companies wouldn’t be ok with. It just does not seem “yashar” to me.
36
January 15th, 2013 at 12:21 am
@No Do:
Seems more unethical to me.
And the points for the actual purchase will be taken away.
Stores also ban serial returners.
@chase cards:
Why can’t you close cards from 2 months ago?
@points:
Unless you find a good broker and someone needing to travel.
@Reader:
Yes.
@mw:
Nope.
@greg z:
Yes.
@Randall:
I just tell it like it is.
@Abe:
It will, though they may ask you to knock it off or to prove that you’re employed.
@Abe:
Just wanted to confirm the rumors.
@Why ok?:
Which part?
37
January 15th, 2013 at 12:22 am
Hey Dan,
I think I pushed my luck,I just got hit with a FR the infamous two letter word from amex.There is no chance that I will pass so I was wondering if I have to cancel all my cards from amex or I can just cancel the one that created the problem?
Thank you
P.S.I guess I will just have to start doing more businesses with chase I’m sure you get my drift.
38
January 15th, 2013 at 12:22 am
@Big boy:
You make no income on the books at all?
39
January 15th, 2013 at 12:24 am
@Randall Yes, I was confused by this too as at my Office Max it said the same thing. So the wording makes it sound like you only save $10 when you buy 2x$50 GC. However, I went to my Office Max in Orange County, CA and asked the cashier to just scan it in and it automatically deducted $10 from EACH gift card, no coupon required. Even the cashier and manager were a bit perplexed but “hey, if it rings up like that I guess it is that…”
40
January 15th, 2013 at 12:30 am
@Dan Do you need to register the GC before using Amazon Payments?
41
January 15th, 2013 at 12:31 am
how do you transfer money from Vanilla to blue bird?
42
January 15th, 2013 at 12:31 am
cuz one is a united which I have on it lots of miles and wanna travel soon other one is freedom which I got in nick of time for the 10 10 with exclusives, is the cash such a good card it only has 200 cash back or 20,000 points signup or is it momre being denied which I should avoid? Thanks
43
January 15th, 2013 at 12:35 am
Looked through the weekly ad on officemax.com for my location and even changed the location to the store shown in your receipt but don’t see the $10 off Mastercard deal. Any advice?
44
January 15th, 2013 at 12:38 am
Good broker umm I keep hearing that they crack down on UR transferred to other accounts other then a spouse so not a good idea
45
January 15th, 2013 at 12:41 am
@Jonathan H:
No.
@abe:
Read the related posts.
@chase cards:
Offer to cancel the United and churn it with a new mileage number to earn another 55K miles+$50 after secure message.
It won’t hurt you, but why throw away 20K points when you already took the pull without trying?
@officemax:
I didn’t see it online either, but saw it in the in-store ad.
@points:
Don’t transfer UR-UR, transfer directly to a mileage program.
46
January 15th, 2013 at 12:42 am
CORRECT!!
47
January 15th, 2013 at 12:45 am
@Big boy:
If you make nothing at all on the books you can still try to get them to count your parents if they pay your bills.
Sometimes people have luck getting them to take bank statements, see DDF: http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=8
Otherwise, shut them all down yourself, every last one of them, before AMEX shuts them down.
48
January 15th, 2013 at 12:46 am
@Dan
Why would Amazon Payment put a hold on your funds for entering the correct expiration date when transferring funds from prepaid debit card? Please explain what you did in English.
49
January 15th, 2013 at 12:50 am
Dan, why buy the vanilla visa at cvs when you can buy it at office depot for 5 X points?
50
January 15th, 2013 at 12:50 am
@Rachel: http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/24892
and other blog entries. put in vanilla card or bluebird
51
January 15th, 2013 at 12:51 am
So are you saying to use caution when using amex to purchase vr cards? How much do you think you can buy and still be safe?
52
January 15th, 2013 at 1:03 am
@BaltMan:
I explained exactly what to do in the post.
@Abe:
OD doesn’t sell Vanilla Reloads anymore.
While they do sell Vanilla gift cards, those have to be cashed out via Amazon or used on everyday purchases.
Vanilla Reloads can be cashed out via Bluebird.
Don’t forget to earn 5x at CVS with Freedom though!
@mitch:
It’s all based on your spend patterns.
If you make income on the books you’ll pass the F/R and perhaps get a warning. If you don’t make anything on the books then don’t use your AMEX for anything that can trigger an F/R.
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=8
53
January 15th, 2013 at 1:04 am
So ur saying give up united now for the cash card ? Then in a while get a new united with new mileage number? If I do this I still can use the miles I have now even if account gets closed? Thanks
54
January 15th, 2013 at 1:08 am
@chase cards:
Your United miles are not affected by closing the credit card.
You can also merge the account later on.
Some more info:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/26128
55
January 15th, 2013 at 1:09 am
Dan, well you can certainly buy the amex prepaid and then turn that into a permanent prepaid and take $400 via atm for free each month, and I believe you can have three such cards per ss. Of course you can get cards for wife, plus, plus…. from chase as extra card holders.
56
January 15th, 2013 at 1:15 am
So UR to a friends mileage account is ok ?
57
January 15th, 2013 at 1:17 am
@Abe:
True, true.
No OD in CLE though so enjoy
@points:
So far there have not been any reported issues.
YMMV!
58
January 15th, 2013 at 1:19 am
can i buy VR online?
59
January 15th, 2013 at 1:20 am
@Abe:
No.
60
January 15th, 2013 at 1:21 am
Btw where does the 50 dollar credit come from on united card? rep had no idea what I was talking about.
61
January 15th, 2013 at 1:24 am
Any other ideas? i have just a walgreens near me
62
January 15th, 2013 at 1:28 am
@chase cards:
Just ask in the SM to be matched to the offer your colleague got, 55K miles plus $50 statement credit.
@Abe:
Check the retailers listed on vanillareload.com
63
January 15th, 2013 at 1:41 am
whats the best card to open at first
64
January 15th, 2013 at 2:19 am
will amazon payments trigger a f/r sometimes if ya is it still worth it
65
January 15th, 2013 at 7:54 am
So I’m assuming that the united match is still alive and kicking anybody tried it recently?
66
January 15th, 2013 at 8:05 am
So, how’d you get cvs to sell you $4000 in vr’s in one shot ? your exceeding their limit by $3000?! Unless you know the manager personally….
67
January 15th, 2013 at 8:22 am
@abe
Walgreens sells Vanilla Reload cards
68
January 15th, 2013 at 8:34 am
do you need a maxperks membership to get the promotion?
69
January 15th, 2013 at 8:51 am
Dan you could but amex gift cards with no fee’s ( promo phonegift2) and you could make the 3 month trial for next day shipping and you will meat your spending with no cost to you.
70
January 15th, 2013 at 8:55 am
Dan, are you able to buy the gift cards online? I live in Baltimore – we don’t have any Officemax stores
71
January 15th, 2013 at 10:06 am
Went to office Max across from Barclay center and they said only two cards per person work for discount code but when they scanned the cards they automatically scanned at 40 each plus 4.95 fees. Will go back at lunch and see how many i can it buy
72
January 15th, 2013 at 10:11 am
Dan,
Can you unload those Mastercard gift cards on Serve like you can visa gift card mall ones? That would be much easier than AP.
73
January 15th, 2013 at 10:11 am
Just to clarify, the visa gift cards count as debit cards on Serve…..
74
January 15th, 2013 at 10:19 am
Someone tells he trash’s -as Dan calls it..- his spending by overpaying his bill.
Lets say his electric bill is $98 he makes a paymant of $998 and after reciving points he calls in that he -by mistake..- overpaid $900 so they credit him
75
January 15th, 2013 at 10:26 am
Dan, My wife has 2 inks in her name … you think Office max will let me buy them with her CC, I never got a card with my name on it
76
January 15th, 2013 at 10:27 am
Its nice to live in Cleveland
77
January 15th, 2013 at 10:57 am
As an existing chase customer, who wants to do a 2bm for chase bold/ink business cards. when i am signing up do i sign up as the existing customer or as a brand new customer?
78
January 15th, 2013 at 11:03 am
@Moshe: But Dan says they don’t let you swipe your card for it you need to pay cash
Btw Dan do you if its thier official policy or just that branch?
79
January 15th, 2013 at 11:15 am
Could you use buy 2 prepaid cards using a credit card, and then use those 2 prepaid cards to keep buying additional pairs?
80
January 15th, 2013 at 11:19 am
Dan you are by far the best points blogger in the universe. Thank you for all your hard work.
81
January 15th, 2013 at 11:42 am
@BK: What’s the point? if not to swipe your card?
82
January 15th, 2013 at 12:13 pm
@DAN HOLY SHNITZEL! You’re amazing. God Bless.
83
January 15th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Is $700 cash for 40,000 sapphire preferred points a good deal ?
84
January 15th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Also, is it safe to sell points to these places that advertise to pay cash ? Are chase & Amex ok with that ?
85
January 15th, 2013 at 12:41 pm
@Abe,
I paid $975 for my Internet bill online instead of $97.50. I must have fat fingered it.
This was with a card giving 5X UR points. It took a month and many calls to get refunded the excess, and they did it by putting the refund back on the card.
So the success of this method will vary depending on the procedures of the company you use.
86
January 15th, 2013 at 12:51 pm
@Jack L: Works the best if u get like millage which straight into youe travel account so they’ll never notic the refund
87
January 15th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
@Dan: Dan Can you pls explain post 55?
88
January 15th, 2013 at 1:18 pm
@Dan,
Which credit card did you use at CVS to buy the 8 Vanilla Reloads?
How does AmEx know what you’re buying at CVS or is it the amount that triggers suspicion? If you pay off the AmEx charge immediately, will that avoid a FR from AmEx?
89
January 15th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
@Dan,
Sorry, I didn’t see that you used a Chase card.
Wouldn’t I be better off buying the prepaid MasterCards for $500 each and then use them to buy VRs at CVS?
90
January 15th, 2013 at 1:29 pm
@Jonathan H:
If it rings up $10 off for each card then I wonder if Dan could have just purchased all 22 cards in one transaction and get the $220 off, instead of having to do 11 transactions. If so, Dan could have met his threshold in 5 minutes instead of 25 minutes!!! lol
Does anyone know if this will work?
91
January 15th, 2013 at 1:30 pm
Dan why is the myVanilla card the only one you mention for cash advance. What about Greendot and netspend and literally tens of others (Amex etcc)prepaid cards cant you do a cash advance on those also???
92
January 15th, 2013 at 1:43 pm
@asking:
Best is relative to your needs.
But Sapphire, Freedom, and Starwood are excellent.
@mike:
For some yes, for other no.
If you make $0 on the books play it safe. Otherwise have fun.
@realistic:
4 transactions. Salesperson couldn’t care less.
@Bob:
No.
@bob:
But then I wouldn’t earn 5 points per dollar.
@:
das:
No.
@Noturbizniss:
Enjoy
@THEsocalledfan
I don’t see why not
@Abe:
Works only occasionally. Usually goes back to credit card.
@AZ:
YMMV but I wasn’t ID’d.
@yitz:
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=21675
@jesse:
I always do the new customer.
@Abe:
Appears to be the new chainwide policy.
@BK:
Yes, but it’s far more valuable to use Ink as that earns 5 points per dollar. And then you wouldn’t be meeting your spend threshold!
@ace:
@Steveo (one word):
@Tim T:
Not terrible I guess.
@Tim T:
Chase UR-UR transfers can be risky. Transfer direct to a mileage account.
@Abe:
https://www.onevanilla.com/onevanilla/upgrade.html
@Al:
Read the post.
YMMV.
@Al:
OM doesn’t sell $500 prepaid cards.
@YYK:
Receipt clearly says limit 2.
If someone wants though to try let us know.
@Davidd:
The other ones tend to ban you for doing that. And sometimes even tie up your funds for extended periods of time.
No such reports with Vanilla.
93
January 15th, 2013 at 1:49 pm
i love the dan effect seeing lots of ppl running around to get some 50 mc
94
January 15th, 2013 at 1:54 pm
they said when i called that its only $10 of every $100 not 20 & limit one per household. did anybody have success doing 5k ?
95
January 15th, 2013 at 1:55 pm
@abe:
Rule #1: Never call.
96
January 15th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
I bought 20 earlier today. Got a missed call from chase fraud on my phone with no message (I google’d the #). I logged into my account and it didnt say anything about being frozen. Should I call chase back or just let it go?
97
January 15th, 2013 at 2:01 pm
In the business card app, does it matter that my “business” makes little or no money? Does that only go to the amount of credit they will extend?
98
January 15th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
is there anyway to send all the 50 dollar in one amazon payment or do you have to do several payments of 50?
99
January 15th, 2013 at 2:04 pm
Dan, I wanted to get you feeling on the matter. I have multiple chase credit cards, churning quite well… Do you think its a wise idea to bank with chase if you have so many credit cards? The pros, I have a lot of money in savings so it puts at abetter position if they ever find my churning behaviour risky. The cons, if for whatever reason I decided that I’m not paying my credit cards, they have access to my cash. What are your thoughts?
100
January 15th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
@Bob:
I’d call ‘em.
@jesse:
For a sole-proprietorship your business income goes directly to your personal income. But if you report that the business makes nothing you won’t get approved.
@danman:
Several.
@Master:
I wouldn’t worry about that at all. They’re highly regulated, they’re not just going to help themselves to your cash
101
January 15th, 2013 at 2:09 pm
@abe:
Abe, I really hope you didn’t just ruin it for everyone who were about to get the cards. Why don’t you just call corporate and tell them straight out that they’re making a mistake?!
102
January 15th, 2013 at 2:13 pm
whats the link to cash out the $200 airline credit on my platinum i would like to close it
p.s. what dose chruning mean
103
January 15th, 2013 at 2:14 pm
is there any gc that earn 5x that i can buy online ?
104
January 15th, 2013 at 2:17 pm
Walgreens in Manhattan had them today, but would only let you buy them with cash.
105
January 15th, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Called nearest OM (110 miles RT) to be sure they had product on the MC. Said limit is two cards per ‘customer’. Is that correct or is it two per transaction or is that subject to the interpretation of the store associates or manager? How to be sure before traveling all that way?
106
January 15th, 2013 at 2:23 pm
@abe:
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=3802
Login to read the wiki.
@eli:
No.
@Larry:
110 miles, are you crazy?
YMMV on if they’ll limit you.
107
January 15th, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Where do you get $813 for 40,000 sapphire preferred points ?
108
January 15th, 2013 at 2:30 pm
lol on 110 miles. FYI i called chase and it was for another of my many cards, they didnt flag me for the om charges at all.
109
January 15th, 2013 at 2:33 pm
@Dan:
Dan, even though I personally would not travel more than 10 miles for this, I can definitely see someone traveling 110 miles for it. It’s essentially 10% free cash plus all the miles you earn. So if he wants to purchase $5,000 worth he will have over $500 in free extra cash plus tons of miles. He just needs to make sure they wont limit him to buying 2 cards…
110
January 15th, 2013 at 2:35 pm
He also needs to make sure they have enough cards to make it worth his trip…
111
January 15th, 2013 at 2:49 pm
@YYK: cards have $6 fee each. so, its only $8 in free cash per $100 after you cash them out.
112
January 15th, 2013 at 3:05 pm
Has anyone tried paying tuition with Bluebird?
113
January 15th, 2013 at 3:26 pm
@sara:
I paid a bunch on my student tuition with all these gift cards today (they accept credit card payments on tuition, not fed loans). And yes I do use bluebird for student loans.
114
January 15th, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Dan,
Im not yet 18 (almost), but would like to get ahead of the game. Any suggestions? Under 18 card etc. BTW what does “churning” mean in this context?
115
January 15th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
-13 one-way short haul flights on American via BA or a round-trip flight to Israel on Air Berlin via BA,i
I AM NEW AT THIS.
HOW DO I BOOK THE TRIP TO ISRAEL? call BA or AirBerlin?
116
January 15th, 2013 at 4:35 pm
@Anonymous:
Incorrect.
@DovtheBear:
Read the Wiki here (DDF login required) and browse through the linked articles:
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=23990.0
And read through here:
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8028.0
@Yosef:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/27665
117
January 15th, 2013 at 4:36 pm
@Anonymous:
I just bought 20 of them. The fee is actually $4.95 per card, not $6.00. So the free cash is actually $10.10 per $100 spent.
118
January 15th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
dan, i’m looking to hit up officemax later but haven’t used AP yet. i would imagine that rapidly liquidating all of those GCs would get your account locked up…? do you spread those out and over how long?
119
January 15th, 2013 at 4:40 pm
@Dan:
Dan, just got back from Office Max after purchasing 20 cards in 10 transactions. You’re the man! Thanks!
To answer the question from before of whether you can buy them all in one transaction, I just confirmed that you can’t. I asked the cashier to ring up 2, and it immediately showed $40 each, then I asked him to ring up a third and it showed $50, so I told him to remove the last one.
120
January 15th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
FYI, you do not need a MaxPerks card to purchase these and get the discounts. In fact, I intentionally did this when I purchased my prepaid mastercards because I was afraid if I associate my MaxPerks card with the transactions it would only give me the discount on 1 transaction since the Ad clearly says one per household. (Though it also says one $10 discount for 2 cards, and we all know that was wrong, but in any case I didn’t want to take the chance.)
Dan, did you purchase all your prepaid Mastercards on your MaxPerks card?
121
January 15th, 2013 at 4:51 pm
@agent:
If you have a Amex Target reloadable card, you can combine all of them onto that card and withdraw via ATM
122
January 15th, 2013 at 5:17 pm
Dan,
Thanks for the Office Max tip. I just went and did 20 in 10 transactions. Yes, I got the stinky eye from the manager and clerk, but after a brief chat we had an understanding. It worked wonderfully. I was worried the 10 transactions would freeze up the card halfway through with a Fraud Alert, but all went through fine. I liquidated those bad boys out the moment I walked in the door through Amazon Payments. I also have control of my GF’s Amazon Payments account, so I can liquidate 2k a month in GC’s. Trip #2 to O.M. tomorrow!
123
January 15th, 2013 at 5:31 pm
@Dan and YYK: Did you do self check-out or did you have to wait in line fore every single transactions?
124
January 15th, 2013 at 6:19 pm
dan…
love the post…
Can you just explain to the laymen here what VR is and how exactly it works…
I called them and really understand the program
Thanks for the amazing blog.
125
January 15th, 2013 at 6:26 pm
@BK:
How do you reload them all onto the Target card? Can you describe the process? Thanks!
126
January 15th, 2013 at 6:29 pm
@Ha:
When I first got up there with all my cards there was no line, so it was fine. When I had 6 cards remaining is when 2 people showed up on line. I told the cashier I didn’t mind going to the back of the line, but he just rang them up anyway. It only took another 3 minutes. Figure it takes about 1 minute per transaction; it’s a very quick process.
127
January 15th, 2013 at 6:53 pm
@YYK: The AMEX target card allows you to reload using any credit card at Target locations, up to $1000 per tx, for a $3 fee. You can then withdraw from an ATM for another $3 fee (plus any charges by the ATM). You buy the card at Target, load it, get a permanent one in the mail, reload with your miscellaneous gift cards (can carry up to $2500 max on the card) then cash out. Only problem I see is you’re going to be racking up the fees at $4-$5 per withdrawal and if you can only do $200 per day it might get you back to even on the $10 OM MC deal (considering the MC fees as well).
128
January 15th, 2013 at 6:54 pm
Can you explain how to fix the expiration date when sending money via amazon? I keep getting “failed” when I try to send $50 and I believe this is the problem. Thank You.
129
January 15th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
The OM deal ends what day?
130
January 15th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
Dan, I have been dong the VR now for a while. In the CVS that I use they are always stocked. I also noticed PayPal reload cards. They look similar to the VR and it seems like its the same idea, only with a $500 daily limit and $4,000 monthly limit. Has anyone tried these? Would this be a good alternative to VR. (already reached my $5,000 limit this month on both mine and my wives account)?
131
January 15th, 2013 at 9:43 pm
@yyk What city, state? I went to 2 dif office max and they both only allowed 2 per.
132
January 15th, 2013 at 9:43 pm
@ YYK did you purchase your 20 out of the states of n.j – n.y thinking of making a special trip to buy cards since i was limited to only 2 cards today
133
January 15th, 2013 at 9:53 pm
@abe:
Called???? You called????
134
January 15th, 2013 at 9:54 pm
I live in the same city as Dan. Cleveland Rocks!
135
January 15th, 2013 at 9:55 pm
@DealsSeeker:
Ad says Jan 13-19.
136
January 15th, 2013 at 9:58 pm
@ddi:
Thanks!
137
January 15th, 2013 at 9:59 pm
@pmb:
I believe you can go to the website on the back of the cards and register them.
138
January 15th, 2013 at 11:15 pm
Went to an Office Max in CA. After noting my name and address on a form for “wanting to buy so many gift cards” (18 $50 cards to be precise), they only let me buy 4.
139
January 15th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
Hi everyone, can someone help me, with amazon payments is everyone giving their social security or is there away around that? Also, how is everyone getting around the fact that you can only link 3 cards to an amazon payment account? Thanks
140
January 15th, 2013 at 11:56 pm
48 done today! Thanks Dan.
141
January 16th, 2013 at 12:17 am
I was today in the office max in Brooklyn, went rite over to the gift card section and the 50$s MC wasn’t on the hook, so as I went over to the rep I saw another yid looking for it and they only gave him 2. So I just walked out………..
142
January 16th, 2013 at 12:20 am
thanks dan! did 40 today in 3 stores, chase stopped one ink card in middle, switched to another ink card and called them on the way home and just cleared up my multiple 89.90 charges
143
January 16th, 2013 at 12:39 am
in the om in brooklyn they only let 2
144
January 16th, 2013 at 1:05 am
@mrsil:
Yes, you must give your social.
Not sure if this is how everyone else did it but with the 20 cards that I had:
1. I added one with the wrong date.
2. After it was added, I immediately edited it and changed it to the correct date.
3. Sent the $50 to someone.
4. Deleted the card from the account.
5. Repeated steps 1-4 for all 20 of my cards.
Worked flawlessly each time.
145
January 16th, 2013 at 1:18 am
Thanks much- I picked up 14 cards, but it appears as though 2 were not charged to my Ink, nor activated… what now? toss the plastic as if it never happened?
146
January 16th, 2013 at 1:39 am
has anyone been able to purchase 20 or more cards in ny or nj area if yes can you list where if you aren’t going back to get more .
147
January 16th, 2013 at 6:14 am
@Jack L: I agree. Comcast won’t even try to send overage check. ONLY if you move!
148
January 16th, 2013 at 9:53 am
QUESTION… plugging in so much $ to the amex bluebird card are they reporting it to the IRS ????
149
January 16th, 2013 at 10:53 am
LOL
150
January 16th, 2013 at 11:07 am
@Becky: You can try to bring those back to the store and buy them again. Just be sure that you were indeed not charged for those 2 cards.
151
January 16th, 2013 at 11:16 am
@Freddie: I already discarded the cardboard cover, is it possible to do that with just the card itself?
I was planning another run this AM if possible
I’m excited to see there’s no report that it’s nifter!
152
January 16th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
@ddi: Would it b possible to just fill up that target card with credit card or its considered a money trans?
153
January 16th, 2013 at 1:17 pm
@Abe
You can use a regular credit card to load the target amex and it will post as a purchase.
154
January 16th, 2013 at 1:31 pm
does CVS let you purchase VR with a gift card?
155
January 16th, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Anyone run into snooty cashiers, and if so, did you try to talk them into letting you purchase more? The dragon lady I dealt with this morning was adamant that she wasn’t letting me “take advantage” of the deal by buying more than 4. Why she thought 2 transactions was not taking advantage but 3 would be….
Ideas? Is it worth escalating to a manager or would that be a bad idea? It’s not like it’s coming out of their wallet after all, sheesh
156
January 16th, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Beware of Office Max- they will sell you cards that are not activated even though the receipt will say they are. Then prepare to have to push and prod them for months. I am still waiting from the last time they had this deal.
157
January 16th, 2013 at 2:01 pm
@Jason I think it’s their manager who’s restricting it to 4. Or at least it was in my case. Try another store, if you have one closeby, and choose a cashier who you think might be favorable to you.
158
January 16th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Hey Dan,
I told you about my FR but its a little weird bc amex didn’t call me and my account online doesn’t mention anything about it.The way I know that I am under review is bc every time I call them I get redirected to that department but I never spoke with them yet do you think they would shut me down without contacting me
Thank you
159
January 16th, 2013 at 2:41 pm
@BK: so y VR or OM GC’s?
160
January 16th, 2013 at 4:03 pm
How are people getting around the 2 per customer limit? I went to two different stores and was told I could only purchase two gift cards. They wouldn’t let me buy more even in separate transactions.
161
January 16th, 2013 at 5:16 pm
Dan, a few questions: Can you use multiple or all gc’s on AP in one day to pay one friend? Would this trigger a review from the jungle? How many payments until your friend is taxed…is it 200+ transactions per year?
162
January 16th, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Dan, Do I need to register the Vanilla Reloads from CVS after purchase to cash out – or can I just go straight to the bank?
163
January 16th, 2013 at 7:45 pm
I bought ten cards in the last OfficeMax deal. I gave two of them as gifts. I know at least two of the cards were not activated (and that’s still not done from the last deal). I’m worried that the cards I gifted weren’t activated either. Imagine the $$$ they made off people who didn’t keep every little bit of the receipt — and of course all this from OfficeMax is on the up and up, legit, little technical difficulty is all. I’m not shopping at OfficeMax again.
164
January 16th, 2013 at 11:10 pm
when is the deal expiring?
165
January 17th, 2013 at 12:05 am
stormed three stores and purchased 70 (35 transactions). would be 90 if 10 minutes earlier – a guy right before me in checkout holding 10 card with a Ink Bold..
166
January 17th, 2013 at 12:27 am
Any chance that these cards can be used to load directly a BB card at Walmart?
167
January 17th, 2013 at 12:19 pm
the word is that this deal (the making $ part of it) is dead. they are now ringing up 99.90 for two.
168
January 17th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
I think the deal is dead-finally purchased some yesterday at a store in Northern CA, went back today for some more and they are ringing up at 99.90 for two.
169
January 17th, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Even at $99.90 it’s a deal.
It’s earning 5 points per dollar and it can be used anywhere!
170
January 17th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Just got 12 at $99.90 per transaction as well.
171
January 17th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
I bought 5 x 2=$500 worth @ $89.90 each last night. I cashed out $300 at CVS for Vanilla Reload cards.
Here’s a data point: CVS’ system will only let you have 7 card swipes to pay. So, I could only use 6 $50 MC GCs and then 1 credit card for the balance.
The next CVS I went to wouldn’t allow me to use the MasterCard GC for a VR, so I had to use a credit card. I have $200 in MC GCs left to liquidate.
172
January 17th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
Al, did you have to have them enter the last 4 card digits on EACH swipe?
173
January 17th, 2013 at 2:42 pm
@speakeasy, oh yes. Last 4 digits had to be entered for each $50 card. A total pain, and I can’t believe the clerk actually did it.
174
January 17th, 2013 at 2:58 pm
The MC GC’s are good only in the US per the package. I paid $99.90 at OM at 1105AM. Still made 5X pts and 10 cents!!!
175
January 17th, 2013 at 4:50 pm
can I transfer the MasterCard to the Bluebird
176
January 17th, 2013 at 6:46 pm
I loaded $1000 onto target amex, 21 swipes ($3 fee) talk about a pain entering the last 4 digits
177
January 17th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
zee – sounds interesting. where do I get this target amex? and is there a limit of $1000? can the target amex be used in atm to take cash? or can I pay credit card bill with it?
178
January 17th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Dan, I wonder if – while the deal still worked – did anyone try to buy the 2 X 50 and pay using a previously purchased pre-paid MC?
179
January 17th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
@Abe:
Then you wouldn’t get 5x points.
180
January 18th, 2013 at 1:13 am
Dan,
Yes, but for a massive 10% gain of cash.
BTW, Chase agreed to give me 25K after only spending 5K instead of 10K.
181
January 18th, 2013 at 2:18 am
@abe. I heard of a few people tryi g to buy GC with GC. When the cost was 89.90, The cumulative 10% gain should beat the return from using the Ink card for the second round of purchases.
182
January 18th, 2013 at 2:20 am
@Mark:
I don’t follow the logic.
With an Ink card you earn ~10% back on points, AND the ~10% cash gain, AND get closer to meet the spend threshold.
And all it takes is Amazon to cash that out.
183
January 18th, 2013 at 10:52 am
Am i missing something here? The promo was for $10 off 2 purchases of $50 MC. Was it a glitch that you were getting $10 of EACH $50 vs off the entire purchase?
184
January 18th, 2013 at 11:34 am
interesting to note: These MasterCards do not need to be registered online to cash out via ap even though it says on the card you need to before using it online. The Vanilla visas on the other hand do need to be registered online before cashing out via ap
185
January 18th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
All gone for past two days store sold out any idea?
186
January 18th, 2013 at 2:05 pm
if i buy amex gift cards would i be able to upload it to my bluebird
187
January 20th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
How do you load a vanilla visa debit to ap?
188
January 27th, 2013 at 11:58 am
Interesting note: I happen to know someone who use to be a store manager at a CVS in Brooklyn. I asked her about buying gift cards/vanilla etc with a credit card. She said her store allows small transactions ($100 OR SO)to buy a gift card, but would never allow someone to spend hundreds or especially thousands of dollars on gift cards with a credit card. I asked why and she said we would be very suspicious of credit card fraud.
189
March 6th, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Dan:
Is there a fee for transferring from VR cards to the blue bird?
I want to buy VR cards of 50K total on my ink, is that a good idea, and how much would it cost me?
As always, thank you so much for this great blog!