Author Topic: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?  (Read 25434 times)

Baylor3217

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Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« on: March 16, 2013, 11:22:55 PM »
I've been looking for some details on best ways to do it and max amount of money that has been made.

I'm thinking of cards that give $100 bonuses etc when you sign up.

imustachemystash

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2013, 11:37:14 PM »
I just signed up for one actually.  It was offered through Emigrant Direct and I will get $200.00 for signing up and making 1 purchase with it.  The interest rate is 14.99 percent so of course I'm going to cancel it as soon as I can. I'll let you know how everything works out once I'm done with the process.

prosaic

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2013, 08:58:24 AM »
The FatWallet Finance forum has a ton of people who do this strategically.

TheDude

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2013, 09:30:44 AM »
Fatwallet is a great source. I just paid of my wife's student loans with credit so that I could get some sign up bonuses. I managed to pay of about $3700 and got about $1420 in bonus money.

Hotstreak

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2013, 11:03:19 AM »
I just signed up for one actually.  It was offered through Emigrant Direct and I will get $200.00 for signing up and making 1 purchase with it.  The interest rate is 14.99 percent so of course I'm going to cancel it as soon as I can. I'll let you know how everything works out once I'm done with the process.

Whooahhh buddy, interest rate doesn't matter if you pay it off every month.  I hope you aren't planning on carrying a balance on ANY credit card.  The rewards program, ease of use, and annual fee should be your only considerations for a long term credit card!  Again, you pay NO INTEREST on purchases if you pay your statement balance in full by the due date.

On topic, I have 2 cards coming in the mail right now.. one with a $100 sign up bonus for the first 500 spent, and another that will give me a $100 gift card to a favorite store after 1 purchase.  Once I hit the $500 goal in a few months I will sign up for another card with a bonus offer.

clutchy

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2013, 11:54:59 AM »
the rewards generally are there to sucker people in and then collect the interest from those who don't know what they're doing or those that think they can "game" the system.


If the card is decent and the rewards are to your liking get a card and set it to auto-pay every month.  Even paying interest 1 or 2 months will completely negate any "reward" or advantage you'd have received.  Remember that.

Villanelle

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2013, 01:05:40 PM »
I'm not sure if this counts, but I recently learned that AMEX Platinum, normally $450 annually, waives the fee for active duty military for as long as they remain in the service.  The card has amazing benefits, and my husband and I both got cards in our names, for free! 

We pay off our cards every month, so interest rate is irrelevant, but free use of airport lounges, concierge service, and many other amazing benefits will come in handy quite often.

Will

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2013, 01:24:52 PM »
The FatWallet Finance forum has a ton of people who do this strategically.

I went to check out the Fat Wallet site and it wants me to register just to look at anything?

michaelrecycles

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2013, 02:06:10 PM »
Just watch that you don't make frivolous purchases to reach the required spend in pursuit of the bonus. Even though this seems obvious, I found myself encouraged to spend more than I should.

I have more cards than I need, since I started playing this game a couple years ago. I'll cancel some and keep the ones with the best / most relevant rewards, as well as the oldest one (even though the rewards system isn't great).

I've learned my lesson on the spend, but the bonuses are too tempting not to keep playing.  I'll start looking again when it's almost time to renew my auto insurance policy. It's my only expected purchase greater than $1-large, so that should satisfy or nearly satisfy the required spend. (I always pay for my policy in full, even though the phone reps always hilariously ask if I'm sure and highlight the "low" finance fee.)

Rinse and repeat.

Baylor3217

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2013, 02:24:18 PM »
Fatwallet is a great source. I just paid of my wife's student loans with credit so that I could get some sign up bonuses. I managed to pay of about $3700 and got about $1420 in bonus money.

That sounds awesome. Can you elaborate on the cards you used to reap the $1400?

yolfer

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2013, 02:52:48 PM »
I did this for a while and it was very profitable. There's a guy who writes about the best sign-up bonuses. He racked up 1MM miles one year: http://millionmilesecrets.com/

I just did what he told me to do and found myself with 4 or 5 cards and lots of free trips. Now I'm about to purchase a house so I stopped churning in case it would hurt my credit rating. I'll resume after my mortgage rate is locked in.

smedleyb

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2013, 03:13:02 PM »
Using my and my wife's credit, I was able to rack up 2.6 million miles in 18 months.

Yeah, I know a thing or two about the CC rewards game. lol!

Check out Chase business cards (INK and INK Plus) and the Sapphire Preferred for starters (for straight up cash, no fees; although Chase Ultimate Reward points are like travel gold, IMO).

TheDude

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #12 on: March 17, 2013, 03:24:13 PM »
Fatwallet is a great source. I just paid of my wife's student loans with credit so that I could get some sign up bonuses. I managed to pay of about $3700 and got about $1420 in bonus money.

That sounds awesome. Can you elaborate on the cards you used to reap the $1400?

Sure I stated with a loan balance of $3778. Here are the cards I used

Barclays NFL Card - spend 1000 get 40,000 points (turns into 41000 with spending which turns into $410 statement credit) two for me (no idea why they let me apply for two) and one for my wife. This resulted in credits of $1220 after spending $3000

ENT Credit Union Visa - 20,000 bonus points after first purchase. This is small local credit union that I am part off. I paid off the last $778 with his card resulting in a statement credit of $207.78

It was a pretty incredible deal. Barclays really hooked me up. I wont ever use any of the cards again. I will probably cancel the Braclays as I have had two different erroneous charges on the two different of the cards. I also am pretty lucky that my wife's student loan company takes credit cards.

Hotstreak

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #13 on: March 17, 2013, 03:37:01 PM »
How do you deal with the spending requirements?  I have my checking @ US Bank, they have an offer for $400 travel rewards after spending 3500 in 4 months.  Even if I time big bills like insurance, do all my shopping (at sub-optimal % cash back compared to other cards), I could not hit this target with spending.  The only thing I can think of is buying gift cards @ the grocery store, to places I shop at, and using them over a longer period of time.  Any other ways to spend more?

Paul der Krake

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #14 on: March 17, 2013, 03:54:19 PM »
How do you deal with the spending requirements?  I have my checking @ US Bank, they have an offer for $400 travel rewards after spending 3500 in 4 months.  Even if I time big bills like insurance, do all my shopping (at sub-optimal % cash back compared to other cards), I could not hit this target with spending.  The only thing I can think of is buying gift cards @ the grocery store, to places I shop at, and using them over a longer period of time.  Any other ways to spend more?
Plan around major air travel occasions or vacation trips. Even better, work travel that you purchase and get reimbursed for afterwards.

smedleyb

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #15 on: March 17, 2013, 03:59:09 PM »
How do you deal with the spending requirements?  I have my checking @ US Bank, they have an offer for $400 travel rewards after spending 3500 in 4 months.  Even if I time big bills like insurance, do all my shopping (at sub-optimal % cash back compared to other cards), I could not hit this target with spending.  The only thing I can think of is buying gift cards @ the grocery store, to places I shop at, and using them over a longer period of time.  Any other ways to spend more?

Spending requirements have increased dramatically over the past 6 months (points are being constantly devalued, too).  The window is rapidly closing on this game, IMO. 

KimAB

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #16 on: March 17, 2013, 05:06:05 PM »
Is this an American thing?  No credit card ever offered to give me money.

Daley

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #17 on: March 17, 2013, 05:18:08 PM »
I have to admit, I'm curious to know how many of my fellow mustachians who think they're gaming their credit cards and the returns are aware of the changes to credit card fees with merchants in this nation and the possibility of getting billed an extra 1.5-4% during "checkout" transaction processing.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/credit-card-fees-effect-sunday/story?id=18316310

From what I understand, there aren't many doing it yet, but I don't foresee that lasting much longer. It feels like these perks are at best going to ultimately become like ATM transaction refunds.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #18 on: March 17, 2013, 05:52:59 PM »
We're all getting charged extra to account for the transaction fees anyway, whether we pay by card or not, unless you can convince the merchant to give a cash discount.

The house always wins.

TheDude

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #19 on: March 17, 2013, 06:16:41 PM »
I have to admit, I'm curious to know how many of my fellow mustachians who think they're gaming their credit cards and the returns are aware of the changes to credit card fees with merchants in this nation and the possibility of getting billed an extra 1.5-4% during "checkout" transaction processing.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/credit-card-fees-effect-sunday/story?id=18316310

From what I understand, there aren't many doing it yet, but I don't foresee that lasting much longer. It feels like these perks are at best going to ultimately become like ATM transaction refunds.

I don't really see this happening. Maybe at some of the small mom and pop stores but I doubt places like Walmart will. Of course I doubt Walamrt pays 1.5%. I hope they due but I think consumers have voted and they like cards.

Katnina

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #20 on: July 21, 2013, 08:25:09 AM »
I did this for a while and it was very profitable. There's a guy who writes about the best sign-up bonuses. He racked up 1MM miles one year: http://millionmilesecrets.com/

I just did what he told me to do and found myself with 4 or 5 cards and lots of free trips. Now I'm about to purchase a house so I stopped churning in case it would hurt my credit rating. I'll resume after my mortgage rate is locked in.

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to thank you for this link, yolfer!
My sister is expecting a baby and she lives in Cali-I'm going to want to visit a lot more than my current yearly trip so have been trying to figure out how to do it on the cheap. Yay!

MelodysMustache

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #21 on: July 21, 2013, 03:37:26 PM »
I have dabbled in this a little bit.  My best one got me 40k points that I used to buy a plane ticket across the country that I will use next year, and a rental car on a recent vacation.  It is playing with snakes so you have to be really careful.

BC_Goldman

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #22 on: July 21, 2013, 09:50:41 PM »
I'd like to dabble in this but it seems like all the cards require spending more money than I normally would in the needed timeframe to collect. The chase sapphire would be excellent but how in the world am I going to spend $3k in three months?

Will

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #23 on: July 21, 2013, 10:03:33 PM »
I'd like to dabble in this but it seems like all the cards require spending more money than I normally would in the needed timeframe to collect. The chase sapphire would be excellent but how in the world am I going to spend $3k in three months?

Same goes for me.  That's why I don't even bother.

thepokercab

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #24 on: July 21, 2013, 10:06:26 PM »
I've done this a bit as well, but it seems that the best "rewards" are travel related, i.e. points for airfare, hotels, etc.. and since I don't travel that often, these aren't all that useful to me. 

The best one that has worked for me is the AMEX Blue Preferred Card. Next to rent, the biggest part of our budget is groceries.  The card offers 6% back at grocery stores up to $6,000.  And since we keep our grocery budget around $400-500 a month, it works out well.  There is a $75.00 annual fee on the card but since we'll easily hit $6,000 for the year, we still come out ahead.  Plus, they offer a $150 bonus in the beginning when you spend you're first $1,000 which basically pays for the first two years. 

The other thing that i do is bank with Perkstreet, which isn't really a credit card but an online banking account that offers "perks" when you use your debit card as a credit card. You get 1% back in stores, and can get 2% back when you shop online- so its ok for those few other purchases we might make at amazon.com or something.  Its not much, but i'd definitely recommend it for folks who might have a problem paying off a monthly credit card balance.   

Other than that, our household has found in the last 6 months that the number of credit card points/rewards we've received has fallen dramatically in relation to the slashing thousands of dollars in unnecessary spending from our budget.  Go figure. 

BC_Goldman

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #25 on: July 21, 2013, 10:24:31 PM »
I'd like to dabble in this but it seems like all the cards require spending more money than I normally would in the needed timeframe to collect. The chase sapphire would be excellent but how in the world am I going to spend $3k in three months?

Same goes for me.  That's why I don't even bother.

Seems like one solution is to use the card to buy a prepaid visa debit card or something. Still need to work out how to get THAT turned back into useable cash.

I remember reading a link somewhere on strategies but it seemed to rely on people who spend several thousand dollars a month on CCs. To bad I can't use it to pay my mortgage...

Katnina

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #26 on: July 22, 2013, 12:23:36 AM »
^ many grocery stores sell their own gift cards.  Add on a $100 gift card to every weekly grocery shop for 3 months and you've added $1200 to your credit card....and can then use the gift cards for groceries for the next however long, depending on your budget :).  Obviously only do this if you have $400 extra a month that you can use to pay those gift cards off in full on the credit card, otherwise you'll get killed by interest.  Also, make sure the gift cards don't have any kind of fees or monthly 'service charges.'

Will

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #27 on: July 22, 2013, 12:35:52 AM »
The problem with that for me is that I buy most of my groceries at Costco and they only take AmEx and don't show up as "grocery store."

Christof

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #28 on: July 22, 2013, 01:23:42 AM »
I remember reading a link somewhere on strategies but it seemed to rely on people who spend several thousand dollars a month on CCs. To bad I can't use it to pay my mortgage...

The way paying mortgage and utilities used to work is that you would use your credit card to buy a Vanilla Reload card at CVS. Then open a bluebird account and from the VanillaReload page transfer the funds to the Bluebird account. They have a billpay service that mails a check. Sometimes you needed to insert another credit card, eg. when a credit card only gives extra points for office supplies, you would purchase a prepaid Visa at Home Depot and then use this card at CVS to buy the Vanilla Reload card.

From my own experience I tend to agree with others here. It is a risky game. To play it efficiently you have to spend a lot of time, you need clear goals, be very flexible in using these miles, learn a lot and stay current on the ever changing rules. Opportunity costs and value of miles need to be carefully monitored and always compared to alternatives. For instance, your "free" flight might be cheaper to pay with miles on United then paying cash, but it might be cheaper to fly Spirit, take a bus or a train, or not to travel at all.

It's extremely hard not to base decisions on points in this game. I can tell from my own experience as I've made a few changes after our son was born. I have a business and a few employees. Even with this combination I only manage to barely meet minimum spent on a single credit card after I focused on minimizing costs rather than maximizing points. I'm in Germany, so minimums are higher and credit card options are fewer.

randymarsh

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #29 on: July 22, 2013, 07:26:53 AM »
Fatwallet is a great source. I just paid of my wife's student loans with credit so that I could get some sign up bonuses. I managed to pay of about $3700 and got about $1420 in bonus money.

What lender do you have that allows CC payments? Mine only accepts cash (checking) payments. I could use balance transfer checks but those usually aren't eligible for rewards.

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #30 on: July 22, 2013, 07:32:33 AM »
I'd like to dabble in this but it seems like all the cards require spending more money than I normally would in the needed timeframe to collect. The chase sapphire would be excellent but how in the world am I going to spend $3k in three months?

Same goes for me.  That's why I don't even bother.

Luckily, our daycare takes cc's. $3k in 3 months? Easy peasy. Blech :(

SaveALLTheThings

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #31 on: July 22, 2013, 02:19:32 PM »
Fatwallet is a great source. I just paid of my wife's student loans with credit so that I could get some sign up bonuses. I managed to pay of about $3700 and got about $1420 in bonus money.

What lender do you have that allows CC payments? Mine only accepts cash (checking) payments. I could use balance transfer checks but those usually aren't eligible for rewards.

I also want to hear the answer to this question, or the most effective way to do so indirectly.  It would be awesome to transfer a manageable amount of my student loans to a 0% APR credit card.



  The Credit Card -> Vanilla Card ->Bluebird->Loan payment method doesn't look very effective at the moment.  You pay $4 per $500 reload on Vanilla and you pay $2 per $100 added from a debit card on bluebird.  So per $1000 that goes through the pipeline, you pay $24, or 2.4%up front.  You can only do reloads in $500 amounts in person, and you can only transfer up to $100 per day to Bluebird.  In other words, up to $3000/month transferred from loan to card.



Let's say you have a 8.75% APR loan, and you're a bit more conservative than that and transfer $1500 per month this way.  Here's the savings over a course of 12 months (keep in mind, you have to pay the money you move back before then and/or use multiple cards, or roll over the balance to another card, likely incurring another fee)

$1500  * 0.024 * 12 = $432 in "credit pipeline" fees

You will transfer $18,000 in that year, but since it's not immediate you still pay some interest on it over the year.
Using this calculator from Bankrate.com, I calculated that you will pay $842 in interest on money waiting to go through the pipeline.  If you do not get the $18,000 transferred and do not make enough direct payments to have a balance below $18,000 by the end of the year, you would pay about $1575 in interest in that year.
===================
 
So what are our net savings?

Amount we will pay in interest if we do nothing - Amount we will pay in interest if we do something - credit pipeline fees + credit card cash back (let's say 2% with a card with grocery store benefits (18000 * 0.02 = $360))

$1575 - $842 - $432 + $360 = $661 savings in a year.

Is going to the store to refill your vanilla card every other week, then scheduling the Debit->bluebird transfers, then scheduling the bluebird -> bank transfers, while also keeping an eye on the fees, making sure nothing goes wrong with your pipeline, and the anxiety of having this debt on your credit card worth it?  You can do better by transferring the full $3000 and/or if your APR is higher, but personally, I'd rather not bother.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 02:52:37 PM by SaveALLTheThings »

penny

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #32 on: July 22, 2013, 06:09:22 PM »
Quote
"The Credit Card -> Vanilla Card ->Bluebird->Loan payment method doesn't look very effective at the moment.  You pay $4 per $500 reload on Vanilla and you pay $2 per $100 added from a debit card on bluebird.  So per $1000 that goes through the pipeline, you pay $24, or 2.4%up front.  You can only do reloads in $500 amounts in person, and you can only transfer up to $100 per day to Bluebird.  In other words, up to $3000/month transferred from loan to card."

This hasn't been my experience. Yes, you do pay the $3.95 per $500 for a vanilla reload, but you can deposit $1,000 per day onto bluebird, and $5,000 a month.  I don't think anyone would advocate using a debit card as far as getting value for your transaction. This is also technically only "deal" when meeting a minimum spend bonus, but there are no cost alternatives if you are willing to drive to Walmart to make a deposit.

SaveALLTheThings

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #33 on: July 22, 2013, 06:16:21 PM »
Quote
"The Credit Card -> Vanilla Card ->Bluebird->Loan payment method doesn't look very effective at the moment.  You pay $4 per $500 reload on Vanilla and you pay $2 per $100 added from a debit card on bluebird.  So per $1000 that goes through the pipeline, you pay $24, or 2.4%up front.  You can only do reloads in $500 amounts in person, and you can only transfer up to $100 per day to Bluebird.  In other words, up to $3000/month transferred from loan to card."

This hasn't been my experience. Yes, you do pay the $3.95 per $500 for a vanilla reload, but you can deposit $1,000 per day onto bluebird, and $5,000 a month.  I don't think anyone would advocate using a debit card as far as getting value for your transaction. This is also technically only "deal" when meeting a minimum spend bonus, but there are no cost alternatives if you are willing to drive to Walmart to make a deposit.

Their fee schedule is here: https://www.bluebird.com/faqs#fees-and-limits

Quote
Add Funds
...
From a Debit Card ($100 daily limit)    (per transaction) $2
...

Limits
...
*Debit Card(s) (in aggregate)    Up to $100 per transaction $100 per day; and $1,000 per month*
 
[/s]

 If it's possible to do the $1000 per day with a debit card, it's not metioned in their fee schedule so I did the calculations without that knowledge.  It's possible that they changed the rules since you did it. 


I noticed after your post that there's also "vanilla reload packs", which are a different thing and can be applied directly to bluebird.  it appears that you can avoid more fees by using those instead.

Quote
Cash (includes Swipe Reload and InComm Vanilla Reload Packs)    $1,000 per day
$5,000 per month

Knowing that definitely makes it look more favorable.  I also thought Vanilla was a Visa product so I didn't think Amex would accept such a thing directly.  Is it possible to redeem Vanilla reloads on Bluebird online?  Or do you HAVE to go to a Walmart store?
« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 06:44:51 PM by SaveALLTheThings »

penny

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #34 on: July 22, 2013, 07:00:31 PM »
Quote
I also thought Vanilla was a Visa product so I didn't think Amex would accept such a thing.
From what I understand you can't deposit Amex prepaid cards into the Amex "checking account" (bluebird).  Since April, gift cards come with a pin so you can use them as a debit card and deposit them into your bank account (theoretically!).
Frankly I get wanting to "game the system" but as others have mentioned, it's more lucrative for travel, and there really is a time investment- you need to view it as a hobby. But, what a fab hobby it is- far better than a part time job as far as I'm concerned!

penny

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #35 on: July 22, 2013, 07:05:18 PM »
Sorry yes, you can redeem Vanilla reload online, https://www.vanillareload.com
Make sure you get the white ones that say "prepaid vanilla reload".
You need to go to Walmart to deposit gift cards into your account- shopping around online will find you far better deals than buying them in a store.

MoneyLifeandMore

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #36 on: July 22, 2013, 08:02:03 PM »
I definitely take advantage of credit card sign up bonuses and share a few on my blog from time to time. I try to keep up with the top 5 sign up bonus cards at any given time on my blog and I'll likely be updating it again before the end of the month. Of course, sign up bonuses differ depending on how you end up using them. You can normally get more for transferring the points to a partner program rather than cashing them out. Of course, if it was something you wouldn't spend on in the first place, you'd be losing the free money.

beeth_oven

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #37 on: July 22, 2013, 09:59:02 PM »
Just time the new card acquisition when you know you're gonna be spending a lot. I got 40,000 Starwood Amex points by spending $5,000 in 6 months. By myself, I wouldn't have been able to make it work. But my boyfriend at the time was moving to a new city so I made him use my card to buy all the furniture, then write me a check later.

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #38 on: July 23, 2013, 05:06:54 AM »
I just did that for my AA Advantage Visa, knew I had to replace to AC and that would be an easy way to get 35000 free miles.  I'm trying to determine another good card to take advantage of as I have an anniversary vacation coming up that I need to pay for in September, and will be about 2k.  The idea of having a few credit cards open doesn't necessarily sit well, but none of them have balances on them so I guess if I am getting free money for stuff I would spend on anyway what's the big deal.  It would be nice to get some extra money back for paying my HOA and mortgage, but it sounds like entirely too much effort to get that done in an efficient manner.

Katnina

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #39 on: July 23, 2013, 10:32:19 AM »
Captainawesome, I just signed up for the chase saphire preferred card.  40k bonus points if you spend $3k in the first three months.  2x points on travel/dining, and 7% points dividend at end of December.  Annual fee $95 waived for the first year. 1:1 transfers to several airline miles programs.
Only valid if you've never had a chase card before.
Good luck!

madage

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #40 on: August 14, 2013, 07:49:13 AM »

The other thing that i do is bank with Perkstreet, which isn't really a credit card but an online banking account that offers "perks" when you use your debit card as a credit card. You get 1% back in stores, and can get 2% back when you shop online- so its ok for those few other purchases we might make at amazon.com or something.  Its not much, but i'd definitely recommend it for folks who might have a problem paying off a monthly credit card balance.   


Perkstreet announced yesterday they're shutting down. I understand they also canceled the cash back in all their customers' accounts. I liked their model, but I imagine it became unsustainable after debit card transaction fees were capped.

Vanguards and Lentils

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #41 on: August 14, 2013, 08:27:44 AM »
I'd like to dabble in this but it seems like all the cards require spending more money than I normally would in the needed timeframe to collect. The chase sapphire would be excellent but how in the world am I going to spend $3k in three months?

One way is to pay your bills with it. Even if there is a processing fee of 3% or so, the bonus will probably outweigh it.

A better way is to send payments to family or friends using amazon payments, which is a little similar to paypal. You can send up to $1000 (combined) to them using credit card as long as there is a $0 balance in the account, with no fee. I have used it myself successfully. More on it here: http://www.welltraveledmile.com/how-to-use-amazon-payments-to-meet-minimum-spends-and-earn-more-points/

Katnina

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #42 on: August 14, 2013, 08:44:22 AM »
The amazon payments thing is excellent advice-thank you!

madage

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #43 on: August 15, 2013, 07:15:35 AM »

Perkstreet announced yesterday they're shutting down. I understand they also canceled the cash back in all their customers' accounts. I liked their model, but I imagine it became unsustainable after debit card transaction fees were capped.

Posting again to correct my assumption. The banks Perkstreet was using were actually exempt from the debit card fee cap put in place by the "Durbin amendment" because both (The Bancorp and Provident) have under $10 Billion in assets. Perkstreet simply ran out of venture capital before it could make its model sustainable.

sleepyguy

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #44 on: August 15, 2013, 11:37:37 AM »
By far the best here in Canada for us has be the 0% 15mth interest free MBNA card.  I've renewed 3 or 4 times now (I forget).  We have about 30 or 35k tied up and we'll pay off the entire balance probably in a lump sum when it's up (in April 2014).  There is a one-time 1% fee and minimum $200/mth (straight to principal since it's 0%)... We paid cash for a car (benefiting from 8k purchase incentive) and dropped the rest into TSFA (Tax Free Savings Account... gains are untaxed, Canadian only)... which has done pretty well.

beltim

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #45 on: August 15, 2013, 05:21:56 PM »
I have to admit, I'm curious to know how many of my fellow mustachians who think they're gaming their credit cards and the returns are aware of the changes to credit card fees with merchants in this nation and the possibility of getting billed an extra 1.5-4% during "checkout" transaction processing.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/credit-card-fees-effect-sunday/story?id=18316310

From what I understand, there aren't many doing it yet, but I don't foresee that lasting much longer. It feels like these perks are at best going to ultimately become like ATM transaction refunds.

This is illegal in some states, including mine.  And even if it weren't, you simply wouldn't use your credit cards at merchants that charged you more for using your credit card.

smedleyb

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #46 on: August 15, 2013, 07:23:08 PM »
I have to admit, I'm curious to know how many of my fellow mustachians who think they're gaming their credit cards and the returns are aware of the changes to credit card fees with merchants in this nation and the possibility of getting billed an extra 1.5-4% during "checkout" transaction processing.

In the context of I.P. Daley's observations, I found this article interesting:


Quote
A discount grocery chain is being called "Wal-Mart's worst nightmare."
WinCo, a Western grocery chain with about 100 stores, has a business model that allows for cheaper prices than Wal-Mart, writes Brad Tuttle at Time.

WinCo keeps costs low by buying directly from suppliers and eliminating middlemen, according to Tuttle. It also doesn't accept credit cards and has customers bag their own groceries.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/win-chain-is-wal-marts-worst-nightmare-2013-8#ixzz2c5fpyzJY

In a world of compressed profit margins, how long until the revolt against these financial parasites hits full stride?

Undecided

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #47 on: August 15, 2013, 08:18:38 PM »
I have to admit, I'm curious to know how many of my fellow mustachians who think they're gaming their credit cards and the returns are aware of the changes to credit card fees with merchants in this nation and the possibility of getting billed an extra 1.5-4% during "checkout" transaction processing.

In the context of I.P. Daley's observations, I found this article interesting:


Quote
A discount grocery chain is being called "Wal-Mart's worst nightmare."
WinCo, a Western grocery chain with about 100 stores, has a business model that allows for cheaper prices than Wal-Mart, writes Brad Tuttle at Time.

WinCo keeps costs low by buying directly from suppliers and eliminating middlemen, according to Tuttle. It also doesn't accept credit cards and has customers bag their own groceries.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/win-chain-is-wal-marts-worst-nightmare-2013-8#ixzz2c5fpyzJY

In a world of compressed profit margins, how long until the revolt against these financial parasites hits full stride?

Building practically world-wide payment processing networks is hardly parasitic. When I (in the U.S.) buy something from abroad via the internet (which I do a couple of dozen times a year), I can use a credit card to make that payment, instantly, and the seller can send my good on their way. Pretty convenient (I also don't pay a foreign transaction fee with the cards I use for those purchases, and I get a reasonable currency conversion rate). When I travel, I can do the same thing, minimizing the need to convert into or withdraw local currency. If I want to purchase a download, payment by credit card allows me to do that from virtually any seller without the need to have some sort of payment account with that seller. I get a comprehensive record of my purchases.


seattlecyclone

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #48 on: August 15, 2013, 08:48:19 PM »
The credit card networks bring a lot of convenience, no doubt about it. I use credit cards all the time for the better purchase tracking, reward points, ability to dispute purchases, etc. This convenience comes at a cost though. You don't see it directly when you buy something, but the merchant definitely pays it. They then pass that cost along to you, the customer.

That cost is worth it when it allows for more efficient processes, like online shopping. Perhaps we would all save money if some merchants (such as grocery stores) withdrew from the system and required purchases to be made in cash. When I lived in the midwest, two of the cheaper grocery stores in town (Woodman's and Aldi) only accepted cash or debit cards. I have no doubt that this decision helped them be able to keep their prices lower.

Christof

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Re: Anyone ever gamed the credit card bonuses?
« Reply #49 on: August 16, 2013, 01:39:46 AM »
This completely ignores that processing cash isn't free either. In Germany this is no longer a government paid process. Now at market price stores have to pay up to 50 cents to process 50 one cent coins. Suddenly credit cards do not seem that expensive anymore and more stores accept them.