Has this happened to you?
You have been approved for 6 new credit cards this month, but are worried that you won’t be able to complete the thousands of dollars in minimum spending required to get that large sign-on bonus!
Most of us who collect miles and points are thrifty and spending thousands of dollars in a few months seems daunting.
In this post, I’ll discuss 40+ ways to complete minimum spending requirements on a credit card so that we can all get those large sign-on bonuses.
We start with common everyday expenses which you can charge to your credit card and then move onto expenses which you can charge to your credit card for a small fee.
For example, I would gladly pay a 3% fee on a transaction if it was the only way I had of meeting the minimum payment necessary for sign-up bonuses.
We conclude with other *ahem* delicate ways to bump credit card spending such as payment processors and other methods. As always, let your personal values and ethics guide your decision to use or not use a particular method
Use Your Credit Card With No Fee
Regular Expenses
1. Insurance. Pay your car, homeowners, medical, or renter’s insurance using a credit card. If you are on a monthly plan, considering paying in advance for a few extra months, provided you can pay off your credit card bill when it comes due.
2. Cellphone/Cable/Internet. You can usually pay for your cellphone, cable, an internet bill using a credit card. You may also be able to pre-pay your cellphone, cable, or internet bill via a credit card by paying more than the monthly amount due. Once again, don’t do this if you can’t pay off your credit card bill when it comes due!
3. Dining. Pay for all your dining expenses using a credit card. Don’t pay cash unless you really have to.
4. Groceries. Pay for all your groceries using a credit card. If you regularly buy groceries, consider buying grocery store gift cards and use them to buy groceries in future months.
5. Netflix. Pay for your Netflix subscription using a credit card.
6. Gas. Don’t pay cash or use a debit card. Use your new credit card instead.
7. Gym Memberships. Pay for your gym membership with a credit card.
8. Car Repairs. Why write a check or use a debit card to pay for oil changes and repairs when you can use your new credit card?
9. Toll Transponders. If you have an automated toll transponder in your car (I-Pass, K-Tag, FastTrak etc.) you may be able to use your credit card to load additional dollars to your toll account. (Hat Tip to Gary Steiger)
10. Business Travel. If you travel on business, you may be able to charge expenses to your personal credit card and then claim reimbursement from your employer. My employer offers a business credit card, but I haven’t applied for it since it does not offer reward points. I use my personal credit cards instead!
Gift Cards
11. American Express Gift Cards. You can buy American Express gift cards from Big Crumbs and get a 1.6% rebate. American Express ships the gift card to you in 2 days ($8 fee), and you can usually avoid paying fees to buy the gift card. Use code EMSVCA to purchase gift cards fee free until January 31, 2012.
It usually takes 2 months to actually get the cash rebate from Big Crumbs, but this is a good way to complete minimum spending requirements quickly. You can then use the American Express gift cards instead of your credit card to pay for expenses in future months.
Be aware that Citibank may charge a cash advance fee for purchase of American Express gift cards directly from American Express. I bought gift cards using my Chase credit cards in June, but was not charged a cash advance fee. However, you should order a small quantity at first to see if you are charged a cash advance fee on your credit card.
Buying gift cards from drug stores or grocery stores should not trigger cash advance fees, but you should always determine that for yourself.
12. Amazon.com Gift Cards. Consider buying Amazon.com gift cards to use later. You can now earn extra miles for shopping on Amazon.com, and the gift cards never expire. (Hat Tip to Gary Steiger)
13. Store Gift Cards. Stock up on your gift cards to your favorite stores. Only do this if you expect to use the cards and won’t pay interest on your credit card for pre-buying the gift cards.
Gifts
14. Holiday Gifts. Consider buying your holiday gifts in advance! Stock up on either store gift cards or American Express gift cards if you can’t decide what gifts to get.
15. Birthday Gifts. Consider buying birthday gifts for friends and family in advance. Can’t decide what to get them? Get them American Express Gift Cards or store gift cards!
16. Graduation Gifts. American Express Gift cards make good graduations gifts, since to misquote Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a graduate in possession of a new diploma must be in want of cash cash-like gift cards.
17. Charitable Contributions. Many Americans make donations to charities. Consider making your donation now using your new credit card, instead of later in the year.
18. Religious Contributions. Perhaps you could make your regular religious contributions (church, temple, etc.) via credit card instead of writing a check or using cash. (Hat Tip to Megan)
Medical Expenses
19. FSA Account. If you have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), you likely get a debit card with which to make your medical expense payments (co-pays, prescriptions etc.) In most cases, you can pay for your FSA-approved expenses with a regular credit card and submit a request for reimbursement. Yes, it is a bit more cumbersome, but it helps complete minimum spend requirements.
20. Vision Insurance. If you have vision insurance, you may be able to buy contact lenses on-line or from a vision provider with your credit card and submit a request for reimbursement later.
Home Remodeling & Other Services
A contractor or other household service provider whom you trust and does outstanding work is much more important than a few extra miles (blasphemy, I know!). So don’t be too aggressive with these suggestions, or they may not stick around very long!
21. Contractor Payment. Ask your contractor if you get a discount for payment by cash (if you can’t pay by credit card). If there is a cash discount, ask if you can get the cash discount if you pay in American Express Gift cards. If yes, use Big Crumbs to purchase American Express gift cards at 1.6% discount (#10).
22. Contractor Supplies. Ask your contractor if you can purchase the supplies needed for your project directly from the shop (Home Depot, Lowe’s, the lumber yard etc.). If your contractor agrees, purchase the supplies using your credit card.
23. Baby Sitter, Maids, Pet Sitters, Handymen, Yard Work Providers. Ask your baby sitter, maids, pet sitters, handymen and yard work providers if he or she will accept gift cards instead of cash. If yes, buy American Express Gift Cards from Big Crumbs (#10) above for a 1.6% discount.
Or perhaps you can convince them to accept payments via Amazon Payments (#37) or PayPal (#38)?
Friends and Family
24. Reimbursement for Purchases. Consider paying your close friend’s and family’s expenses using your credit card and getting them to write you a check for reimbursement.
For example, purchase your dad’s new home theater system on your credit card, and then ask dad to write you a check for the amount. Do the same with friends whom you trust.
25. Additional Cards For Your Partner Or Children. Get additional add-on cards for your partner and children and have them put all their expenses on the card. Be careful, since this can get expensive quickly!
Other Ways
26. Wedding Expenses. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, but don’t forget to ask the vendors if you can pay the deposit or other wedding expenses with your credit card!
27. Splitting Payments. Most shops will let you use multiple credit cards for 1 transaction. For example, if you are buying a $1,000 TV, you can ask the cashier to charge, say, $300 on your Visa card (to complete the exact minimum spending required if you had only $300 left to spend on that card) and $700 on your American Express card. That way you can complete your minimum spending on more than one card. (Hat Tip to Roger Haynie)
28. Insurance Payments. If you receive a payment from an insurance company, you may be able to charge your expenses (car or home repair) on your credit card and use the money from the insurance company to pay your credit card bill. (Hat Tip to Roger Haynie)
Pay a Convenience Fee To Use Your Credit Card
In general, paying a convenience fee (2% or higher) to be able to use a credit card to make a payment is not worth the miles earned on a regular basis.
However, it may be useful to meet the minimum spending requirement on a credit card or to achieve a certain level of spending on a card, for example the $30,000 needed to earn a free companion certificate on the Chase British Airways Visa credit card.
For example, paying a 3% fee on a $4,000 minimum spend requirement to get 75,000 bonus miles will cost you $120.
Paying $120 as a fee is totally worth it to me if I would otherwise miss out on those 75,000 bonus miles!
You should always check the fees involved and do the math to see if this makes sense for you to do.
Recurring Expenses
29. Mortgage Payments. Charge Smart allows you to pay your mortgage via credit card (Visa, MasterCard & Discover, but currently NOT American Express) for a fee of ~2.4% or higher.
30. Rent. Williampaid lets you pay your rent via a credit card for a fee.
31. Car Payments. Charge Smart also lets you pay your car payments via a credit card (Visa, MasterCard & Discover, but currently NOT American Express) for a fee.
32. Car Registration. You may be able to pay for your car registration with a credit card for a small convenience fee.
33. Utility Payments. You can pay for utilities such as water and electricity by using a credit card either through your utility provider or via a 3rd party provider such as Charge Smart for a fee.
Education Expenses
34. College Tuition. Many colleges will let you pay for all or part of the tuition and housing costs with a credit card for a fee. Check your college’s website or Official Payments for more information on paying with a credit card.
35. Student Loans. Charge Smart lets you pay your student loan payments via a credit card for a fee (Visa, MasterCard & Discover, but currently NOT American Express). You may also be able to use a credit card, for a fee, directly through your loan provider.
Taxes
36. Property taxes. You may be able to pay your property taxes with a credit card for a fee either directly through your county or through a 3rd party service provider such as Official Payments.
37. US Taxes. You may be able to pay your Federal Income taxes with a credit card for a fee. The IRS maintains a list of tax payment service providers on their website.
38. State & Local Taxes. You may be able to pay your state and local taxes either directly through your county or through a 3rd party service provider such as Official Payments for a fee.
International Money Transfers
39. Money Transfers. Xoom lets you send money internationally for a fee. (Hat Tip to zeesh86)
Other ways to complete Minimum spending
These methods may not be for everyone, so please let your personal values and ethics guide your decision to use or not use a particular method.
Payment Services
Payment services allow you to transfer money from one person to another.
Be aware that the fees and policies are continually changing, so I recommend that you check the fees before using any of these options. Please read each providers’ Terms & Conditions so that you know what is allowed and what is not!
Instead of transferring money back and forth between accounts (which is easier to detect), you may want to consider transferring money from person A to person B using a payment service, and having person B return the money to person A by check.
40. Amazon Payments. Amazon Payments currently lets you transfer $1,000 a month from person to person free of charge (if you select the “goods and services” option).
41. PayPal. PayPal is a large payment processor which charges a fee for purchases or personal transfers. There are lots of reports of PayPal closing accounts for frequently transferring money between accounts, so do your own research before using this method.
42. Venmo. This is a way to transfer small amounts of money from person to person using a mobile phone. The Venmo website describes the service as a way “to pay each other back for lunch, dinner, drinks, rent, groceries, tickets, and trips.”
For example, you could pay your partner or friend for the groceries they bought for you.
Currently there is no fee, but there is a monthly limit of $ 1,200 which can be transferred via credit card.
Be aware that Venmo has been closing accounts that frequently transfer money back and forth. Transfers in a 1-way direction may not arouse as much suspicion as regular back-and-forth transfers between 2 people.
Venmo will soon charge a 3% fee for sending money in May 2012.
43. Pay Divvy. Pay Divvy lets you send money from person to person using a credit card for a 3.5% fee.
Other Ways
44. Returns To Stores. I am uncomfortable with this method and have not personally used it, so please do your own research if you decide to use this method.
A few stores – particularly those noted for excellent customer service such as Costco or Nordstrom – allow you to receive a refund for a purchase on a different credit card than the one used to make the purchase.
There have been reports of folks charging, say, a $60,000 ring from Costco on a mile earning credit card and then returning the ring in a few days, and asking for the refund to be processed on a different non-mile earning credit card. The net result is that you have “earned” 60,000 miles or points on your credit card.
45. Money Orders. Some grocery stores will let you buy money orders with your credit card. You then deposit the money order in your bank.
I have not found any grocery store which has let me buy money orders with a credit card, but your luck (especially with smaller non-chain grocery stores and in small towns) may be better!
Bottom Line: Don’t let large minimum spend requirements prevent you from getting large credit card sign-up bonuses.
The above tips and a little planning will let you meet most of the spend necessary to get the large credit card sign-up bonuses and have Big Travel with Small Money!
What are your favorite ways to meet the minimum spending requirements on your credit cards? Tell us in the comments!
Related Posts:
- Use The 2-Browser Trick To Earn 150,000 Free AAdvantage Miles
- What Everybody Ought To Know About The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card 50,000 Bonus Points
- 3 Ways You May Qualify For a Business Credit Card
Disclosure: I don’t get any commission or payment from any of the service providers mentioned above or from anyone else for this post or for the links in this post.
I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
Good suggestions on the prepay options and gift / grocery cards- never thought of that! US Mint feels like it’s under the spotlight nowadays (yahoo, Conde Nast)- but glad you mention ALL options to let the reader decide!
A variation on #15: We sponsor a child through World Vision, so that’s an automatic $40/month charge. I think a lot of people donate to their church or a charity monthly (or even weekly) so that can be another way to earn miles (while doing good!).
As for the USMint suggestion, I am interested in buying a few boxes to actually put into circulation, so thanks for that. It is a great way to meet minimum spend/get miles and help out the country. But in the spirit of full disclosure, I wanted to point out that the Mint doesn’t just “suggest” that buying/depositing is against the rules. It states it explicitly:
“The immediate bank deposit of $1 coins ordered through this program does not result in their introduction into circulation and, therefore, does not comply with the intended purpose of the program.”
Of course, like you said, it’s up to each of us to make choices according to our own moral convictions. I just wanted to make sure that newbies (especially) get full disclosure.
Thanks for the tip on ChargeSmart. I have been looking for a way to pay my old college loan off via credit card, but the loan provider wouldn’t accept CC, so I thought I was stuck.
New card minimum spend requirements are now easy!
man I got excited when I read the ChargeSmart recommendation then I went over there and they don’t accept Amex. Only Visa’s I have at the time are the CITI/AA visa’s with $1,500 which are pretty much done with.
They also don’t carry Ed Financial which is who my student loan is with.
They’ll be a good option if I get another Visa but I’m more worried about hitting my SPG bonuses ($15k in 6 months!!) and Amex isn’t a pay option.
We recently had a big hail storm and so insurance paid for a new roof, new guttering and $5,ooo in vehicle repairs. I wiped out the minimum spend requirement on 4 cards just paying those bills with the cc and then using the insurance company check to pay off the cc. When I paid for the car repairs, I asked and the cashier actually let me use 3 different cards.
I find #37 sickening. And avoid fees at all costs!!
I’m trying to meet spend reqs for Amex SPG and Amex Gold. If I buy a gift card from Amex/big crumbs/etc, will those count as cash advances?
A friend had $20K in remodelling done. The remodeller would not take credit cards. Just checks or cash. My friend asked if $20K in coins was OK. The answer was yes.
@KamanCali – Thanks! There are a few more suggestions in the comments below.
@Megan – Thanks for the church suggestion. I tried it, but they didn’t accept a credit card payment (likely because they were small, but I’m sure the larger churches would). I’ll update the post to mention that the mint mentions that the IMMEDIATE deposit of coins goes against the spirit of the program. But the mint’s spokesperson did say that while the mint does not like the redeposit of these coins, it is not illegal.
You’re right – more disclosure is always better than less!
@Bob – ChargeSmart is great for those times when it looks like you may miss a sign-up bonus because you can’t complete the minimum spend.
@SBSeanB – ChargeSmart currently accepts American Express only for utility payments. I’m hoping that they will soon accept them for other payments as well. American Express usually charges merchants a higher fee which helps explain why many merchants don’t accept American Express. You’re right that the Visa and MasterCard spending should be done using ChargeSmart (if needed) and to use the other methods for the regular spending.
@Roger Haynie – Sorry to hear about the storm, but thanks for the tips. I’ll update the post to mention that you may be able to split payments on many cards.
@gpapadop – Agreed on both counts!
@Anon E Mous - I don’t have any personal experience buying gift cards through Big Crumbs via American Express, but I’ve heard that American Express could institute a Financial Review (where they suspend your account and ask for tax returns) if you order a lot of gift cards. Once again, I’m not sure of the specific amount which will trigger the Financial Review, but don’t think small amounts would trigger that review. I don’t believe they count as cash advances for American Express, but you should double check!
@Bikeguy- Ha! I wonder what the contractor did with all those $1 coins!
Does anyone know under what category cash advance appear on your statement? I did some money transfer using paydivvy and it appeared as “Business Services – Internet Services” on my statement. Is it same as Cash Advance?
@Rajnish – I don’t know which card you are using, but it will generally appear as a “cash advance” and there will be a higher rate of interest for the cash advance on your statement.
Excellent post and a wonderful compilation. This will defeinitely help Newbies like me.
I used AMEX gold for the transfer. Paydivvy is one of those websites(like paypal) that can be used to send money, pay rent and other bills. I did not see Cash advance anywhere on my statement, so probably it was considered a purchase
.
Moreover, i pay in full every month, so i am not worried about interest rate.
This is awesome Daraius, thanks for the comprehensive list!
@Vinay, @Jenny - Glad you found it useful!
@Rajnish – I’ll update the list and add Paydivvy. Fees for cash advances are charged from the date of the charge until you pay off your bill. The only way to not pay interest on a cash advance charge (as opposed to a regular purchase charge) is to pay off the charge immediately (and even then you will pay interest for a few days until your payment clears).
Well I am in the process of getting married. I have successfully met minimum amounts on four cards by charging the deposits for various vendors. This list will definitely help me with future spending requirements.
@Robert – Congratulations, and thanks for the tip! I’ll update the list to mention charging deposits for the various vendors. I’m sure that adds up quickly!
It looks like Venmo has a waiting list unless you are invited by a friend and have an invite code. Any current Venmo members looking for new friends….?
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@Jim – You’ve got mail! I got an invite about ~7 days after I signed-up for the waiting list.
thanks for the tips – very helpful!!
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One of my favorite methods for quickly meeting CC spending thresholds is to purchase fully refundable air tickets. You meet the minimum spend right away and get the sign-up bonus right away. Then, once you meet the minimum spending requirement excluding the air ticket, you cancel the ticket for a full refund!
Does anyone know if Citi credit cards (I’m thinking AAdvantage miles, here!) consider the standard Visa giftcards (like you’d buy at a drugstore) to be a cash advance? The post indicates that American Express cards are considered a cash advance, but what about the less “prestigious” Visa gift cards? Thanks for any thoughts – I’m thinking about giving the “two browser trick” a try this weekend
@heidi – You’re welcome!
@Gene – An interesting idea!
@Megan – American Express gift cards bought directly from Big Crumbs or AMEX seems to qualify as a cash advance.
I don’t have any experience, but I suspect that any gift card bought at a grocery store or drugstore will NOT trigger a cash advance fee since the transaction originates at the grocery store or drugstore. In other words, it will appear that you’ve been shopping for groceries and not for gift cards.
My FastTrak transponder in my car allows me to pass through bridge toll booths without stopping. But I have to pre-fund the account. This is done automatically, but I can do it manually for a few hundred dollars if I need the spend to qualify for a bonus.
You can buy Amazon.com gift cards via the Hawaiian Airlines or U.S. Airways shopping portals. Not only do you get the spend and miles on your credit card, you also get miles from the portal. Then just add the gift card amount to your Amazaon account, combining this with gift cards from other sources, like Swagbucks. It never expires.
I am always amazed at how much stuff Amazon sells.
Well, I must always buy groceries at Safeway anyway. So when I need a spend within a certain time limit, buying a Safeway gift card at the store costs no more. I use it up pretty quickly. This is particularly nice if the card you are working on gives extra miles or points for grocery store purchases.
Just FYI, you can’t buy US mint via credit card effective 20th July.
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@Gary Steiger – Thanks for the additional ways to complete minimum spending. I’ve updated the list with your suggestions!
@zeesh86 – I’ve removed the US mint from the list. Thanks for the reminder!
I recently started using Squareup to meet the minimum monthly transaction requirements for several reward checking accounts. Each account requires at least 12 debit card (VISA) transactions in order to receive the higher interest rate each month. The service costs 2.75% if you use their smartphone based credit card reader. In situations where one needs to meet a minimum spending requirement for credit card promotional purposes, there’s no reason not to pay a small fee, $27.50 per $1,000, for the purpose of obtaining a generous bonus.
@nross - Thanks for the tip, and I totally agree that it is quite okay to pay a fee to get a large bonus!
I was wondering if we can still buy travelers check using credit card and deposit them in the bank account. I know it was possible before, not sure about the current situation. Any thoughts?
@Rajnish – This doesn’t work anymore, but I used to do it with AMEX traveler’s checks. You have to pay fees, and possibly a cash advance fee, to buy travelers checks with a credit card which can be very expensive!
Can anyone send me the invite for Venmo please( raj_pre453@yahoo.co.in)? Thanks!
Hey another suggestion. I usually transfer money back to India (my home country). You can use your credit card for it.
Xoom.com charges you $49.99 to transfer $2,000 via credit card i.e. close to 2.5% transfer rate. So, if any one wants to transfer money to another country, this might help.
Can any one send me a Venmo invite please? My e-mail is zeesh86@gmail.com.
I would like a Venmo invite if anyone has one. Thanks! traviskuper@gmail.com
Fastrak: I prepaid a whole lot on mine. I was told by a rep that this will jack the autopay threshold and replenishment amounts because they are determined by average payments, NOT average utilization. (But you could cancel auto pay, or just not worry about it as it will sort out eventually.)
@Rajnish & @tkuper05 – You’ve got mail.
@zeesh86 - That’s a great idea, and I’ll update the post to reflect Xoom.com
@erica – Thanks for sharing! I’ve prepaid my K-tag, and the replenishment levels haven’t changed. But thanks for the warning on Fastrak. I will update the post with your observation.
@Daraius- Awesome, Thanks a lot for the invite! Funny thing is; i saw the invite this morning from Daraius Dubash, but could not remember if i know anyone with this name probably because i recognize you with your blog’s name. Later on, when i visited your blog, i saw you message and realized immediately that it’s no other but you. One correction- After signing up, i realized that the limit for sending/receiving is 1200/month; opposed to 500/month mentioned above.
Thanks again!
Great list Darius! It looks like Venmo, combined with Amazon payments will be a great way to complete these requirements. Any more venmo invites available? Thanks! boogsbobo@hotmail.com
If anyone else still happens to have VENMO invitations available, please forward me one at: john.james.osullivan@gmail.com
Greatly appreciated – thanks.
Hello
I would like to request an invite as well, if at all still possible from anyone.
Hope everyone’s ready to enjoy the weekend!
Thanks
I really have a problem with you suggesting buying money orders with credit cards at independent and mom and pop stores.
Most stores make about half the money order fee in profits. So if they charge $1 for a money order, they might make 50 cents off of it. The merchant fees on using a credit card would be way more than what they earn on the fee. If you find a store willing to do it, it’s probably because the clerk wasn’t properly trained or just doesn’t care. It’s one thing if this is a Walmart or some other big business that can absorb the loss, but to suggest doing that at a non-chain store that is most likely a mom and pop run store is just wrong.
Thanks for the tips! I registered as well for Big Crumbs and confirms it works. It is like double dipping where you get points/miles and then cashback for purchases. Lots of good online retailers like target, macys, newegg, homedepot, buy.com, macmall to name a few. Cashbacks are typically 3-6% and are paid via Paypal. If anyone is interested in registering please use link goo.gl/Ht4Hk.
If anyone has a venmo invite, I would really appreciate receiving one. Thanks!
fulton215@verizon.net
I work at a fire station where we split the dinner cost every night. If anyone else still happens to have VENMO invitations available I’d like to try it out.
thanks
first_responder@msn.com
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I’d also like a Venmo invite if anyone has one available – 1433rob+m@gmail.com please and TIA
Under the “every little bit helps” category – in California where I live, stores are required to pay out gift card/store credit balances under $10. Target does so in cash. I buy Target gift cards at Safeway on a credit card that earns bonus points at grocery stores, then run them down to just under $10 and get cash back.
Use ‘mash61′ for the Venmo invite code. It worked for me today.
I got one more for you to add, Annual trips to the county/state fair. The fare used to be an all cash event and a lots of cash event too. most vendors and food vendors now accept credit cards for all your deep fried crazy food needs. plus if you are using the chase sapphire card to meet your minimum spend you will get double points on the food vendors.
i also have found chase counts some odd places as resterants for double points including a winery i order from and my wife’s gym membership.
@Chris - Good tip. Triple fried oreos, here I come!
Thanks for all the advice. It is the first time I venture into this cc miles things so forgive the basic question. Do balance transfers from other cards not count towards the minimum spend requirement to get those bonus miles?
Purchase or put a down payment on a cruise and then cancel before the full refund period expires. You should make sure you can cancel the cruise after you received your sign up bonus and you are outside the bonus spend requirement period.
@new2this – Unfortunately, balance transfers don’t count toward the minimum spend for most cards.
@Paul – Thanks for the tip!
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Can you send me a link to venmo?
Can you send me a link to venmo?
hoopsnbaseball@hotmail.com
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Thanks for your great tips! Could you please send me an invitation for Venom? My email is hoangngan82@yahoo.com.
Got it. Thank you very much!
Good list. Thanks. Code “EMSVCA” has expired from AMEX (american express) Gift cards. Have any others? Also can you verify if buying a gift card would be a cash advance?
It seems the AMEX gift card through Big Crumbs is the easiest way to run through a minimum spend? Any downside to this? Can you buy AMEX gift cards with Visa Credit cards?
I just wanted to chime in on #29, ChargeSmart, since I’ve been using them the past couple months. I have had great success using CS’s service to pay my mortgage on my two recently acquired Citi AA Visa cards. I am also trying to hit 15K/6Mos for SPG Amex so without this service I wouldn’t have been able to make it.
I did have a small situation where the mortgage was mistakenly charged twice. Well I called CS about 8AM EST when I got into work and was told a supervisor would call me later in the day. CS is in PST so it was about 3PM that I got a call from Emily who couldn’t have been more helpful. She went out of her way in communicating what caused the error and gave me every reassurance that it would be corrected. She even emailed me multiple email confirmations for my records.
‘Lo and behold the charge was credited back to me within 2 business days and all is well. I will continue to use CS for minimum spends requirements (The fee isn’t exorbitant by any means but there’s no need to pay it for anything other than minimum spends) and I’ll be getting “big travel with small money” (sorry D, hope you haven’t trademarked it yet
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@Daraius, Great post! Ia m trying out few of these. But cCould you please send me an invitation for Venom? My email is “cadet869@hotmail.com” ? Thanks!
so I have the citi aadvantage amex card. I bought $500 visa giftcard and two $250 safeway shopping giftcard at a safewaystore and I met the first $1k and $3k more to go?
what else?
buy a $3k international asia roundtrip refundable airline ticket online and return it for refund.
@luvflying – If you add yourself to the Venmo waiting list, you’ll get an invite in about a week.
@jimmy - I’d be careful about the refundable ticket, because you be audited later. You could try Amazon Payments…
i applied for both visa $1500 spent and amex business $400 spent and now waiting for the total 150k bonus miles Will this 150k miles be enough for roundtrip from US to kathmandu,Nepal? or US to Dlehi India?
Once the miles is posted on my aadvantage account, how long do i have to redeem them for airline ticket? expires? if this really works big for me, i want to apply for my wife cos she can definitely use the 150k miles for free roundtrip to Nepal. advice please!
2 questions,
1,Can the aadvantage miles be transfered from one account to a different account? let’s say my wife has 75k aadvantage miles earned from citi aadvantage visa card and i also have an aadvantage card with my own account. if i want to make international roundtrip and my point is not enough, can my wife transfer her miles to my aadvantage account for use?
2, i checked on the aadvantage travel site and typed roundtrip from US to Nepal, from is ORD, chicago, to KTM which is nepal, but it says THERE IS NO AMERICAN AIRLINES OR FLIGHTS BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES YOU SELECTED. but when i tye DELHI than it shows AA flights, anyway I can book roundtip to KTM nepal?
@jimmy – It is 45K miles in coach to India/Nepal, 67.5K in business, and 90K in First each way. You can use them to redeem for a ticket whenever you like as long as they don’t expire. It is easy to keep the miles alive after 18 months by using your credit card, dining, etc.
Your wife can transfer the miles to your account, but the fee is not worth it. Since you can book 1 way trips on AA, she can just book the award in your name.
You could book to KTM, but you’d have to connect using Jet Airways in India. You can fly AA or BA to London, and then connect to AA or Jet Airways to destinations in India, and then connect to Jet Airways to KTM. You will have to call to book this itinerary since it involves partner airlines and is not available online.
ok thanks, i ‘d like to apply one for my wife , the citi visa $1500 spent. the citi business $1500 spent is expired right? in booking flights, whats better the AMEX REWARDS POINTS or this citi aadvantage miles? i have over 100k points in amex rewards points
@jimmy – I prefer AA points, but it doesn’t hurt to have points elsewhere for more flexibility.
can i book flights to nepal with the miles earned from chase sapphire?
the chase sapphire card with 50k bonus miles. i used $2k on my citiaadvntage amex card using venmo in one day, it worked but now venmo emailed me saying account canceled for having 2 venmo account . haha thats cos i opened another venmo in my wife’s name and kept sending money back and forth,
you mean there is a fee to transfer miles from wife’s account to mine is too high?
you suggest i book US to Nepal from my account and then return trip from my wife’s account for me in my name and it works?
my my mile alone is not enough for the full trip, is there option to pay the balance in credit card?
@jimmy – You could transfer points to Continental, but you’d need more points to book the flight to Nepal. I prefer Amazon Payments to Venmo. It is not worth the high fee to transfer miles from wife’s account to your account. You can book one way tickets using AA miles, so you could book 1 trip with your miles and another trip with your wife’s miles. You can’t pay for part of the ticket using cash (unless you buy a separate 1 way ticket).
You are my Sensei.
@Dizzie – Ha! Arigato gozaimashita
could i get the link to venmo please?
Link to Venmo please. Thanks for all the info, I am new to miles but with your help I am learning a lot.
Has anyone used their Aadvantage charge cards by CitiBank for a Venmo (payment to a friend) or Charge Smart (mortgage payments), and if so did either trigger a cash advance fee from Citi?
Has anyone recently used their Aadvantage charge cards by CitiBank for a Venmo (payment to a friend) or Charge Smart (mortgage payments) , and if so did either trigger a cash advance fee from Citi?
Regarding #37, I confirmed this afternoon that http://www.payusatax.com will accept my IRS tax payment using my new US Airways/Bank of America debit card, (that’s a hit!). The fee is $3.88! The tax bill is $1,462,000 so if all goes well, I will be busy traveling in 2012! I’ll post the result when I know conclusively.
@Steve Westhead – I wonder why they cap the debit card fee at $3.88. I suspect that you debit card may have a limit on it (and you may need to call the bank to tell them to raise the charging limit and to not flag the transaction), but even multiple transactions with the $3.88 fee will generate a LOT of miles. Please let us know how it goes! I suppose this makes it bit easy to pay taxes!
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those who are thinking of venmo, i used venomo and i got blocked and my card limit is lowered to only $100 monthly
I have used chargesmart, for a mortgage payment to wells fargo, fee was about 2.29%, the website is easy to use, you can use it for one time transactions, so no membership required. Payment was in 3 business days.
I also used williampaid for my friend’s rent, (using my card, I pay the fees and give him beer so i get the miles and minimum spend) You have to sign up for membership, $1.75 per month, first month free. Keep in mind checks are sent in the mail 4-5 days after you schedule the payment. So there is a problem for people who’s rent is due on the 1st of the month, the first month you have to sign up early in the month, in order to schedule the payment, and if you put rent due on 1st, it will permit payment unitl next month…….I may have not explained it clearly, but in summary, the first month you schedule, the second it makes the payment.
One last thing about williampaid, the fee was 2.59%. The website is very confusing (at least compared to chargesmart). will continue using chargesmart, not williampaid.
The contractor I had doing work for me is willing to take a partial payment as a Home Depot gift card. Looking to earn extra points or miles through purchasing the gift card through one of the portal sites and collecting those points as well as the minimum spend on the card and those spend points. Unfortunately it looks like Chase UR is no longer allowing gift card purchases for HD through their portal, from what I found it changed at the beginning of this month – they had been offering 5 points per $ spent at HD. Any other recommendations on other portals that allow for retailer gift cards? I looked on EVrewards and saw that HHonors is 6 points per $, but I know those points aren’t worth as much as the UR points too….
Check that, it’s 5 HH points per $ on EV, not 6…. Or 3 AA points per $.
@jimmy - Venmo is very fickle!
@jorge – Thanks for those reviews – very helpful!
@Steelsnow- I don’t know about other portals, but you could buy AMEX gift cards from Big Crumbs for 1.6% cash back and then buy the home depot gift card using the AMEX gift card.
Thought I would share what I came up with in case anyone else was thinking of partial payment with gift cards, while trying to earn as many points as possible while also meeting a minimum spend on a new card.
After looking around, I found that drugstore.com was offering 8 points per $ spent through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, and that it included the purchase of gift cards in the fine print. Drugstore.com sells many different types of gift cards in $50 and $100 amounts, but for maximum points I focused on the $100 cards – they charge a $4.95 handling fee for each card which is a negative. However, when taking this fee and working the math for the $100 gift card (which earns 900 points…. 8 bonus points this month per $, plus the one point per $ with the card) my cost per UR point comes out to $.0055 each – well under their regular value (even less than PC point prices!)
For the job I had done ($3000 in roof and paint work), I am paying half with these cards – 900 points per card x 15 cards= 13,500 UR points for a cost of $74.25 (the handling fees). Considering 22K can be transfered for a night at a top Hyatt, I thought this was a pretty good value while helping meet the card minimum spend too.
On this note, I plan on purchasing a few other gift cards from drugstore.com, where I know I will be spending $$’s in the next few months (Black Friday, holidays, etc.) – if you value UR points for more than $.0055, you can earn them while using the gift cards on other deals during the holiday shopping specials – better than earning a point or two on every $ spent and valid at B&M stores when the deals are not available online. Hope this helps!
Coincidentally, I work with this company, Value Payment Systems that offers this special rate. The $3.88 flat rate is apart of “convenience fee” rules, which are specific credit card rules that are only applicable when the citizen is charged the processing fee back for tax payments. As mandated under Visa’s Tax Payment Program, the citizen can not be charged more than $3.95 flat “convenience fee” rate when using their Visa Debit Cards to make payments no matter how large the payment is. We charge $3.88. All other cards, including Visa Credit, MasterCard Credit/Debit, Amex and Discover, will be as a percentage rate.
The same rules apply for state or county/city taxes, which is what I specialize in.
went through this pretty quickly – not sure if this was there.
I pay National grid throughout the winter months for heat which can run me over 500 dolaars.
They take Amex and it is a flat $2.25 fee up to $600 per transaction.
this will go along way to helping with the amex business spending requirement or any other one for that matter.
Other utilities also take Credit card such as ConEd but the fee is $.75 and the bills are less so maybe not worth it.
@Steelsnow- This is a great tip you found. I was looking into it a little bit more and it looks like I can purchase Safeway gift cards through Drugstore.com as well, which would be a great value for all my groceries. When I look at the UR shopping portal I see Drugstore.com under the list of places I can get gift cards at, but then under the individual Terms it says that gift cards are not eligible purchases. Were you successful in getting points awarded for your gift card purchases?
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I recently booked a room at a hotel and was charged $450 for the first night on my credit card. I had to cancel the hotel but Delta had already posted the 30k miles on my Skymiles account!
Hi-
I noticed one of the readers commenta about using ChargeSmart for mortgage payments.
I tried to do some research online.
Did you ever hear of them, use them?
It seems like a great way to do minimums and the fee is not to bad either.
It depends on the company but for my mortgage payment it is a flat $22.95 around a % and I could get 50,000 points from citi in one payment.
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Can i please have a Venmo invite? Thank you.
I would appreciate a Venmo invite. Thank you.
Hi,
Does Citi charges a fee for using Amazon Payments? I am sure you must have tried it. I recently signed up for Citi 5oK bonus offer using 2 browser trick and have to meet minimum spending requirements.
@Israel – I use chargesmart for my mortgage. I like it, it’s setup for autopay monthly and they are reasonable about their estimates of timing of payments. You definitely want to give it the recommended 5 days for processing (I think it’s 5, don’t hold me to it).
@Dinesh – I just did an AP with my citi AA cards and have not been charged for a cash advance fee. I think it’s a YMMV situation though…
Neither BOA nor Discover charged a cash advance fee for Amazon Payments. I have not tried Citi yet.
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I went through about half of the blog and was surprised to see nothing about
1. Free After Rebate stuff. I know rebates can be painful, but Staples has great online rebate site where you post your rebate instantly. And if you can, you can sell your item for more cash.
2. 100% back in some store rewards (like Staples /Office Depot/Office Max). This is useful if you are planning to buy something in near future.
I have been always able to get good chunk of my Spend Limits from rebates.
Another option is to buy USPS stamps. They do come in handy if you are in business.
i hate rebates, it is a P I A. 50% of the time, you get nothing and they lie to u by saying we didn’t receive or u filed it wrongly and can’t do anything.
REBATES SUCK!
Thanks for an awesome list!! I love this site completely!
What about the new American Express Pre-paid Card?? Has anyone had any experience funding their prepaid account to placate “Spend” requirements?
Here is a link:
https://www212.americanexpress.com/dsmlive/dsm/dom/us/en/personal/cardmember/additionalproductsandservices/giftcardsandtravelerscheques/aepc_landing.do?vgnextoid=283fb772184b2310VgnVCM5000003cb3ad94RCRD&vgnextchannel=95ddb81e8482a110VgnVCM100000defaad94RCRD&appInstanceName=default&name=aepc_landing&type=intbenefitdetail&source=searchGPR&ne_kw=american%20express%20prepaid
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Hi the code for AMEX gift cards was not valid. It appears there is a $3.95 fee for each card purchased.
11. American Express Gift Cards. You can buy American Express gift cards from Big Crumbs and get a 1.6% rebate. American Express ships the gift card to you in 2 days ($8 fee), and you can usually avoid paying fees to buy the gift card. Use code EMSVCA to purchase gift cards fee free until January 31, 2012.
@Seemit - I don’t like rebates because they are time consuming, but they could be a good choice for others.
@Thunder – I’ll check it out. Thanks for the tip!
@Greg – SSSHP may work for some time. Thanks for the update on the earlier code.
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Just an fyi on charitable contributions – realize the recipient pays a fee to collect the charges for yo may wish to add extra to cover that so they are able to benefit fully from your contribution.
Hi Daraius;
I received my sapphire preferred a week ago and Ink Bold is on its way. Thanks for your great tips about reconsideration line and how to fill out application for business card. The next big challenge is to spend $8,000 in one month because I need chase UR points asap. Have you given thought to buying and selling gold coins or bullions to fulfill spending requirements? Any suggestion in this regard?
Thanks
Shahab
@Donna C – That’s a great point!
@Shahab – I personally wouldn’t dabble with gold coins etc., because I don’t want to take the risk of the price fluctuating. I prefer paying a fee for my mortgage, rent, student loan etc. and meeting the minimum spending that way.
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Check out buying gift cards at an office supplies store to meet Chase Ink Bold minimum spend. Staples has Kmart/Sears/Landsend combo cards–you can get 4 UR points / dollar, plus the standard 5 pts / dollar for office store supplies when going the the UR points mall, plus meet the minimum spend requirements.
9 points / dollar takes the sting out of the hassle of gift cards.
@Shahab, this is not a bad idea if you know what you are doing, to buy at good pricing you need to be a dealer or work with several of the mints of the world , i am talking millions of dollars here, but to buy in smaller quantity from a dealer or even ebay will work if gold moves up significantly after your purchase.
I wish someone post a review about this gold buy/sell strategy, so newbies like me are more confident in buying/selling golds. I couldn’t find an easy way to sell gold. It is lot easier to buy than to sell.
Hi Daraius,
Love the site. Would you mind sending me an invite to Venmo? This is a genius idea!
Thanks!
I would appreciate it if someoe could invite me to Venmo. my email address is iwin16@gmail.com
Thank you!!
Has anyone had issues with cash advance fees being triggered by Venmo, and how safe is Venmo? For example, if for some reason my account is canceled can I still withdraw whatever balance I have sitting in Venmo?
Great ideas–thanks for sharing!
A few more that we have used recently:
EDUCATION:
College textbooks and supplies
Grad school application fees, transcript fees, GRE fee
ACT fee
MEDICAL:
Upcoming dental and oral surgery expenses — paid out of pocket, as we don’t have dental insurance
OTHER:
Prom dress & other clothing
Grocery & household items purchased online (drugstore.com, vitacost.com, amazon.com)
Hobby supplies: garden seeds, honeybees (mail-ordered and sent USPS, no less!)
Car parts for regular maintenance
Postage for college care packages
Hey, Daraius, would you mind sending a venmo invite my way, please?
Thanks!
If you guys sign up for an invite on Venmo’s website, you’ll have one in your e-mail inbox about a week later. Just an FYI. I got mine today.
You don’t need an invite to join Venmo. Just navigate to any of the member’s Venmo page and sign up from there. Also, sign up is free if you use their smartphone app
I’d be aware with Amazon payments, venmo & others. Thanks to the current gov’t powers, you could receive a 1099 in the mail from the IRS. Good luck trying to fight that one. Depending on your tax bracket, you could be paying $2-4k extra in taxes for points/miles. Definitely something to consider.
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Hi Again,
Thanks for your answer on the other page.
I have a question about:
“13. Store Gift Cards. Stock up on your gift cards to your favorite stores. Only do this if you expect to use them in the next few months.”
Just wondering why I couldn’t just buy several $500 Walmart cards and just use them as needed throughout the year?
What is the reasoning behind using them within a few months?
Thanks!
@Joe – My reasoning was that I didn’t want folks buying cards which they couldn’t use just for the miles and points. Of course you can buy Walmart cards and use them throughout the year! I’ll update the post to be more specific.
Thank you.
Just got an email from Venmo last night. They are changing their current policy and starting May 1 for existing customers, there will be a 3% conversion fee for credit card charging with them. So this means you can charge another $4000 at most with them for free. RIP Venmo!!
@Joe – I believe you won’t pay the fee if you signed up before March 2012. But paying the 3% fee may not be too bad if you’re trying to hit the limit needed to get the sign-on bonus. Thanks for sharing!
If you signed up with Venmo before yesterday, then the limit is still $2000/month by credit card with no fee – but only until May 1st. Then they will be the same as new accounts – which is no fee for the first $500 sent by credit card for the LIFETIME of the account.
@John - You’re right – I re-read their FAQ! Thanks for clarifying.
@Joe – Looks like I was wrong. It is RIP Venmo!
I have vendors that I need to pay, with bills reaching in the low 6-digit figures monthly, but they don’t accept credit card payments. With my recently acquired Chase Sapphire and Ink Bold Cards and the UR program, is there a way I can purchase visa gift cards thru, say, Staples (office, giving me 5x + Staples online an additional 4x = 9x), then with that purchase what I think is called a green dot Visa (?), then a Walmart money order? With the 9x I earn minus any fees, is it still worth it? Or am I thinking of this the wrong way?
(It looks like I can buy on UR Walmart for 1x pts = 2pts total).
I pay my credit card about every 3-5 days to keep my utilization ratio low, and therefore do manage to charge 2x-3x my credit limit monthly, so getting money orders in the low 6-figures (albiet multiple money orders), isn’t an unreasonable spend for me. Unless of course, I purchase all these cards and can’t get a money order at the end! I’ll be stuck with it for my lifetime and then some! Ugh!
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!
@Suzana - The vendors don’t accept credit cards likely because of the 3% fee they have to pay for credit card payments. I’m not sure if you can buy a Walmart money order with a Green dot Visa (but I’ll try it out). I do know what Walmart doesn’t let me buy money orders with the regular visa gift cards. You could ask if your vendors would accept AMEX gift cards and you could buy them from Big Crumbs with a little cash back, but I suspect that the vendors will not want to accept the AMEX gift cards.
Hi there,
I’m a college student, university rather, and working on my doctor’s degree. My family is in Germany and I have not been back there in 4 years, due to steep airfare pricing. So, this credit card mileage bonus sign up seems to be the solution.
Could I have some insight as to which cards would be best for me, please? I have no clue about any of this credit card business and I’m kind of afraid that I’d sign up for something and ruin myself for some reason.
Thanks much!
my school does not allow credit card payments by the way, not even for a fee
@Melanie: If you have little or no credit history, it could be hard to get approved for the really attractive credit card deals. Yet living without credit is rather inconvenient. So you gotta start building up your credit history. Making too many applications is not desirable. So I would first focus on the offers that you’re more likely to get – perhaps a card specifically targeted for students. Becoming an authorized user on a relative’s or friend’s card is also good. Make sure you always pay your monthly balance in full and on time, and check your credit report regularly.
@melanie – Welcome! I agree with Max that if you don’t have a credit card, it will be hard to get approved for the mile earning credit cards. The 1st step should be to check your credit score (try Credit Karma or Credit Sesame for free) and then apply for a student credit card (Capital One has some good ones with no foreign transaction fee or annual fee). After 3 to 6 months of using that card responsibly, you should be able to apply for some of the mile earning credit cards.
@Max - Thanks so much for helping out!
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that I don’t have credit. I have excellent credit actually (above 800) and I do have a chase credit card since 2005 (no annual fee, a simple one) and one debit card, that is all. I’ve built my credit through financing my car and have been very responsible and it’s all paid off and I’m in good standing.
I’d be careful with #27. If you split purchases and need to use your credit card automatic extended warranty benefit your claim will be denied. Nearly all credit cards will double the manufacturer’s standard waranty without cost to you. However, if you don’t put the entire purchase amount on a single card the claim with be denied. In fact, I always purchase consumer electronics with the card I plan to keep (such as Starwood or Sapphire).
Good information all around and surely those with spend concerns can and should do their homework.
But don’t you get a bit of a % boost if and when anyone clicks to sign up with your bigcrumbs link above? You should, since you put together this long post, and I certainly have no problem with it, but you may wish to inform people of how that part works if you actually do get that sign up referral bonus from them.
Thanks!
MM
@melanie – I emailed you!
@Bill – Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
@marathon man – Actually the link to Big Crumbs is not my referral link. I should update it at some point, though. And of course there will be disclosure when I do!
do it mate, your site has a lot of great things and so I believe you deserve any referral you get.
I often send people a BC link or make things clickable, so it should work easily for you.
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Asking the same question as Thomas.. will amazon payments come up in 1099? Do anyone have any experience with this?
Found the answer to my question.. FYI incase someone else is wondering..
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200663310
“Beginning with the 2011 tax year, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that U.S. third-party settlement organizations and payment processors, including Amazon, file Form 1099-K to report unadjusted annual gross sales information for sellers that meet both of the following thresholds in a calendar year:
More than $20,000 in gross sales, and
More than 200 transactions.”
Firstly, thanks for this wonderful post. I have a query regarding Cash Advance ? As far as I know they are not acrued towards $$ target for bonus, please correct me if I am wrong. Say for e.g. Xoom charges you 2.5 % to spend money via Credit card but they clearly mentioned it on their website that it would be a Cash Advance.. please let me know if I am missing anything here.
I have a question about VENMO – must the second person (the person who receives the money from me) have a VENMO account (or VENMO app to be exact)? A person who I was thinking to make a payment does not have a smartphone.
Yes, they will need an account. But, I believe that you can do most of it through the web interface. Although, if I recall, you do need the app to complete the sign-up. So, you might be out of luck without someone else with a smartphone.
– John…
@Sergey @John… – You do need a VENMO account to receive the money, but don’t need a smartphone since you can sign-up online!
MMS: Are you sure? I remember when I tried it before, I didn’t see a way to sign up without a telephone number that could receive text messages, at least. I just tried it again just to see and the web signup requires a cell phone number — it won’t let you leave it blank — and then on the next page after signup, it has a confirmation page where you have to enter the digits that it sends to you via text. If you don’t verify it, you can still log in — but it gives you a message that you can’t initiate payments without confirming a cell phone via text message.
Now, I guess maybe it would allow you to RECEIVE only without a cell phone entered. I haven’t tested it that far — but it clearly expects you to give it a phone number to do much of anything.
– John…
@Daraius, why not list Square or Intuit GoPayment as another method that similar to PayPal that charges fees? Do they have limits? Do they shut down your account if you send money to yourself using your own credit card? Is there anybody had experience using it?
* Square = 2.75 incl AX on any card but they hate GC. They have only e CS. They can hold funds for 90+ days!
* Pay Anywhere = 2.7+ fees that equal to 3.7% if using GCs or rewards cards but they have half decent live CS and can at least explain things to you. Too high to use.
* Intuit = 1.7% V/M + $12.95/mo fee, but also added is a 2% tack on for rewards and GC cards swiped which = 3.7%. While they have live CS (often long hold times) and can talk to you, they are bad on fixing errors in your account made by you or them and they can be very mean if they suspect you of something. Also, they can and WILL attempt to hold all your funds for 270+ days though! Want to know recommended limits of what to swipe and when to stay exactly safe? Want to know precisely how to avoid these issues of long holds of funds, or fight it if it happens to you? Find me and ask me when I return from a trip I am taking from May 19-June 1, but be prepared to pay $$ for the valued advice because it cost me $$ to get the correct detailed info on this. Most processors eventually will not like you once you swiped a lot of GCs and thus presented them with a lot of risk to float. Long story but a true one. I know a bit about all of this and can save peoples’ butts or make them money, but you must be careful, so that’s why I am saying no more til June!
@marathon man, thanks for the pre-warning. Does the GCs means only store GCs or any prepaid cards including Visa GCs and Amex GCs?
Thanks Jack. I meant the ones like Visa, MC or Amex Gift Cards you can buy at stores or online and load up to $500.