Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook or Twitter!
My American Express Bluebird prepaid card showed up in the mail today and I have lots of good news to share! Note that if you already have an American Express Serve account, you have to cancel your Serve account before applying for American Express Bluebird.
I successful loaded my Bluebird prepaid card with mile earning debit cards at Wal-Mart for no extra fee.
Load American Express Bluebird with Miles Earning Debit Cards at Wal-Mart!
And I also loaded my Bluebird account using a Vanilla Reload which I bought from Office Depot using my Chase Ink Bold. Note that this option is no longer available, but you may be able to find Vanilla Reloads at CVS, Walgreen’s or other locations.
Successfully Loaded American Express Bluebird with Vanilla Reload Cards
Next, I paid $100 towards my Chase credit card bill (as a test) and withdrew money from an ATM using my Bluebird card!
And I was extremely excited to earn 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points (which can be transferred to different airlines and hotels including, United, Hyatt & Southwest) for both these transactions which otherwise would never earn miles and points!
If you earn 5X Ultimate Rewards points on only $2,000 per month (easy to do when you can pay rent, mortgages, loans, credit card bills, and regular purchases) with Bluebird, you earn 120,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points a year. That is enough for a business class ticket to almost anywhere on United, 5 nights at a top Hyatt category 6 hotel, or ~$2,000 in travel on Southwest!
As I wrote a few days ago when I bought my Bluebird starter kit:
Bluebird has the potential (I’m still testing) to turbo charge the way we earn miles and points. You can pay rent, utilities college tuition, mortgages, and even credit card bills and potentially earn lots of miles and points!
Well, my experiments were successful, and you can earn lots of miles or points by paying your rent, mortgage & credit card bill using the Pay Bill feature on your Bluebird card. You can’t do this as easily with any other pre-paid card. And potentially earning 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points for everyday transactions is the icing on the cake!
However, I wasn’t able to use Bluebird to buy money orders (since it appears to swipe as a credit card) or to get cash back during regular purchases. I also couldn’t buy or reload my Bluebird with a Wal-Mart gift card or with a credit card.
Load Bluebird with a Debit Card
You can load Bluebird with a miles or points earning debit card (Delta, Alaska Air, or American Airlines) online. But this option is expensive. It costs $2 per debit card load and you are limited to $100 per day and $1,000 per month, so I don’t recommend this method.
However, you CAN load your Bluebird card with a debit card for FREE when you reload at a Wal-Mart store. I used my Delta, Alaska Air, & American Airlines cards to successfully load my Bluebird card at a Wal-Mart store.
The Alaska Air and American Airlines debit cards earn only 0.5 miles per $1 spent, so the Delta debit card which earns 1 mile per $1 spent could be the better choice, but it depends which miles you’d rather earn.
Debit Cards Which Earn Miles & Points
The teller swiped my Bluebird card and asked me how much I wanted to load on the card. I loaded $100 from my Delta debit card, $300 from my Alaska Air debit card, and $100 from my American Airlines debit card.
My bank statements haven’t yet closed, so I don’t know if I will earn miles, but I’m pretty sure that I will since the purchase will be coded as a Wal-Mart purchase. I’ve earned miles for buying money orders and paying bills at Wal-Mart, so I’m not sure why this will be any different.
There is a $1,000 daily limit & $5,000 monthly limit for loading your Bluebird card with a debit card at Wal-Mart stores. This $1,000 limit is shared with the $1,000 daily limit for Vanilla Network reloads below.
I loaded $500 with debit cards in Wal-Mart, but was only able to add an additional $500 with a Vanilla Reload.
Load Bluebird (Indirectly) with a Credit Card
Bluebird can be reloaded with a Vanilla reload.
You load your Bluebird card (which you can order online) with a points earning debit card at Wal-Mart. You can also reload Bluebird with Vanilla Reload cards which you can buy at CVS, Walgreen’s or other locations. Alternate with other credit cards so that you’re not spending too much at buying Vanilla Reloads with any one credit card.
Here’s a post on other credit cards to use with Bluebird, so that you’re not maxing out on just 1 card.
For example, let’s say you use a regular credit or your AMEX Hilton (which earns 6x points at CVS) to buy a $500 Vanilla reload card from CVS. You will earn 500 points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred or 3,000 Hilton points with the AMEX Hilton and pay $3.95 for the Vanilla reload fee.
You then load your Bluebird card with the $500 Vanilla reload card and use it for transactions for which you don’t usually earn miles or points – such as paying mortgages (using the Bluebird Bill Pay), withdrawing from ATMs, paying other persons, etc.
You come out slightly ahead when you use a credit card or any other credit card including a cash back credit card.
You can load your Bluebird up to $1,000 per day and up to $5,000 per month using a Vanilla reload. This $1,000 limit is shared with the $1,000 daily limit for Vanilla Network reloads below.
I tried exceeding the daily limit, but wasn’t able to. Note that you can buy as many Vanilla Reloads from CVS or other location, but can only load $1,000 per day on your Bluebird card.
However, you can store up to $10,000 on your Bluebird card so you can always load $5,000 in one month and $5,000 another month if you have to make a payment of more than $5,000.
I was initially skeptical that this would be allowed because, as a marketing brand manager, I don’t understand why American Express would spend a lot of money to develop the “Bluebird” brand & develop “Bluebird feeder packs” but then dilute that expensively created Bluebird brand equity by allowing you to reload the card with a “Vanilla” reload.
But this isn’t a marketing blog, and I’m glad to be wrong because loading Bluebird with Vanilla reload packs opens up a lot of lucrative points earning opportunities!
How To Load Bluebird with a Vanilla Reload
Check out this post to see the different type of Vanilla cards available.
You load your Bluebird account with a Vanilla Reload by going to VanillaReload.com.
Enter your Bluebird card number in the “Card Number” field
Loading Vanilla Reloads on American Express Bluebird
Enter the PIN number from the Vanilla Reload Pack in the “PIN Number” field and click “Submit.”
Vanilla Reload PIN
What Can Bluebird Do For You?
Here’s a recap on how to earn miles and points using Bluebird.
1. Pay Rent, Mortgage, Credit Card Bills, Utilities, or College Tuition. The best use of Bluebird to me is the ability to pay for transactions which can’t usually be made with a miles or points earning credit card.
Bluebird has a Pay Bills option which includes most mortgage companies, utilities, and other payees.
I tried to pay Emily’s Sallie Mae student loan, but the system didn’t recognize her account number. I’m assuming this is a glitch and will try again later.
But I was able to pay $100 towards my Chase credit card bill using the Bluebird Bill Pay! I love being able to earn miles and points for paying my credit card bill!
Earn Miles When You Use Bluebird to Pay Your Credit Card Bills
You can use the Pay Bill feature to pay your mortgage, car loan, student loan, and many other payees!
There is a limit of $10,000 in payments per month for payments to businesses already listed in the Bluebird Pay Bills system.
2. Pay ANYONE. This is actually part of #1 above, but I wanted to emphasize just how important this can be.
For example, let’s say that the person or business you want to pay, say, your apartment complex or your contractor or your college is NOT listed in the Bluebird Pay Bills option.
You can enter that person’s or business information manually and send up to $5,000 per month, per account, with Bluebird. Bluebird will send a check to the person or business, for free!
So you can earn miles and points when you fund your Bluebird account with a credit or debit card and then use Bluebird to send a check to anyone else!
3. ATM Withdrawals. You can load your Bluebird card with a miles and points earning debit card (Delta, Alaska Air, or American Airlines) or with Vanilla reload packets (bought with a credit card)and earn miles or points for the load.
You can then withdraw up to $500 per day (in up to 3 daily withdrawals) and up to $2,000 per month with your Bluebird card.
I Withdrew $40 From an ATM as a Test
You can use this feature to help complete a minimum spending requirement on a card.
For example, say you have to spend $3,000 within 3 months on a credit card. You can buy Vanilla Reloads from an Office Depot with your credit card and load them on your Bluebird card.
Buying the Vanilla Reloads at Office Depot with your credit card will count towards the spending requirement on your credit card and earn miles and points. You then use your Bluebird for regular purchases including withdrawing money from ATMs.
There is a $2 fee per ATM withdrawal (waived until November 4, 2012), unless you set up Direct Deposit to your Bluebird card and use a MoneyPass ATM. Many employers will let you split your paycheck to different bank accounts.
If you use an ATM outside the MoneyPass ATM network, you will be charged an ATM fee which varies depending on the ATM machine.
You can also use this for meeting a bonus spending requirement on a credit card such as, say, spending on the Delta credit cards to earn extra MQMs and miles.
However, I’d make sure to not abuse this method and to also use Birdbird for regular spending as well!
4. Transfer Money to Your Bank Account. You can also transfer money to your linked bank account from your Bluebird account.
This is very similar to Amazon payments, but I’d be very careful to NOT just fund your Bluebird account (to earn miles and points or to meet a minimum spending requirement) and then withdraw money to your bank account.
Transfer Money From Bluebird to Your Bank Account
5. Regular Spending. You can load your Bluebird with Vanilla Reload packs bought with an AMEX Hilton which earns 6X points at CVS and earn points on any purchase you make with your Bluebird card.
Here’s a post on other credit cards to use with Bluebird, so that you’re not maxing out one one card.
Much thanks goes to Frequent Miler for showing us how to earn 5X points with American Express Prepaid cards!
CAUTION
- Do NOT only fund Bluebird with a credit card and then withdraw money from an ATM or transfer money to your checking account. That is very easy to detect. Withdraw only as much money as an average person would – that is in the hundreds of dollars and NOT thousands of dollars per week.
- Use Bluebird for lots of routine transactions as well. If all you do with Bluebird is withdraw money from the ATM or to your bank account, you are likely to be shut down because you are unprofitable for American Express.
- I would NOT abuse the category bonus for using the AMEX Hilton card to buy Vanilla Reload cards at CVS. AMEX financial reviews are not fun.
You WILL get shut down if you try to spend tens of thousands of dollars per month at CVS with any one card.
I can’t give you an exact amount (you’ve got to decide for yourself), but $1,500 to $2,000 per month in CVS *could* be pushing the envelope.
Alternate with other credit cards so that you’re not spending too much at one location with Ink credit cards.
Here’s a post on other credit cards to use with Bluebird, so that you’re not maxing out on just one card.
Go slow and easy and enjoy the many benefits of the Bluebird card.
Bottom Line
You can order a Bluebird card online at Bluebird.com.
Bluebird opens up a whole new world of point earning opportunities, but you have to go easy. Otherwise you risk having not only your Bluebird account shut down, but also your credit cards.
* If you liked this post, why don’t you join the 7,000+ readers who have signed-up to receive free blog posts via email (only 1 email per day!) or in a RSS reader …because then you’ll never miss another Bluebird update!
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! 
If I use the SPG card, I will be paying $4 for 500 points. Over a long period of time, and if I purchase 120 of these. It would equal 60,000 points for $480. Then I transfer with the bonus for 75,000 AA miles. Since I would be using the bill pay portion of this, I am now earning points for things I am not usually able to earn points on.
I think I got that correct?
Thanks in advance!
Up til now I’ve avoided debit cards but will have to reconsider.
Does applying for a debit card cause a hard pull on my credit report?
Does it show as a new account?
@Val there should be no credit pull from this because your not getting credit form them, you can’t spend more than you have in the account. Using this same logic it shouldn’t show up on your credit report because you don’t owe them any money/ there is no “credit” associated with it, just a fancy prepaid debit card.
I googled Bluebird and one of the sites that came up was bluebirdmoney.com. It does link to the Bluebird.com site to get started.
However, it has this large blue box on the page, stating that Bluebird is changing as of Dec.12, 2012. Is this for real? Since this is a new product, seems strange.
Can you shed any light on this?
Thanks.
@Joseph – Glad it worked out in the end!
@Corridor! – I got it, but you still have to spend $60,000. However, you can now earn miles and points for rent/mortgages as well, so should be easier to get there.
@Val – They are usually soft pulls, though I’ve got a hard pull for a business debit card. They don’t show up on your credit report.
@The Mice - There was an earlier version of Bluebird which is changing – not this new roll-out.
Anyone know of another way to buy Vanilla cards with a credit card other than in-person at Office Depot? I don’t have one within 90 miles. Checked 7-Eleven – cash only. Might run by a Family Dollar later to check.
There are a few haters out there, jezz!
Hi,
What is the best way to pay taxes using bluebird? Doesn’t it register as a credit card if you use the online tax payment option? That would be very expensive. It is best to have a debit card for that. I have used netspend in the past. However I am paying more than 5k in taxes this quarter and netspend only let’s you make 5k in expenditures in any given day.
Do you have any suggestions other than netspend? Do you know what bluebirds max daily spend limit is? Is bluebird registered as debit or credit card for online spending purposes? Thanks for your help!
@Marcus: Just Office Depot, unfortunately. Road trip!
@MARCUS
You can purchase them at Walgreen’s. I have two by my house and one would take cc’s and the other one would only take cash.
Dollar General also sells them but my store wants to load it at the counter. I haven’t tried this yet as I don’t have my bird yet.
You can get a list of other stores on the Vanilla website.
You are a devious genius. I’ve been doing this 10 years and millions of miles but this just upped the ante. This looks to net 5% cashback or much more if points are used for travel. Wow!
This is an amazing idea. I’d love to give it a go except, for a regular Joe consumer like me (no business ownership), how do I apply for the Chase Ink Bold or Chase Ink Plus cards? They are Business Charge cards right?
Do you have an article written on your blog to teach someone who does not own a business to apply for a business charge/credit card? Thanks!
FYI, if you already have a serve card you won’t get approved for the bluebird card. The Serve account has to be closed first, then the bluebird card can be opened
MMS – I have to say one thing – You have to earn something to really value it … the way these posts are being outlined (spoon feeding I say) 99% of the readers will surely earn the points but they will not value it – as they don’t need to put any efforts (or minimal efforts) … look at the type of queries that people are asking – do you really feel these folks deserve to play the game. These folks don’t even want to learn …
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”
Consider the amt of efforts the real guys put in … think abt it …
Pingback: Walgreens Vanilla Reloads? | Million Mile Secrets
Pingback: Credit Card American Express Bluebird | Million Mile Secrets
Vanilla reload is in store only right? So to get 5x with ink bold, don’t you need to buy through chase ur portal? So if you buy in store? You won’t get 5x right?
@Hugo – There always are, but I don’t know why they feel this is “top secret” when even I could figure it out!
@Mpflyer - You can’t use it to pay taxes because it is considered as a credit card and you’d pay the high credit card fee. The IRS is not in their internal Pay Bills option either.
@Corridor! - Thanks for that tip! I had the same experience at my Walgreens in town.
@brian johns - 10 years is a long time! I wish I hadn’t focused on 0% APR offers early on.
@Mike – See this post.
@Sam Emara - That’s correct. I’ll add it to the post.
@Foo – I know I had lots of questions when I started off, so don’t see why Bluebird shouldn’t be shared with others just because they ask questions.
@Hunter – You can buy Vanilla Reloads with a credit card at an Office Depot and will earn 5X points since it is an office supply store and Chase Ink earns 5X points for purchases at office supply stores. You don’t need to use the Ultimate Rewards portal to get the 5X.
Hello Daraius, can you clarify something for me? So the main way to “earn miles/points for stuff you normally can’t such as paying mortgages/credit cards, etc.” is by A) buying a Vanilla Reload card and paying for that with a CC (such as Chase Ink, or an AA Citi miles card, or any card that earns miles/points) and B) funding your bluebird account with the Vanilla Reload card and then using the funded $$ to pay off your mortgages, credit cards, etc.? So basically the miles/points earned are coming from the purchases of the Vanilla Reload cards??
Would doing the following over and over trigger any red flags?
1) Buy many Vanilla Reload cards with a CC from say Office Depot
2) Fund your Bluebird account with the aforementioned Vanilla Reload cards
3) Use the bill pay option from Bluebird to pay off the original CC used to buy the Vanilla Reload cards
@Brandon- no, you’d be just fine! While you’re at it, why don’t stop being a piker and get a couple more Ink cards and really up your game? The CC companys don’t care and the money laundering folks would just yawn.
@ Brandon… if you read other ppls post or even main post by MMS, it explains everything. 80% of the question are covered if one goes through all the post.
Dariaus…if you have a Serve card…i heard you cant get a Bluebird card……is that still true?
I just discovered the MMS website. Can someone respond to Mike’s question – how to get an Ink card if you don’t have your own business?? What would be the next best card that an average person can get?? Also, is there a place that explains the lingo – what is an SPG card. Thanks!!
@Nancy …seriously….did you read the post above.. Dariaus answered Mikes question.
@ Ozaer N … you cant have both card.
I’m been trying to sign up for the card on the bluebird website, but it will not load. Is anyone else having these problems?
@Brandon - You should be fine because you are using the Bluebird Bill Pay service to pay legitimate bills. The other option to earn miles is to fund your Bluebird at a Wal-Mart store with a Suntrust Delta, Bank of America Alaska Air, or UFB Direct American Airlines debit card. I’d suggest spreading out the purchase at Office Depot among different cards to avoid too much activity with one card and wouldn’t exceed $2,000 to $2,500 with a Chase Ink card at Office Depot
@Ozaer N. – Still true. You have to cancel your Serve account.
@Nancy - The best card depends on your goals. Here’s a post on how to apply for a business card.
@Paige – I could log on now. I’d just try again later.
Do you know if Wells Fargo will accept this for mortgage payments? I looked at the Bluebird website and the bill pay section, but was unable to find out if Wells Fargo was accepting mortgage payments this way.
I think I am going to load up bluebird and use it for billpay. I am only two months into points and have been reading your blog. I know you said before not to max out ink too quickly. I opened a new business and legitimately had about $9500 in od spend in a month with furniture and supplies and such. Your thoughts as to the red flag issue?
Secondly, to avoid spending too much more on ink for a while so I can stay off the radar, are od vr purchases using chase sapphire preferred safe? Is it even worth it at the 1 point per dollar cal? It may seem like an elementary question – but I just don’t fully understand what a good “earn” is. I have about $15k in quarterly taxes to pay in jan. I would like to get points out of it. Thanks for your help!
Pingback: Bluebird Pay Bills | Million Mile Secrets
Is Vanilla Reload the only reload card that can be used with BlueBird?
I dont mind paying the 5-6 bucks fee that it would cost to get a different prepaid from Staples, Walmart etc?
Office Depot is like 30 miles away
Have you miles posted yet from your AA Debit card?
Pingback: Don’t Abuse Bluebird, but… | Travel Summary
@Char – Wells Fargo home mortgage is listed.
@Mpflyer – I wouldn’t worry if you have a business and bought stuff for your business from Office Depot. See my post on which other credit cards to use with Bluebird to see other options with Bluebird.
@Nitin – Unfortunately, you can only use Vanilla Reloads at Office Depot or load with a miles earning debit card at Wal-Mart.
@Preacher7 – They should post by the 1st week of November and I’ll have an update then.
If I get a Netspend card will I earn mileage pts if I buy netspend reload pack with my credit card?
So can employers deposit paychecks just like they would a checking or savings account
@leslie – Yes, you sure will.
@Alex111 – You can receive direct deposit on the Bluebird and deposit checks to your Bluebird account.
Pingback: Bluebird Send Money | Million Mile Secrets
Thanks, Darrius, I’ve successfully entered the game and am fortunate that both the local OD store stocks VRs and my neighborhood Walgreens takes my HH Amex for VR purchases. One word of caution, BB is not FDIC, that’s why BB can’t be funded by DD from any Fed source.
One question, will the transfer of Ultimate Rewards to WN count towards CP credit?
Very cool! I’ll use this to pad my Skymiles account with an extra 5K miles per month; now if I could only fund this with my Delta Reserve card to get the 30K MQM bonus quicker!
@Steve – Thanks for the reminder on Bluebird not being FDIC insured. Chase Ultimate Rewards transferred directly to Southwest doesn’t count towards the Companion Pass, but does count currently when you transfer to Hyatt or Marriott & then to Southwest.
@Wes – You can use this with any credit card you like to help get MQM or spending threshold bonuses. See this post for more details, including using the Reserve.
I don’t have ink bold is it ok to use my business amex gold card to purchase vanilla reload?
Darius,
You said can only by Vanilla reload at office depot. But what about Walgreens ?If I can buy with my credit card at Walgreens it’s not usable to get points? I am confused. Please advise thanks
Hope I did mess up by buying green dot reload with amex cc to load the green dot prepaid to pay prop tax and earn points usin bill pay. the green do prepaid card didn’t cost anything. And the green dot reload said 0 service in on front. But on back it said 4.95 monthly fee? What does this mean?
It’s been challenging locating Vanilla reloads in NYC. It seems Office Depot not longer stocks this product. Where are you guys finding this product?
@Ken – I found the Vanilla reloads at the Walgreens near Madison Square Park but it’s cash only =\
@Ken….NYC ya bad luck.. u need to take trip to nears state or out of town Office Depot.
@leslie - You can use virtually any card you want. See this post for more details. If you can buy them with a credit card at Walgreens, you will earn points, so that works too. I haven’t finished experimenting with the Green Dot card as yet, so I don’t know if you can pay property tax, but you can withdraw money with it from an ATM. Where did you buy the green dot card with a credit card?
@ Darius.. how long did it take for you to get the Perm BlueBird card, I am still waiting its been a week.
@ adnan – applied online on a Friday and received card on the following Saturday, eight calendar days.
Darius,
Thank you for the detailed analysis through trial and error with this new card and your blog and e-mail in general! Please let us know when you get your statements using your debit cards. Should you get AA miles (which I assume you will) for using your UFB Direct Debit card, I will be opening up an account with them right away. I have opened up 12 new cc’s this year, 3 with Chase. The last was Freedom, I was initially declined due to too many new accounts, but was given the account after I spoke with reconsideration rep. I am going to cool things off for about 6 months or more, so I will will not get in on the OD / Ink card for some time. The AA Debit card looks to me like the best way I can take advantage of the BB card in the near term.
@adnan – It took only 4 business days for me to receive the permanent card.
@Mike – I’ll keep you posted on whether I earn miles with the UFB debit card, though I’m sure I’ll earn miles with the Delta and Alaska Air card.
You mentioned how Amex is spending lots to develop the “new” bluebird brand– have you ever skied at Snowbird resort out in Utah? I think bluebird’s logo and color scheme is a blatant rip off of Snowbird (which has been around for decades using the same logo and colors). I wonder what Snowbird thinks?? Their site is snowbird.com.
Seeya! Nice article BTW.
I went to an Office Depot (OD) in Northern California and was told that OD only accepts debit cards or cash for the the Vanilla Reload cards and that has been their policy for about a month from their corporate office. I wonder if anybody else has the same experience?
@J Jones - I’m not very good at skiing, so I haven’t been there, but the Bluebird logo looks very similar to the twitter logo as well. I trust both Wal-Mart and American Express have good lawyers!
Pingback: Bluebird Checking Account | Million Mile Secrets
@J Jones – And “bluebird” has been the universal term used by most any skier I have ever known to describe one of those really bright sunny days that may follow a 2 foot dump, meaning it’s probably really good skiing until it’s very quickly tracked out by all the jamokes. So it seems they borrowed the concept: To get it while the gettin’ is good!
Thank you for the reply Darius. Do you think that if someone used the UFB Direct Debit card, via Walmart and transferred 5 K a month (in 1K or less increments) that UFB would take issue with this and shut the account down? If so what would you recommend would be a safe amount to transfer each month?
Pingback: My take on all the Bluebird excitement | Miles Abound
Darius, as is customary I commented before doing a thorough search of your site. I should have known you had covered using my Reserve card and actually found the post right after I clicked Post Comment. Thanks much…BTW, I also enjoyed your report from Bora Bora, one of my bucket list trips!
Darius. When you load the bird at walmart, do you use their money center (human teller) or do they have a special kiosk? Thanks again.
@Mike – I haven’t had much experience with UFB bank so I can’t say.
@Wes – No worries!
@Sam - I’ve always used a human teller, but I believe they plan on having special kiosks.
Just bought two vanilla reload cards at my local office depot, went online to try and activate them last night, the website gave me an error and a phone number to call. I called and they said that the only card that will reload AMEX Bluebird is a BlueBird feeder pack, not a vanilla reload. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Jeremy, yes I had the same experience today. I called both bluebird and vanilla. Bluebird keeps saying it will work. Vanilla says that it will not work. and that only the bluebird feeder pack works. They offered me a refund of MY MONEY in ~30 business days. What is the deal?
Pingback: American Express Target | Million Mile Secrets
@Jeremy @kelly – You can only load them on your permanent Bluebird, not the starter pack.
Pingback: Vanilla Reload Cards | Million Mile Secrets
Pingback: vanilla-reloads-potentially-at-wal-mart-other-locations | Million Mile Secrets
Hey D…I don’t think I got the Delta miles for loading the birdie at Walmart using the Suntrust Delta Debit Card…..did u? I just checked my Skymiles statement and it wasn’t there.
@Hugo – Points post around the 5th of the month so check your Delta account then!
Can anyone tell me how to link an account (like a mortgage) that would normally require a checking account number and routing number to my BlueBird account? I’d hate to have to revert to the manual method of sending my payments. Thanks!
Pingback: American Express Bluebird Pay Bills Mail Check | Million Mile Secrets
@Rob S – Unfortunately, you can’t use the Bluebird Routing and account number to send payments. But you can use their Bill Pay system to electronically pay your mortgage, but would have to submit the transaction every month.
Is there any limit to the amount of Vanilla cards you can buy @ Office Depot in a day? I don’t have an Ink card, so I put my first $1,000 purchase on my AA Visa today, and need to buy $1,500 more to pay the bills that I couldn’t earn miles on otherwise, and use my US Airways card for those, until I can get to my next churn to get the Ink card. I recall seeing a $1,000 limit somewhere, but is that daily load to Bluebird from Vanilla, or something else, or am I just whacked out and there are no limits other than diversifying your purchases from OD?
@Scott – There isn’t a limit besides the limit on your credit cards. That said, you don’t want to be charging tens of thousands of dollars at Office Depot all of a sudden. The $1,000 limit is the daily limit to load Bluebird with Vanilla Reloads and you can’t load more than $5K in a month.
Does anyone have any updates on successful purchases of VR with a credit card at any retail location other than Walgreens and Office Depot?
Has anyone had any recent successes in using a credit card to purchase VRs at any retail location other than Walgreens or Office Depot?
Sorry for the double post, I had an IE error popup and did not see that the first post posted.
Pingback: Credit Card Updates: Chase Ink Bold 50,000 Points & Chase Southwest Premier 50,000 Points | Million Mile Secrets
Pingback: Vanilla Reloads Potentially at Wal-Mart & Other Locations (from million mile secrets) | Xinxin's private blog
I assume that you have more than 1 Chase credit card. When you did your test payment to Chase did it post to the correct credit card account?
Related question: can you have more than 1 Chase credit card set up for Bill Pay with different aliases?
Pingback: CVS Vanilla Reloads | Million Mile Secrets
@Steve - I purchased them at CVS with a credit card.
@Jason C – I did a test payment and it posted correctly. You can use Bill Pay to pay multiple credit card accounts.
First, can this be done with a Serve card instead of a Bluebird?
Second, how does Amex know if I have a Serve already when I apply for a Bluebird? (social security number?)
Where I am living there is no Office Depot store. Which other stores can acheive the same results with the Vanilla Reloads and the 5X UR using the Ink cards?
@Ian – Unfortunately, you can’t pay bills with serve. AMEX knows you have a Serve account b/c of your social security number. You can try buying the reloads at CVS with the AMEX or Citi Hilton for extra points/free weekend nights.
Question- can i use Bluebird to purchase a home?
1) spoke t0 couple of OD stores and they said they do not care Vanilla cards ANYMORE… what does it mean??
2) I pay $3.95 per every vanilla care i buy right? (Maximum purchase is $500)….however since OD doe snot carry them, i can get them from CVS if available???? Howeve rif i use chase ink/bold card to buy vanilla reload cards from CVS, WILL IT BE CONSIDERED an office purchase for 5% cashback transaction, like it would at OD? Can someone specify that?
3) Is there a charge/any fee for transferring money from Vanilla card to my Bluebird account? What is best option to do it and how???
4) Once i transfer money from Vanilla card to Bluebird card, what do i do with the empty vanilla card? Throw it away and buy another card of $500, or i can recharge the empty vanilla card? what is the best thing to do to optimize the Chase 5% CB option?
Just spoke to 3 OD stores in my area, i was told thehy were told to pull all cards off the rack and send it back to company (VR). Hence this is a decision by vR company, and not OD decision….wonder if VR will pull its cards out of CVS/Walgreens too…..any thoughts/comments?????
@Rahul,
Do not enter this game.. you are too much of a newbie…..
Reading is your best friend…
@Valentina Dimitrova – See this post. You can’t reuse a Vanilla Reload card.
@mark rivera – I really don’t know, but CVS still has them!
just An FYI..i have a Serve account and a BB account…i did sign up for the BB before I signed up for the Serve.. so it is possible to have both for those interested
Pingback: Bluebird Delta Debit Card | Million Mile Secrets
I’m super confused. If I use my miles-earning credit card to load $500 onto a Vanilla card and then use that to feed my Bluebird, don’t I then owe my credit card company $500 as well as the $500 I’m spending through Bluebird?
@cliff – Thanks for letting me know. I wasn’t able to do that!
@Valerie – Yes, you have to pay your credit card bill, but you can do that using Bluebird so you’ve earned miles for paying your credit card bill – which wasn’t possible before Bluebird.
Love your blog – I have learned a lot!!
Several questions/comments on Bluebird which I think you may be able to answer better than the Bluebird customer service people. Hold times are now abyssmal and the reps (sounds like off-shored call center) are not very knowledgeable. So, here goes:
1. You showed that you paid Chase Credit Card with Bluebird. Your example showed entering a 9 digit zip. However, when I search for Chase in the Pay Bills option, it lists Chase Credit Cards and if I choose that, Bluebird ONLY asks for the account nickname and account number. No field for zip code. So if I want to pay my Marriott Rewards Visa (used Bluebird for part of hitting minimum spend), do I chose Chase Credit Cards from the drop down, enter the card number and cross my fingers? Rep said I should “verify with Chase” as to the address, but Bluebird doesn’t display any address for Chase Credit Cards. Or she said I should fill out the long form for payees not in the system. Ouch!
2. You showed that you could transfer money TO your linked bank account. I went to link my bank account, decided to call Bluebird first because I had questions re: the online form, and was told that transfers could only be made TO Bluebird FROM your bank account, not the other direction. I followed up asking the rep if the Bluebird account system had been changed recently, and as she started to answer my call was dropped! Any insights on this one?
3. Using bill pay to a payee not in their list (ie, doctor who doesn’t take cc’s), how would I know when the check as actually cashed, as opposed to being delivered. My bank’s bill pay shows me status. Rep claims I will get an email. Since you have used this option, what’s your experience.
Bluebird is starting to seem less promising minute by minute.
Thanks for all your great advice and tips! Keep up the good work and Happy Thanksgiving.
In your articles about earning miles with debit cards by loading Bluebird/paying bills/buying MO at Walmart, are you referring only to PIN-based Debit Card transactions? Can I load my Bluebird at Walmart with a signature based Debit card transaction without fees? Or pay bills with the same fees $0.88, even when I perform a signature based transaction?
@The Mice - The 9 digit zip code was for Sallie Mae. I don’t recall entering that for Chase. I made a small test payment first to see if it posted to my Chase account. Yes, you can withdraw money to your Bluebird account. See my post on it for more information. I didn’t get an email that the check was cashed – just that it was sent out. You’ll have to call to find out if it is cashed. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
@cartman – You can only buy those with PIN debit cards, not with a signature swipe.
BLUEBIRD = GARBAGE CARD. Here are four reasons NOT to get this card: 1) They intentionally delay, thereby floating your money for their financial gain, the transfer of funds from your bank account to a bluebird account, typical delay is 6-days–althougth the money comes out of your bank account much quicker, 2) Merchants know the balance on your card–sometimes it prints on your receipt! What a security nightmare, 3) while they will allow your paycheck to be electronically deposited, they will not allow you to use the same ACH transfer system to fund your bluebird account, 4) When you log into your account, they will show your decreasing balance, but they will not provide a transaction history for days and days. Another security nightmare if someone has identified how much money is available on your card (see “2″ above) and starts drawing money out. GET A SECURED VISA card instead through someone like Capital One and this way you have a real credit card and it will help your credit rating.
Really cool post and idea but just curious, in terms of accumulating points, what’s the difference between using the Bluebird card vs the ChargeSmart (http://www.chargesmart.com/) approach?
Narcissist