Category Archives: UFB American Airlines

How to See if Your Credit, Debit, & Gift Card Tax Payments Are Received by the IRS

Posted on January 8, 2013 by | 20 Comments

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I’ve written before on how to use the Delta debit card to earn miles while paying taxes and how to select the top credit cards to use to pay your taxes.  Frequent Miler has also written on how to use gift cards to pay your taxes.  You do pay a fee for using a credit card to pay your taxes, but it could be worth it to complete the minimum spending on your credit cards or to earn airline and hotel perks.

The IRS website suggests that you can make 2 estimated tax payments per quarter using a credit card, but readers commented that you can make more payments with a credit card or a gift card by:

  • Using each of the 4 different tax payment providers to make 2 estimated tax payments per quarter online for a total of 8 online payments
  • Calling each of the 4 payment processors and have them process additional payments over the telephone

Note that not all providers offer the same fee for using a credit card and the flat fee of $3.49 for using your debit card.

But talk to YOUR accountant or lawyer before making more than 2 payments per quarter with a credit card towards your quarterly taxes, since the IRS rules aren’t very clear on what is the maximum number of payments allowed. Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines Debit Card, Paying Taxes, Suntrust Delta Debit Card, UFB American Airlines

Vanilla Reloads Removed From Office Depot & Other Alternatives to Load Your Bluebird Card

Posted on November 11, 2012 by | 157 Comments

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Thanks to everyone who emailed and commented about their experience buying Vanilla Reload cards at Office Depot.

Unfortunately, many Office Depots removed the Vanilla Reload cards & stopped selling Vanilla Reload cards yesterday.  We’re not sure about the exact reasons, but readers report being told that Office Depot was concerned about fraudulent purchases.  However, a small percentage of readers still found them at Office Depot, but I wouldn’t expect this to last much longer.  But there are still ways to take advantage of American Express Bluebird.

I suspect a larger reason is because lots of folks were buying Vanilla Reload cards with a Chase Ink credit card to earn 5X points.  Frequent Miler wrote about this in May, but I never wrote about it in detail (I may have mentioned it in passing) until American Express Bluebird arrived in October.

American Express Bluebird Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines Debit Card, American Express, Chase, Citibank, Hilton HHonors, Suntrust Delta Debit Card, UFB American Airlines, Uncategorized

I Earned Delta Miles for Reloading American Express Bluebird With my Delta Debit Card at Wal-Mart

Posted on November 7, 2012 by | 42 Comments

[Emily & I do NOT get a referral for the Delta, Alaska Air, or American Airlines debit cards.]

As soon as I got my American Express Bluebird card, I reloaded it with 3 miles earning cards – the Suntrust Delta debit card, the Bank of America Alaska Air debit card, and the UFB Bank Airlines Rewards Checking account which earns American Airlines miles.

It costs $2 per debit card load to load your Bluebird with a debit card ONLINE, 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.

Bluebird Delta Debit Card

I Earned Delta Miles for Loading my Bluebird With the Delta Debit Card

Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines Debit Card, Bluebird, Chase, Delta Skymiles, Southwest, Suntrust Delta Debit Card, UFB American Airlines

How to Earn LOTS of Points With American Express Bluebird for Mortgages, ATM Withdrawals, Rent, Loans, & Almost ALL Transactions!

Posted on October 22, 2012 by | 249 Comments

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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!

Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines Debit Card, Chase, Mortgage, Pre-Paid Debit Cards, Student, Suntrust Delta Debit Card, UFB American Airlines, Ultimate Rewards, Uncategorized