May 1, 2012
No more gift cards! A single American Express card can earn 5X Ultimate Rewards points, everywhere. Impossible? Read on:
I’ve written several posts about how to earn nearly 5 points per dollar on all purchases. For examples, see ‘5X Everywhere!‘ and ‘Almost too good to be true‘. Both tricks require a Chase Ink business card which earns 5 points per dollar at office supply stores (see ‘How to sign-up for the Ink Bold‘).
In the posts mentioned above, the trick to earning 5X everywhere is to use a Chase Ink card at an Office Supply store to buy Visa gift cards and/or prepaid cards. Since you get 5X from those purchases, you can think of the gift cards (and prepaid cards) as giving you 5 points per dollar when you spend them. (Note: Ink Cards obtained prior to mid-November 2011 do not have the 5X office supply benefit).
The one thing that has stopped me from using the 5X trick for all of my spend is that using gift cards is a hassle. You need to keep track of how much is left on each card, you can’t easily make large purchases, and some online vendors make it very difficult if not impossible to use them. Further, unlike credit cards, gift cards do not offer purchase protection. As I wrote about last week, an app called GoWallet can help a lot, but it doesn’t come close to solving all of these problems.
Luckily I stumbled upon a new opportunity that changes everything:
The American Express Prepaid Card
The American Express Prepaid Card is not a gift card, nor a debit card, nor a credit card. It is simply a ‘prepaid card‘. There are several things that make it unique: 1) No fees (except ATM use. More on that later); 2) Reloadable up to $2500 balance; 3) Purchase protection, roadside assistance, and other perks; 4) No credit check required; 5) ATM withdrawals are allowed; and 6) Partners with Office Depot (see the press release here).
The photo above shows an Office Depot display for this card. The card on the bottom left is a temporary version of the Amex Prepaid Card. If you buy one (for $4.95) you can fill it with up to $500 at the time of purchase and then you can later trade-up to the permanent refillable version of the card. To trade-up, you browse to the website indicated on the temporary card’s packaging and request a permanent card. The new card will arrive in the mail with your name and address registered to it. Once you activate the permanent card, any money left over from the temporary card automagically moves over. An easier approach is to skip Office Depot altogether and simply order the permanent Amex Prepaid card online, for free (here is my affiliate link for the signup: American Express’® Prepaid Card). Each person is allowed up to 3 cards in their name.
To the right of the Amex card, in the photo above, is the Vanilla Reload Network Prepaid Reload Card. These are used to refill the permanent version of the Amex Prepaid Card. Each card has a $3.95 fee and can be loaded with up to $500 at the Office Depot register. To move this money to your Amex card, you simply browse to the Vanilla website and enter in the PIN number from the refill card and the card number from your Amex. You can load up to $1000 in a 24 hour period. Also note a limit of $2500 can be loaded every 28 days. The following is from American Express’ cardmember agreement:
No more than $2,500.00 U.S. may be loaded to the Card in any 28-day period, and no more than $1,000.00 U.S. may be loaded to the Card on any day using a Green Dot’® MoneyPak’®, Vanilla Reload Network’¢ Prepaid Reload or other cash funding source or method accepted by us from time to time. The maximum balance of Available Funds loaded on your Card at any time is $2,500.00 U.S.
What this means
- You can use your Ink credit card to buy $500 reload cards. The purchase shows up on your account as a standard Office Depot purchase so it will give you a total of 5 points per dollar for the purchase. The fee of $3.95 is less than 1 percent (.79%), so you’re way ahead already. NOTE: There is a risk that Office Depot will someday stop allowing these purchases to be made via credit card. An industry insider I spoke with, though, believes that the ability to pay via credit card is not a fluke and should continue indefinitely. Time will tell.
- Since the permanent American Express Prepaid Card can be loaded up to $2500, it has these advantages:
- There is no need to keep multiple gift cards in your wallet.
- You can use it to make large purchases
- You will get purchase protection. It might not be as good of protection as you would have received with a different card, but still:
- It can be used any place that accepts American Express cards. To merchants, this card is indistinguishable from a standard American Express card. There is one exception: American Express says not to use the card for car rentals.
- When using this prepaid card, you essentially earn 5X everywhere. This requires no card juggling, and very little hassle. This means that getting 2.14X from the Sapphire Preferred for dining and travel is no longer the best option for these categories! It’s not even close!
ATM Use
- Up to $400 Per Day:
With the American Express Prepaid Card you can withdraw up to $400 per day via ATM machines. You are subject to fees imposed by the ATM owner. On American Express’ side, the first ATM withdrawal each month is free. Subsequent withdrawals cost $2. This is a great deal even with the fees. For example, suppose you pay $3 to the ATM owner and $2 to Amex to withdraw $250. That comes to a 2% fee. But, remember that you earned almost 5% in the form of points (or more depending on how much you value those points) so you are still well ahead. You’ll obviously do even better if you find a low fee or no fee ATM. - ATM WARNING: DO NOT ABUSE THE ATM PRIVILEDGE!
American Express is always on the lookout for suspicious behavior. If a person adds money to the Prepaid Card and then withdraws it all as cash, that would look ridiculously suspicious. Worse, American Express does not make money from these ATM withdrawals ($2 is unlikely to be enough to cover their costs), so with a pattern like that they’re not going to like you very much! If you try to convert your Ink purchases to cash through frequent ATM withdrawals, I believe you will get caught and you will have your accounts closed. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen. Use the card for regular credit card purchases and use the ATM feature only for real world ATM withdrawals. Withdraw money only when you really need it. Or, establish a pattern of once per week moderate withdrawals (say $200 or $250) and you should be fine.
How to get the card
There are two ways to get the reloadable Prepaid Card:
OPTION 1: Order directly from American Express for FREE.
- Click here: American Express’® Prepaid Card or simply Google for American Express Prepaid Card to find a non-affiliate link.
- Note the following restrictions:
The permanent American Express Prepaid Card is not available for sale in Arkansas and Vermont.
OPTION 2: Buy the temporary card in-store at Office Depot (as shown above) for $4.95 and then trade up to the permanent card. Note these restrictions (from American Express’ FAQ):
The temporary American Express Prepaid Card is not available for sale in Arkansas, New Jersey or Vermont. Cards purchased by residents in other states cannot be shipped to these two states. In addition, American Express does not sell or ship the Card outside the United States.
A new option: Bluebird
Since writing this post, American Express has unveiled a new prepaid card called Bluebird that is very similar to the prepaid card described above, but has some distinct advantages (such as Bill Pay). For more information, please see “Bluebird takes flight and changes the game.”
LIMITATIONS AND WARNINGS
PLEASE READ THIS!!!!
- Chase has been known to completely shut down all of a person’s accounts when they think they may be a bad credit risk or when they suspect ‘perk abuse’. If you put all of your spend in this one category (and this one store), you will be asking for trouble! Please see my write-up here: ‘Why Chase cancels accounts (and how to protect yourself).’
- The Ink Bold and Ink Plus cards are limited to $50K in purchases per year for the 5X benefit. The Ink Cash and Ink Classic are each limited to $25K. As a result, there is no reason for anyone to purchase more than $4K per month of the refill cards with the Ink Bold/Plus, or $2K per month with the other Ink cards. Even that amount may be too high if you have a high credit card utilization ratio or if you do not have a long and positive credit history. I consider $4K per month to be the upper limit anyone should attempt, but that does not mean $4K per month is safe. You need to evaluate your own situation and establish spending patterns that you are sure will not trigger alarms with Chase. UPDATE: There is a built-in limit to the Amex prepaid card: a maximum of $2500 can be loaded per month.
- Watch out for American Express too! As I detailed above, suspicious ATM activity is a sure way to get flagged and shut down. American Express has extremely sophisticated fraud detection systems. Don’t do anything to draw attention to you!
- Don’t be greedy, please. Even if you only put $1000 per month onto this Amex card, you will earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points per year! That’s a lot! If you use this trick in moderation then you should be safe to earn huge numbers of points, year after year, without fear of bank retaliation. If you go too far, you will get shut down. If many people take this too far, the whole deal may get shut down.
- Read “Inking 5X: What’s safe?”
- Be responsible. Don’t do drugs.
More about this technique
- One week later
- How to spend $10,000 in three months, and earn 90K Ultimate Rewards along the way
- Inking 5X: What’s safe?
More about Amex Prepaid cards
- How many Amex prepaid cards can I have?
- Amex Prepaid cards for foreign travel
- American Express Prepaid Card FAQ
- Order the American Express’® Prepaid Card for free (affiliate link)
More about Vanilla Reload cards
- The many flavors of Vanilla
- Where to buy Vanilla Reload Cards
- When thieves steal our points
- Vanilla Scare
- Reloadable Follow-up and Tips for Reloadable Card Newbies by Mommy Points
Alternatives to Amex Prepaid cards
- Bluebird takes flight and changes the game
- Bluebird lands. Questions answered
- Vanilla Reloadables
- Prepaid musings
- NetSpend challenges the throne
- We’re sorry, there is a problem with your account
More about Chase Ink cards
- How to sign up for the Ink Bold (also works for other Ink cards)
- Ink Plus now publicly available!
- The Missing Ink
- Why Chase cancels accounts (and how to protect yourself)
- Chase Ink: Check your X
If you are new to collecting miles, click here for the free newsletter |
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
I stayed up all night just to be the first one to comment…. just kidding, but I’m so glad this posted right at 5:15 CST like you said it would!!
I read about this elsewhere and was disappointed. Why? Because once again Office Depot has decidedly closed all PHX locations. Sure, there are stores in TUS but not going 90 minutes out of my way every month.
Any airports with a nearby Office Depot location?
One question. You buy a $500 gift card at Office Depot, then you can load it with up to $2500. But when you do that, it won’t be an Office Depot charge, right? So how do you get the 5x points when you reload?
@Jennifer – read it again. The reload option is shown in the photograph and described in the second paragraph below it.
ArizonaGuy, there is an Office Depot on Mannheim Rd. in Rosemont about 10 minutes from O’Hare. Seems like it would be a lot more convenient just to go to Tucson.
Jennifer: Yes, as ArizonaGuy pointed out, you buy refill cards at Office Depot. Those are used to reload the Amex
ArizonaGuy: I believe we will see similar products from other banks in the next several months. If so, we can hold our breath and hope that they team up with Staples or OfficeMax (assuming you have one of those?)
ARRGH! NO New Jersey! What’s up with that!
BT: NJ has a new gift card law that has caused Amex and others to completely pull out of NJ for gift card / prepaid sales. It’s time to lobby…
Maybe this is AMEX’s way to stick it to Chase for poaching their high spend office supply customers, grin. I have a feeling Chase will re-think the 5x at office supply stores in coming months.
…and countdown to the rash of Chase account closings and Amex FR’s in 3…2…
I already own a Amex prepaid with my name on it but never knew you can reload it thru office depot. Too bad office depot is 2hrs away from me.
Too bad I just paid my taxes with the Ink to meet the minimum spend. This would have been a good way to meet the spend without the fees of paying with a CC.
Also, 60,000 points per year is small potatoes people for a lot of hassle and even more risk.
Remember the days of the Citi USAs? Now that was a PPM.
LOL @ HikerT
I would assume that ordering direct from AMEX does not earn the 5x points, right? No Office Depot stores with 200+ miles of me… would a non-local store consider a phone order?
I live in Arkansas:(
So everytime we load the card we have to go to office depot? Or can we do it online?
Go to Office Depot. I you can go to office depot like once a month and buy $1000′s worth if you dont mind floating the money. Otherwise, you need to make a trip every time.
Luckily for me an Office Depot is close AND I have a fee free ATM at my job
Question: It sounds like this card might be an attractive option for getting cash overseas. Does it work at overseas ATMs? Would there be a foreign exchange fee in addition to the ATM charge (which would negate the points value)?
Once you get the Amex prepaid card can you give the card number over the phone or on-line to pay venors just like a regular credit card?
LarryInNYC: Amex says to call them if you plan to use ATMs overseas, so it’s unclear. I’ll call them and ask since I’m headed to Paris in August.
If i don’t have a chase ink card yet, is it still worth it? Also what’s maximum I should refill a month without causing any suspicion with Amex?
aznprzn: Do you have a relative who lives closer to one?
WhizKid: You can order the empty card for free via Amex. The trick is buying reload packs for 5X. That has to be done at Office Depot. I doubt any stores would take a phone order, but you could try!
Carol: Time to move!
Daniel P: You buy the reload packs at Office Depot, you use them to load your card at home (or anywhere with an internet connection).
runnergirl: yes, you can make over the phone orders with this card
@FrequentMiler – Since this is an Amex card can you sync it to Twitter/Facebook for the current promotions out there that require an Amex? Or some of the other promotions we’ve seen this past year that require an Amex (Small Business Saturday, etc.)? If so, this card could even hold a greater value.
dealswelike: Hey, no reading ahead!
Yes, you can do that. I’m planning a post about that soon.
Daniel P: In general, no it isn’t worth it without the Ink. There are a few situations where this could be a good option, though. One example is if you just need to meet minimum spend on a credit card and you want more time to get it done. You could buy the reload packs and use them at your leisure. Financially, that might not be the best way to go since it costs almost 3/4ths of a percent to buy the reloads, but for convenience it’s pretty good!
I saw the AMEX card at Office Depot when I bought my Vanilla Visa this past Saturday. I never paid much attention to reading the fine print. Sounds like a great idea. The closest Office Depot is 4 miles from my house and 2 miles from work.
sil: You’re going to make others jealous!
YOU ARE MY HERO! It was worth the wait!
From this post, I understand that if you live in NJ, you can order the Permanent amex for free, have it shipped to you and then go to Office Depot in NJ and purchase the cards to load onto the perm. card. Or do I have to go all the way to NY?
Also, someone mentioned paying taxes with it. Why would you not get any fees?
Thanks again so much,
dealsseeker
Great job once again Frequent Miler!
U have any older posts about applying for ink bold and how to get it? I just got denied for chase Marriott about a month ago to no avail, called reconsideration line and everything. Guess I have to wait another 5 months to apply for the Ink
so if you do $500 at a time, then it’s only 4.21x reward points, yes?
wait, nmind. only a one-time fee of $3.95 or is that every time you reload?
@FrequentMiler – I am always thinking ahead, and you know me – I love my Amex promotions!
Can you see all your transactions on Amex web site like any other amex card. It would be so difficult to track your transactions without downloading it to quicken.
This is gold.
Caveman: Yes you can also integrate it into your AMEX profile..so very easy to track spending..etc.
dealseekers- no CA tax for gift cards
Also, if you buy AMEX reload and have to registered with AMEX, won’t AMEX know you bought Gift Card and you risk financial review.
I am just a small potatoe and will just purchase 1k per month maximum.
Can the AMEX permanent card be used overseas?
DealSeeker: Thanks! Sadly, I don’t think you’ll find the reload packs in NJ. Regarding taxes: you would have to pay the fees, but the 5X benefit outweighs the fees.
greek2me: Thanks! Great to meet you this past weekend, by the way.
Daniel P: Why, yes I do! To see how to apply for the Ink Bold go to: “How to sign up for the Ink Bold“. You can also find it in the menu titled “Credit Cards” at the top of every Frequent Miler page.
mrredskin: You do have to pay the $3.95 fee every time. So, yes, if you value UR points at only 1 penny it is about 4.21X. I’ll publish a chart soon showing the “X” equivalent depending on how much people value UR points.
caveman: Yes, you can see all of the transactions online. Unfortunately, its not on the same page as the credit cards, but you do use the same ID and password with Amex so that makes it pretty easy.
Joshua:
[...] and reload the perm. Don't abuse
[/quote] Frequent Miler blogged about this play today here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/freque…rule-them-all/ Since getting the new Ink Bold late last year it has been my most rewarding card..I think others [...]
stealph: Do you mean you can see this card on the same page with your other Amex cards? How do you do that?
dealswelike: Yep, I love your posts about maximizing those Amex benefits. Is Amex still paying you to eat out in NYC?
If you live in RI, CT or MA and belong to AAA, they are rolling out the Amex prepaid card now: http://bit.ly/IkCNOZ. From a quick read of the FAQs “You can load funds online using an American Express® Card, or bank deposit account issued in the United States to you with a United States physical billing address”
Obviously not nearly as lucrative as the Ink option but it could be useful if you need a minimum spend on an Amex. Also, keep in mind that even though it will not be considered a cash advance per the FAQs, it still is not clear IF it would count for spend. I’d offer to be the guinea pig to test this now, but I won’t probably get this card until later this month, or early June, when my annual AAA membership gets renewed.
[...] All, if you have a Chase Ink card, you can get a prepaid Amex and reload it with reload packs bought at Office Depot (with your Ink) for 5X Ultimate Rewards. Then, use the prepaid Amex to buy daily getaways. That way you get 10% off (for Amex) and 5X from Chase! I've done this successfully Details about the prepaid Amex are here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/freque…rule-them-all/ [...]
D: That’s a great find. I seriously doubt they would count those transactions as real spend, but it’s worth a test! Anyone?
I figured this one out when I saw the card/refill at office depot as well the day I got the card. Didn’t bite. I have 3 amex cards and almost 80k MR points. If it were any company other than Amex. Just don’t want the hassle of being shut down :/
If there was a way to do this and remain anonymous… It’s a great idea if you don’t care about the potential problems. For smaller amounts though there is great potential for UR mall double dipping. Even 1000 to me moved over from my current amex spend might be a strange datapoint to them and I’m hesitant.
Okay, help me out here. Complete Newbie. What’s the sequence of events to make this happen for me? I get the Ink Bold. I set up an UR account. I go buy the Amex card at Office Depot w/the Ink Bold. I next get the reloadables using the Ink Bold. Do I have this right?
CS: I completely understand. Its better to be safe than sorry. Everyone needs to figure out their own threshold.
Jo: Yes, you have it right, except there is nothing special you need to do to setup a UR account. When you get the Ink Bold, you have a UR account. You will want to setup your Chase account for online access, but that’s something you should do regardless.
There is an Office Depot right across the street from my work so I go there a few times a week. Last time I was in there, American Express gift cards had a $5.95 fee and the visa one vanilla card had a $4.95 fee. It’s hard to believe that the fees are now even lower with the American Express prepaid card. I will definitely check out my local store in the next few days.
Thanks for the speedy reply, FrequentMiler. I’ll definitely check out your site for a link to Ink Bold, and I appreciate your expertise very much. I’ll be a small player compared to others, but it all adds up even for us beginners, right?
Ca this be done on visa gift or visa prepaid card?
You have to give your Social Security Number to AMEX if you want a reload and register to receive a permanent AMEX card…I think I will pass and just consider the $500 Vanilla Visa card for $4.95 fee.
Here’s an alternative to think about too.
I’ve been mainly doing Kroger promotions with the Chase Freedom categories. Their fee is pretty high, 6.95 for anything over $200 in prepaid visa/mc/amex but you get an additional discount in gas ($0.10 per $100 spent).
So I bought a $500 (max) Visa card yesterday for $506.95. Will get back 5X UR, or about $25.35 and $0.50c off each gallon of gas. Pumped about 28 gallons for ~$14 off. This works out to be about 7.3% off for this transaction.
Occasionally they will run 2X or 4X specials. Last time they did, we ran two cars and got $1 off 35 gallons of gas! These promotions are rare though.
If you have an Amex Blue that gives 6% off grocery stores…. this works out really well.
I’m with CS as far as personal tolerance levels, but to each his own. The difference between a $5.95 and $3.95 fee per $500 load is negligible. To me, the real incremental earning opportunity here as opposed to the Vanilla Visa is the ability to withdraw $400/day from the ATM. That is the only way to turn this into a Perpetual Point Machine as you’ve teased over the last couple days. But to do that, you have to register the card with Amex, provide Social Security Number, etc. And with that comes the monitoring not only by Chase but now by Amex as well who freaks me out a bit on the financial reviews. To each his own, but i’ll be on the sidelines.
FM: do you know if this card is considered Debit for the purposes of the retailers processing the payment, or does it charge them a fee like credit cards do?
This could be a great way to lower the cost of irs tax payments on all other cards where I’m trying to meet spend requirements.
Has anyone been able to purchase”Vanilla Reload Network Prepaid Reload Card” with credit card in OfficeDepot? I searched online and it appears the reloading can be done with cash only.
from Press release
http://about.americanexpress.com/news/pr/2012/officedepot.aspx
…
Once Cardmembers receive their permanent Card, funds can be loaded online through a bank account, such as savings or checking account, direct deposit, and through cash loading via MoneyPak or the Vanilla Reload Network by InComm, a new loading option for the Card.
…
From Amex website:
Amex Prepaid Card FAQ
How do I fund my American Express Prepaid Card with a Vanilla Reload Network Card?
1. Purchase a Vanilla Prepaid Reload with cash. A purchase fee (typically $3.95) will be added to your total.
…
If I only have chase freedom, what’s best way to do it with freedom? Just get gift cards at grocery stores?
All ATMs that I’ve seen require a PIN to get cash out of them. Therefore, I assume this Amex Prepaid Card comes with a PIN. Is that correct?
@Charlie – Yes, I purchased one last month. They are a new product (Like the new AMEX reload cards) to OD so they may not be in every store. Also FYI, the store I went to didn’t have the AMEX reload cards on the display..so even if you don’t see them, the store may have some in the back.
When I picked mine up earlier, the manager was excited to ring it up as it was the first one his store had sold
Hello again…..Used your link to apply for Ink Bold. Got pending approval. Called reconsideration line. Got approved, no prob. I hope Chase tosses a few bucks your way. I’ve been considering this cc for months, and your info yesterday and today encouraged me to pull the trigger and apply finally. Thx so much and also thx to all the insights from others who have left a Reply.
Grant: Cool!
Jo: definitely!
sam: I don’t know of any national brand prepaid visa/mc cards that this would work with.
sil: Yep, if you’re scared of Amex, that’s the way to go
Sam_Goh: Yep, that’s a great way to go! Or a great way to goh…
Matt B: Agreed that using the ATM feature for a PPM is a very bad idea. You would be shut down in no time. That is not what I will suggest.
atxtravel: This card cannot be used as a debit card. So says Amex. I believe them, but haven’t tried it.
charlie: Yes, despite that language multiple people (including me) have successfully bought these using credit cards at OD.
Daniel P: See Sam_Goh’s comment above
Seymour: Yes, when you get the permanent Amex you’ll get a PIN too. You can also change the PIN to one you like.
stealph: Great info, thanks.
Jo: Congratulations! You know I love the Ink Bold! Yes, if you used my link I will get some money from the affiliate network, so thank you very much!
What isthe reloadables If i buy any $500 amex giftcards. It is a reloadable to the permanent amex prepaid card? None of the amex giftcards at office depot is perma ent amex prepaid card? it is a separate card? my regular store doesnt take amex. Any way this trick can be played on visa gift cards?
The freedom just isnt that advantageous because u can only get 5% of 1,500 for a given 3 months. So basically $75 every 3 months minus the fees and everything
Oh no, I just thought of this yesterday when I went to OD
I got upto step one, didn’t know that reload card from vanilla can reload for this card. Awesome!
How would you compensate that Amex isn’t widely used?
I was thinking about this when I bought Amex reloadable.
In term of use, i think the Vanilla visa is good because its a visa.
even though it sucks in term of its online buying. No addy, most stores don’t sell.
@FM – So, the temporary Amex Prepaid Card can’t be used at an ATM, or anywhere else that requires a PIN? For that, I would need the permanent card, which requires giving Amex my SS#? I’m quite opposed to doing that just for this purpose. Privacy and all that stuff.
If that’s the case, I’ll just continue buying Visa prepaid cards at my local OD or from Staples.com through TCB.
This is seriously perfect. Thanks.
I spend about 1000/mo at Amazon(I live in rural PA and use the marketplace and Prime for all sorts of everyday things).
There’s an Office Depot about an hour away, but I get out that way once a month or so. I’m going to get a card and put 2500 on it, then tell Amazon to use that card as primary. Every month or so I’ll get $1500 more, and take a cash withdrawal of a few hundred to keep the balance around 2K. That should be real close to 100K points a year.
It is always nice to ride free in the pointy end of the plane…
What is TCB?
This is similar to SERVE by AMEX. You can fund SERVE with a CC and withdraw via ATM or direct withdrawl to your linked checking account, up to $250 a month. For the last 8 months, I added $250 from my CC and then withdrew to checking,(helped meeting minimum spend) then as of March, it was reported on FT that withdrawing to checking got peoples account closed due to violation of T&C.
Why do I bring this up, since we are talking about Amex and they may be using the same platform, The big difference is Serve is trying to be a peer to peer payment service, and these prepaid cards are CC substitutes. For a fact I know that if you fund SERVE with Amex CC you will NOT get points/minimum spend, irrelevant here since we are talking about chase UR.
Anyways, my point is not to overdo it. Amex is smarter than you think.
I tried to buy the reload card for my vanilla visa on Monday at my OD but was told none of their cards were reloadable. I could only see the non reloadable info once I open the package. Beware the purchase is non returnable/ refundable! My card was invalid on first use and OD won’t do anything about it. Mgr said sometimes crooks can steal th card info somehow at store. I have to fax copy of card n receipt n ID to vanilla n it will take them 7-14 days to resolve. So no free lunch!
Just a couple of observations/questions to clarify:
1) It says the temp cards will not be sold in NJ. Does that mean the reloadables will not be too?
2) If I cross the bridge to NYC and buy the temp card in NYC, can I register it successfully with a NJ address and order the permanent card with a NJ address as well? Seems like they are only restricting the “sale” of the temp card within NJ, not the “useage” of it attached to a NJ address.
3) Seems to me if you buy and load up temp card with $500 and buy a $500 reload the same time, you would have to wait for the permanent card to come in or use up the initial $500 temp card before you use the reload card. The temp card has a max of $500 and the permanent has a max of $2,000. You wouldnt be able to load up the temp card with the vanilla reload until one of those two things happen first. Am I reading that right? good to know if you plan on buying a reload card right away, you may not be able to use it right away.
I know all these questions will be answered when I try it out, but anyone have any comments if I am getting this right?
AZNPRZN: You and I are clearly in the same situation. OfficeMax and Staples remain in PHX area, just no Office Depot. Boggles the mind how they kept TUS stores but not PHX. Must have been a local LLC franchisee or something who pulled out.
It sounds like a good plan, but what do you think Chase will say when nearly all your Chase Ink Bold Business expense is for ‘Office Supplies’? I suspect some flags would be raised. There have been other blogs posting about Chase shutting down accounts, presumably due to customer profitability. I would be really careful of this and make sure you have non-office supply expense on your Chase Ink Bold biz card as well.
Do they have these at staples? No Office Depot’s around me….
Couple of points:
AZNPRZN and Arizona guy: Same boat as you are in in Sioux Falls, SD. I am heading to Fargo this weekend and they have an OD……
However, note Miler’s comment on Staples being back to 5X which opens up a ton of easy points on $100 cards again, and I think there is another way to maybe do this Vanilla thing, just not quite a lucrative……I will test today, but actually may help avoid detection….
sam: Yes, the reloadable one is a separate card that comes in the mail. I haven’t found a good way to do this with visa cards yet.
Daniel P: You’re right that the Freedom bonus is quite limited
Mark: Yes, no reason not to carry both a Vanilla Visa and the Amex
Seymour: Correct, the temporary Amex can’t be used at an ATM. Since you’re worried about your privacy, I agree that the Visa cards offer a better option for you.
Steve Kalman: If you’re planning to do this just for Amazon purchases, you can save the $3.95 fee and a lot of hassle by finding an office supply store that sells Amazon gift cards. No need to go the Amex route.
Mark: TCB = Top Cash Back (topcashback.com). It’s probably the best cash back portal there is.
ORD-TGU: Yes, agreed, don’t overdo it.
Valerie: Sounds like a pain. Yes, it’s definitely the case that the Visa cards at Office Depot are not re-loadable.
ArizonaGuy: I think you stumbled upon a business opportunity! Open an Office Depot, sell these cards, and offer to accept phone orders.
BothofUs2: Agreed, I thought I made that clear. If not, please read my post Why Chase cancels accounts (and how to protect yourself)
jedijood:
1) You should be able to order the reloadables online. (EDIT: I meant here that you can order the permanent Amex online. You don’t have to add any money to the card until it arrives) Give it a try and let me know how it goes. It’s free.
2) Good question, I don’t know. However, it’s easier just to order one online.
3) Yes, you’re right that the reload card is useless until the permanent card arrives. When it does arrive, any balance left over on the temporary card automatically transfers over.
Ian: No, Staples doesn’t carry these. More vendors will be coming out with similar products soon so hopefully Staples and OfficeMax will start carrying them.
THEsocalledfan: I’m intrigued
I’m sorry, I must be an idiot, but I can’t find them for sale online (per post #75). Would you be able to point me in the right direction?
Amex Prepaid is a product originally designed for parents to give to their college-age kids to allow them to spend on an allowance.
It’s also offered to Amex applicants who don’t meet their credit standards so they can establish a credit history with Amex, with the promise that Amex will monitor their credit and offer them a “real” account when they feel more comfortable and thier credit looks better. If you are not already an Amex customer, don’t be surprised to see Amex Account Review soft-pulls (only visible by you and no score impact) on your credit reports regularly after you accept the permanent prepaid card. They will likely offer you other Amex cards after you have it for a while.
Just use it like a college student with rich parents would (spend AND get cash.) Don’t let the prepaid balance drop too low and don’t use ATMs for balance inquiries (costs them money.) And never get a purchase declined due to insufficient funds in the account. They make their money from the purchases and from the float (stored money they’re holding and not paying you interest on.) Let them make a little and they’ll be happy.
Chase and the office supply store may not be so happy with you though, once they figure it all out. They’re both the losers in this plan.
Michael: See option 2 in the post itself under the heading “How to get the card”. Or, click here: American Express® Prepaid Card
BTW you may want to also look for Amex prepaid refill cards at grocery stores. Not sure they’d carry such a large denomination though. Chase Freedom is doing the 5 points/$ this quarter if you have one.
And I am curious if you can also use regular Amex gift cards to do your “refills” on the prepaid card as well. They seem to be offered at more places.
Michael: See option 2 in the main post under How to get this card. Or, just click here.
This is genious in that Amex is sort of punishing Chase. People use Amex cards and Chase pays for the points. Quite brilliant, but i am sure it wasn’t intended for that.
RandyH: Thanks for the info. Great advice too. Yes, Chase definitely loses on this deal (just as they do with credit card sign-up bonuses when people don’t continue to use their cards afterwards). I asked an industry expert about Office Depot and he swears that they do fine with this. If he’s right, they must get a discount on the amount loaded. Otherwise, $3.95 certainly wouldn’t cover their expenses.
lovetofly: It was definitely not intended for that, as you said. Amex makes money from prepaid cards regardless of whether Chase pays points.
@Frequent Miler: Thanks. I think I worded my post poorly. I’m looking to buy them online through Office Depot to get the 5X using Ink, but those links go directly to Amex, so I don’t think they qualify.
Mike
RandyH: I expect that its technically possible to buy large denomination Amex gift cards through Big Crumbs and then use them to buy reload cards. However, I’d be seriously worried about Amex having awareness of the whole circle at that point…
Michael: Correct, you cannot buy them through officedepot.com. rats.
@daniel_p : Yes, freedom if you have 1 card is limited to $1500 per quarter. It is possible to have a visa version and a mastercard version. Between my wife and I we have 4 Freedoms. $6K spend a quarter is way more than we need. Also, the Amex Blue Cash is 6% on all grocery stores, I don’t there’s a cap.
Per AMEX FAQ, “The maximum Card balance and monthly maximum load amount at any one time is $2,500.”
Does this mean you can only load $2,500 onto the card per month?
Did anyone ever say who HS is?
Per post 75 1) but if you bought reloadables online you’d miss out on the 5x from an office supply store, correct?
I think I agree with many of the other posters. I probably would just get the temporary card so I could use it at costco and other places, but I really dislike the fact that I have to give AMEX my SSN and all my information. That’s basically setting yourself to get caught. If you didn’t have to enter that info, this would be incredible.
Mike: No, it means that you can load up to $2500, spend it and then load more. The max balance is $2500. Oops. It turns out that $2500 is the monthly limit for reload packs!
TSO: Yes, Hilary Stockton
Kadence: I meant that you can order the reloadable Amex (without any cash on it). You can’t order the reload cards online at all.
Joshua: Do what works for you
[...] As I mentioned yesterday, the Frequent Miler has found a really great way to earn extra points on everything that you buy. Read about it in full. [...]
If one does NOT use ATM withdrawals, and only for purchases spend everywhere, then there seems no risk from AmEx. Why the objection to give AMEX one’s SSN to register for permanent card? What is the violation for AmEx to catch you? Do they have something against too much use of prepaid card? There is a built in limit of $2500 every month anyway.
Thanks for clarification. I did just try to sync my “permanent” prepaid card with my Twitter account and it did not work. Found this in T&C “however, certain cards are not deemed Eligible Cards, including Prepaid Cards…”
If only it were that semi-simple. In the first place, AMEX is simply not accepted in huge numbers of places. Why? Their merchant fees are HUGE. If a given purchase is under ~$500, the merchant gets screwed. In the end, no one can manage with ONLY an AMEX (or Ink) cared these days.
@FrequentMiler The AmEx prepaid card jacket says on the back … you can reload online or by phone — with **up to $2,500 per month** from a bank account, direct deposit or cash reload pack.
Kroozer: Good catch! The FAQ is confusing on that point, but I found language in the cardmember agreement that is more clear. I’ll update the original post!
Kadence: Oh no! I was counting on doing that!
When applying for the permanent card, you have to enter details for both the ‘purchaser’ and the ‘user’.
If I were to buy a card for another family member to use, is there any benefit or drawback for me entering myself as the purchaser vs. using their details instead? I can’t see the difference, but I’m sure there is one!
Obviously I’d enter them as the ‘user’ in either scenario.
With the $2500 per month limit, do you believe putting $2500 on the card every month will look suspicious to AMEX?
Would it be better for my household to get two of these perm prepaid cards, one for me and one for my spouse, and load each though OD refills bought with my ink bold? That way I would not be max’ing out $2500 every month.
Cedarglen-
Perhaps you can use the Vanilla Visa GC for those places that don’t take AMEX….in my area of the US, MOST places that I frequent do take AMEX. Great thing about these gift card/prepaid cards is they don’t expire till 2020/2021
When this kind of Ink Bold deals comes up, I’m really curious on these two factors.
1) Would really Chase lose money on their 5x ink bold deal? If they do, it won’t take long for them to cut this deal down very quickly as soon as they find out numerous $503.95 charges on many ink bold cards in Office Depot. I get the feeling they don’t lose money on it. They might have gotten better rates (higher) with the office supply stores by persuading them that they can bring in more customers. Considering the profit margin of Staples and Office Depot (compare the price to Costco, walmart, and amazon), I wouldn’t be they are willing to pay higher credit card processing fee to bring in more customers. I’d love to know insights from other people on this issue
2) What’s Office Depot’s position on this? If they keep losing money on credit card sale of AMEX prepaid card, it’ll take very little time for them to shut it down. The corporate headquarter will catch multiple $503.95 transactions very quickly, and if they find out they are losing money, well they’ll prohibit credit card refill.
Forgot to make this critical comment:
You have to love a blogger who has read the Lord of the Rings!
Nice find!! If I understand correctly and my only purpose is to meet minimum spend on Amex card, I can buy these with an Amex card?
For a greedy person, one can use these cards on AP. If you can spare the 2.7% fees, you can use them in conjunction with Square and also Paypal GO which is coming out soon. Mix it up with some Cash withdrawal and regular spending and there should be no problem maxing out the $2500 per month. The main thing is you want to avoid AMEX’s fraud detection algorithms. If you charge a mix of products to this card, you “maybe” able to avoild a FR. For example: 1K AP + 500 square + 500 Paypal GO + 300 ATM + 200 regular spending. If you use the above mix, your fees are approximately $55 and you will be minting UR points at .44 cents per point. I wouldn’t do it personally because I look at this as a long term game but others may.
Putting regular charges on INK Bold other than your $503.95 charges also help disguise your intention.
Fantastically shared; and with appropriate warnings all about. thank you.
Guess what the kids at college (and wife) will be using to pay their bills with…Great for keeping others on budget!
I am pretty sophisticated as far as the “game” goes.
I don’t like it! I stick to rotating $500 plain Vanilla Visa/MC cards thru Freedom/ Discovery/ Dividend/ Amex Biz Premier etc. You get the point. MY point!!
Not impressed.
Would you be able to use the prepaid card for Amazon payments? If so, that would be an amazing deal!
not sure if this deal is for me…but have to agree with #105!
Since this is a new service, If you notice most every card that allows ATM withdrawals, prohibits you from paying with a credit card. This is to prevent the card seller from eating credit card fees since they know people will churn/launder money through this process. I can only imagined that Amex/office depot will kill this loophole once it’s receives significant exposure.
The only way this survives is if they continue to allow credit card payments and/or ATM withdrawals. I wager that this will be over in two months or less, and I hope people learn that to use a little discretion next time.
Has this made fatwallet/slickdeals yet? Hope not!
Now I’m off to the races…maxing my office depot spening for the next couple of weeks
On the – How to get the card… If you had a temporary card, which I know realize you cant use at an ATM, when you trade up for a permanent card does it take the balance of your temporary card?
Otherwise, I am not sure why they ask if you have a temp card?
It SUCKS to live in Canada. U guys r lucky with that many options for CC points & Miles.
xp0: Yes the balance transfers to the permanent card
I read about 50 posts before work and read the rest now. Can we have a random prize ….just select any number…how about # 117?
LOL….that would be you FrequentMiler….i mean how about # 117…seriously, I think I will stick with the $500 Vanilla Gift card and not risk with Chase and AMEX knowing about my Giftcards.
i am confused, what is amex temporary prepaid card and what is amex permanent prepaid card?
i have one amex prepaid i got from amex website 2 months ago. there was a deal where if you fund $25 to the amex prepaid card, amex was supposed to give me $25 bonus.
I am not sure whether the prepaid card i got is the temporary or permanent ?
any link for the permanent prepaid amex card?
Thanks for this, FM!! Another great idea, well explained.
[...] also tells us about the ability to buy an American Express prepaid card with no fee, earning 5X Ultimate Rewards points in the process. I’ll definitely be taking advantage of this in order to purchase the Fairmont [...]
I ordered the card and…
Thank you for your order. We are reviewing your request and will send you an e-mail to provide an update on the status of your order.
…
It will take approximately 7-19 business days after purchase to receive the card (based on shipping and payment method).
I cant wait 7-19 days!
@THEsocalledfan –
Nah, Frequent miler doesn’t read Lord of the Rings, just Cardpool
http://www.cardpool.com/the-ultimate-gift-card
xp0, deal will probably be dead by the time you get the permanent card. FM blog will turn into a “deal killing” blog. For every poster here, there are probably 10 not posting.
Zabul – I do not think so. American Express has put A LOT of work/time/money into this. Really the only thing – besides some purchase protection – that separates this from just a normal gift card is the ability to hit up an ATM machine for $400/day. If not for that, why wouldnt you just buy a Visa Gift card for $5 which is accepted everywhere?
I guess only time will tell. Also, if you read a lot of these comments people dont have Office Depot’s near them, dont want to take an added chance for FR or getting their Chase accounts closed, etc. I am not sure that I feel a lot of people are going to be doing this.
[...] adventurous, read the Frequent Miler’s latest post on how to take this idea even further by buying the new permanent refillable American Express gift cards from Office Depot. I have also added the Frequent Miler to my blogroll for your convenience. You can find the largest [...]
Rome wasn’t built in a day. The Mint wasn’t killed during it’s first (or second) year
dan
you really underestimated how greedy people can be. I can see a lot people keep doing this crazily.
A) If someone wants to be greedy, then they take the risk of being shut down by Chase for a long time. It is up to them whether they feel their greediness is worth their relationship with Chase. Maybe that uncertainty will prevent people from going too crazy with this.
B) I have learnt A LOT from The Frequent Miler so I am not going to complain even though I was already doing a variation of this since a couple of months. Actually my variation started because of what I learned off of his blog so I have no reason to ‘complain’. If this goes down hill, we will find something else. Ever since I started miles/points hunting, there really hasn’t been a limit of finding extra points/miles, the only limit has been time or complexity of certain ideas or staying within limits. So this is what is out there right now, those who want to enjoy it … can enjoy it … those who want to complain … well … yeah.
For those who think this will last, all it takes is office depot enforcing the terms already in place. A simple memo to all stores to refuse cc sales kills this deal in days. The only question is does office depot make or lose money on sales with credit cards. I must admit that I am a little disappointed that the PPM is so ez to shut down and involves a store that already had money making opps. There were MULTIPLE ways to cash in at office depot and now any repeated OD purchases might raise a red flag.
I am hoping the few who think FM is ruining this deal by posting it has carefully read his post about his internal debate in regards to creating this post.
I for one am thankful. I knew about buying all the other gift cards, but until it was clearly spelled out, I didn”t want to bother. Now it seems pretty straight forward and a good way to get 5x UR points without too much thought. The key beauty in this card may not be the ATM withdrawal but the ability to use it online since it will be clearly linked to an address. If I am wrong, then consider me a newb.
There is no reason to let the few who abuse these opportunities ruin it for the rest of us readers who will use this in moderartion.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
If you can only do $2,500/mo that comes to $30,000 per year. You only get the 5x bonus on office supplies for the first $25,000 spent. So what happens to the the bonus on the additional $5,000? Also, weren’t people getting their spending through things like legitimate office supplies and things like the gas cards?
I guess my question is – how are people going to ruin this if they can only do it for the $25,000/year anyway?
Lawrence: 5x is paid on up to $50k spend.
Lawrence: The Ink Bold has a $50K limit on the 5X category. The Ink Cash and Ink Classic both have $25K limits as you said.
Do we have to wait for the permanent card to buy the reloadable cards? Or can we reload the temp card now and use it with no problem? I need to renew my annual membership fee to a professional association I belong to very soon and I can’t wait up to 19 days to receive the perm card!
I got the OD Workliferewards opened finally. I tried to add this purchase and got an error msg that I can not add purchases done before enrollment! I sent a msg to worlliferewards asking them to add it or I go back to OfficeMax!
I started using the temp card at Panera this am. Both times it did not swipe, clerk had to enter it manually. They were not very happy! Just fyi.
Hello all,
I shared this with Miler already, but wanted to mention that I tried to buy a reload card at Kum and Go, as gas station trying to get 2X on my Amex gold, and it automatically rejected it. Same with Ink. So, some retailers have clearly found a way to enforce the cash terms and conditions of this card. I am going to bet it will be a matter of time until Office Depot figures this out. I am heading to Fargo, ND this weekend and hoping to score some cards before this dies!
gpapadop: You can buy the reload cards ahead of time, but you can’t use them until the permanent card comes. In my case, it took about 4 or 5 days to arrive.
Do the Vanilla reload cards SAY “cash only” on the packaging? The Green Dot money paks are clearly identified as cash or Debit with PIN only.
77w: No, the OneVanilla packs do not say “cash only” (unless it says so in microscopic fine print).
Target also has a reloadable permanent Amex prepaid card. I don’t know if they have OneVanilla reloads.
Personally, I see Amex gift cards as a way to get cashback at Costco.
@Daniel P – Freedom works out well if you associate it Chase checking for their 10/10 deal aka Chase Exclusives that gives you 10 bonus pts per purchase + 10% base points. Makes points from a cup of coffee here or lunch there easy to accumulate. It’s also of note that the merchants for X back between Ink, Sapphire, and Freedom can sometimes differ. For example, Sephora is offering 20x via Freedom this month while Sapphire is just 5x. Personally, since my risk tolerance is low, I favor sustained point accrual over card churning. Lower rewards, but it is still nice that it “just works” in the physical world without any extra effort from me.
*get cashback at Costco should be get points at Costco. I used to use my ATM there since Starwood/Plat hasn’t mailed me a tempting enough sign-up bonus.
The closest office depot only had the ones for certain amounts. Would this work?
It took me 2 different ODs but I found one that had the card. I had to use my wife’s VS card, last of the spend there and will be getting the Ink next app-o-rama. I just registered it online and will start the cycle. When I was at the counter I talked up the cashier and she said that they had been selling a lot of them lately. I told her it was a great card because of the no fees LOL. I guess that is why it took me 2 ODs to find one in Seattle?
Man, I got through this entire post, and I thought, “Man, this is heavy. I’m going to go do drugs.” So it’s a good thing you turned me away from that.
Question for ya, FMiler: is there a way to track how much of a balance is left on the permanent card?
Dave: You’re right, it is a great card! Thanks for sharing the story
harvson3: LOL. Since you’re the only person to mention the drugs comment, I can only assume you’re the only person who read all the warnings. That means, we’re all in trouble… Anyway, yes you can see your balance online at americanexpress.com/prepaid. Unfortunately the card doesn’t show up on Amex’s mobile app, so I don’t know a good way of seeing the balance on an iPhone or similar. The best bet when out and about seems to be this option from their FAQ:
Texting “BAL” + the last 4 card number digits (i.e., “BAL XXXX”) to 91315 (once enrolled in text alerts).
Can you get the reloads at Office Max? I’m trying to work on a 10K AmEx spend, and get 5% back at OM.
NM I surfed the Vanilla Reload Network website and it said ixnay on the OfficeMax. However it also said you could only load cash onto the Reload card. Have you personally been able to use your Ink card to buy a reload pack?
MJLouise: You are correct that they don’t sell these at OfficeMax, just Office Depot for now. Yes I and many readers have bought the reload packs with Ink cards. Only one reader so far has reported being told no. Of course, that can change at any time or may be different by location.
Yes, MJLouise. I purchased a bunch of them already with my Ink bold card. Now I am just waiting for my two permanent cards to arrive.
adding this card to reward dinning is perfect
I bought two cards for 500 plus three reloads for another 1500 and got charged 150 in tax.seems like that would cut into the effectiveness of this
I bought two cards for 500 plus three reloads for another 1500 and got charged 150 in tax.seems like that would cut into the effectiveness of thisz
Peter S: Absolutely!
Lawrence: You shouldn’t have been charged tax! I’d recommend returning to the store and demanding the tax back (or a full refund).
I didn’t pay attention until I was in the car. The knucklehead manager had to call corporate. I’m waiting to hear back. I called another OD and they told me the same thing. Wonder how many people they’ve cheated over the years on this!
Woot! Deal still alive this morning. I bought & loaded a $500 temporary card, and a $500 vanilla reload card, for $1000 + less than $9 in fees. I used my Ink Classic, which is supposed to be 5X on biz purchases as well. So less than .2 cents a point, not bad. The cashier seemed relieved that I was using a cc, I think she was afraid I wanted to write a check & she would have to call a manager etc. LOL.
Only problem is that OD is out of my way, but I’ll try to make it a regular detour on my shopping forays. Tx for the tip.
[...] (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}After reading my earlier post “One card to rule them all” many people ran out to their local Office Depot stores to buy Vanilla Reload cards with their [...]
So, I guess as long as you #1) don’t plan on using the ATM withdraw feature and #2) don’t mind paying the extra $1 on the service fee…you can just keep going into Office Depot and buying the pre-paid AMEX cards and not worry about the reload Vanilla one. I suppose this would avoid giving the ability for AMEX to track your activity via your SS# and trigger a potential financial review.
So my local OD was out of the vanilla reload cards, but they did have several of the prepaid amex re-loadable temporary cards.
Was the topic of combining several of the prepaid cards into one reloadable card once my permanent card arrives in the mail?
I know that you can transfer an existing balance onto a permanent card once it comes, but i haven’t seen any talk about combining multiple cards.
arizonawildcat: Yes, you can also get $500 Vanilla Visa cards.
JP: I don’t know of anyway to load a second temporary card ‘s balance onto your permanent card. It would be nice!
I think this post should also be put under ‘Start Here’ or ‘Resources’.
I have not yet been past the first page of the order for the permanent prepaid, but there was not an area for any SS#, does that come after the agreement page? If not, then what would stop one from putting in any psuedo name to help avoid detection? Half the vendors I use never ask for a name.
can you track the spending on the prepaid cards on sites like mint.com?
phil: Surprisingly, yes! I added my card in to Mint as an “American Express Gift Card” and it worked! It didn’t work for Expensify or for GoWallet though.
Thanks FM. Seems like this could be winner-winner-chicken-dinner. That said I have about $5k yet to make in spending from my last app-o-rama, and am only about 40 days from being able to do my next. Right now I think the PPM exists in it’s simplest form in being able to apply for 5-6 cards every three months. I am still a way to go from having “every” card. Still this one let’s me build up UR points which are really valuable given the Hyatt and United conversion options
FM: You’re my hero
Best blog out there, for sure!
I just received my permanent card today. Has anyone been able to locate a no fee ATM? Do Amex have branded ATMs or is it just an ‘amex accepted here’ type of situation? The ATM locator on the amex site has a bunch but they are all 3rd party owned. Just curious. Keep up the good work!
[...] Express (“Amex”) vs. Visa: read Frequent Miler’s post on how to get the permanent refillable Amex gift card ($3.95 fee for every $500 refilled). However, Amex is not accepted everywhere, so you might also [...]
[...] To learn the basics of how this works, please see the original post for more information: “One card to rule them all”. If you have further questions, please see the American Express [...]
Thanks FM! I’ve been traveling the past week, so I’ve just been reading. Got home yesterday, plan on making a trip to OD this week to check it out.
On a side note, I’ve heard reports that some folks have been able to purchase GreenDot MoneyPaks with CC. They may be old (and have since been cracked down on), but I may give it a try at grocery/drugstores since I have other cards that give good rewards there too!
I’ll probably also get one for me one for the wife…
Instead of shelling out the $5 for the prepaid AMEX card, you can sign up on their site to get one mailed to you for free. AMEX allows a person to have 3 of these prepaid cards. Now my question is whether or not you can pay for a Vanilla Network reload card with an Office Depot gift card. I assume it has to be a “No.” otherwise you could participate in quite an interesting (diminishing) loop:
1. Obtain an AMEX PP card, load it up with $2k in vanilla network cards (this will cost around $16) that you pay for with your Chase Ink Classic card. The $2k purchase will net you 10k Chase rewards points.
2. Redeem 9000 Chase rewards points for one of their 10% off Office Depot gift cards on the Chase Ultimate Rewards site (9000 points get you a $100 OD card)
3. Use the OD gift card to purchase more vanilla points to load onto the AMEX PP
In the end If you decide to NOT reinvest the OD gift card, you will have spent $16 and you will have:
- $2000 AMEX Prepaid card to spend anywhere
- $100 Office Depot Gift Card
- 1000 left over Chase rewards points
If you did this with 3 AMEX PP cards you would have $300 in OD GCs and 3k in Chase rewards (and if you make all of these purchases within the first 3 months of owning the Chase Ink card you will get the bonus 15k Chase points for spending over $5k – which is worth another $150…)
MilesMaven: Thanks! I think just about any ATM will work (but most will charge a fee).
Steve: Yes,there have been reports about that. I tried and struck out at a couple of stores (Kroger & Walgreens).
moro: Very cool idea even if it took me quite a while to understand it. I don’t think OD will take gift cards when buying reload cards, but I’d love for someone to give it a try! It could open many new possibilities!
OD won’t allow you to use OD gift card to buy a gift card, at least according to my OD. Received AE prepaid card yesterday and purchased a Vanilla reload card today as a test run. I tried to load the AE card and received an error from the Vanilla Reload. I called in and they said they couldn’t figure out why it would not work.I’m supposed to call back in 48 hours. Anyone else have this problem?
Dustin: Thanks for the info. I haven’t heard of anyone else having that issue with the Reload. I had an issue with it when I tried to do more than $1000 in a 24 hour period, but that was my fault.
[...] Use your prepaid Amex to pay for each night & earn 1500 Ultimate Rewards points! See “One card to rule them all.” [...]
I learned a lot from this blog so here is what I did.
bought $200 gift cards from Staples through UR and using Ink Bold…10X
Use those Visa gift cards to buy Dell gift Cards through UR…5X plus for every $300 in gift cards, Dell gives $50 in the form of a e-gift card
Use the UR again and buy the laptop which is on sale for students $699…5X and you get $200
[...] deal! Make sure you check it out here and see if you can turn this into your advantage – link (I do not currently receive commission for the INK Bold card, so if you would like to sign up for [...]
[...] sells $300 American Airlines gift cards for only $270. You could even buy that gift card with an Amex prepaid card from Office Depot that you purchased with a Chase Ink Bold for 5X Ultimate Rewards…. Finally, there are also lots of 2X RDM/EQM promos (at least lately) to help you reach your goals [...]
@milesmaven
not sure where you are at but Wawa gas stations all have fee-free ATMs
[...] your life. But, in the spirit of Frequent Miler, here are some idea’s that hit me when buying some gift cards this week at Office Depot for 5x points on my INK BOLD card. First, I will use these gift cards to buy Walmart Gift cards, instead of my [...]
[...] adventurous, read the Frequent Miler’s latest post on how to take this idea even further by buying the new permanent refillable American Express gift cards from Office Depot. I have also added the Frequent Miler to my blogroll for your convenience. You can find the largest [...]
[...] purchases. Head over to read all about it and then read the updates post from a week later. Details HERE and [...]
Just got my permanent card in the mail, so I headed out to OD (Bellevue, WA) to get some Reloads. The temporary Prepaid cards are on display, surrounded by regular AmEx gift cards. The Assistant Store Manager is right there.
Me: “Do you have any of the reload packs for these”
ASM: (Disapprovingly) “We do not”
Me: “Are you out of stock or do you not carry them”
ASM: (Very sternly) “We do not carry them”
I’ll have to call around…
[...] check out this post by Frequent Miler on how to buy a re-loadable AMEX, load it with up to $2,000, and then use that for all your [...]
I was able to buy one at OD with my IB. No issues. Then again I made some other purchases on top of the Vanilla Reload.
Does anyone know if the limits on cards you can own conflict with the AMEX for Target? You can load them for $3 which is great for maxing out points on my Freedom card in this category. Also, the AMEX website says that while you can manage 3 prepaid cards, you can only have 1 assigned per person. Anyone experience conflicts there?
James: Good question about the Target Amex. Are you saying that you can load the Target Amex with a credit card at Target?
Interestingly I saw these for sale in my local Harris Teeter here in NC (big grocery chain). So for those of you interested, you could use the Amex Preferred Blue to get 6% cashback on all purchases using this technique, with no upper limit
Phil: Great find. It would be good to know if Harris Teeter allows you to buy these with a credit card.
Me local OD took down the amex advertising display sign but still has both the prepaid and reload cards. Many there to drool over, just waiting to be picked… (must, fight, urge… to max out full/mo)
BTW, The store manager thanked me for purchase on the way out. Thanks FrequentMiler !
can you fill these up from paypal?
I don’t think so
Well, you wonder .
I bought $700 , one vannila visa ,and AMEX cards @ Office Depot about 10 days ago. I go back today , same store to buy 2 – $100 , AMEX cards. Wouln`t let me do it , said it has to be paid for cash or Debit card, I told them I was buying graduation cards for gifts, and I had purchased some very recently, and I asked to speak to a manager, she said policy was , no credit cards , they might not be good
I said here is my ID and if the card is approved the responsibility was mine not theirs, you guessed it , no way
So I left the store ,
Is the party over at Office Depot or should I try another location
Whatcha think ??
Jerry: definitely try another location if you can
Is the $2500 limit per calendar month or for a month calculated from the day you get the card?
Achilles: I don’t know
Since the Amex card could be used at ATMs, that means there’s a pin, and since there’s a pin, could I make a purchase and get cash back? At my local grocery store, Publix, I can make a purchase in any amount and get up to $100 cash back at a time and there’s no charge.
Kosta: it does have a PIN, but it’s not a debit card so no you can’t use it to get cash back from grocery stores in that way.
@Phil: I swung by two Harris Teeters in Cary and Morrisville NC. Didn’t find any Vanilla Reloads. Checked the “prepaid” section (phone cards and reloadable Visas) and checked the “Gift Card Mall” ($500 vanilla visas, but no reloads). Are you in the CLT area?
I just took your idea of getting 10 X points by going through Ultimate rewards a Staples to get 10 x points rather than the 5 at a walk in Office Depot,the only problem is you can only get Visa $100 on line
now if we could find a way to get those bonuses on Vanilla one Visa and AMEX through Ultimate Rewards
Stop by only OD in Manhattan. Display sign still up but no prepaid nor reload cards. Nor Vanilla Visa Cards. Curious as when was last successful purchase made at this location.
@Achilles. I have had my AX prepaid card for about 3 weeks now. My local OD sells me the cards using a credit card for payment but OD does require a manager to sign off on each purchase and show ID because I purchase 2500 each time I go in, and my store has a special fraud protection policy regarding high dollar purchases of gift cards.
The way the Vanilla reload works is that you can load up to 1000.00 per day, which is a 24 hour period and not a calendar day (I have tried a reload 23 hours after a previous reload and it did not work). The max 2500 per month is based on when you last reloaded the card. So each month the day when you can add more will change, presuming that you added the max 2500 in the previous month. Since you can only load 1000 max per day, it will take 3 days to load the max allowed 2500.00. In the following month you will be able to reload 28 days after each of the days that you made loads in the previous month. So if you load 1000 on the 15th, 1000 on the 16th and 500.00 on the 17th, and assuming you spend all in your account bringing it to a 0 balance, you can reload 1000.00 28 days after the 15th, 1000 28 days after the 16th and 500 28 days after the 17th.
Thanks, Chuck. Makes sense.
Funny observation: there’s an Office Depot one block away from the In-n-out Burger near LAX famous in the freq flyer community as a good plane-watching spot (24R and 24L).
I don’t have a local OD, so I’ll have to stop by in my next LAX layover.
The $2500 limit per 28 days is a pain. I’ve loaded 2500 and have already spent the 2500 and need more in the card to spend. Can you buy more than one card?
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Mark: I believe you can get 3 per person (despite the FAQ that seems to indicate you can only get 1 for yourself). I have 2.
Ah yes, I just ordered another AMEX prepaid card. The 2500 limit per 28 days is a real pain.
Looks like Visa is coming out with a prepaid card. I’ll be getting one of those once it is available since some places do not even take AMEX.
https://www.onevanilla.com/onevanilla/upgrade.html
Does anyone know if you can use the PIN they give you on the AMEX reloadable prepay to select a PIN debit transaction at merchants?
Josh: no, you cannot use the Amex as a debit card
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
So you can order more than one card with your name and social security number?
Josh: Yes, you can order 3
I went to an OD on the outskirts of Boston to try to buy Vanilla Reload cards. As I was looking at the empty wall where the cards should have been, the lady working there told me that they had to stop selling the cards because “people were buying the cards all day, every day, $6,000 at a time!” She clearly didn’t understand the attraction.
Instead, I bought two Temporary Cards and loaded them each with $500. Not ideal, but I didn’t want to leave the store empty-handed. Anybody find a place to buy the Vanilla cards near Boston? Do you think that Amex and OD will reconsider their deal?
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] spending on credit cards without actually increasing their out-of-pocket expenses. A recent post by Frequent Miler got me started on the journey to hundreds of thousands of points for a few hundred dollars. And to [...]
[...] on May Day (May 1st), The Frequent Miler proclaimed that we no longer needed gift cards to try to play the maximize your points game and that it could be done with a single American [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Hey, all. This is working great for me (except for accidentally rebooting a Wallyworld register). I have one question.
Is the fee-free ATM withdrawal per CALENDAR month or must a whole month pass?
In other words, if I make my fee-free ATM withdrawal on JULY 8, can I make another one (without fee) on:
a) AUG 1, because it’s a different month, or
b) AUG 8, because a whole month has gone by
I guess it’ll only cost me $2 to find out, but someone has to know. (I called AMEX and they said, “we’re not sure.”)
Ed Chandler: Yes, it is one free each calendar month so option a should be correct.
[...] I’ve completely failed to acknowledge the Frequent Miler for all his hard work and for originally sharing this discovery that the Ink Bold card can be used to purchase pre-paid AmEx cards. Although you still have to buy [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] I like the Chase Ink Bold because of the great airline (United, British Airways & Korean Air) and hotel partners (Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Ritz-Carlton) and because there are no foreign exchange fees for using the card outside the US. And 5X points on office store purchases can be quite useful too! [...]
Bought my 1st 2 Vanilla Reload Cards from Office Depot with my Citi Bank Hilton Honors credit card. I know I won’t receive 5 points per dollar like I would with the INK CC but I need to meet the minimum spend lst. Is this wise to do or should I have bought the 1k Reload cards using my Chase ink?
sil: That’s a great question (I should write a post about that…). The answer is maybe. If you simply need to shift spending forward to meet minimum spend before time runs out, then yes this is a good approach, but it does cost $3.95 per $500. If you use the ATM feature (judiciously) to take money out, it can be a pretty good solution for helping with minimum spend requirements.
Does Citi treat all Office Depot spending(including gift cards/vanilla reload cards)as purchases? I am in a similar situation with the Thank You Premier and wanted to know if I would be charged a cash advance fee by Citi. I don’t need a lot of spend on this card, but $500 would definitely help.
-KCal
I have a bundle of Amex gift cards, which I would like to get rid. Can I load them onto this Amex Prepaid card?
The reason I asked is because gift cards have no protection esp on large purchases, where as this Amex Prepaid does.
Thanks.
Joev: You can try using your Amex gift cards to buy Vanilla reload cards in-store at Office Depot. The problem is that you’ll lose some of their value due to the $3.95 fee, but it might be worth it to you to move the money to a better card.
How do you get 60k UR point from $1k exactly?
When you get a permanent card, will it have a different card number from the temporary one?
Paul: No, you get a new number (I think), but the money left on the temporary card transfers over automatically.
We were just told at an Office Depot in Seattle that Chase was no longer allowing purchase of Vanilla Reload cards. Anyone else?
Not sure I saw this situation in the comments butttt…I pay my rent in cash to my landlord every month at about $1200. So theoretically I could buy this card with my Amex (I dont have an Ink card yet) and then withdraw that cash from ATMS over the course of the month at $300 a week then pay my landlord? Not fantastic but at least I would be getting 14,400 MR points a year until I get the INK card and 60K or so, right?
Sammy: Yep! I would be careful, though — if you use the card only for ATM withdrawals, Amex may become suspicious. Also, make sure the fees (ATM & reload card) work for you.
Are the vanilla reload packs reloadble? Meaning you spend $3.95 once for the vanilla reload and everytime you need to fill it up with $500, you’ll have to go to an OD. But this will save $3.95 by reusing the vanilla reload. Or are vanilla reloads disposable one time cards?
Thanh P: the vanilla reload cards are one time use disposable.
Miler, quick question. I signed up for Amex Serve payment service online and to my surprise, I received a physical card in the mail a few days ago. Are you familiar with this card? It looks like a prepaid card that can be reloaded with Moneypak instead of Vanilla cards. If this works, then it offers another way of earning points with extra drug store purchases for some credit cards…I don’t know anything about this card though. I’ve been struggling to find the T&C for this card in regards to its limitations. If you know and can share, that’ll be greatly appreciated!
Than P: most stores won’t let you buy moneypaks with a credit card, so I’m not sure youll have any luck with that. If you try, please let us know how it goes! If it works, there are many prepaid products that accept moneypak loads. Plus you can load those right to Paypal!
OK, I’ve been doing this for about 3 months without issues thus far…my UA and Hyatt accts thank you for that. Have you received any Chase anecdotes about this from your readers?
A random comment on that TPG re-post has me paranoid again. I’d hate to have my Chase accts closed…or worse, any associated UR transfer accts as well.
Should I try to mix it up? I just don’t have too much non 2X or 5X spend to put on the Ink Bold. I figure $200 of 1X spend w/ $2000 of 5X spend is not really going to help if you are on Chase’s radar.
Would adding add’l users help at all? I guess at the end of the day, it’s hard to hide the fact that your acct is earning 10-15K UR pts per month.
@David – There are a few things to do to keep under the radar. Don’t use ATM’s too much, use the UR mall, put all “other” spending on the card. I’d say if you are you putting other 1x spend on the ink bold or freedom card, too you are pretty solid.
David: I haven’t heard any verifiable stories yet about people getting shut down. As a result, there really is no way to know yet what amount is safe. Sorry I can’t give a better answer!
I have Amex Pass (Prepaid). I got it from the previous promotion. Can I use this Pass as my prepaid card and load it with Vanilla cards?
xina: Yes, it looks like you can use the Vanilla reload with Amex Pass cards. See the FAQ here.
I just read the American Express Pass FAQ again and yes Amex Pass can be reloaded with Vanilla Prepaid Reload. So, I don’t have to order a new Prepaid Amex.
Thanks FrequentMiler! I was posting reply without seeing your comment first.
Just stopped into my local OD and was told a new corporate policy was released yesterday to not sell more than 1 Vanilla Reload per customer per day due to “money laundering.” I didn’t confront the grumpy manager, but felt accused. I haven’t bought a VR in over two weeks, but feel pretty bummed out.
Hi Airmiler and all,
i read your post “One card to rule them all” with great interest and am planning on applying for a Chase Ink credit card to put the scheme to the test.
My question is this: It seems that there are 3 types of Chase Ink cards,
1. Chase Ink Bold (the one you recommend highly)
2. Chase Ink classic
3. Chase Ink Cash
Other than the 50,000 points sign-up bonus for Ink Bold after $10,000 spend, it appears that Bold and Classic are almost identical when it comes to Ult. Reward point rebate? Both are “5X office supplies, cellular/landline/ cable; 2X gas and hotels…” The Ink Cash rebates in hard “cash” so I’ll rule it out. However, since Ink Bold costs $95 the 2nd year and every year after, why would you not consider Chase ink Classic to be better deal?
Additionally, is it correct that either Chase Ink “Bold” or “Classic” allows combining of UR points earned by Chase Freedom mastercard to be used for airline/travel/hotel partners redemption at 1:1?
Thanks for your help!
Jeff
Brad: that is a bummer! At least they didn’t stop selling them altogether. Others: Based on past experience, I wouldn’t assume that this corporate policy is nationwide.
Jeff: You’re right that the Ink Cash and Ink Classic have similar point earning categories to the Ink Bold, but neither one lets you transfer points to airline or hotel partners. Also, where the Ink Bold 5X is capped at $50K per year, the other Inks are capped at $25K per year. That being said, if you have the Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer points from either Ink (cash or classic) to the Sapphire Preferred and then transfer to airlines & hotels. Basically, I think each household should ideally have either a Sapphire Preferred or an Ink Bold for the ability to transfer points to airline and hotel partners. After that, there is no reason not to have a combination of other cards (Ink Classic, Ink Cash, Freedom, Sapphire) to increase your point earning options.
Here’s a great option for maximizing points while avoiding annual fees:
1. sign up for the Ink Bold. 50K bonus
2. After a year, signup for the Ink Classic & the Sapphire Preffered, and cancel the Ink Bold (after moving points over). 40K + 25K = 65K bonus
3. After another year, signup for a newer version of the Ink Bold (they seem to come out regularly with new ones) & cancel the Sapphire Preferred. 50K bonus (assumed)
etc. Again, the goal is to always have one of either the Ink Bold or Sapphire Preferred for the ability to move points to airline and hotel programs.
Thanks FrequentMiler!
I think your suggestion is a good idea and will try to get an Ink BOLD – the thing is that it seems the current deal is 25K points after first spend and another 25K after $10,000 in 3 months. The $10,000 in 3 months will be hard for us to do, and 25K points after first spend seems a little small, do you anticipate Chase upping the Ink Bold reward offer anytime soon? It seems the credit card offer scene has quieted down since April’12.
Jeff: Did you see my post today? I wrote up how to spend $10K in 3 months. Would that work for you? There may be a new Ink Bold coming out soon with a new signup bonus, but I don’t have any real info about that
I have 1 Chase business card – The Rapid Rewards Premier. I have only spent $1 on it ever, to get the bonus. I assume I should use it regularly for a while BEFORE applying for the Ink, right? The idea would be to show Chase that I’m a “good” business customer. Thank you.
Rob: I don’t think it will really matter as long as you have a good credit history.
[...] you can study up on The Frequent Miler’s way to get 5x points on almost everything you buy! But take his warnings seriously and don’t abuse this [...]
I know there’s the Mio and NetSpend cards and the soon to be Vanilla prepaid, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to beat the customer service of American Express.
Hopefully you’ll never have to deal with losing a card or disputing a transaction from the other three, but based on my experience today, I feel 100% confident I would be made whole if I ever lost my AMEX prepaid.
If you recall, they had a promotion where if you loaded $200 or more, AMEX would send out a $25 gift card. I did that for three of my cards but only received two gift cards. Maybe the other one got lost on its way, but I called today and the agent simply credited one of my prepaids with $25. How’s that for customer service!!!
If the other gift card eventually shows up, I’m going to call and see if I can send it back to AMEX. One good deed deserves another.
[...] He truly is extremely knowledgeable in this area. To learn more, first read his post “One Card to Rule them All“, where he discusses using the Chase Ink Bold to earn 5 points on everything you buy [...]
[...] I’m a big fan of the American Express Pre-Paid card and Chase Ink Bold combo to turn lots of spending into 5 UR per dollar and have doing it for a while. Frequent Miler covered this in detail here. [...]
I spent a lot of time going to every Office Depot in my area to find the vanilla reload network cards. Everything around NYC and North Jersey seems to not carry them anymore. they only nave vanilla cards that will not load Amex prepaid.
I’ve tried green dot money pack sold at 7-11 cannot be purchased with a credit card. anyone have another suggestion?
I don’t have the bold card so this wasn’t going to be done for the 5x points but more so because i have some cash only payments coming up and i’d like to use this method for minimum spend. id buy them on my min spend required card and then take out of ATM using amex prepaid. i will also use amex for other reason not to raise red flags don’t worry.
Just got approved for the Ink Bold and already have my permanent Amex Prepaid. My question is, what’s the best way to manage/check the balance while on the go? I know I can easily sign into the amex prepaid site but is there an app for mobile phones?
#262 – Devon
The back of the card has several options (including txt msg’ing “BAL XXXX” [last 4 digits] to 91315) to retrieve the balance.
Hi all,
This may be a silly question to ask, but has this question ever crossed people’s mind – if the AMEX prepaid has a $2500 limit per month, assuming charge it at max rate for a few months, then you have a “prepaid” card that is loaded with a LOT of money in it…
I’m assuming this is unlike a ATM card where a PIN is needed every time to pay for things, so essentially if it’s ever stolen, it’ll be anyone’s money?
Am I being too paranoid or I’m missing something?
Devon P: Try the Mint.com app
Joe: You can simply call Amex and they’ll freeze the account for you if the card is lost or stolen.
I’ll check out the Mint.com Android App
Josh: Weird, I keep trying that and get no response. If I put it incorrect like BAL4444 without the space it gives me the list of all options. Only way I get a response
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
I see that AE is giving a $25 GC if u load $200 on ur prepaid card. Can i load it at the time of order using another credit card ? Any hacks anyone has found
Also, loading an AE prepaid with another credit card would be considered cash withdrawl or not? Any thoughts..
@Gmash I don’t think you can load the AE prepaid card by another credit card
Hmm…any ideas on how you can still get the $25 gift card that AE is offering right now ?
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Just bought a reloadable card and tried to use it at Costco, their machine kept saying contact bank, I looked up my balance on line and the card says active? What gives?
I assume you can track your spending with Prepaid Amex right? you can download and etc.
If you have multiple prepaid card (for me, wife and niece), would all these tracked separately, or bunch into 1?
has anyone confirmed about buying only 1 Vanilla at OD?
Chris: yes, you can track transactions online or via Mint
If you go to OD and find no more Vanilla Reload cards, it seems to me it is possible to still get your 5X by directly reloading your prepaid card. OD is on the Vanilla Reload Network, so you should be able to avoid the reload card and directly reload your Amex card for $3.95 and a $500 limit correct?
@topgunner
you can only reload online from a bank account. i thought you still needed the vanilla reload network cards to get 5x bonus category or CC purchases for min spend.
TopGunner: Its certainly possible. I’ve never tried to load a prepaid card directly at OD. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Vard: TopGunner wasn’t suggesting to load the card online, but at an Office Depot store without first buying a Vanilla Reload card.
[...] Source: Frequent Miler [...]
I could not read all of this discussion because very long but, is there some possibility for us canadian people to be part ? Subject that i have an adress in usa ?
Amex is offering 50K points/$500 incentive for their business gold card. Seems much easier than jumping through hoops at OD. Received the offer in the mail yesterday.
It’s actually pretty simple if you live near an office depot. It takes me a total of maybe 5 minutes to do it and I’ll spend 5 minutes a month for the next year to get 60,000 UR point anytime. I know a lot of us would do both.
Any update on St@ples or Om@x carrying these? It sucks to be in Phx
I will have a 200 mile/3 hr back and forth (difficult to explain to DW) trip to Tucson each month if I have to do this. Even if I don’t value my time, it will cost me $30 in gas each month.
Please… someone start an Office Depot in Phoenix!
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Regarding Purchase protection, be aware it is VERY limited:
- Only for the 1st 90 days after purchase.
- It only covers breakage or theft, but specifically excludes loss due to misplacement!
- It also has fine print saying it does not cover “normal wear and tear” (don’t know how strictly they enforce this)
Also be aware that it is ONLY purchase protection, not warranty doubling as many other cards provide.
So in summary, don’t use this card thinking you get the same purchase protections & warranty coverage that you get from normal amex cards.
I think this deal may be dead.
Tried buying the reload cards from Office Depot from the same three or four stores I used in the past. All out. That has never happened before.
The Deal is not Dead! While on vacation in Benton Harbor, Michigan this past weekend, I bought $1500 with no problem. There were at least 50 left after my purchase. I wanted to pick all these little goodies up!!!
They just restocked these in my hometown. Before I left for vacation, there were only 2 left. I asked a manager if they were going to restock, and he assured me they will. Sure enough, when I came back from vacation, there were more that 2 in the store. It seems that this store is happy to sell these (I bought about $10000 total already in this store with no problem in the last two months). Thank you Frequent Miler and OD for helping me buy a brand new IPAD3.
Chessmaster: Good to hear! Yes, I find that they restock the one in Ann Arbor frequently as well.
I would like to purchase prepaid card for my quarterly estimated tax payments. However, using $500 VISA Pre-paid gift cards is not enough. However, if I get the Amex Prepaid Card and load it up to $2500, I believe I will be charged the credit card fee, as opposed to the $3.50 (approx.) debit card fee with VISA. The percentage fee makes the strategy unprofitable.
Is there a way to buy a $500 VISA Debit Card, upgrade it, buy the Vanilla Re-load Cards, then load $2500 on the card, and then turn around and use the $2500 for an estimated tax payment at the $3.50 (approx.) flat debit card fee? The representative at Vanilla Reload told me that their product works with Amex, Mio, Paypal and Netspend.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Craig: you don’t need to buy Vanilla Visas at all. Buy Vanilla Reload cards and load them to a NetSpend or Mio card and then use that as a debit card for your taxes. One caution: NetSpend is quick to shut down people who do things like this, but you’ll probably get away with it at least once.
I notice there are several brands of cards bearing the netspend barcode logo. Does anyone know if these cards are interchangable in terms of what prepaid cards they can be used to load. For example – can anycard with a netspend barcode logo be used to load an Amex Prepaid (and not just the nominally vanilla branded one)?
Has anyone had their Mio card shut down like most did with Netspend?
Stevdealin: Great question about the Mio. I’d like to know that as well. I’ve been using the Mio for over a month now as my primary day to day card with a once a month ATM withdrawal. I haven’t pushed it yet by trying to pay taxes or anything like that. I use credit (not debit) transactions exclusively in order to avoid fees (other than the $1.50 ATM fee). Since Mio belongs to the Allpoints network, there are no additional fees at those ATMs other than the $1.50
If there a debit card vendor that will:
(a) not shut me down quickly when I only use the card for quarterly estimated income tax payments (like Netspend and Milo)
(b) accepts Vanilla Prepaid Cards, which will allow me to purchase them ($4K/month) at Office Depot and accumulate UR points at 5x (Ink Bold)
(c) Will result in only a (approx.) $3.50 debit card fee when I use the card to pay my quarterly estimated income tax payments.
As I understand it, Milo and Netspend will shut me down quickly with this strategy. Is this correct?
Also, I could load up a PayPal account or Amex prepaid card, but I believe the fee will be higher than $3.50. Is this correct?
If I could come up wit a solution to this, then I would be able to max out my 5x bonus with Chase for estimated income tax payments that I have to make anyways, with little cost for me. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!
Say a local bank charges a $2 fee for a ATM withdraw.
Why wouldn’t you just keep buying temporary cards for $402? You’d withdraw $400, use that towards the cost of $407.95?
In the end you would be paying $7.95 for 2000 UR points?
Craig: only Mio and Netspend will do what you want (as far as I kow). Netspend is quick to shut people down, but we have less evidence about Mio
Jessie O: temporary cards can’t be used at ATM machines otherwise this would be a great trick!
[...] There’s a similar scheme for the American Express prepaid card, with slightly different fine print. Read the details here. [...]
I was going to sign up for the Ink Bold card soon, but I’m now I’m interested in the Ink Plus, which is basically the credit card version of the Bold. Can anyone confirm that the Plus has the same bonuses when shopping via the UR Mall?
Dave: I expect that the Plus has the same bonuses as the Bold, but I don’t have the Plus so I can’t confirm. Anyone else?
After reading this article about the Amex Prepaid card from OD, I might need to try it. Are there any Costco Executive members here that purchased a Amex Prepaid card, used it successfully at Costco, and can confirm that they do indeed receive their yearly 2% discount as well?
Thanks!
Has anyone noticed that they are pulling the reload cards incredibly quickly?
I went to the OD in Edison, NJ four months ago and they had the cards and then went back 3 months ago and they said that the vendor pulled the cards.
I then went to the OD in Plymouth meeting, PA two months ago they had the cards and then went two weeks ago and they had pulled the cards. Does anybody know of any ODs in the philadelphia area that still carry the AmEx prepaid reload cards?
Thanks!
[...] have mentioned before about the great method that Frequent Miler uses and outlines to get around 5 Ultimate Reward points for every $1 you spend. That is, buying reloadable American [...]
[...] (I applied for each card through Frequent Miler’s referral link, just because of the great work he’s done to help people maximize the earnings out of this [...]
I agree that FM goes a long way in sharing information with users and I apply through cards through his links always since I found about his site.
Good job FM. Way to go !!!
Thanks!!!
[...] Honestly, if you don’t read Frequent Miler’s blog, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. He is the one who broke news of this here. [...]
Quarterly taxes due this week and still would like to figure out how to use a card to do this without paying a % fee. Not sure it will be worth it. A debit card would work but it would have to be one with a large amount. Around $10K
Kathy: I’ll have full details in tomorrow morning’s post for a couple of options for spending more.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
I have been having trouble withdrawing Amex prepaid card via Allpoint ATM at a McDonalds. There are different options to withdraw from; Checking, Savings, or Credit Card. Which one does everyone usually choose? I tried Checking three times for $300 and go an error “this type of transaction is currently not available.”
It seems that the Allpoint ATMs at McDonalds have sponsors that charge the fee? I’ve never actually used Allpoint ATMs but everytime I tried one, it said this ATM is sponsored by Actors LLC (or something) in NYC and a fee of $.99 will be charged. It’s $2 or so at CVS Allpoint ATMs in Pittsburgh. So it’s not exactly free…?
I’ve had trouble at McDonald’s too with it limiting me to $200. I have only been able to do checking. But with the fees, what’s up with that? Allpoint are supposed to be free but I’ve used 4 different ones and ALL have had a fee. Curious as to how we find the free ones?
Devon / Thanh P: Allpoint ATMs are only free for cards that are part of the allpoint network. The Mio card (which can be reloaded with Vanilla reload cards) is part of the network so when you use a Mio card the Allpoint ATMs are free (but Mio charges $1.50). I’ve used Amex cards at Allpoint ATMs without problem, but not at McDonalds. Yes, I select “checking” when I use ATMs. I haven’t found any ATMs yet that are free for everyone.
All – I had a quick question. When someone charges a prepaid card using a credit card and withdraws that thru ATM..is that considered money laundering? I ask cuz i recently visited a store and asked to pay for a moneydot with a CC and they said it has been stopped cuz people are using this for laundering.. I just wanted to make sure what everyone thinks about it?
mq0123: “money laundering” is when you obtain money illegally and need to basically get rid of the evidence. People in that circumstance often do things like this in order to convert money from one form to another. So, no, it’s not money laundering unless you fund the prepaid card with stolen funds or a stolen credit card.
I loaded 2 cards today under 2 different people and was able to load $2000 on 1 card within 6 hours since it was Monday for 2 reloads and Tuesday for the other 2 (eastern time). So maybe it’s not a 24-hour period. Though all 4 transactions show as Monday on the AMEX site which is weird …
However, on the other card, it wouldn’t go, probably because it’s only been 26 days since I first loaded the card with $200 through my checking account, to get the gift card. It looks like any initial loads count as part of the $2500 in 28 days. If I loaded today, it’d be $2700 in a 28-day period which is a no-go.
Speaking of which, I still haven’t received my bonus gift cards for opening during August … are people still waiting on those?
[...] One card to rule them all – The Frequent MilerMay 1, 2012 … A single American Express card can earn 5X Ultimate Rewards points, everywhere. Impossible? …… Lawrence: 5x is paid on up to $50k spend. [...]
All…so far so good for the past three months…my statement just closed and I got paid big time. They even gave me the Plus, which I already used today for 3K. Thanks FrequentMiler for you genius idea!!!
I was cruising along in May-Aug, but now I have to drive 1 hour to get the reloads…I guess it’s still worth it.
I saw reloads at Walgreen’s, but that does me no good. I don’t have a CC with a drugstore bonus, and am not sure if Walgreen’s would even take a CC to buy the reloads.
I tried buying them at Walgreens and it required cash.
FrequentMiler…I need you help.I applied and was denied for the 50K Southwest card at the end of August. Do you think that if I get the card today, thru Recon,I will get the 50K or will I be stuck with their current promotion of 25K? Thanks in advance for you help. I really want the companion pass this year.
Chessmaster: Yes, if you call recon and get approved you will get the promotion that you signed up for.
Thank you very much FrequentMiler. Now I just have to decide if I am going to take the risk of getting it. I might have already pushed my luck with my all my other operations. I am always afraid of my operations being shut down. Thanks for the info though.
I cant find any reload cards at OD in the Atlanta Area. Has this party ended?
Scott: Try the OD located at 10779 Alpharetta Highway, Roswell
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Life is good. I just got approve for the SW card,thru recon, and I am on my way of earning my companion pass this year. Additionally, I was given more ammunication for my two favorites (Bold and Plus), and I am ready to attack. Thanks again FrequentMiler for your excellent idea. It seems too easy for me to conduct these operations;however, I am always afraid of being shut down any minute now for these same easy operations.
@Frequent Miler: do credit cards know what ITEMS one purchases with the Credit Card?
Say I buy stuff at Staples with the Chase Ink Bold. Do they know if those items are computer vs. gift cards? It’s my understanding the Chase closes account for perks abuse, but I can’t understand whether they’d know if a $500 purchase of gift cards is just gift cards compared to normal items. (I realize they’d catch it if you suddently start buying thousands…but my question is more general than that: does Chase know the items you buy or just the total from the store?)
Ced: I don’t know
At the Office Depot I use, there were none on display, clerk looks them up, they have none, and the 6 nearest stores have none. Other clerk asks the manager, eventually he gets a batch from his office and sells me one, he had to approve the transaction, scrutinized my ID, etc. NP getting it loaded onto the Amex when I got back to the hotel.
Not sure what’s going on there. This Office Depot used to be a reliable place to get the vanilla reload card. Hope this isn’t the end of the deal at OD. I have to get them here when I’m the bay area for work, there is no OD on Maui.
-David
[...] what’s totally awesome, as outlined by Frequent Miler, is that this opens up the door to earning 5x points on virtually all purchases, by purchasing [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
{…}what’s totally awesome is that the more I use the bold,the more they increase my limit on it. It’s like they are setting my up for a fall(closing all my accounts).They increased my limit twice this past week!
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
As my gift to you, The Frequent Miler and all your fans for your wonderful idea, I am going to reveal a secret that you might not know already. Until September 30,2012 PNC is offering a checking account sign-on bonus for $150;as the cherry on top, you can fund your initial deposit(max $2000) with a rewards earning credit card(except for Citi,which charges as cash advance).If you don’t want the checking account with the sign-on bonus, you can still apply for the other types of PNC checking and savings account(which all can be initially funded with a rewards earning credit card). I hope this helps you as you have helped me with the Bold,Plus,SW.
Chessmaster: Thanks! I’ll have to look into PNC!
This is great with rewards2cash.com I used them to get even more money since you can sell your UR points to them for more than chase pays.
How are these cards rung up at the register?
The Store manager scanned the card, and then entered an amount, i.e. $400, but it kept saying that the balance exceeded the “floor maximum” or something along the lines.
We tried several cards.
No go.
jim: Interesting. I didn’t know about that site.
Tom: It sounds like you ran into a manager who didn’t know what he was doing, or a broken register.
The thing is the same manager rang up a card for me a week earlier. He was very cooperative and even offered to ring up some other prepaid cards for me. Not sure what’s going on.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
You CAN get the card in Arkansas! Look on the Amex site, it’s VT and AK that it’s not available in…AK is Alaska, NOT Arkansas!!!!
Dave: the following is taken directly from the American Express FAQ. Where do you see “VT and AK”?:
[...] cards) that earn you 5 points per dollar in Ultimate Rewards points. If not, read this very well written article from one of my favorite bloggers Frequent Miler. He is super knowledgeable on using gift cards to [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
The Frequent Miler, do you know if we have to pay taxes on the cash back we get from Ink or from any rewards earning card? Thanks in advance.
Chessmaster: no, you do not need to pay taxes for points earned on the Ink or any rewards credit card.
Thanks Frequent Miler:)
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Can someone correct this newbie if im wrong?
1)Step one get Amex prepaid card via amex website for free
2)Buy $500 vanilla reload GC at safeway using amex HH for 6x points
3)Upload the reload (love how it sounds) onto the amex prepaid and use it amazon to buy new tires?
Is this newbie off base?
troy: You have the idea right. The only part that might not work is buying Vanilla Reload cards at Safeway. Not all stores allow buying Vanilla Reload cards with credit cards.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
I found that all three OD in my area are out of vanilla and AMEX $500 GC. The manager told me they won’t get anymore…
Does this happen to you guys?
The Office Depot I often buy was out of the the reload card Manager said all OD have pulled them… so no more one card rull them all?
went to OD in los angeles and was able to buy $1000 worth this morning. There were only two vanilla reloadable cards remaining. Weird thing was that they had to call by phone to enter an authorization code.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
Got my Ink Bold two weeks ago. Used my new Ink card to pay into my wife’s account via Amazonpayments and bought a AMEX prepaid card for 500$. Both transactions are showing as “work related” in the description? Does it mean, it’s considered as “office” purchase? Anyone tried this? I am still waiting for the first statement.
RK: In my experience, the descriptions like “work related” don’t have any relation to whether transactions end up counting toward office supplies or other bonus categories.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] cards and get Vanilla Reload cards so that you earn 5x points on all your purchases, as discussed here by [...]
[...] at my local Office Depot last week. I purchased a $500 prepaid Amex and a $500 Vanilla reload card. Read this “One Card to Rule Them All” post by Frequent Miler if you aren’t yet familiar with this method. I went to AmericanExpress.com/prepaid and [...]
“an app called GoWallet can help a lot” linked page does not work anymore in case other comments did not already point that out.
Thanks for your great great blog!
WishyAnand: Thanks! I’ve updated the link
Thank you for all the work you put into this, I wanted to start supplementing my travel and after spending 4 hrs reading your blog I have a good understanding of this.
[...] However, game-changing Bluebird is here (more on that tomorrow), and if you can’t find Vanilla reload cards, the only way to earn miles and points from Bluebird will be to load it with a debit [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] with prepaid and reloadable cards for months, so check him out for more information on Vanilla and [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
has anyone tried buying the vanillas with amex gc?
[...] been blogging about this technique all year- especially with his “award winning” post “One Card to Rule Them All” on May [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] in the spring, FrequentMiler talked about being able to get 5x Ultimate Rewards points almost everywhere by using a Chase Ink card to purchase a Prepaid American Express and Vanilla Reload packs at Office [...]
[...] the competition, as The Frequent Miler does have a tendency to revolutionize the points game from time to time. For the time being, we too are thankful for our failure to assassinate him, though we do [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] One card to rule them all [...]
[...] the post One Card To Rule Them All, Frequent Miler shared strategies on purchasing Vanilla Reloads at Office Depot for use with [...]
[...] you can just skip directly to The Frequent Miler’s trick to earn 5 points per dollar on every purchase (although this trick may not work [...]
[...] Frequent Miler explains the Amex Prepaid card. (This was pretty much the post of the [...]
[...] and started blogging full time. We were all the benefactors of that. Greg introduced everyone to the Vanilla cards that spawned thousands of people stalking Office Depot for them. He also wrote about the Bluebird [...]
[...] them with an Ink Bold/Plus. This concept was famously blogged about by Frequent Miler last year as “The One Card to Rule Them All”; and you can check out my own series on prepaid and reloadable cards for which posts [...]
[...] course, Office Depot will no longer be selling $500 gift cards for the time being. This means the 5x trick is almost dead Filed Under: Travel Summary Tagged With: Travel [...]
[...] http://boardingarea.com/blogs/frequentmiler/2012/05/01/one-card-to-rule-them-all/ [...]
[...] have to pay the ATM owner’s fee. For more info on this card, see Frequent Miler’s One Card to Rule Them All [...]
[...] not sure this is the popular term, but it’s an accurate one. Frequent Miler’s original “One card to rulle them all” is an example. People would use an Ink Bold to buy Vanilla Reloads at an office supply store and [...]
They definitely caught on here with all the orders flooding in. I did not do this one. Out of Stock on a downloaded product LOL.
[...] One card to rule them all [...]