Dell is currently offering two stackable specials.  Thanks to reader Dee Tee for alerting me to this deal:

1. Buy $350 worth of gift cards for $300

This offer ends tomorrow.  Buy a $300 eGift card and get a $50 eGift card.  Note that the $50 card is only valid for 90 days, so do this only if you have a purchase in mind.

2. Buy select PCs over $699 and get a $200 promo eGift card

You do need to provide evidence that you are a student or that you’re buying this for a student, but it appears to be very easy to do.

Here are a couple of laptops that qualify and are only $700:

3. Stack savings and points

Suppose you plan to buy a $700 laptop.  Here are some ways to increase saving and point earnings:

• Buy two $300 eGift cards in order to get $700 worth of eGift cards. That alone will give you approximately 14% savings on a $700 laptop!
• Pay for the two $300 Dell gift cards using Visa or Amex gift cards that you bought for extra points (see, for example, “One card to rule them all”, and “What’s my X?”).  Dell allows up to two credit cards for each purchase so you could use a $100 Visa gift card and a $200 Visa gift card or a prepaid Amex card, etc.  Assuming 5X earnings, you will receive 3500 Ultimate Rewards points.
• Go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall for all purchases.  You probably won’t earn points for buying the gift cards (although it can’t hurt to try), but you should earn points when using the gift cards.  The Terms & Conditions say “Eligible on the redemption, not purchase, of gift cards.”  Currently Dell Home is at 5X in the Ultimate Rewards Mall.  For the laptop purchase, you will earn $700 X 5 = 3500 Ultimate Rewards points.
• If all goes well, you should then receive a $200 eGift card.  Remember to go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall again to use the gift card for whatever you want.  Assuming you make a $200 purchase, you can then expect 1000 Ultimate Rewards points.

4 Add it up

If you manage to buy a laptop for exactly $700 and then something else for exactly $200, here are your total costs and benefits:

• Total cost: $600
• Total merchandise value: $900
• Total savings: 33.3%
• Total Ultimate Rewards points: 8000 (worth over $100 according to the Fair Trading Price).

Will it work?

One question I have is whether you can really apply two regular eGift cards and two promotional eGift cards to the purchase of a $700 laptop.  The terms and conditions have this to say about using multiple promotional gift cards:

Using Multiple Cards

10. Dell will only accept a limited number of Cards per purchase. If you would like to use more than one Card, you can merge funds from multiple Cards onto one Card by calling Dell’s Customer Service department at 1-800-624-9897. Your Card can only be merged with other non-expiring Cards issued by Dell or through its retailers and affiliates. When you call you will be asked to fax photo copies of the Cards to verify possession. Gift cards that were not originally purchased but were distributed by Dell or its partners for free may not be merged with purchased Cards. Dell reserves the right to reject request for consolidation of any Cards at its own discretion for any reason.

Thanks Dell, but this doesn’t answer the question.  Specifically, how many is a “limited number of Cards per purchase”?  If anyone tries, please let us know!

Is it possible to earn Club Carlson business points for stays booked with promotional rates? 

In the post “Club Carlson for Business: not as great as it sounds,” I said no, you can’t use a promotional rate and get business points.  I then followed up with “Club Carlson business account guesses and clarifications” where I said maybe.  In today’s post, I’ll say yes.  Let’s hope I’m right this time!

I called Club Carlson three times to ask the question “is there some way to earn business points and use promotional rates at the same time?”.  Each time I was told “no”.  In the meantime, I received forwarded emails from two readers who heard from Club Carlson that the answer was “yes”.  The funny thing is that one of the Club Carlson reps who emailed a “yes” was the same person who told me “no” over the phone!  Hmmm.  OK, so I tried the email approach and this time I got a “yes” as well!  Since I have a written e-record of this, I feel somewhat OK in giving this out as advice.  I specifically asked via email if the approach listed below is correct and I was told yes. 

If, after following the advice below, you don’t end up getting points for your business account, just remember to email Club Carlson for help instead of calling!

Two accounts and an ID

When you signup for a business account with Club Carlson, you’ll get two things: a 6 digit business ID, and a 16 digit business member number.

When you receive your business member number, you are invited to activate your membership number online. If your personal account uses the same email address as your business account, then activating your business account will be a challenge.  You need to first change your personal account’s email address to something else and then activate your business account.

Once you have activated your business account, you should now have two accounts (one business and one personal), and a business ID.

Using the Business ID

The 6 digit business ID can be used at the time of booking and can be used by anyone. If they use the ID, they’ll save 5% off the standard room rates, and your business account will receive up to 10 extra points per dollar for the stay. The individual will continue to get the same points they would have normally. 

To use the business ID, you may have to first click “More Search Options”:

Then, add your corporate ID and search again:

The problem with this approach is that there seems to be no way to use a promotional rate (AAA, for example) AND the business ID. Some readers have attested to being able to do so in the past, but Club Carlson reps have steadfastly denied this possibility (over the phone, anyway).

How to get it all

The trick to using promotional rates and getting business points is to log into your business account, but book rooms for your personal account.  For example, I logged into my business account and setup a fake booking and was taken to this screen:

On the above screen, there is space to put in personal account information: name, address, Club Carlson number, etc.

By entering your personal account information here, you can use a promotional rate AND get extra points for your business even though you never put your business ID in the reservation.  You should also receive whatever elite benefits you are due.

Combining Points

Once you have points in various accounts, you can call Club Carlson and have your points moved from the business account to a personal account or vice versa.

Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway promotions

Make sure your personal account is registered with each of the Club Carlson promotions.  It won’t hurt to register your business account, just in case, but I don’t think it will help either.

Feedback

As you stay at Club Carlson hotels and receive points (or not), please let me know what works and what doesn’t.  Hopefully we can learn from each other quickly and resolve mistakes while there’s still time.

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Why can’t I see Ink online? 

When I first signed up for the Chase Ink Bold card (back in the pre 5X for office supplies days) I ran into a little issue when the card arrived.

At the time, I already had several personal Chase credit cards and an online account for managing them.  Each time I signed up for a new personal card it would automatically appear in my online account once I was approved for the card.  The Ink, however, played coy.  It didn’t show up in my online account and I couldn’t figure out any way within my account to add it in.  Finally, I called Chase to get things straightened out.  In case you’re in a similar situation, here is what I learned:

You can add personal cards to a business online account, but you cannot add business cards to a personal account.

I don’t know why Chase has this rule, but there it is.  As a result, you can either maintain two separate online identities: one for business and one for personal use; or you can setup a business account as your primary account and add all of your personal cards to that.

In my case, I wanted all of my cards in one place AND I wanted to keep my usual ID and password.  Chase was able to help me as follows:

STEP 1: Chase changed my personal ID to something else

STEP 2: Chase created my business account and used my original personal ID

STEP 3: Chase added my personal cards to my business account

STEP 4: I changed the temporary password on my new business account to the password I know and love

Now I have my original log-in ID and password, but can see and manage all cards on one account.  Excellent!  I listed the steps above because I’ve heard from a few people who have struggled with this.  Give Chase a call and tell them what you want to do.  If the Chase rep you speak too can’t figure out how to do this you may need to call back again until you find someone who can help.  Good luck!

Related Posts

• How to sign up for the Ink Bold
• How to increase the Ink Bold bonus by 27K
• One card to rule them all
• Let’s just be friends
• What’s my X?

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I’m learning as I go here.

This morning I wrote that Club Carlson business accounts were not as great as they sound because extra points are not earned when you book special rates (AAA, 30% off, etc.).  A reader named Katherine, though, commented that she does earn 10 extra points per dollar with her business account even when she books special rates.  What’s going on?

Background

When you signup for a business account with Club Carlson, you’ll get two things: a 6 digit business ID, and a 16 digit business member number.  The 6 digit ID can be used at the time of booking and can be used by anyone.  If they use the ID, they’ll save 5% off the standard room rates and your business account will receive up to 10 extra points per dollar for the stay.  The individual will continue to get the same points they would have normally.

When you receive your business member number, you are invited to activate your membership number online.  I had trouble with this because the email address I used for the business was the same as the one used for my personal account.  So, I had to change my personal account’s email address in order to be able to setup my business account.  With that done, I now have two Club Carlson accounts I can log in to (1 business and 1 personal).

Earning points on all stays

I called Club Carlson a second time to ask if there was some way to earn business points for stays booked on promotional rates.  This time the person I talked to checked with his manager and told me that “no, you cannot earn business points with promotional rates.”  Hmmm.  Based on Katherine’s input, I think they’re wrong.  My guess is that if you log in with your business account to make reservations, then all reservations will be awarded the extra points.  Let me stress that this is just my hunch.  I don’t know this to be true, but it seems reasonable, even if Club Carlson employees don’t understand it.  If true, what then?

Big Night Giveaway Promotions

If my guess above is true, then you may need to register your business account with the Big Night Giveaway promotions if you want to earn the extra points.  I don’t know if it’s really necessary, but it can’t hurt to do so.

Elite Status

I have Gold status on my personal account, but no status with my business account.  If I book stays directly from my business account, I don’t know if I’ll get elite benefits.  I contacted Club Carlson to ask if they can match my personal status to my business status.  They said no:

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Business accounts are not eligible for Elite status only personal accounts are.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to assist you.

So where does this leave us?  Do we have to choose between elite benefits or business benefits when booking promotional rates?  Or, could we log into our business account and somehow make a reservation for our personal account?

Booking Rooms

Yes, it looks like you can book rooms for personal accounts when logged into your business account.  I logged into my business account and setup a fake booking and was taken to this screen:

Note that there is space to put in personal account information: name, address, Club Carlson number, etc. 

My assumption now is that the trick is to log in with your business account, but enter in your personal information with the booking.  That way you should get business points awarded to your business account and personal points awarded to your personal account.  And, you should receive any elite benefits you are due.

Combining Points

Once you have points in various accounts, you can call Club Carlson and have your points moved from the business account to a personal account or vice versa. 

Feedback

I would like to publish a step by step guide to booking Club Carlson rooms (and getting the most out of it), but first I’d like to get some feedback about my information and guesses above.  In your experience, is what I said correct?  Are there any other important pieces of information to add?  Please comment below.

Last week I suggested signing up for a Club Carlson business account in order to get an addition 10 points per dollar for your stays (see “When 138000 points is not enough”).  After some research today, though, I’ve found that business accounts are not as great as they sound.  If there are no special rates available (AAA, 30% off promotions, etc.), then the business ID will give you 5% off the standard rate and an extra 10 points per dollar if booked online.  That’s pretty good.  If there are special rates available, though, those rates are usually much better than the business discount.  When you book a special rate, you do not get extra business points.

UPDATE: Please see comments where reader Katherine says she has received extra points for her business account when using special rates.  Good news!

If the above hasn’t deterred you, then here are the steps for getting and using a business account:

Step 1: Sign up for a business ID

By registering your own business (if you have one) with Club Carlson, you can save 5% and earn an extra 10 points per dollar for reservation booked online and linked to your business account.  Here’s the sign-up link:https://www.clubcarlson.com/profiles/secure/business/joinRouter.do

Step 2: Search for a hotel online

As I mentioned yesterday (see “Breaking News: TopCashBack to double Radisson rebate”), you should start at TopCashBack in order to get an additional 10% off of your reservation (until July 15).  Go to topcashback.com/radisson-hotels/

Fill out your initial search criteria:

Step 3: Add you business ID

You may have to first click “More Search Options”:

Then, add your corporate ID and search again:

Step 4: Compare rates with and without the Corporate Account ID

The extra 10 points per dollar you will earn with the Corporate Account ID are approximately equivalent to a 3% rebate.  So, unless the rates with the Corporate ID are equivalent or better, you’re better off going without it.

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Late tonight, two of the three big Club Carlson promotions go live.  With Radisson’s Big Night Giveaway, you will earn 50,000 bonus points for one night’s stay.  With Country Inn & Suites you will earn 44,000 bonus points for one night’s stay.  And, a week from now you can register for the Park Inn promotion in which you will also earn 44,000 bonus points for one night’s stay.  To participate in these promotions, you need to register for each one.  Please see Loyalty Traveler’s post about these promotions for full details.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how to maximize points earned from these promotions (see “When 138000 points is not enough”).  In that post, I showed that you can earn 5% cash back from these stays by booking through a cash back site called TopCashBack. 

After writing that post, it occurred to me that TopCashBack might be able to use this opportunity to create some buzz and gain a bunch of new subscribers.  So, I contacted the head of TopCashBack’s US site Natasha-Rachel Smith.  I told her about the Club Carlson promotions and suggested it would be a big win for everyone if TopCashBack were to offer a larger promotional rate during the period of the Club Carlson giveaways.  Her answer came back quickly: Yes!

Shortly after midnight tonight PDT, TopCashBack will double their cash back for Radisson.com.  Instead of the usual 5% cash back, you will now earn 10%!  This promotion, like the Radisson one, will run until July 15th.

Step By Step

Step 1: Register for TopCashBack (if you haven’t already)

• Support Frequent Miler by using this link: Click here to sign-up with TopCashBack (I’ll earn $5), or:
• Use the FlyerTalk conga line for a chance to get $5 for yourself.

NOTE: TopCashBack has just increased their referral $ to $10 until July 4th!

Step 2: Book your stays through TopCashBack

• Go to topcashback.com/radisson-hotels/
• Click through to Radisson.com
• If booking a hotel other than a Radisson, make sure to click the “All Carlson Rezidor hotels” radio button:

  

Q & A

Q: Will stays booked via TopCashBack count towards these promotions?
A: Yes

Q: Will I earn cash back for Club Carlson hotels other than Radisson booked through Radisson.com?
A: Yes.  TopCashBack has confirmed that reservations made for other Club Carlson hotels through the Radisson.com site will count for cash back.

Q: If I go through TopCashBack during the promotional period, but book a stay that will take place after July 15th, will I still get 10% cash back?
A: Yes!

Q: How much cash back do I need to earn before I can withdraw my earnings from TopCashBack?
A: Unlike many other cash back portals, TopCashBack has no minimum.  Once your cash back moves from pending to payable, you can withdraw it regardless of the amount.

Q: How long does it take for TopCashBack transactions to show up?
A: Usually it takes just a day or two to get cash back listed as “pending”.  In the case of hotel bookings, though, we’ll have to wait and see.  It’s possible that it won’t show up until after the actual stay.

Q: How long does it take for cash back to go from pending to payable?
A: It depends on how long it takes each merchant to pay TopCashBack.  TopCashBack then passes along the money to you.

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I’m excited about the Club Carlson “Big Night” promotions that will be available for registration May 15th.  The basic idea is that after registering you will get 50,000 bonus points for staying one night at a Radisson, 44,000 points for staying at a Park Inn, and another 44,000 points for staying at a Country Inn & Suites.  The total points you can earn is a ridiculously high 138,000!  For details, please see this post by Loyalty Traveler. 

If you’re like me, you’re thinking “yeah Club Carlson, that’s nice, but how can I get even more?”  So, here is Frequent Miler’s step by step guide to maximizing the Club Carlson “Big Night” promotions:

Step 1: Sign-up for a Club Carlson account

If you don’t already have a Club Carlson account, New Girl in the Air shows how you can get 4,500 free points just by signing up: 4,500 Free Club Carlson Points (500 Airline Miles) for New Members.  Make sure to sign up everyone in the family! 

NOTE: The 4500 point offer appears to be dead.  I’ll update here if anything changes.

Step 2: Status Match to Gold Status

Club Carlson will readily bump up your elite status to Gold if you can prove that you have high level status in another program.  I used my Priority Club Platinum status to get the match, but most other programs should work just as well.  If you don’t have high level status in any program, then you might want to take advantage of the current Hyatt promotion:

• Through May 11th, use any Visa Signature card to sign up for temporary Hyatt Platinum status for free: https://www.visasignature.hyatt.com/ 
  Note that it might take a few days for the Platinum status to show up on your account.

Once you’ve signed up for free Hyatt Platinum status (or have status with another program), make a screen capture of your account to prove your status and send the picture in an email to: goldpointsplus@carlson.com.  Ask for a status match.  Ideally you’ll be bumped up to Gold status. 

Club Carlson Gold status will give you extra points and some perks when staying at their hotels:

Gold status benefits:
50% Point Bonus
Late Check-out (based on availability)
Early Check-in (based on availability)
Best Available Room in the category booked
72- hour availability guarantee
Special points plus cash offers
Priority full-service Member Services telephone number

Additional benefits in Europe, the Middle East and Africa:
10% off weekend rates
Double occupancy for a single rate
Weekend Extend (2 for 1 and 4 for 2 Nights)

Step 3: Enroll in Club Carlson for Business

By registering your own business (if you have one) with Club Carlson, you can earn an extra 10 points per dollar for every reservation booked online and linked to your business account.  Here’s the sign-up link: https://www.clubcarlson.com/profiles/secure/business/joinRouter.do

Step 4: Book via TopCashBack

When booking hotel nights, get 5% cash back by starting at TopCashBack and clicking through to Radisson. If booking Country Inn & Suites or Park Inn, go to Radisson.com and then click the “All Carlson Rezidor hotels” radio button:

UPDATE: TopCashBack will now give 10% cash back!  See “Breaking News: TopCashBack to double Radisson rebate” for more details. 

Step 5: Qualify for the promotion

Stay at least one night in each hotel (Radisson, Park Inn, and Country Inn & Suites) between May 15 and July 15 to qualify.  Radisson ran a similar promotion this past winter and many people found ways to check into hotels without actually staying (I plead the fifth).  This time, Club Carlson plans to police things better.  They, quite reasonably, want people to actually stay in their hotels and get to know (and hopefully love) the brand.  I like the timing of this promotion since it should line up well with many people’s summer vacations.  Take advantage of these promos to take some time off and enjoy the summer!  In my opinion, the value of the points earned in this promo should easily make up for the cost of a night at almost any Club Carlson property.

Add it up

• Club Carlson Signup bonus: 4,500 points
• Stay one night in each: Radisson, Park Inn, and Country Inn & Suites.  Assume $100 per night average.  Earn 5% cash back from TopCashBack.  Total cost: $285
• Promotion points earned: 50K (Radisson) + 44K (Park Inn) + 44K (Country Inn & Suites) = 138,000 points
• Book online bonus (2000 points per booking for Silver and Gold members): 3 X 2000 = 6,000 points
• Points earned per dollar (Gold members with business accounts): 40.  $300 X 40 points per dollar = 12,000 points
• Total cost: $285
• Total points earned: 160,500
• Extra credit:
  • Use your prepaid Amex to pay for each night & earn 1500 Ultimate Rewards points!  See “One card to rule them all.”

Value of 160,500 points

The value of these points totally depends on how you use them.  I think the highest value is probably at the lowest and highest ends of their properties.  Category 1 property awards cost only 9000 points per night.  Top end category 6 hotels cost 50,000 points per night.

With 160,500 points you can:

• Stay 17 nights at category 1 properties: https://www.clubcarlson.com/category1
• Stay 3 nights at category 6 properties: https://www.clubcarlson.com/category6
• See the full list here: http://www.clubcarlson.com/freenights

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This past Saturday I posted a great offer: Up to 14.5% off Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  This week only, OfficeMax has a deal where you can buy two $25 Nook or Kindle gift cards and get $5 back.  That alone amounts to a respectable 10% discount. Since the cards can be used at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, respectively, this is a great deal.  Depending upon how you pay for the cards, you can do even better:

• American Express business card with OPEN Savings: 5% back on purchases of $100 or more at OfficeMax (until June 15).
• Chase Ink: 5 points per dollar at office supply stores
• American Express SimplyCash card: 5% cash back for office supplies plus 5% back with OPEN Savings.  That amounts to a 19% total discount!

Visits to OfficeMax on Sunday were mostly disappointing.  OfficeMax hadn’t yet figured out how to actually ring up these discounts.  A few people managed to get the discounts anyway, but others left empty handed.

Problem fixed

OfficeMax fixed their register issue.  They now have a sheet of paper with a bar code that applies the discount when scanned.  I’ve heard from a number of people who have successfully bought a bunch of gift cards with this discount.  A few stores limited people to no more than 6 cards, but most stores had no limit.  I walked out of a local OfficeMax yesterday with 40 gift cards!  Today, my mom (AKA Mom Miler) bought 20 cards at an OfficeMax near her!

Finding cards

The main problem you’ll face now is that many stores are sold out.  I highly recommend calling before making a trip.  Once in the store look near the e-book reader displays as well as at the gift card rack.  They tend to put e-book gift cards in both places.  Also, ask a manager if there are any more.  I only found 8 in the store before I asked a manager who dug up 32 more for me!

Which card to use?

If you have the SimplyCash card, that’s clearly the best option.  Otherwise, the Ink and the Amex business card options are very close.  With the Amex cards you get 5% back plus the usual 1 point per dollar from your card.  With the Ink you get just the 5 points per dollar.  If you value points at the Fair Trading Price of 1.31 cents each, then each option is about the same.  Go with whichever card gives you points that you value the most.

A week ago I revealed an exciting new way to maximize point earnings.  By signing up for an American Express Prepaid card and using a Chase Ink credit card to buy reload cards at Office Depot, you can essentially earn 5 points per dollar for all purchases, and without needing to juggle multiple gift cards.  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 FAQ.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been almost giddy when making purchases.  Buying groceries: 5X!  Buying gas: 5X!  Buying dinner: 5X!  Buying Daily Getaways: 10% off and 5X! 

So, now that we’ve had a bit of experience using the cards, what have we learned?

Availability

In the FAQ mentioned above, Amex states that the temporary cards are not available in Arkansas, New Jersey, or Vermont; and that the permanent cards are not available in Arkansas or Vermont.  That implies, to me, that NJ residents can order the permanent card online.  However, I believe that you will have to go out of state to find reload cards to buy at Office Depot.

In addition to the stated availability limitations, a few readers have reported being unable to find these cards at their local Office Depot stores.  While most stores do sell them, it seems that some do not.

Buy with credit card

This scheme opportunity relies on being able to buy reload cards at Office Depot using your Ink credit card.  A few people have reported that their local Office Depot did not allow them to use their credit card for these purchases.  In at least one of those cases, the Office Depot manager claimed that you couldn’t use credit cards to buy any gift cards.  Let me assure you that if that is a rule, it is specific to certain stores and not at all what most people have found to be true.  In fact, most readers have reported success in using their credit card to buy reload cards.

Criminal Feelings

A few people have reported that while they were allowed to use their credit cards, the Office Depot personnel made them feel like criminals when purchasing the cards.  I think this comes from the fact that some criminals do buy gift cards and prepaid cards as a way to launder money or to cash out stolen credit cards.  Just remember that there is nothing illegal with what we are trying to do.  And, if you can, try shopping at a different Office Depot.  My local store has been very pleasant to me for all of my purchases.

Link, Like, Love: Not!

A reader who goes by Kadence reported that you cannot link these Amex Prepaid cards to Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare for additional Amex savings.  Rats!  The Terms & Conditions for all three promotions state: “certain cards are not deemed Eligible Cards, including Prepaid Cards”.  You can see the full T&C here: https://sync.americanexpress.com/facebook/Terms.aspx

International Use

I called Amex and they confirmed that there are no foreign transaction fees with these cards!  Further, you can use these cards at international ATMs.  I asked about Paris, specifically, and was given a large list of banks where the card would work for ATM withdrawals.  I’m not organized enough to actually carry around a list like that (plus I didn’t write them down), but when I’m in France I’ll give it a shot at an ATM or two.  As always, you may be charged a fee by the owner of the ATM, and Amex will charge you $2 per withdrawal after the first withdrawal each month.

Tracking Balance and Expenditures

A reader asked if tools like Mint.com would work for tracking expenditures on these cards.  I was sure that the answer would be no, but I gave it a try anyway.  Amazingly, it worked!  Just add a card of type “American Express Gift Card” and then you can use Mint.com to track your expenses and your balance.  Very nice!

Unfortunately, I tried the same thing without luck with two other apps: Neither GoWallet nor Expensify knew how to handle these cards.

Read My Lips: No Taxes

A few people have been charged sales tax when buying prepaid cards and reload cards.  You should not have to pay sales tax.  If you are charged tax, I’d recommend against completing the purchase.  Sales tax will essentially wipe out the 5X gains.

Debit Cards: Not

People keep asking if these cards can be used as debit cards.  The answer is simple: No.  When using these cards you need to identify them as credit cards.  If you want to earn miles with debit purchases, take a look at the SunTrust debit card recently described by the Frugal Travel Guy.

Other Vendors

I received a number of questions about whether the reload cards could be purchased at Staples or OfficeMax.  Currently, the answer is “no”.  Hopefully they’ll appear in more locations soon.  It’s also my understanding that we are likely to see more reloadable prepaid cards on the market soon to compete with the Amex cards.  Please let me know the second you see one!

Other Options

If you don’t mind using non-reloadable cards, there are plenty of great alternatives: Buy $500 Visa cards at Office Depot (5X); Buy $200 Visa cards at Staples or OfficeMax (5X); Buy $100 Visa cards at Staples.com after clicking through the Ultimate Rewards Mall (10X).  With all of these options, the card fees reduce the true “X” a bit.  To see more about these options, including the “true X”, see: “What’s my X?”

Let me know

Whether you’ve been successful or unsuccessful in buying reload cards, please let me know.  Also, if you’ve found any creative ways to use these cards, I definitely want to hear that!

Related Posts:

• One card to rule them all
• What’s my X?
• Almost too good to be true
• How to sign up for the Ink Bold
• Why Chase cancels accounts (and how to protect yourself)

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A reader who goes by bitachu tipped me off to this upcoming OfficeMax sale.  Starting tomorrow and until May 12th, you can buy Amazon Kindle or B&N Nook gift cards for 10% off.  Specifically, they advertise that you will save $5 when buying two $25 gift cards.  This is interesting because, I believe that Kindle gift cards can be used for any Amazon.com purchases and that Nook gift cards can be used for any Barnes & Noble purchases.

Double dip the discounts with OPEN or Ink

It’s not clear yet whether OfficeMax will have a per person limit, but if they allow at least 3 sets to be bought at once, you can increase the discount by using an American Express business credit card with OPEN Savings.  This will give you a 5% statement credit for all OfficeMax purchases of $100 or more.  It’s nice of OfficeMax to offer this deal before the in-store OPEN Savings benefit goes away as I reported yesterday.  When you stack a 10% discount with a 5% discount, the total discount comes to 14.5%.  Not bad!

Alternatively, use a Chase Ink credit card to get 5 points per dollar at office supply stores!

NOTE: Please do not miss reading my previous post, “One card to rule them all.”

Wow, thanks to HikerT for updating his website (lakebagger.com/ur/) that shows the Ultimate Rewards Mall payouts for different Chase cards, I’ve got some exciting news…

Ink Bold

If you log in with your Ink Bold account, you’ll find the following:

• Staples.com now at 5X!  Oh yeah, I’ll be writing a lot more about that soon!  Sorry Sapphire and Freedom, you’re still at 2X.
• Sony at 10X!  Time to run some Frequent Miler Laboratory experiments!
• Overstock.com at 10X
• Lenovo: 5X
• LuggagePoint.com: 5X (I’ve never heard of it either)

Freedom

If you log in with your Freedom card, you’ll find the following:

• Sephora at 20X!  Holy cow, that’s a big number.  Someone with a Freedom card, please do a double dip experiment right away!!!
• QVC at 10X!

Sapphire Preferred

If you log in with your Sapphire or Sapphire Preferred, you’ll find the following:

• J. Crew at 10X!  I seem to remember a tip from a family oriented blogger saying that double dipping works here!
• Ann Taylor at 5X

Happy online shopping everyone!  Enjoy the new bonus points while they last!