Jan 3, 2015, 3:13 am
Last edit by: CWAL
Welcome to Manufactured Spending. If you are new here, please spend some time reading before posting. Most likely your questions have already been answered multiple times. Consider deals that you share. These threads are searchable by Google. A volatile deal may be worth holding close to the vest.
Hints
1) On FT, topics are heavily consolidated. Sometimes the title of the thread and first few posts may not properly reflect the broad range of discussion inside the thread. Be sure to visit any thread relating to the product or service you want to learn more about because you might be surprised by how in depth the discussion really is. High "View Count" and "Replies" are good indicators of active "master threads" on a specific topic.
2) Use Google to search FT. It works a lot better than the built-in search.
Important Rules
1) MSing is very YMMV. It varies by store, manager, and right down to the cashier working at the moment. That being said, always be nice and courteous in the face of rejection. The biggest secret for success is to lay low so you can try again.
2) DO NOT spend more than you can afford. START WITH SMALL AMOUNTS TO TEST THE WATER! As an example.. don't start with a $5000 purchase of VGCs if you can't afford to float that much! Instead, buy one and try it, and scale up once you are comfortable with a new method. It's easy to lose track, or get robbed, when you are handling so much money. Getting a refund is NOT always possible.
3) DO NOT ask employees, cashiers, customer service representatives, etc... about how to MS, or about things you read on this forum. The information you read here are very specific, unknown, legal uses of products or services. Most employees, cashiers, and even managers do not know about them. At best you'll get bad information. At worst you'll create a lot of unnecessary misunderstanding.
4) It bears repeating that there are no guarantees. you could easily buy $10,000 in gift cards or some other instrument, only to discover that your method for liquidating them vanishes the very next day. MS is not "normal" financial activity ("normal" being defined by the banks), and thus is often perceived as "suspicious" even if it is legal.
5) never underestimate the risk of criminal activity. gift cards can easily be stolen, loaded onto a compromised account, loaded in a debit card skimmer, or even fraudulent (e.g., an already used card put back on the rack).
If you have a question that does not seem to fit anywhere, or you have not found an appropriate place for it, post it here.
- A helpful note from seat17D about some of the inherent risks of MS
Hints
1) On FT, topics are heavily consolidated. Sometimes the title of the thread and first few posts may not properly reflect the broad range of discussion inside the thread. Be sure to visit any thread relating to the product or service you want to learn more about because you might be surprised by how in depth the discussion really is. High "View Count" and "Replies" are good indicators of active "master threads" on a specific topic.
2) Use Google to search FT. It works a lot better than the built-in search.
Important Rules
1) MSing is very YMMV. It varies by store, manager, and right down to the cashier working at the moment. That being said, always be nice and courteous in the face of rejection. The biggest secret for success is to lay low so you can try again.
2) DO NOT spend more than you can afford. START WITH SMALL AMOUNTS TO TEST THE WATER! As an example.. don't start with a $5000 purchase of VGCs if you can't afford to float that much! Instead, buy one and try it, and scale up once you are comfortable with a new method. It's easy to lose track, or get robbed, when you are handling so much money. Getting a refund is NOT always possible.
3) DO NOT ask employees, cashiers, customer service representatives, etc... about how to MS, or about things you read on this forum. The information you read here are very specific, unknown, legal uses of products or services. Most employees, cashiers, and even managers do not know about them. At best you'll get bad information. At worst you'll create a lot of unnecessary misunderstanding.
4) It bears repeating that there are no guarantees. you could easily buy $10,000 in gift cards or some other instrument, only to discover that your method for liquidating them vanishes the very next day. MS is not "normal" financial activity ("normal" being defined by the banks), and thus is often perceived as "suspicious" even if it is legal.
5) never underestimate the risk of criminal activity. gift cards can easily be stolen, loaded onto a compromised account, loaded in a debit card skimmer, or even fraudulent (e.g., an already used card put back on the rack).
If you have a question that does not seem to fit anywhere, or you have not found an appropriate place for it, post it here.
- A helpful note from seat17D about some of the inherent risks of MS
New to Manufactured Spending? Start Here (2015)
Apr 15, 2015, 12:50 pm
#361
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, TY, UR, UA, US, WN, MR, SPG
Posts: 1,453
This would be a good place to start:
New to Manufactured Spending? Start Here (2015)
You cannot product change a card for the first full year of card membership.
DC to LAX is a hugely common route, with lots of direct flights. If you only want to use UR/UA miles for your long-hauls, get an American Airlines card (50K signup). Two RTs right there.
Load the REDcard with whatever you need to earn most. Try to avoid too much Chase activity, as they get skiddish.
New to Manufactured Spending? Start Here (2015)
You cannot product change a card for the first full year of card membership.
DC to LAX is a hugely common route, with lots of direct flights. If you only want to use UR/UA miles for your long-hauls, get an American Airlines card (50K signup). Two RTs right there.
Load the REDcard with whatever you need to earn most. Try to avoid too much Chase activity, as they get skiddish.
Apr 15, 2015, 12:54 pm
#362
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: AA Plat, WN CP, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Plat, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 35
Is it just you, or do you have a partner that you travel with? If so, I'd look into Southwest and the Companion Pass for domestic travel. They also fly many international routes out of BWI to Mexico and the Caribbean.
Apr 15, 2015, 3:17 pm
#363
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond, CC, Hyatt & IHG
Posts: 121
I thought CSP & Freedom are two different product. I think you can do CSP to CS that has no annual fee.
Apr 15, 2015, 3:33 pm
#364
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 45
Thanks for all the responses so far. What's a good waiting period to cancel a card after receiving the signup bonus and how many cards should I apply in a year (like the Citi AA)? Would this affect credit score too much?
Apr 15, 2015, 4:15 pm
#366
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 503
They are two different products but after the first year you can call and get them to PC the CSP to a Freedom. Only do this once you already have a Freedom though. It's possible to get a third Freedom by PC'ing from another card. Ink Cash maybe? I can't remember which one off the top of my head.
Apr 15, 2015, 4:23 pm
#367
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, TY, UR, UA, US, WN, MR, SPG
Posts: 1,453
Apr 16, 2015, 11:44 pm
#368
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, DL, Hyatt, Hilton
Posts: 127
If your card has an AF, you may as well keep it after getting the bonus up until the AF hits.
Apr 17, 2015, 10:54 am
#369
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 8
Apologies in advance if this has been answered already, I've been reading and searching and keep coming up with contradicting information on this:
Will loading RB with Citi Prestige incur CA fees?
Will purchase of Gift Cards incur CA fees when used with citi?
I keep reading posts where some say that citi considers there as CA while other threads state that it just shows up as a purchase at "vons" "ralphs" "target" etc.
TYIA
Will loading RB with Citi Prestige incur CA fees?
Will purchase of Gift Cards incur CA fees when used with citi?
I keep reading posts where some say that citi considers there as CA while other threads state that it just shows up as a purchase at "vons" "ralphs" "target" etc.
TYIA
Apr 17, 2015, 11:37 am
#370
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 24
New to both the forum and the MS game and been reading with fascination.
Question I haven't been able to find an answer for yet: my local grocery carries VGCs that are from GreenDot, and when you purchase and register them, it opens an account with GD. Then they send you a permanent card. Is this a normal thing that everyone deals with, having to repeatedly open and close accounts, or am I buying the wrong card? (This is also the case with the NS card below.)
I tried a card yesterday that's a VGC from NetSpend, and I couldn't reload my Serve at WM with it - said "tender not allowed." Has anyone else run into this?
Thanks everyone for all the info you're sharing!
~M
Question I haven't been able to find an answer for yet: my local grocery carries VGCs that are from GreenDot, and when you purchase and register them, it opens an account with GD. Then they send you a permanent card. Is this a normal thing that everyone deals with, having to repeatedly open and close accounts, or am I buying the wrong card? (This is also the case with the NS card below.)
I tried a card yesterday that's a VGC from NetSpend, and I couldn't reload my Serve at WM with it - said "tender not allowed." Has anyone else run into this?
Thanks everyone for all the info you're sharing!
~M
Apr 17, 2015, 11:51 am
#371
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Hopkinton, MA
Posts: 232
Apologies in advance if this has been answered already, I've been reading and searching and keep coming up with contradicting information on this:
Will loading RB with Citi Prestige incur CA fees?
Will purchase of Gift Cards incur CA fees when used with citi?
I keep reading posts where some say that citi considers there as CA while other threads state that it just shows up as a purchase at "vons" "ralphs" "target" etc.
TYIA
Will loading RB with Citi Prestige incur CA fees?
Will purchase of Gift Cards incur CA fees when used with citi?
I keep reading posts where some say that citi considers there as CA while other threads state that it just shows up as a purchase at "vons" "ralphs" "target" etc.
TYIA
Apr 17, 2015, 12:34 pm
#372
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 158
New to both the forum and the MS game and been reading with fascination.
Question I haven't been able to find an answer for yet: my local grocery carries VGCs that are from GreenDot, and when you purchase and register them, it opens an account with GD. Then they send you a permanent card. Is this a normal thing that everyone deals with, having to repeatedly open and close accounts, or am I buying the wrong card? (This is also the case with the NS card below.)
I tried a card yesterday that's a VGC from NetSpend, and I couldn't reload my Serve at WM with it - said "tender not allowed." Has anyone else run into this?
Thanks everyone for all the info you're sharing!
~M
Question I haven't been able to find an answer for yet: my local grocery carries VGCs that are from GreenDot, and when you purchase and register them, it opens an account with GD. Then they send you a permanent card. Is this a normal thing that everyone deals with, having to repeatedly open and close accounts, or am I buying the wrong card? (This is also the case with the NS card below.)
I tried a card yesterday that's a VGC from NetSpend, and I couldn't reload my Serve at WM with it - said "tender not allowed." Has anyone else run into this?
Thanks everyone for all the info you're sharing!
~M
They are reloadable prepaid cards, similar in concept, but those kinds of cards typically require you to verify your identity and register them and often have a list of associated fees. They have online accounts and often have direct deposit functionality. Basically, they're like your Serve card, but not as good because of the fees. They can be useful for MS, but they are not what we mean we talk about VGCs.
VGCs are not connected to your identity, do not have any fees after you buy them (except dormancy fees if you wait a year or so before using it), are not reloadable, and usually have the words "GIFT CARD" on them. If you use VGCs, you will not have to deal with repeatedly opening and closing accounts.
Apr 17, 2015, 12:50 pm
#373
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 25
Hi Everyone. First post...been reading for a while learning as much as I can..thank you all for the help and guidance to date.
I'm starting off slow and steady and had one question I could not find in search. I have a Discover card that qualifies for the quarterly 5% bonus...this Qtr it's Restaurants and Movies (including rental places). Anyone come up with a creative way to MS this category? We hardly ever eat out, definitely no way we are going to spend $1500 in 3 months between these categories.
Been trying to find a place that codes as a restaurant (or video store) that sells VGC/AGC/etc. Any ideas?
I'm starting off slow and steady and had one question I could not find in search. I have a Discover card that qualifies for the quarterly 5% bonus...this Qtr it's Restaurants and Movies (including rental places). Anyone come up with a creative way to MS this category? We hardly ever eat out, definitely no way we are going to spend $1500 in 3 months between these categories.
Been trying to find a place that codes as a restaurant (or video store) that sells VGC/AGC/etc. Any ideas?
Last edited by msjrapps; Apr 17, 2015 at 2:24 pm Reason: typo
Apr 17, 2015, 3:37 pm
#374
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 279
Hi Everyone. First post...been reading for a while learning as much as I can..thank you all for the help and guidance to date.
I'm starting off slow and steady and had one question I could not find in search. I have a Discover card that qualifies for the quarterly 5% bonus...this Qtr it's Restaurants and Movies (including rental places). Anyone come up with a creative way to MS this category? We hardly ever eat out, definitely no way we are going to spend $1500 in 3 months between these categories.
Been trying to find a place that codes as a restaurant (or video store) that sells VGC/AGC/etc. Any ideas?
I'm starting off slow and steady and had one question I could not find in search. I have a Discover card that qualifies for the quarterly 5% bonus...this Qtr it's Restaurants and Movies (including rental places). Anyone come up with a creative way to MS this category? We hardly ever eat out, definitely no way we are going to spend $1500 in 3 months between these categories.
Been trying to find a place that codes as a restaurant (or video store) that sells VGC/AGC/etc. Any ideas?
https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp
Apr 17, 2015, 4:01 pm
#375
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 25
Welcome to FT. You can try searching here for Visa locations that code in the categories you are seeking. This is a Visa locator, but perhaps may lead you in the right direction for Discover as well.
https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp
https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp