The csr's spreading this nonsense are just plain wrong. Period. Of course you understand that with a large bank such as Chase, chances are the csr you are speaking to may be found in Sri Lanka or India or some place like that and most likely has no idea what you're talking about, types into his or her console pin and up comes ghe script they are supposed to read to you. I do remember over the couse of these discussions some claiming they were told that using a pin qualifies the transaction as a cash advance but there has not been a single documented case where it has happened. I am quite sure it is simply not true.