ok...debated on if I should post this or not. It's nothing secret but some may not have thought of it.
Many people hit office supply stores hard for the 5x on $200gc at Office supply with Ink. They pay approx $6 per $200 card. Did you know you could get the same points for cost at Kroger? Now it will up your MS amounts a bit but if you have good liquidation methods its not a big deal.

Now I don't think this is ymmv...but it may be...so test it small first. Ink offers 2x at gas stations. The Kroger gas is considered a 2x station. If you purchase a 500 or 506 Kroger gift card at the fuel station and get the 2x points. Then you can go into Kroger itself and purchase the variable 500 VGC with the GC (no fuel points though).

Office supply: $200 at 5x for 6 is 1000points for fee of 6
Kroger Fuel and VGC: $500 at 2x for 6 is 1000points for fee of 6

Only difference is liquidating 500 instead of 200. Points and fees are the same.

Now where this really excels is the fact that the annual limit is 50k on EACH the 2x and the 5x. So really you can max out both for the same cost to points.

Plus - some people struggle with dealing with office supply stores and most people at Kroger are pretty nice...and you can load any card you get from Kroger at BB/RB/MO/etc all day long.

Finally...if Kroger is running their 4x promo on fuel and you wanna get a good jump on points you could purchase 212 Kroger gift card at the fuel station and get the extra 424 ink points when purchasing 2x100 VGC for 800 fuel points.

To me knowledge it's one of the better cost/reward ways of earning "bulk" UR after Office supply. Is there any other chase card that could earn 1000 UR points for $6 or less outside of using ink at office supply?

Finally, this makes it stupid easy to make out the freedom category bonus for this quarter. $1500 in Kroger GC bought at the fuel station and you are done...then use the GC to grab 3x500 variables at Kroger itself. Total cost for the 4500 points - $18 bucks. Heck - that's even better than the office supply which would cost about $30 for the same points.

Disclaimer: I've only tried this on a 100vgc and have not tried the variables yet...so it's partial theory...But...I did see that a FW post about "third party gift cards with store gift cards" stating that any GC including variables can be purchased at Kroger with their own card. So I believe it "should" work fine.

Thoughts?