Originally Posted by
jungly
As for the old walmart tactic. Where does one go and cash in their gift card for a moneyOrder? Do you goto customer service and say "I wana get a money order", then swipe your gift card. Does this work in canada and usa walmarts?
You go to the Walmart MoneyCenter (not to customer service). But as to whether it works or not, that depends on the particular Walmart! So that's why it's not easy, because so much of what works and doesn't depends on your local situation.
And even when it works, there are limits, so it may not work for multiple gift cards at the same visit. So you may have to leave and come back and leave and come back and leave and come back (if you've got more than one or two gift cards). So any Walmart that works for you betters be close to where you normally are or normally travel, or it's not going to be very practical.
For example, someone who lives deep inside Los Angeles and has to drive in bad traffic several dozen miles to find the closest Walmart is going to be in a way different situation than someone who lives in a smaller city where there are several Walmarts in different directions within a few miles (and the traffic is way better than in Los Angeles).
And be aware that compared to churning (regularly applying for credit cards to get signup bonuses), it may take
a lot of gift cards to earn the same number of miles/points from Manufactured Spending that you get from
one signup bonus (if you're able to do the minimum purchases that are required to earn the bonus through "natural" spending). And thus you need a plan that works for
lots of gift cards, not one that stops working after a couple.