Originally Posted by
Tpa-flyer
I guess it's going to have to be "go time" for me, now, with the latest extension through Oct. The closest SM to me is nearly 1.5 hours away, one way. Remind me the next time I buy a house to choose one much closer! I haven't been MS-ing at a SM for a long time but now it's just getting harder for me to stifle the attraction. I'm just not sure I'm up to the challenge given we live in PHX, which is an enormous sprawl of a city and I'd have to take three different freeways to reach SM. Ordering online may be best for someone like me, but I'm nervous going that route. I'm retired and have the time to devote to the effort, but at what point would you say the distance is just not worth it? Deep down, I really don't want to invest such time and effort, and then I tell myself how the end of Oct isn't so far away and not to be so lazy. Anyone relate?
Make sure you call ahead! That would be quite the disappointment to lose an afternoon only to find out none were available.
I bought from my area mall for the first time today and it was very quick and painless. She told me the limit was $10k including fees (and that most people do 9x$1k and one for the balance) and had me fill out a form including my drivers license number. I was a bit nervous about my card being declined so I split it roughly 2/3 1/3 with a secondary card and thankfully both went through.
I'm able to liquidate these for under $1 so total cost is roughly $5 (ignoring time & gas). If I'm using a 1.5% cashback card I get $15 back per card, so $100 profit per trip once all cards have been liquidated. I don't think I'd drive for 3 hours and deal with liquidating them for $80 (after gas) but if your card(s) offer a better return the math can quickly turn in your favor.