$ Gift Cards to avoid 2% fee
Is it possible and/or profitable to buy $ denominated gift cards from international chains and then spend them in Europe in order to avoid the 2% AMEX currency exchange fee?
For example, buy Hard Rock Cafe gift cards in America and use them at European HRCs. The expected payoff would be the 2% savings plus maybe extra points or miles depending on how you bought them. Among other ways, you could buy the HRC cards through GiftCertificate.com at the NWA WorldPerks mall earning 3 miles per $ or directly at HRC in America earning 5 Hilton points instead of 3 using your Hilton AMEX.
Are their hidden fees that would negate the benefit like the restaurants charging a terrible exchange rate for example? Are their other chains where this might work? Wal Mart and McDonalds come to mind as possibilities, does anyone else know of or can think of other possibilities?