<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by silkworm:
I have noticed several ways of getting free miles for a little work. Certain merchants will let you return merchandise and give you cash back instead of a credit card refund (they prefer it, actually, since it is quicker to do). This is also a cool free cash advance. You can also do this in some universities: enroll for a course, pay for it, then drop out during the 100% refund period. Many schools will send you a check.
My question is: why is this not a popular method? Is this unethical in some people's minds?</font>
I remember when I attended a California State University, they sent me back a check for a semester I enrolled in by credit card, but couldn't attend. But it's not something I would want to go out your way for. They don't return 100% of your money, plus I was working on a degree at the time, not trying to get some miles. Obviously, a diploma should be worth more in the long run, than 1,000 frequent flyer miles. But if one is bent on doing this, by-pass state universities (tutition is usually low). Might as well apply to a private university (like USC). Big tuitions you have to pay there, which you probably can get on a credit card. Even then, a chunk of the fees aren't going to be returned to you (like your application fee). Hardly worth it.
As far as returning purchases for cash, maybe you can return small purchases, where the merchant might just eat what they had to pay the credit card company. But if you buy a $15,000 tractor from Home Depot on your credit card, and return it the next day, I wouldn't expect them to give you cash back.