<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ddavis:
Well Marathon Man, you would have really loved the old days of Home Depot $100 Gift Cards, purchased with whatever rewards credit (not debit) card you choose which gave cash back after any small purchase, instead of the residual value remaining on the card. I read about this on Flyertalk, and don't recall too many being upset about the ethics (or maybe I missed it). </font>
I heard about that one. My question is this, ethics aside, was it really worth it? You buy a gift cert for $100, that gives you 100 (or 200 if doubled with DL Amex), that are worth somewhere between $1 and $4 depending on the number of miles and who you ask. Then you have to stand in line again to buy something small to get most of your money back. So even at the double miles, you would have to buy 125 gift certificates, and then stand in line 125 times to buy 125 small items (I hope you can use the items) just to get a 25k domestic award. I would rather buy the miles from the airline for $625 than stand in line like that - I have better things to do with my time.