FreakingFlyer

I'm posting about a PointChaser post I read online. Then, it was gone. I found it in my history and it's here:

http://pastebin.com/gauCMy8L

So, so many things wrong with this post! Insane.

I know I haven't been at this as long as many of you out there. So maybe I'm missing some of the nuances here. But this post seems to be extremely misleading to me, at the very least, and possibly downright dishonest. Certainly, dangerous. Why would a blogger do this?

I keep getting hints that there are mis-information campaigns going on here to try to get people to stop MS'ing. Is that what this is?

Is this Ariana Arghandewal for real or is she some dangerous plant? And how is it that she's part of both her own wonderful blog and the FrugalTravelGuy blog?

I really don't understand what's going on here, but I could use some enlightenment.

ScottC

I read your post three times, and I don't get it either.

FreakingFlyer

Do the numbers even add up? Shouldn't the 2x10 and the 10x2 be the same, and both should be higher than the 5 since that either has a 3 (no payout) or a 1 (extra fees)?

Glad that she admits that she likes seeing big numbers in her Barclays account. Kinda shows me her mind-set. AKA "stupidity".

hipp0

It's a useless exercise since people have already figured out that you can order multiple 2k cards in one big order.

But if you really want to understand what she did, it is clear that she assumed 1.5% cash back on the first 2k of each order. So each order, whether 2k, 5k, or 10k, earned $30 cash back.

skitch23

Since you still seem to be confused, I'll expand upon hipp0's post and mine from the AGC thread...

$2,000 x 10 orders = $129 fees, $300 cash back = $171 profit
(10 orders = 10 cards x 3.95 activation each) + (10 orders x 8.95 s&h) = $129 fees
$2k card x 1.5%cb x 10 orders = $300 cb
$300 - $129 = $171 profit

$5,000 x 4 orders = $67.40 fees, $120 cash back = $52.60 profit
(4 orders = 8 cards x 3.95 activation each) + (4 orders x 8.95 s&h) = $67.40 fees
$2k card x 1.5%cb x 4 orders = $120 cb
$120 - $67.40 = $52.60 profit

$10,000 x 2 orders = $49.50 fees, $60 cash back = $10.50 profit
(2 orders = 8 cards x 3.95 activation each) + (2 orders x 8.95 s&h) = $49.50 fees
$2k card x 1.5%cb x 2 orders = $60 cb
$60 - $49.50 = $10.50 profit

As I said, the math makes sense.
The fault in her logic really lies with people paying $8.95 to ship each order since you can get unlimited shipping for $99/yr (and as hipp0 said, order more than one $2k card at a time).

If she is really after the "convenience" of earning points she might as well just forgo the $10.50 profit, stop ordering axgc's and buy vgc's directly from the grocery store using her cc.

RickyBobby

Unless, of course, your real identity is Mr. Bowtie and PointChaser is secretly chasing people away form your website. Because of this, your need for vengeance has led you to create this scheme to tarnish her good name to make her look like a moron so you and Emily can go on your next honeymoon! I like a good conspiracy theory!

Seriously tho...her logic is downright moronic and makes no sense whatsoever. Subscribe to premium shipping and order 10x$2,000 AGCs in the same order and call it good. Oh...and you can feel really good about yourself by seeing that 20k order on your Barclaycard Arrival.

fletchbo

And what else is funny is where she says: "I feel like placing 10 orders every month for the same amount might raise a red flag with American Express. I don’t know that they’ve ever banned anyone from buying gift cards..."

As if people ordering 10 - 50K/month of AMEX GCs, like clockwork, doing MS, is not a red flag to AMEX? AMEX has to have an idea of what large repeat orders are for. They just have figured out how to still make a profit, with neat rules like: "holding funds for 8 BUSINESS days before they release them in the case of a failed purchase due to POS fault" or other glitches that will make the non-persistent GC holder think the funds are depleted, and forget about them!

I read that about 8% of GCs, in general, are never redeemed ... breakage = profits for GC issuers even if they give up 1.5% CB.

FreakingFlyer

Well, I definitely envy the $$$ that Mr. Bowtie must be bringing in. But that's the only part of his situation I'd want.

I do feel like I should start a blog and just post either: (A) complete nonsense or (B) completely stolen info from FT. I'd be just like 99% of these guys, Mr. BT included.

Oh - sorry! trip reports! "I ate a Subway in Dulles recently . . . "