sk8uno

Yes, Great Lakes is listed as a payee, but I can't seem to get my account to register. I was wondering if anyone has had luck. It keeps telling me I'm entering some info incorrectly, but I don't know what info that is. It is most likely their zip code. I don't get paper statements, so I had to use an online statement to get their zip code. My fear is that that zip code is different than the one I would get if they mailed statements to me, and therefore BB won't recognize it. If someone has successfully linked up Great Lakes, several of us here would love to hear about it!

For most redemptions, HHonors are not that valuable on a per-point basis. On certain aspirational stays, though, you can get tremendous value per point. And you can get much better value if you do cash+points, as well. I like to keep them on hand for those rare occasions.

And let's not forget how easy they are to earn! So many CC bonuses from different cards (some churnable) can quickly boost your HHonors account. And with the 6/$ at many stores, you earn these a lot faster than other points. So yes, you burn them faster, but you also earn them faster.

penner42

While it may not be great for those hotels, there are some very nice options you can get with it. For example, a four night AXON award here costs 145k points. That's a lot of VRs (48) but if it's done over time that's a cost of $190. A summer stay there runs $300+ per night.

In general, though, I do agree... it's useful for meeting minimum spends, but not great otherwise.

Edit to say: If you can find them at a gas station, Ink Bold is still a good buy. Just had my statement close and verified that my Valero purchase (shows up ULTRAMAR[t] on transaction) got me 2x. So it's still earning 1.21% paying bills with Bluebird.

filelover

I think if you want to make it valuable you have to hit the limits every month. 10 cards @ $500 is the limit for the monthly Vanilla reload and for $39.50 you get 30K Hilton points. While those might not seem much when you think about many Hampton Inns costing 35K points, but then properties like the ones below cost 50K/night and even less with AXON/GLON awards. Rooms at these properties run $300-$400. To each his own.

You risk Amex shutting you down but that is the risk you even take with buying those cards repeatedly at OD with Chase Ink (when they were available). I have bought 10 $500 cards at CVS this month - nothing from Amex yet.

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/fre...LHI/index.html

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/mau...IHI/index.html

DaveInLA

Did you buy 1 VR card each transaction 10 times, or did you buy multiple cards each transaction? I would think AMEX would be suspicious if someone spends >$1K at CVS more than once/month.

DaveInLA

One more thing-- what do you think about using Target AMEX to buy VR at CVS? A couple reasons I would like to do this.

First, it'll allow me to mix up the credit cards so I don't put too high spend on the Hilton AMEX. I know others are putting thousands on that card at CVS, but it makes me nervous.

Second, my local Target is classified by Visa as a grocery store. Assuming AMEX classifies it the same, I could then use my AMEX Blue Cash Pref to get 6% cash back, then use the Target AMEX to buy beans at CVS. If I load $1000 from Target, that would be $3, then $3.95 for 2 VR at CVS. Total cost is $10.90, total return $60; net is $49.10. Do most folks think 6K HH pts are worth more than $50?

stormy16

Don't go all in yet with Amex card at target to reload unless you are sure that it will be classified as grocery. I was trying to meet minimum spend on multiple cards by doing reload at Target. Visa classified it as grocery but Citi Amex classified it as Discount Store.

DaveInLA

That's definitely interesting, but stinks for me. Thanks for the heads up, though.

Anyway, have there been any good data points with regards to paying off credit card balances (whether it be Chase, Citi, or AMEX) with the BB? I don't want to pay my Chase balances with VR, but I do want to pay my AMEX cards. I made a single VR purchase at OD with my SPG Amex the last day they were offered ($503.95, almost a week ago), but I've also made other purchases with that card as well. I have $520 from last month's spend (which was NOT on VR) to pay in a few days. Would you feel comfortable using BB to pay this statement balance?

caGALINDO

Why don't people just withdraw from BB to bank account and then pay the CCs?? My card still hasn't arrived but I thought there is no fee for that..

penner42

People are worried (and rightly so, probably) that just loading BB and draining to bank account will get BB shutdown. There's no evidence of that yet, but since BB is so new there's no way to know. So they're playing it safe.

AlohaDaveKennedy

What part of craftily manufacture spend do you not understand? If you are going to be a heretic at least make it challenging for the cardinals to find you. Painting a target on your back and wearing a "Kick me!" sign is simply in bad taste and hardly good sportmanship. So I guess we are just gonna let the office intern find and burn you.

AlohaDaveKennedy

No way - AMEX loves the way heretics use their products. Keep dropping the breadcrumbs so the nice little redbirds can follow your trail...

Ellie Sattler: I can see the shed from here. We can make it if we run.
Robert Muldoon: No, we can't.
Ellie Sattler: Why not?!
Robert Muldoon: Because we're being hunted...

DaveInLA

How would we transfer BB funds to bank account, anyway? Does BB have an option to transfer funds? Or maybe do ACH pull from the other account's website?

DC777Fan

It's still giving them a bunch of money they don't have to pay interest on. The cost of you having an account amounts to IT capacity, the physical card, and your taking up a spot in line at Walmart (if you ever go) that other customers would otherwise use... not that high. I think it's outweighed by loading thousands of dollars into BB that they don't have to pay interest on.

setho212

I have been successful in getting my Great Lakes loans paid through BB. Put in the request 11/9, it was said it would be delivered by 11/13. I checked a couple of times on 11/13 but it didnt show up. Then I checked again on the morning of 11/14 and it was there. I get paper statements, but I looked up the zip code on the great lakes website. In your account information there should be a link called "ways to pay." If you click on that it should give you an address for sending in payments by mail. I used the zip code for that address.

bearcat74

Both of my Amex cards (Hhonors and DL Plat) show Target as "Merchandise & Supplies - Discount Wholesale Store" as opposed to a Grocery store which would show up as "Merchandise & Supplies - Grocery" (as Kroger does). YMMV though. Have purchases in my history from several different ones and all show the same.