mrredskin

went to do a WM load with suntrust DL debit card yesterday evening and walked out. 5 people in every line, and the girl at the self-checkout (despite having a register there as well) did not know how to load them. 10 people in line at customer service, and 3 in electronics. f*

penner42

It does have a transfer funds option, but after you asked this question I actually went and looked for it and if you don't know where it is, you can easily miss it.

If you go to My Account, and then look at the line "Recent Transactions," on the right hand side of that line there are buttons "deposit money" and "transfer money." Not sure if the transfer money button shows up if you haven't linked a bank account, but if you have it lets you ACH transfer to the bank account. I haven't tried it, and don't really intend to use it. I will just be using Bluebird for my mortgage, health insurance, property taxes, electric and gas. And the occasional swipe purchase somewhere I don't get a category bonus.

ftbargain

Datapoint : My credit card payment to a Chase CC (from BB) worked out fine.

Happy

This is getting hopeless.

I got my card in mail yesterday. Tried to activate online and got an error message which instructed me to call to activate.

When I called, after following prompts, I got the message - due to the high success of the Bluebird, we are unable to answer your call at this time. You may try the alternative by going to our website. Then the phone went dead.

EDIT:

Now when I go to Bluebird site it does not give me the option to activate any more. No clue whether the card is activated or not until AMEX gets its act together and bring back live customer service line.

I have a 5x targeted offer on 2 Citi TYP cards for up to 2500 bonus pts. So 1 VR each would take care of it if it ever works. Good thing the offer runs thru 12/31/12, that is, if BB does not change T&C by then!

sk8uno

Thanks! Do you mind if I ask which zip code you used and how many digits your account number is?

ThereYaGo

infamousdx

Mine too; 4 payments to 4 Chase cards. As well as Barclay's (US Airways MC).

fangtl

Was able to get VRs on the 9th but indeed the local ODs have pulled them off the shelves as of this morning. Like the Fuhrer said, I too was rolling along for over 6 months and then the newbs came and hung the bird...

ThereYaGo

MMS photo op at CVS won't help

iahphx

I went to my local CVS today. They didn't have any VR cards 2 weeks ago when I last checked, but lo and behold, there they were (in a conspicuously depleted number compared to the other cards on display). There was confusion at the counter when I paid with my credit card; they weren't sure I could, but they rang it through and it worked.

I went home and loaded them on my wife's new BB account. It initially didn't go well; I got an error message on the final click. I called VR, got some Asian call center, and that didn't go well, either. Somebody was supposed to call me back, but didn't. So I just tried to load online again (I switched browsers, just in case) and this time it worked.

I decided to use my new SPG biz card for the VR purchase at CVS. I haven't met the $5000 spend, and loading gift cards will certainly help (and allow me to then move on to the next cc bonus). I do wonder if AMEX will care if I buy a few thousand in BB cards at CVS. I mean, who runs up a large tab at a drugstore? That said, I've been a good AMEX cardholder for decades, so I'm not sure why they'd care. It's not like there's a category bonus involved.

Aside from needing to meet the minimum spend, I think I still prefer to use an SPG card over an HHonors card at CVS. It may be heresy, but I think 1 SPG point is worth a little more than 6 HHonors points. Especially since SPG has better "cash & points" opportunities. It is a shame that drugstores aren't a common cc bonus category these days.

ThereYaGo

Did you use Safari? UR doesn't work with that, and who knows what else. I'm using a US Barc card to meet their 750/mo spend for the 15k bonus miles, an old UA Select and a HH Amex. Slow and steady on 3 cards.

farwest101

Same thing here. And was an immediate reason to give up any idea of using BB as a method I could use (I hate WM anyway and hadn't put a foot inside one in 10 years). I stick with the much less discussed alternatives to meet spend. A little of this, a little of that, a little of the other thing...all adds up...and stays under the radar...

Happy

I believe the online issue you encountered is related to BB, not VR. I got error when tried to activate the card. I tried again and still gotten an error. However when I later logged in again, the option to activate card is no longer present. At that time the BB live customer support phone line was down. I tried again 30 minutes ago and finally got to speak to a girl in Manila. She confirmed the card was activated and ready to use.
I guess the 2nd submission to activate card did go thru despite the error message.

If the CVS purchase is the first few usage of your SPG, yes, AMEX would care. In the Mint thread someone reported that his AMEX HHonor was frozen after he made 2x prepaid (not even the reloadable) at CVS right after he got the card. He was able to explain that away (the 6x earning so he could earn more going this route instead of using the card directly for other purchases - the rep canceled the FR and re-opened his account.) Needless to say, he was much more careful in spend pattern from that point on.

I think one SPG pt worth about 0.03 at the most optimal usage such as the cash and point situation. Most of the time it is about 0.015 to 0.02.

One HHonor pt probably worth 0.005 only but 6 would give you the same value of 0.03 optimal SPG pt value. Although SPG pts are more versatile due to the transferability to airlines (except the sucky 2 to 1 ratio to UA - I think AMEX is stupid to use this to punish Chase because if it is 1 to 1.25 like that to AA, I am sure SPG would get a lot more usage.)

It definitely is better used to meet spend, and to transform the usual cash only bills to at least earn something without too much cost.

Another alternative is the Citi Premier Card - with the flight pt matched, you can get 0.0266 per point value when redeeming for airline tickets that earn you miles.

ThereYaGo

Agree with WM sentiment, however BB +is the bill pay. Earning "only" 2x to net 30k per year when it was 0 before makes me want to keep chugging.

DaveInLA

How did you make the payment?

Did you use Bill Pay from BB's website, or did you withdraw funds from BB while logged into Chase CC's website?