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Wal-Mart, Amex take on banks with Bluebird debit card

Wal-Mart, Amex take on banks with Bluebird debit card

Old Nov 21, 2012, 2:29 pm
  #2971  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 104
Went back to the WG to find out that they had managed to find the card I had actually gotten activated the other day. Clerk was very apologetic for having mixed up the unactivated & activated cards while handing them over to me.

Picked up another 500 since I was there anyway

Originally Posted by Stoughton
It's not about the $, it's about the game. I could make 10x what I do and still enjoy this hobby. The satisfaction of flying 2 people to Austin for the F1 race and spending 5 nights at a hotel for $20 total is worth more than the $ I saved (which was considerable).

How much were the tickets to the race weekend?
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 2:33 pm
  #2972  
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by stalker
How much were the tickets to the race weekend?
$750. And?

The point was that fun of getting the flights and lodging for nearly free was more important to me than the cost savings in doing so.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 2:37 pm
  #2973  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 164
I have read lots of information about bluebird, but I still have some specific questions. Can some of you please help me out.

First, my understanding is that with my bluebird account, I can go to an ATM to withdraw money from the account, give a loaded bluebird account to someone who I owe money to, or pay some bills online. Is this correct? Is it possible to give someone I need to give say $250 to essentially a blue bird bank card which is only good for $250?

I see the bluebird account cards at wal-mart all the time. My understanding is that I set it up onlline when I get the account starter kit, and the ONLY way I can re-load these cards is with Vanilla Reloads. Is this correct?

My goal is to get miles (or hit the spending thresholds on new credit cards) to people/entities who do not accept a credit card. So, lets say I owe my plumber $500. I want to give him the $500 by withdrawing the money from the bluebird account, BUT I want to load the account with a vanilla card where I charge it with a credit card.

In the alternative, my credit union might not be on the bluebird list for online transactions (i.e. paying them online for my mtg) I would like to w/d cash to then give to the bank to apply to my mtg payments.

I think it is difficult to find a retailer who accepts a CC payment for the vanilla card. Is this true?

Finally, how will the transaction appear on the credit card? Anything that looks like a money order or a balance trx is obviously bad for me.

Any suggestions...can someone assist me?
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 2:40 pm
  #2974  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 104
Originally Posted by Stoughton
$750. And?

The point was that fun of getting the flights and lodging for nearly free was more important to me than the cost savings in doing so.

Hehee.. didn't mean to knock on your trip. I just feel that tickets to F1 races are ridiculously overpriced. It is an experience though.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 2:57 pm
  #2975  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,689
Originally Posted by samnc0
I have read lots of information about bluebird, but I still have some specific questions. Can some of you please help me out.

First, my understanding is that with my bluebird account, I can go to an ATM to withdraw money from the account, give a loaded bluebird account to someone who I owe money to, or pay some bills online. Is this correct? Is it possible to give someone I need to give say $250 to essentially a blue bird bank card which is only good for $250?

I see the bluebird account cards at wal-mart all the time. My understanding is that I set it up onlline when I get the account starter kit, and the ONLY way I can re-load these cards is with Vanilla Reloads. Is this correct?

My goal is to get miles (or hit the spending thresholds on new credit cards) to people/entities who do not accept a credit card. So, lets say I owe my plumber $500. I want to give him the $500 by withdrawing the money from the bluebird account, BUT I want to load the account with a vanilla card where I charge it with a credit card.

In the alternative, my credit union might not be on the bluebird list for online transactions (i.e. paying them online for my mtg) I would like to w/d cash to then give to the bank to apply to my mtg payments.

I think it is difficult to find a retailer who accepts a CC payment for the vanilla card. Is this true?

Finally, how will the transaction appear on the credit card? Anything that looks like a money order or a balance trx is obviously bad for me.

Any suggestions...can someone assist me?
you have lots of very basic questions.

if I were you, I would start reading this thread in pages going backwards.
that will give you the most up to date information.

since alot of changes due to OD, lots of things have changed, are still changing and people are still experimenting.

however, I can answer one of your questions for sure. The 'bolded sentence (I bolded)............answer is yes, you are correct.

it varies by location.

i am likely too new to the beans scene to answer many of your other questions.

Last edited by shoreline; Nov 21, 2012 at 9:22 pm
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 3:01 pm
  #2976  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Long Beach
Programs: HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,171
Originally Posted by samnc0
Any suggestions...can someone assist me?
yes start slow, you dont need to ramp up to 5k per month right away, especially if you are unsure. this thread is a little large now and is filled with many questions almost exactly like yours, some are answered, some say look int he thread. I would recommend you google vanilla reload and read a few of the "well publisized" blogs on how this works, and start with one 500 reload, paya a bill then get another.
the main way we learn about how a program works are by doing little experiments and recording the results, its not like amex can out with a FAQ on how we can exploit their system. so we try and measure.

however before you even start you must first find a retailer whom will sell you VR cards with credit card and has them in stock. this took me about 15 places before i found a few that work. if you find convienent places that will sell them then you move forward, but remember this game can change at any time, you could get a different cashier that now says cash only, dont get mad at them dont tell them you will notify corporate they are not following the rules, just thank them and move on, find another place or come back when a different worker is there and try again
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 3:08 pm
  #2977  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Long Beach
Programs: HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,171
Originally Posted by samnc0
Any suggestions...can someone assist me?
Also there are some risks with Blubird, your money could be held up and your account cold be closed. i would not recommend using this technique if you would fall on financial hard times if Amex was to hold 3000 for a few months before you get it back. if that was to happen and you started defaulting on your obligations then the risk is to high, many of us whom play this game are in a financial place where we can float a blanace of a few thousand dollars for a few months with out harming our finances.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 3:52 pm
  #2978  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 26
Another data point from Upstate NY. No luck at Walgreens buying VR. No problem buying VR at CVS.

At CVS there were 5 beans, picked up one, went to register just as manager came over to open another line, manager rung up the VR with no issues. I used my ink card to purchase as part of the 5K spend.

Now to see if I can figure out how to load to BB and pay my auto loan.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 3:55 pm
  #2979  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 1,277
My county sent my property tax check back to me. I had sent a small one to see if they'd get it. Apparently they can't process partial payments. But they got my check, so I feel comfortable sending the whole payment with bluebird. Already hit my $5k limit this month and don't have enough of it left in BB, and my payment is due Dec. 10 and wanna make sure I send it early enough so I'm gonna transfer some from my checking account to BB to make the payment.

So now I have to figure out how to get back the amount on the original check. I'm sure it won't be too bad.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 4:08 pm
  #2980  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: PC Pl, UA 1K, CC Gl
Posts: 2,235
in DTW your mortgage is $3200? Do you own a village?
Originally Posted by gardengirl
I've wondered if I'm figuring a reasonable return on this venture.

My mortgage is about $3,200 + change. If I purchased $3,500 in VGC at OD to get the 5x spend the activation fees would total ($5.95 x 7 = $41.65) $42. Then to the CVS for 7 VR's for another ($3.95 x 7 = $27.65) $28. Roughly $70 in fees for 17,500 UR points (miles). Not knowing exactly what we'll do with the miles but it would most likely be Business Class from DTW or ORD to Europe. I checked DTW to LHR next June and came up with a sample fare of $4,200. To be conservative I then figured a point would be worth roughly $.03 - $.04. At $.03 the 17,500 UR points are a return of $455.

Am I doing this right?

The $3,500 in GC's from OD would be a very aggressive move on my part and I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with it but my Chase banker told me as long as I stay within the allowable limits for office supply purchases I would be fine.


Thanks,
gg
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 4:18 pm
  #2981  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 163
I assume most of us are in this game for the long haul. If that's true, then I think it's prudent to start off slowly, particularly with the bill paying feature.

The idea is to first make sure you've set up your payee information correctly and that a small payment is processed quickly and correctly.

My plan is to set up the payee information for my credit cards in advance - even before I get a statement. Then, as soon as a statement arrives, I will request a small payment be sent to that account. That will give plenty of time to make sure the payment is processed correctly by Bluebird and credited correctly by the credit card company. Once I'm satisfied with that, then I'll request a payment be sent for the remaining balance to be paid. The second month, I can just request one payment for the full balance, knowing that the system is working as intended.

The same idea should be applied to a mortgage payment or any other loan payment we want to make through Bluebird's bill pay.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 4:27 pm
  #2982  
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I think what people are forgetting is that this has only been around for a month. Representatives can only get so much training ahead of time, and features can only be tested so far before the general public tries to do anything and everything on the system. I made a small payment to one of my bills today to make sure, the bill isn't even due yet. Not everything will work 100% out of the box.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 5:41 pm
  #2983  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 220
Originally Posted by Stoughton
It's not about the $, it's about the game. I could make 10x what I do and still enjoy this hobby. The satisfaction of flying 2 people to Austin for the F1 race and spending 5 nights at a hotel for $20 total is worth more than the $ I saved (which was considerable).
How did you manage to get a room? I tried booking for a few friends but everything was sold out months in advance. Had to drive up and back each day
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 6:09 pm
  #2984  
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Originally Posted by TheBOSman
I think what people are forgetting is that this has only been around for a month. Representatives can only get so much training ahead of time, and features can only be tested so far before the general public tries to do anything and everything on the system. I made a small payment to one of my bills today to make sure, the bill isn't even due yet. Not everything will work 100% out of the box.
I agree with this.

I had also said in MMS blog when he first reported that people can pay their mortgages with BB that you must be VERY careful with things like property tax and mortgage payments... some banks and entities do not like early or partial payments and some accept bill pay but it takes like 10 days to get to them, etc. Some cannot accept it from other sources than a true bank. Always good to test this first with smaller amounts and by asking a lot of questions first.
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Old Nov 21, 2012, 6:19 pm
  #2985  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SoCal
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 232
Chase Mortgage???

Has anyone successfully paid their Chase Mortgage with Bill Pay?
I setup my Payee section from the approved list.
I have double checked my acct #.
I sent a $1.00 test on 11/16. BB lists the transaction as "completed"
Chase.com does not show receipt of the payment.
Chase CSR said her screen showed no receipt of funds or pending.

Anyone having success with any Chase products?

Update: Payment posted 11/19 as stated by BB. Did not appear on Chase.com until 11/22.

Last edited by Jim055; Nov 22, 2012 at 9:42 am Reason: Update
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