ma91pmh

Yes perfectly normal. Required by US patriot act and I am more comfortable that they do require this in general rather than making it uber-easy to transfer money to criminal and/or terrorist organisations.

caGALINDO

Yeah and they DO check, no 'mistyped' SSNs... unlike Visa Buxxx

Edit: I wanna use my Amex Hilton too but sum kid got a FR just for a grand or so... supposedly

MilesGator

Data point:
Bought a OneVanilla Prepaid Visa Card at Staples. Used this to buy a VR with 496.05 on it at a CVS. Succesfully loaded this onto my BB this morning.

After reading over these posts I wasn't sure if I should buy a OneVanilla Prepaid Visa OR a MyVanilla Visa Gift Card. I thought the former had the best chance of working for the VR (and it did), but if anyone has any evidence for the latter working for the VR I'd love to hear about it just in case a specific Staples/OD is out of one or the other.

carsonheim

I get the myvanilla gift cards and use 'em at see vee ess all the time

akp

Link to details about (supposed) FR? I missed this somehow.

I've been using my Amex Hilton a lot (way more than a grand) and no issues so far.

I've had the card since April and have had frequent use since I got it, though my numbers are way up since October.

Anita

caGALINDO

Its in the FINANCIAL REVIEW thread in amex section of the forum, last page or so

JudyJFLA

But does that double the purchase fees for the miles in having to buy 2 cards?

JudyJFLA

EL3V3N

gonna be in SEA for a day (long layover coming in from Asia). No beans around my parts and was going to exit the airport and go find me some beanies. Anyone can share where I can pick some up? No cvs there but would be grateful if I could get a heads up where to go instead of hitting store after store on a wild goose chase... PM welcome!

akp

Appreciate it.

Happy

You may want to tread very lightly with Chase.

I have some legitimate credit balance sitting with Chase which after 3 months inactivities sent me the refund check without asking. However in the letter that accompanies the check, there are some language that is bothersome to me. I dont have the letter handy now but from my memory, it said that if you request a check mid-cycle, you would incur a finance charge because of blah blah blah. I was like "huh? you would be charged for interest even you are asking your own money be sent back to you?" I wish I could find that letter to post the language here so NYC Banker could comment on it.

Not to mention Chase has a tendency to scrutinize accounts if a flag is triggered.

Happy

Of course. That is $4.95 + $3.95 for 2500 UR pts.

Or you can pay $3.95 for 500 UR pts if you want UR pts.

Or you can pay $3.95 for 3000 HHonor pts if you have AMEX HHonor.

I assume you know pts are not created equal nor their perceived value. UR has a floor of 0.01 per pt and potential higher especially it turns into UA miles.
HHonor has a "most agreed upon" value of 0.005 per pt when used to redeem high end properties / AXON awards - just fwiw for those who want to get an idea of the loose equivalent of "cash value" of the 2 different types of pts.

It is obvious that going the 2 cards route with an Ink card is the best option even you would pay twice the fee. Because even at 0.01 you would still net $16 after both fee (ignore the time and effort and gas involved). AMEX HHonor would be $11 if you agree HHonor pt is at 0.005 per pt valuation.
You can even throw in the 5x TYP earning Citi card in the mix. If you have the 5x Preferred (for the 1st year) and the Premier (allows you to redeem TYP at 0.0133 value for airline tickets that earn miles.) This combo would net $29 if the pts are used for airline tickets for every VR bought. That probably is the best payout but since this does not seem to be on the radar of most people here, let's not to distract the thread.

It all depends on what kind of pts you want and what type of cards you have to determine which route you would take to maximize the value of your efforts.

carsonheim

Yes, but still worth it in my opinion:

(2 x 4.95) + (2 x 3.95) = 17.80 for 5050 UR points.

xfer to UA, and I always get a minimum of 2 cents per point - most time much, much more (int'l front cabin awards). I'm happy with that math

caGALINDO

Happy nailed it. I for one will be ditching buying VR w/ my Amex HH card ASAP to avoid any FR.

TheBOSman

It is also only 2x points basically, and then only if you can use HH points well as compared to any number of 1x cards. Other than a handful of AXON awards at places that are incredibly high, HH points aren't anything special. Likely worth giving up to duck any FR potential.

98Mike

Was in CVS in Balto today - No VRs in 4 locations, gonzo. Walgreens, Cash only at 3 locations. Donzo?