particlemn

I noticed on you location tag it says garfield beach, every time i buy a vr at cvs it shows up on my statement as CVS garfield beach, have you moved into a CVS store?

Happy

Greater LAX area has plenty depends on how far you are willing to drive.

Not worth a nightmare for me but we are lucky that the crooks so far are confined in ATL area.

mintcilantro

I'm wondering if cycling $60k annually through BB would trigger any IRS tax issues (is it a 1099?). I'm saving all my receipts just in case.

I searched the thread but only issues pertaining to "gifting" were discussed. I was also planning on using a friend's BB to load with my CCs and unload by paying my bills. I have several cards I'd like to get closer to redemption thresholds.

Also, I'd be curious to find out what cards others are using to buy VRs now and their rationale. After the 5x limit on my 2 freedoms is exhausted, I'll be using a club carlson card to buy VRs. 10k spend gives me 50k points enough to redeem for 2 nights in a top hotel. My cost = $10k * 2% + 3.95*20 = $279, not bad for 2 nights in London.

sgideons

HH 6 until May, Citi 5x until January. Probably SPG in May once HH dies, unless another deal comes along.

I'm curious, what are you spending the extra $200 on?

Also, note that BB allows you to send money between accounts instantly and for free, so you don't need to load your credit cards into your friend's account, you can just send the money directly to your account. Some here might say that risks account closure, but personally it doesn't seem any riskier to me than loading the same payees into two accounts. Namely, i don't think amex cares one whit.

echip

I thought you're only paying $3.95 fee for each $500 VR card. Why $10k * 2%?

dublin487

Might be referring to the fact that you're theoretically giving up the opportunity to earn 2% on a cash back credit card. I don't think that really comes into play here though, since for most people this is additional spend that they wouldn't be doing otherwise; it would be different if I needed to make a $10,000 purchase at Amazon and was choosing between 2% cash vs. some points-earning card.

mintcilantro

You are both correct. I use BB as a primary card now to make things easier for DW. I keep a loose eye on category bonuses. I'm also BB using it to pay rent, car payments and sometimes CC payments. So the cost is probably of the order of $150 for 2 nights.

Andy2

I cannot envision any situation in which a person would receive a Form 1099 for any Bluebird or other prepaid debit card transaction. However, we would all be wise to keep records of our Vanilla Reload receipts and documentation in case of one of those hellish IRS audits in which the examiner looks at all bank deposits and credit card transactions (or sees the credit card statements when verifying expenses). There is no tax problem with transferring money between accounts, but a tax problem exists if the IRS agent believes the amount, say $60,000, mysteriously appeared as a result of unreported cash income. A person would need to explain where it came from any have sufficient documentation to explain that he/she "puchased cash" with a credit card for a nominal fee and used that "purchased cash" to do something with (like pay the credit card bills from purchasing the cash). It is unusual enough to warrant keeping receipts and statements. Let's not kid ourselves that there are not some criminals who are using these prepaid debit cards to try to "legitimize" some cash receipts that they are not reporting on tax returns.

geight

Okay. Who, after months and months ambushed the CVS in Northern Virginia off of King St? One day it was swimming in cards, next day gone, and the whole rack is completely disheveled and clearly abused with Xbox Live cards all out of place and everywhere.

I was only doing a card or two here or there bit someone clearly took this one to the bank.

Oh well, was fun while it lasted.

Happy

If you put it on a 2% cash rebate card. That is the 2% cash earning you give up when use other cards.

MilesGator

The Citi Dividend Platinum offers 5% cash back right now at drugstores. In some ways better than Freedom b/c you can max out the entire $300/year limit on 5% rewards in one quarter whereas with Freedom you're limited to $75 in cash back/7500 UR points. Obviously, UR pts may be worth more in transfer partner accounts, but $300 for $47.40 in VR fees is not to bad either

I like you're Club Carlson idea too. Hoping to get that card in a few months. Hopefully VRs are still available then! However (please correct me if I'm wrong or misunderstanding something), buying 50,000 Club Carlson points will only get you 1 night in a top tier hotel b/c you actually have to have 100k in you're Club Carlson account to get 2 nights even though you will only have 50k deducted.

mastermind85

I'm still looking for a single CVS that carries any VRs in NoVa.

Happy

You do not need to have 100K in your account in order to book 2 nights when you have the card.

Read the thread in Club Carlson's own forum - experiments have been done and proved there is no need to have 2 nights' worth in order to take advantage of the 1 free night benefit. You do need, of course, one night's worth in the account before you can proceed with the booking.

DCBob

No, that's not EXACTLY what you said. You said "No harm in buying them at 7-11, but it's rare to find one that accepts CC to purchase VR's." Change "rare" to "impossible," then we are in agreement.

geight

I'll let you know if/when they come back in around NoVA. I've checked probably 15-20 and found 1 that's always had them and 1 sometimes.

Someone PM'd me previously and I let them know where I got mine...they might be the one to blame.