ma91pmh

Yes fair enough actually. FM declared it dead because of NetSpend closures. And BB reopens the door. But it is not the perpetual points machine either. And it is being hyped as being bigger than the mint, which it's not if you were happy lugging big boxes of coins, as that was truly scalable. I guess it may not be dead, but it will be hard to really scale up. So a nice addition but not something you can reliably print UR with.

I certainly plan to keep milking the other reload cards

TheBOSman

Likewise. I limit myself in this to anything I can specifically plan to use the points on. This isn't the mint (which fully died a week after I joined FT ), and without a steady supply of beans in close proximity, isn't even that great. It will die eventually yes, but new things will come along to replace it. Someone will see a way to try to make money on the corporate side, and enterprising individuals will always tailor it to their own needs. The Cardinals will always chase down those who leave trails or can't move fast, and some people will always be ever so slightly out of reach.

I'm not worried about the Cardinals, I don't spend enough to draw much attention, and I'm currently at 34,000 feet, I don't think the Cardinals fly as much as I do .

isle-hawg

Anyone here successfully loaded the BB card for free at Walmart using a mile earning Debit card? One of the bloggers recently wrote that he was able to but was unable to verify that he received the miles. The BB site reads for loading fees:

Direct Deposit $0
Checking/Savings Account $0
From a Debit Card $2
Cash through Walmart $1 (fee no longer applies)
Cash Load Packs $0 & third party fees may apply
Deposit Checks with Mobile App $0

Just wondering if not being charged the $2 reload fee at the Walmart using a Debit card was an anomaly or standard practice. If the later, I will likely get an account that offers a mile earning debit card.

At 1 mile per $2 spend using a debit card is not in itself a very good deal, however if this is in turned applied toward paying off a point/mile earring credit card, this is a great way to turbo charge mile earnings for free.

Stoughton

I've loaded off a debit, but not a miles earning debit. There was no fee and it took all of a min to complete. It shows as a purchase on the debit card web page, so I assume it would work for earning miles.

isle-hawg

Thank you for the reply Stoughton.

Does applying / registering for a BB result in a hard credit pull? Kind of late for me to ask now since I just applied for one online, but wondering anyway, since I already have 12 hard pulls / new accounts showing up on my CR for this calendar year. Hope this does not make 13.

Stoughton

No. You're not getting credit from anyone.

Father-of-3

Kiosk purchases of any type followed by a large purchase is a trigger. I bought movie tickets at a Kiosk and then a TV and got my card declined. Was no big deal but did take a quick chat with the fraud department to confirm my identity.

I would suggest staying away from Kiosks if you are leveraging your card.

isle-hawg

I didn't think so. I appreciate the conformation.

koolr

Why can't you load different amount than 500? I load different amounts like 486, 495, etc.

josephstern

I'm amazed that it took so long for this to finally appear. At least calculate out what a $469.99 printer would cost with tax, back out the $3.95 fee, and go with that.

But, while that might keep you from a multiple of $503.95, you still hit the algorithm that says "who has never shopped at OD before and now uses their IB card there for thousands of dollars in purchases?"

TheBOSman

I plan to do it this way. The second algorithm is nearly impossible to avoid though of course, unless someone actually spends thousands of dollars at office supply stores.

ricohitman

This is how I've been doing it with the the Perm AMEX since march. 1 month I charge 462.50+3.95. The next I charge 453.25+3.95. I Just pick a number that isn't obviously and go with it. I never go over $500 in spend each month, though because I want to keep this deal alive and stay in Chase's good graces.

(mainly use this for shopping at costco to UR points on costco purchases)

perkunas

"We're sorry but we will not be able to ship Bluebird Cards to Vermont"

bummer

CFFrost

I wonder how easy it would be for the credit card issuers to start viewing this as a cash advance. That would be the better way for them to shut this down - bean purchases are a cash advance while other office supply store purchases are a purchase.

nwflyboy

That's exactly how I expect this will go. Just a question of when.

Everybody has an incentive for all this to continue - AMEX, Bluebird, WalMart, Office Depot, Vanilla - they've all got to be happy as clams. Everyone but Chase. It's the 5X UR at OD bonanza that will be the rub. But it's only a rub for them. Everybody else has no reason not to embrace it all.

So the question is, if you were Chase, what would you do? If I were Chase, I'd fix it so Vanilla reloads were treated as a cash advance. Problem solved. Everybody's happy (except those who have been planning to put 10 Vanilla reloads on their Ink cards every month).

If you want this to keep working, take it easy and resist the temptation to fill your bathtub with vanilla charged on your Ink at OD.