Wal-Mart, Amex take on banks with Bluebird debit card
Nov 1, 2012, 7:32 pm
#1306
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: On the Lake USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Diamond because they have nothing higher
Posts: 523
Nov 1, 2012, 7:33 pm
#1307
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DFW
Posts: 1,145
just loaded some beans into PPC at www.vanillareload.com/, noticed the location dropdown has been expanded, now it includes W-mart. very interesting. 
Nov 1, 2012, 7:35 pm
#1308
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: UA Gold, AA Gold, Hyatt Plat, SPG Gold, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Hertz Pres Circle, etc etc
Posts: 382
Nov 1, 2012, 7:42 pm
#1309
Join Date: Apr 2012
Programs: 25 million points to burn!
Posts: 1,522
I posted on this last night on a different thread: Our neighborhood WMs and Super WMs were both classed as grocery purchases 2nd quarter when I maxed out my Chase Freedom 5X category bonus. And what did I mainly buy to max out the bonus? GCs. I saw my first Vanilla MC GC ever at WM last night that you can load to $500 too.
Interesting this development coincides with Amex's cap on 6% blue preferred earnings happening this month. Almost like they saw this coming...
Interesting this development coincides with Amex's cap on 6% blue preferred earnings happening this month. Almost like they saw this coming...
Nov 1, 2012, 7:44 pm
#1310
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
some of the smaller wal-marts get classed as groceries. you just have to experiment to find
Nov 1, 2012, 7:46 pm
#1311
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
In fact people have been questioned, and even shut down by Chase, for much, much less OD spending than that. There is a recent post either upthread on this or in the "Getting Spending Up..." thread from someone who got a call after a $1K spend, asked for receipts of what he bought, etc.
Nov 1, 2012, 7:49 pm
#1312
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
Problem is here, it is KNOWN that some of the "keep it all secret" brigade create fake stories of account shut-downs to try and scare off newbies from participating. So I am going to take it all with a big dose of salt until there are consistent reports. Common sense will guide me in the interim.
Nov 1, 2012, 7:54 pm
#1313
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
just loaded some beans into PPC at www.vanillareload.com/, noticed the location dropdown has been expanded, now it includes W-mart. very interesting.
Finding reloads has never been a problem, it's finding ones that are worth buying
Nov 1, 2012, 7:59 pm
#1314
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Problem is here, it is KNOWN that some of the "keep it all secret" brigade create fake stories of account shut-downs to try and scare off newbies from participating. So I am going to take it all with a big dose of salt until there are consistent reports. Common sense will guide me in the interim.
Nov 1, 2012, 8:02 pm
#1315
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
+1. It is so dishonest to me for people to put out these shut down reports with no real details. Either you pushed it way too far and knew it, or it's a complete fabrication. Don't waste your time getting mad about people blowing up your method or blogs doing step by step instructions, move on to the next thing. New opportunities are around every corner.
Over on slickdeals/fatwallet, the spirit is more share/abuse/shutdown quickly and i trust the reports more. That is where the chase aarp reports started surfacing and that was real.
Nov 1, 2012, 8:03 pm
#1316
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: On the Lake USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Diamond because they have nothing higher
Posts: 523
I've been intrigued by this thread because there seems to be an assumption this is turning into a zero sum
Office Depot? A store stocks a product to sell it. If cards are flying off their shelves faster, although there may be an initial delay in restocking, OD will want more, not less of a hot-selling product--unless, of course, OD has decided to repeal the law of supply and demand. Now, the effects of that law may lead to an increase in the price OD charges for cards, but if it's $3.95 per $500 now, I wouldn't expect that price to jump immediately to $7.95, although it might get there eventually. And although less of a good deal at that price, it still seems worthwhile for the UR bonus you'd get.
Chase? The biggest problem is obviously here. Circular use of Chase's money to fund and pay will definitely raise their ire, but that's a matter that they may choose to handle by individual account action, not a broad slashing of a benefit. And absent circular abuse, what's the difference to Chase? They already have an arrangement that recognizes that items purchased at OD (as well as other office supply stores) will result in 5X UR points--no matter whether you purchase a computer, a printer, candy bars at the register, or gift cards.
Abuse could possibly result in Chase deciding to take a broad brush rather than an individual approach to this matter. For the other three players in the game, so long as they are making money off the sales ...
The rest of it looks like tin foil hat nonsense to me. . .
Office Depot? A store stocks a product to sell it. If cards are flying off their shelves faster, although there may be an initial delay in restocking, OD will want more, not less of a hot-selling product--unless, of course, OD has decided to repeal the law of supply and demand. Now, the effects of that law may lead to an increase in the price OD charges for cards, but if it's $3.95 per $500 now, I wouldn't expect that price to jump immediately to $7.95, although it might get there eventually. And although less of a good deal at that price, it still seems worthwhile for the UR bonus you'd get.
Chase? The biggest problem is obviously here. Circular use of Chase's money to fund and pay will definitely raise their ire, but that's a matter that they may choose to handle by individual account action, not a broad slashing of a benefit. And absent circular abuse, what's the difference to Chase? They already have an arrangement that recognizes that items purchased at OD (as well as other office supply stores) will result in 5X UR points--no matter whether you purchase a computer, a printer, candy bars at the register, or gift cards.
Abuse could possibly result in Chase deciding to take a broad brush rather than an individual approach to this matter. For the other three players in the game, so long as they are making money off the sales ...
The rest of it looks like tin foil hat nonsense to me. . .
Nov 1, 2012, 8:04 pm
#1317
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
I think what you are missing here is that OD is NOT making money of the beans. The GM of the store in my town where I am well known and he would not lie to me told me they LOSE money selling them because the CC fee they pay is higher than the fee they get for selling them. Just sayin why some have gone to limit one
Nov 1, 2012, 8:10 pm
#1318
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
+1. It is so dishonest to me for people to put out these shut down reports with no real details. Either you pushed it way too far and knew it, or it's a complete fabrication. Don't waste your time getting mad about people blowing up your method or blogs doing step by step instructions, move on to the next thing. New opportunities are around every corner.
Over on slickdeals/fatwallet, the spirit is more share/abuse/shutdown quickly and i trust the reports more. That is where the chase aarp reports started surfacing and that was real.
Nov 1, 2012, 8:26 pm
#1319
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
Yes, well, one could say that about every personal anecdote posted on FT, or anywhere online. Perhaps you could PM the poster and challenge him to prove it. My point was, the worry over whether "cycling" is going to draw Chase's ire seems misplaced compared to the potential for being slammed by Chase for "perk abuse". There are enough accounts of similar situations on FT, MP, etc that something is happening. Frequent Miler is certainly credible and has run several posts about Chase closures and thoughts about it. The AARP card debacle is certainly evidence of what Chase can do in similar circumstances.
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/freque...5x-whats-safe/
Last edited by 84fiero; Nov 1, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Nov 1, 2012, 8:35 pm
#1320
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Yes, well, one could say that about every personal anecdote posted on FT, or anywhere online. Perhaps you could PM the poster and challenge him to prove it. My point was, the worry over whether "cycling" is going to draw Chase's ire seems misplaced compared to the potential for being slammed by Chase for "perk abuse". There are enough accounts of similar situations on FT, MP, etc that something is happening. Frequent Miler is certainly credible and has run several posts about Chase closures and thoughts about it. The AARP card debacle is certainly evidence of what Chase can do in similar circumstances.