Jan 2, 2015, 8:54 am
Last edit by: justinh20
This thread died off but I'd like to see it come back to have a dedicated thread for liquidating Visa GCs.
Working options:
Unfortunately, when doing serious MSing (>$4,000 a month) using these may not cover enough options without raising red flags. Any other ideas on mass MS GC liquidation?
No longer working:
Working options:
- Regular spending
- RedBird - $2,500 per day, $5,000 per month (must be in person, not allowed online at all, consolidate VGCs into one reloadable card so you don't raise red flag trying to liquidate more than a couple gift cards in person. This limit is inclusive of all in-person RedBird loading so if you use it all on debit loads you cannot load anymore via CC, VGC or other funding source)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1618018-prepaid-redcard-target.html - Evolve - pay up to $1,000 per month per account (Evolve Risk Assessment teams work very hard to block MS type activity so YMMV)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1541638-evolve-money.html - Serve - YMMV in person (online not allowed), you might be able to get this to work if WalMart cashier isn't paying attention to what card you're using. By policy you aren't supposed to use prepaid debit cards as of 1/2/2015 in the Serve thread)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1199432-serve-another-paypal-amazon-payments.html
Unfortunately, when doing serious MSing (>$4,000 a month) using these may not cover enough options without raising red flags. Any other ideas on mass MS GC liquidation?
No longer working:
- Amazon Payments
Visa Gift Card Churning
Feb 2, 2013, 11:30 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: Hyatt Platinum, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 290
Visa Gift Card Churning
I thought I'd start a thread on Visa Gift Card Churning. The idea behind Visa gift card churning is buying multiple $500 Visa gift cards at Office Depot at 5X with Chase Ink, liquidating them, and repeating the process over and over. I have been able to max out my 250,000 a year by spending about $4,000 per month buying Visa Gift Cards. I have both Chase Ink Bold and Plus and alternate between them.
Update 2/4/13 - No more Visa gift cards at Office Depot. Not dead yet, still able to buy Visa GC at supermarkets using Hilton AMEX card.
$504.95 Visa GC * 6X Supermarket Cat Bonus = 3,030 Hilton HHonors Points
$4.95 fee/ 3,030 Hilton HHonors Points
Cost Per Point = $0.0016
Cost at a high-end hotel @ 50,000 points = $81.68
4 Nights at a high-end Hilton using AXON Rewards @ 145,000 points = $236.88
Here are some ways to liquidate Visa Gift Cards. Feel free to add to the thread.
1. Link Visa Gift Cards to Amazon Payments - $1,000 per month.. possibly $2,000 per month.
2. Reload 2 Target AMEX Target Prepaid Cards and liquidate by withdrawing from ATM - $2,000 per month.
3. Buy Vanilla Reloads with Visa Gift Cards - YMMV. I have been successful buying Vanilla Reloads with Visa gift cards at certain CVS stores. I mix it up with AMEX SPG and AMEX Hilton card. $1,000 Visa GC ($4,000 AMEX SPG/Hilton)
4. Daily Spending, I charge all my daily expenses to Visa gift cards if I don't plan on returning the item.
5. Link Visa GC to Paypal and buy/sell on eBay.
6. Churn Gift Cards by taking advantage of Plastic Jungle promos like $20 free for selling $200 or $25 free for selling $250.
Update 2/4/13 - No more Visa gift cards at Office Depot. Not dead yet, still able to buy Visa GC at supermarkets using Hilton AMEX card.
$504.95 Visa GC * 6X Supermarket Cat Bonus = 3,030 Hilton HHonors Points
$4.95 fee/ 3,030 Hilton HHonors Points
Cost Per Point = $0.0016
Cost at a high-end hotel @ 50,000 points = $81.68
4 Nights at a high-end Hilton using AXON Rewards @ 145,000 points = $236.88
Here are some ways to liquidate Visa Gift Cards. Feel free to add to the thread.
1. Link Visa Gift Cards to Amazon Payments - $1,000 per month.. possibly $2,000 per month.
2. Reload 2 Target AMEX Target Prepaid Cards and liquidate by withdrawing from ATM - $2,000 per month.
3. Buy Vanilla Reloads with Visa Gift Cards - YMMV. I have been successful buying Vanilla Reloads with Visa gift cards at certain CVS stores. I mix it up with AMEX SPG and AMEX Hilton card. $1,000 Visa GC ($4,000 AMEX SPG/Hilton)
4. Daily Spending, I charge all my daily expenses to Visa gift cards if I don't plan on returning the item.
5. Link Visa GC to Paypal and buy/sell on eBay.
6. Churn Gift Cards by taking advantage of Plastic Jungle promos like $20 free for selling $200 or $25 free for selling $250.
Last edited by romsdeals3; Feb 4, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Feb 2, 2013, 5:36 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
Programs: Several dozen
Posts: 4,820
Not going downhill - getting better. We seem to have shortened the deal kill time since the mint took a few years and we are now down to a few months. Think on the bright side - weez getting more efficient.
Feb 2, 2013, 5:46 pm
#9
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,184
1. Figure out the deal.
2. Start FT thread and write out how exactly to exploit it in painful detail.
3. Wait for the circles and arrows to broadcast.
4. Get the company-wide memo. Deal dead!
Feb 2, 2013, 6:01 pm
#10
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, AAdvantage
Posts: 2,100
I often wondered. I am Canada but I often see $200-$250 cards for an activation fee of about $10, don't remember off head. So, even with a basic cards, that's about 4-5c but if you have a card which gives you extra on groceries, this can be even lower, below 3.5 if you have a 50% bonus. If you can find a good way to get rid of the card itself, that's quite a good price, people do mileage runs at similar prices... so where's the catch?