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Old Jan 15, 2014, 9:20 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Steve Oh
What we know so far, that we are happy to share, and won't get the hump when other people ask us or other people get the hump cos we know something they don't.

3V / Pay.com cards are no more

That is all.
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 6:22 am
  #2311  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 62
Have you considered buying gift cards? If you check your offers you may have a cashback at Morrisons (mine is spend over £30 and get 7% back). Amazon gift cards are valid 20 years and you can just load on your account (and they are unlikely to go bust). At the same time as the 7% you get back you can also sign up for Morrisons rewards (will give you free £5 vouchers when you spend a certain amount) and you can also get 8 virgin miles per pound on Virgin Atlantic via shops away (if you register your credit card beforehand with them) - thats valid until 25th March.
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 6:25 am
  #2312  
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 4
Hi there, yes i've check. I've been thinking of tesco gift cards but I read somewhere that they now don't count gift card spend as contribution for miles. I don't have a morrisons anywhere near me unfortunately.

Any other tips??
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 6:58 am
  #2313  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC Gold, IHG Gold, Virgin FC Red
Posts: 626
I would be very selective about which retailers you buy gift cards for at the moment. Effectively you’re taking on credit exposure to the retailer/restaurant in question, and the coming months are going to be very tough for some of those names.
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 7:01 am
  #2314  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by donny9
Hi there, yes i've check. I've been thinking of tesco gift cards but I read somewhere that they now don't count gift card spend as contribution for miles. I don't have a morrisons anywhere near me unfortunately.

Any other tips??
Amex dont know what you've bought if you buy from a supermarket, they just see the spend come through. You could also just top-up your amazon account directly (but then you're getting no discount on it). Have you also considered paying your electric / gas? - I am with Bulb and they take Amex payment so you can always pre-pay enough to last you for 6 months or so.
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 7:02 am
  #2315  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by essexadventurer
I would be very selective about which retailers you buy gift cards for at the moment. Effectively you’re taking on credit exposure to the retailer/restaurant in question, and the coming months are going to be very tough for some of those names.
Definitely agree with this. I think you are safe with Amazon (they are doing a booming business), i've also bought some M&S gift cards but would want to give most high street retailers and restaurant chains a wide berth.
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 7:07 am
  #2316  
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 4
good point. I will check the next time I go to tesco for groceries.

Any other ideas?
Last edited by donny9; Mar 18, 2020 at 7:40 am
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 1:05 pm
  #2317  
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Programs: AmEx & Barclaycard Avios Plus
Posts: 19
Hi guys, apologies - late to the party here.

I have the BA Prem+ Amex card, so do GC's count towards the welcome bonus? I have had Amex live chat say NO, but all I can see in T&C's is prepaid cards. I asked them to define prepaid cards but couldn't give a straight answer.

Am I right in believing the prepaid cards are like the VISA/MC Cash cards which you can load yourself?

For example, would purchasing a £40 Amazon GC count towards the Avios welcome bonus?

Thanks all.
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Old Mar 18, 2020, 1:38 pm
  #2318  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by aviosluv
Hi guys, apologies - late to the party here.

I have the BA Prem+ Amex card, so do GC's count towards the welcome bonus? I have had Amex live chat say NO, but all I can see in T&C's is prepaid cards. I asked them to define prepaid cards but couldn't give a straight answer.

Am I right in believing the prepaid cards are like the VISA/MC Cash cards which you can load yourself?

For example, would purchasing a £40 Amazon GC count towards the Avios welcome bonus?

Thanks all.
if you buy something from a supermarket all amex see is the spend come through. They don’t see the items you are buying. Since Supermarket spend counts then buying gift cards from a supermarket would too.

on the T&Cs for their supermarket spend offers it does say gift cards excluded but I’ve found that they are included and I still get cash back and points etc.
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Old Mar 19, 2020, 5:29 am
  #2319  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: Nandos Chillis
Posts: 196
Originally Posted by essexadventurer
I would be very selective about which retailers you buy gift cards for at the moment. Effectively you’re taking on credit exposure to the retailer/restaurant in question, and the coming months are going to be very tough for some of those names.
Agreed. And if you're doing MS with prepaid card type firms, consider the impacts of reduced staffing and the effects that will have if your funds are frozen for KYC/proof of source of funds or the withdrawals/transfers are manually reviewed.

Even if you're fortunate enough not to need to worry about income and procuring household supplies for the time being, now might be a good time to consider putting MS on hold.
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Old Mar 21, 2020, 9:28 am
  #2320  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: Flying Blue, Miles & Smiles
Posts: 467
Originally Posted by aviosluv
Hi guys, apologies - late to the party here.

I have the BA Prem+ Amex card, so do GC's count towards the welcome bonus? I have had Amex live chat say NO, but all I can see in T&C's is prepaid cards. I asked them to define prepaid cards but couldn't give a straight answer.

Am I right in believing the prepaid cards are like the VISA/MC Cash cards which you can load yourself?

For example, would purchasing a £40 Amazon GC count towards the Avios welcome bonus?

Thanks all.
In my experience Amazon GC's get tagged as regular spend.
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Old Mar 22, 2020, 7:47 am
  #2321  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by ahopkins767
In my experience Amazon GC's get tagged as regular spend.
And as always you can just do a test to see mcc before going big.
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Old Apr 24, 2020, 9:16 pm
  #2322  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 655
It seems that the circle is not as good as it once used to be. TBH - I did not pursue that route (never really liked the idea of a financial product with a transaction limit).

Did anyone else use much of it here?
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Old Apr 25, 2020, 1:04 am
  #2323  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by flieduk
It seems that the circle is not as good as it once used to be. TBH - I did not pursue that route (never really liked the idea of a financial product with a transaction limit).

Did anyone else use much of it here?
I had a 500k limit. But never used that method as against t&cs, obvious, and plenty of other ways to hit my monthly limit.
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Old Apr 25, 2020, 6:06 pm
  #2324  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: Nandos Chillis
Posts: 196
Originally Posted by flieduk
It seems that the circle is not as good as it once used to be. TBH - I did not pursue that route (never really liked the idea of a financial product with a transaction limit).

Did anyone else use much of it here?
The circle - is that the McLear Ring? I've been eyeing that one up but also think the limits are a limiting factor.
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Old Apr 26, 2020, 4:58 am
  #2325  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by TheUrbanite
The circle - is that the McLear Ring? I've been eyeing that one up but also think the limits are a limiting factor.
They meant something more obvious. You posted on their community a couple of days ago.

With the wearable, do you know how refunds to funding source work at £1.50 a pop?
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