Steve Oh

Game Over

I have spoken to The Range and their credit card does NOT allow the option to transfer money FROM the card TO your bank account.
I have asked for my £10 fee back that I had to pay for the initial loading.

I have also made an official complaint because they have not only stated that this facility is available on their website, but also confirmed it in an email.

In short, don't waste your time.

Oh well. Back to the drawing board

mradey

Thanks for the update Steve. I am hoping to go down this route (I have a range a couple of miles from home) and I'm very keen to hear your experience and, hopefully, success.....


Adey

Steve Oh

You won't have any success - they do not facilitate transfers to your bank from the card.
Unless of course the person I spoke to today was wrong..... in which case why is there not the option to do a bank transfer

Steve Oh

Standby.....

I have discovered another prepaid type card that definitely allows payment to bank accounts - it has it's own Pros and Cons though..

Pros
It has a higher 'at one time' funds limit, at £3,500
Loading via a Post Office is free
There is no need to visit a special place (ie Range Stores) to load the card

Cons
Initial setup costs £15 (total) and upgrading takes a bit longer, postal only.


Earning Potential
Based on a rate of £1:1 Mile, and providing you have the available credit on a 'spare' credit card, you could gain 42,000 miles.

Now, the only problem I can see at the moment is that you can only get the money transferred into your bank account if you close the account. They will then transfer any balance into your bank. Obviously this means that you will then be without a card for a month while you wait for a new one to be sent. To overcome this issue you would need to apply for a new card on a rolling basis, so that when card 1 is cancelled you can still top-up card 2 while waiting for card 3 to arrive.
Obviously if you have a large enough credit limit on your spare card you could have 2 cards running together, so when card 1 & 2 is cancelled (bank transfer done) you then use cards 3 & 4 while waiting for cards 5 & 6.

To Sum Up
Taking into account the free loading ability at any Post Office, and based on the 2 rolling cards example, you will get 84,000 miles for £360.
Use the second example and you'll be looking at 168,000 miles for £720.

I will be researching this further over the next week or so, inc emails and phonecalls to the company, to make sure that I have everything covered.

And one last note, this place is a proper company regulated by the FSA, not a cowboy outfit like The Range.

JK

Good luck, that sounds pretty encouraging, and as close as we might get to the Holy Grail in the UK! Please keep us posted (i'd be grateful if you could PM too with more relevant info).

Good luck!

Steve Oh

Right - The Range PPMC has got back to me regarding the inability to transfer funds FROM card TO bank.
It appears that the option IS available but they have had problems implementing it online, but they have assured me that this will be done by the end of the week.
I had to ask to speak to the manager's manager to get this info.

So, long ^ short - I will wait til the end of the week so see if the option does indeed become available, and if it does I will pop to a local PayPoint and load on £104. I will then wait a few days and try and transfer it into my account in the hope that £100 will pop up.

As always, bear with me, but I will post up all my findings.

This method will take preference over the above new method I found as it is easier to set up & maintain.
I am also looking at a possible third option which, if my figures are correct, will cost even less to set up & maintain.

One step at a time though ^

BrotherLehman

Good luck! Am definitely intrigued by this

Steve Oh

In the intermin, take a look at this:

Slightly higher spend to point ratio but about as easy as it gets to earn 475 miles per £4 - based on 2 miles per £1.

http://www.headforpoints.com/2013/05...o-my-findings/

Steve Oh

Update re Tesco Visa Debit spend
I managed to find 16 of the £25 cards last night, so ran those through the til.

Total cost for the 16 cards was £447.20 for £400 of spend
Earning 150 cc points per £50 gained me 1200 cc points total
Spending £447.20 on my Amex got me 894 Virgin Miles (671 if you use BAPP)
Taking the cc:Flying Point current conversion rate, this little venture will net me pretty much 4,000 Virgin points, or slightly less with BAEC.

So, at the end of the day, 4,000 miles for £47 - and I've already managed to use 12 of the cards paying some council tax online

Obviously not as good as the RPPMC, but a hell of a lot easier to do if you consider my 3 nearest Range stores are all pretty much a 90 mile round trip and the Tesco that I got these cards from is on my way home from work. Even 90 miles in my car would still be the best part of a quarter tank of diesel, not to mention the time.

Also, if I had managed to get the £50 cards then the same £400 of spend would only have cost me £31.60.

Update re RPPMC Bank Transfers

This has now appeared when you log in, as long as you have upgraded your account



So bank transfers FROM card TO bank seem to be go.
With this in mind I will still keep my card for when I go to Costco, so I can just pop to The Range and top-up with vouchers.


Any questions about anything, don't hesitate to get in touch.

atb

S.

Richyo

Interesting, so what is the limit you can top up the card to before withdrawing to bank?
Also is there a monthly fee for the card?

unknown786

If one was to do this wouldn't the points (e.g. Amex MR) simply be taken away once the rock is returned and with the spend requirements wouldn't they simply ensure that the refunded amount doesn't go towards the requirement?

Steve Oh

£6,000 & £1.99 per month.
£4 for bank payment.

http://www.therangeprepaidmastercard.co.uk/fees.php

Richyo

hmm this is tempting as I have a Range store within walking distance..

So if I max'd the 6k out once a month for a year, total outlay would be:

£23.88 monthly fees
£48 bank transfer fee's
£13 card fee (£8 initial fee + £5 upgrade)
TOTAL - £84.88

in return for either:
72k avios using BMI Visa
£180 Clubcard using Tesco Mastercard

Does that sound right or am I missing any other cost?

Only other thing I'm thinking is whether the store will hold £6k of vouchers...

hanrahantom

I was in a hotel at the weekend where cards were not accepted at the bar, but cashback could be obtained from the front desk, albeit with a £1.50 fee.

I presumed I would only be allowed to use my debit card, but my Amex gold was accepted. I got £200 cashback.

Do people have much experience of this sort of thing such as a pubs etc?

Also Morison's sell their own vouchers at the till which can be paid for using a credit card, but when redeemed, give change in cash. any experience of similar?

Raffles

Waitrose gives change in cash from vouchers, but there is a £20 cap I think